Lillian Henry is seventeen years old when her 20 year-old brother, Adam, and his best friend, Blake Kingston, enroll in the army. And she's eighteen, when they come back, her feelings left unchanged. As for his, they're even stronger than before.
T...
When I wake up and extend my arm to the other side of the bed, the space next to me is empty. I look around, searching for a hint to where she has gone. I would be lying if I weren't thrilled at the idea of waking up with her in my bed. Not that we never woke up together in the past. More like because it was our first time having sex. It was a big deal, especially for her and she left.
Before I even woke up.
I reach for my phone sitting on my nightstand. And that's when I see it, a text from Lily.
My Lily: Good morning :)
My Lily: Sorry I had to leave
My Lily: I know you would probably wanted me to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful, I couldn't get myself to
My Lily: Zora needed my help for some "urgent" matter, turned out she needed fashion advice for her gala outfit
My Lily: A gala taking place in more than a month
My Lily: Can you believe her?
My Lily: Sorry for all the messages, I'm bored to death, I wish I was in your arms
My Lily: Anyways...
My Lily: I should be back for lunch, we could go on a picnic
I reply almost an hour later than the moment she actually sent them.
Me: No problem, at least now I know you weren't kidnapped
Me: Sorry, not funny, I'm still half asleep
Me: A picnic sounds nice, I'll go to the supermarket while you're gone
My Lily: Perfect, can't wait
My Lily: I love you
Me: I love you
I let myself fall back on the mattress, my head hitting my pillow. I thought a love like mine only existed in romcoms until I fell utterly, completely in love with Lillian Henry, then I realized that romcoms had nothing on us. We're the fantasy. People wish they were us or I like to think so. I mean who wouldn't want to feel whole, loved, cared for. Like the poets say; home isn't always four walls and a roof, sometimes, it's a feeling, given by a person.
I get up from bed, put on jeans and a t-shirt, before heading downstairs. While I eat my breakfast, I read a few pages of the book Lily lent me. I wasn't a reader until I started dating her. And I'd say that before this point, I simply hadn't read the right books. Because I'm on my fourth book from Lily's library, from Lily's not-romcoms-section, and I've read pretty good things.
I'm currently halfway through The midnight library and I'm hooked. With the writing style and everything going on, it's impossible not to be interested in knowing what's next to come. It's fictional, philosophical, just oddly interesting and captivating. Thanks, Lily, for making me crazy over a book. It will certainly serve me, and many more, as a lesson about loving to be alive. It teaches you not to live with regrets. To embrace the fact that you only live once, and that you have to take chances sometimes.
It's definitely one of the best sci-fis I've read in my life, though I haven't read many. Totally worth the time and the hype people, including my girlfriend, give it.
"How's the book?" someone asks from behind me, bringing me back to reality.
I turn around, finding Lily, standing in front of me in a baby blue sundress, sunglasses on her head. My wrist lifts up mechanically, my eyes looking at my watch.
"Let me guess," she says, approaching me slowly. "You didn't go to the supermarket because you lost track of time while reading The midnight library?"
"In my defense, it's a really good book."
"I knew that you'd like it!" she hops up and down, happily, closing the distance between us, her body finding its way to mine.
I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her against me, allowing her to put her arms around my neck to hug me. "Never leave me like this again, I love waking up with you too much."
"Come on, I'm hungry, and we still have to go to the store because someone is a bookworm."
"You're the one to blame."
"Oh, and I take it with pleasure."
I grab my keys on the countertop and we head out in my Jeep. Lily pops her arm out the window, playing in the wind with her fingers as it plays in her hair. After making a stop at the grocery store, the landscape of the ocean and horizon appears on the side of the road. The top of the keep off, the rays of sunshine cover us, Lily's blue eyes shine brighter, and mine barely can get off of her, except I have to focus because I'm driving.
"Can I ask you something?" Lily's voice comes out of nowhere in a moment where there's only the soft sound of the waves once we're sitting on the beach.
"Only if you promise to never ask permission to ask a question ever again."
Her pinkie lifts in the air, offering it to me, so I interlace it with mine. "I promise," she smiles. "When do you plan on going back?"
"Going back?" I say, though I know what she is referring to, but I am getting myself some time to answer her question, because it hurts to think about it, about leaving her again, and yet, I can't bring myself to think about the possibility of not going back. When I'm in the army, I feel useful, I prove my father wrong, I prove that I am nothing like him. I need to prove to him that I am the better man, but mostly, I need to prove it to me, because if I don't I inevitably believe that I will turn out to be just like him. A cheater. An assaulter. The worst husband on Earth.
"When are you enrolling again?" she clarifies. When I don't answer, she adds, "I would never ask you not to enroll again, and I don't plan to. All I am asking from you is to be careful, and to come back in one piece."
"At the end of the summer," I tell her, nothing too precise, but it gives her an idea. Anyway, I don't have an exact date to give her, all I know is that my regiment is leaving again at the end of the summer and I have to give them an answer soon. "Will you wait for me this time?"
A smile on her face, but tears in her eyes, she takes my hand in hers, "I will wait for you forever, Blake Kingston."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There will be a continuation of the beach picnic date in Lily's POV, I hope you will like it, it is kind of cheesy and romantic. I should be able to release it either late tonight or tomorrow morning.
Thank you for reading Yours to love!
And remember that your comments and votes are always welcome.
You can find me on both Insta and Tiktok under the namer THECANADIANBOOKCLUB.
