Kingston

57. Juliet

'See! I told you the sun would come out!' Conrad chuckled, as he lay back on the grass and took a sip of his soda. 'I'm always right.'

'Okay, on this occasion you were so I'll let you have this one,' I laughed, as I curled up my legs on the warm grass and took a bite of my sandwich.

'You told me you loved lunch on the green so I gave you lunch on the green,' Conrad said, with a wide smile.

It was true. I had told Conrad two days before when we had finally ventured out together to have brunch in the cafeteria that my favourite place to eat was out on the green, a large square area of grass at the front of the school building where the students all laid during summer. It wasn't exactly summer, but it was a warm day and we were alone so it was even better.

Since our conversation on Saturday, Conrad had barely left my side and we'd walked everywhere together. We'd had lunch and dinner in the cafeteria together, we'd sat in the common room together and I had stayed the past two nights in his room with his roommate being forced to stay elsewhere by him. He no longer cared about our little secret and neither did I. At first, I was embarrassed by the frequent stares but as soon as I started to realise that Conrad didn't give a shit about it, I encouraged myself to ignore it too.

'Are you staying in my dorm again tonight?' Conrad asked me.

'Okay, I want to, but it's pretty unfair on your roomie so maybe I'll give it a miss tonight,' I replied, as I stared out at the hills past the school gates in the distance.

'He doesn't mind,' Conrad told me.

'I do though,' I giggled.

'Trust me, he really doesn't care,' Conrad said, sitting up and sliding across the grass to get closer to me. He rested a hand on my thigh and furrowed his brows, giving me pretty-please eyes. 'I can't sleep without you next to me now.'

'Oh, shut up,' I laughed.

'I'm serious!' he cried, pouting at me. 'Please stay with me.'

'Ugh, fine,' I chuckled, nodding my head. 'But this is the last night then you have to let your roommate come back to his own bed for a few nights.'

'Fine, deal!' Conrad rolled his eyes and straightened up, leaning in as he kissed me on the forehead and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. I rested my cheek on his shoulder and closed my eyes as he held me and I'd never felt more at home than I did when I was in his arms.

'Do you think your father will like me?' After several minutes of silence, his question came suddenly and I opened my eyes and sat up to look at him. He turned to me and I could see in his expression that he was serious and that he was hopeful of my answer.