Precious Virtue ✓

Chapter 50: A Kiss Hello

Precious Virtue

Chapter L: A Kiss Hello

[Preston's POV]

When I first started university all those months ago, I had no idea that my life would turn out like this—vibrant, full of spirit, and bursting with love. The past seven months have simultaneously been the worst and best months of my life.

For a while, I lost hope in myself. After the mistakes I made, I thought that there was no way out, no way to fix what I had broken. I wanted to jump off this rollercoaster that I called my feelings. I wanted to be drunk on numbness because that was the only way I could force myself to continue living.

And then there came a point where I wanted to stop breathing.

When you're ridden with so much guilt, cursed to feel everything so intensely that it makes you feel like you're either fucking flying so high that you think you're floating, or falling so damn low into darkness as if your invisible wings have been sliced off your back, leaving you to bleed and die, who would have any hope? Who would want to live like that?

But there was virtue in all that pain after all, I realized.

Who knew that I would end up with the most amazing friends, ones who caught me every time my wings were clipped, and who would have thought, that after everything, I would end up back together with the one person who I cared most about in this life—the one person who I could call the love of my life, my other half, my soulmate?

Maybe there was hope in this life after all.

"We're here," Dad announced as he parked the car. I glanced up from my phone to see that we were now in the parking lot just outside the apartment complex, excitement twirling in my chest.

"I can't wait to see this place!" Adrien said from the backseat, bursting with excitement. I twisted around to face him with a smile.

"I'm excited for you to see it too. The pictures don't do it justice." I replied.

"They almost never do." Adrien unbuckled his seatbelt. He leaned over my seat to press a kiss against my cheek, and then he hopped out of the car.

Warmth flooded my chest. Fuck, I still wasn't used to it. Dad flashed me a smile before he opened the car door and got out as well, and I followed suit.

Just as I stepped out of the car, Elijah and his parents were pulling into the parking lot, parking in the spot next to us. Seconds later he was stepping out and wandering over, an older-looking man and woman getting out after him.

"Hey Preston," Elijah greeted me with a sweet smile. We exchanged a quick hug, and when he pulled back, he gestured to the folks behind him. "These are my parents, Auretta and Kole. Mom, Dad, this is Preston, and that's Adrien."

Adrien wandered over just as Elijah introduced us, coming to stand beside me. Auretta was the first to greet us, flashing us a wide, friendly smile while holding out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you both. Elijah has told us lots about you two." Auretta said.

"It's nice to meet you too," I reached out and shook both their hands. Adrien smiled at them and waved. "This is my dad, Jackson." I gestured to Dad as he came over, and he shook hands with Elijah's parents.

"Hey, where's my introduction?" A feminine voice called out. A teenage girl no older than sixteen hopped out of the car, an annoyed pout on her face.

Elijah chuckled. "That's my sister, Margie. You can ignore her, she's kind of annoying."

"Hey! I am not," She argued, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Are too," Elijah replied, messing up her hair. She glared at him, and with a huff, fixed her messy strawberry-blonde hair. When she was done pouting, she turned her attention to me, stepping closer.