The Arrangement

Chapter Twenty-Four

There's something sinister going on here, Hugo hates waking up early for anything and years of eight-am classes hasn't changed that. Hence the very high level of suspicion I have been working at since he pulled me out of bed this morning.

Morning seems like an exaggeration because the sun wasn't even close to be up when he dragged me into the car and despite the prickling of light against the horizon, we aren't much closer this time either. But as we were standing in the middle of a field, with sprawling hills around us I can't be mad about being awoken.

Besides, I wasn't the one that had to stay awake for the hour-long car ride and knowing Hugo dug his own grave in that regard. Though I can't be mad at how cute the whole thing is, even though I never would have thought we would go up in the sky together without jumping out of a plane or ending up in another country.

Hugo's arm coils across my shoulders and pulls me closer into his chest, letting the cool wind whip around us and the roar of the fire keeps us afloat.

"Why the romantic flight through the clouds?" I grin, leaning my head against his shoulder and watching as we glide up and down. The peak of pink and orange glows against the horizon, crawling through the trees and blooming in front of us.

The chill of winter still hangs heavy in the air, it sends mist through the air and has my breath fogging with every exhale, but I don't feel it into my bones with him wrapped around me. Chin rested on my shoulder, and the steady rhythm of his breathing a steady reminder of everything that's happened since the party all those months again.

I sure as hell didn't expect everything to happen the way it has, for me to find myself so completely intertwined with Hugo and hopelessly in love with the fool.

I can feel his grin stretch at my words, hands slide into the pocket of his jumper that I wear, sliding between mine and holding me tight to him. "There has been a lot of changes in our lives, and I don't think we are up to jumping off any tall buildings right now" Hugo chuckles, "But I thought it might be peaceful"

"It is" I confess, "Perspective"

"And I had something important that I wanted to share with you, and I thought that at least if you were mad at me, we would be stuck up here and forced to talk about it" Hugo confesses, "In my head it was the right thing to do, and I stand by the decision even if I'm nervous to tell you about it"

"You're making me nervous too" I laugh, sitting in the uncomfortable feeling that swirls in my stomach and unfurls through my body in a buzzing anxiety. "But if you think it's a good thing, then I think you should trust that"

"I wasn't ready to admit that maybe you were right in your apprehension about me renovating Pop's house, selling it and investing in different things. Throwing away all the money he left me just because the process of it was turned into something ugly... you tried to hide how much you hated the idea, but I could see it in your eyes"

"Being inconspicuous is definitely not my thing" I agree.

"It was a terrible idea" He confesses, and relief washes through me like a wave I don't mind. "I don't want to diminish my grandfather's hard work, the way he built his businesses from the ground up and sold them for me. Designing the house in a way that made him happy, that was true to everything he loved, and I grew up there. He's the reason I am the way I am, I never should have thought about destroying all of that"

"We could probably change the curtains, and the awful yellow tiles in the guest bedroom though" I muse, "I don't think you should beat yourself up about it, the way your parents carried on? Of course, you were going to want to distance yourself from the reasons they were causing you pain in the first place"

"Might not matter to a lot of people because I'm not under their guardianship anymore but the emancipation being final and not being tied to them anymore... I haven't felt this light in years, at least not since he was still alive"

"I'm glad, you deserve to live your life without their looming presence" I confirm, leaning back to press a soft kiss to the sharp edge of his cheekbone, before sliding my eyes back to the brightening sky.

Hugo presses his own kiss against the side of my neck before expelling a deep breath between us, "I've read all the files and I still don't understand how the man had so much money, built all those businesses into something he didn't have to think about. That I don't have to think about"

"Are you going to buy us a private jet so that we can come back down and visit Sophie whenever I like, after we all graduate?"

"Not a chance, but we can get some first-class tickets!" He chuckles, "And I thought about what I wanted to do with the money, keep it saved so we can buy a house or go around the world, support kids if we ever choose to have them... but there was something more important than that"

"Sounds ominous" I grin, letting him spin me away from the view until all I can see is the brightness, and anxiety in his coffee orbs, with the haze of pink and orange illuminating the sky around us.

"What happened with your brother made me realise a lot of things-" I have to immediately swallow down the tightness in my throat, "One of the big things is that despite how progressive we have become there is always a lack of information, awareness and support for men who go through what Bentley did"

"What did you do?" I croak, impatient and blurry eyes as my heart pounds against my chest and fingers curl around his.

"It's called the Bentley Glenn Foundation"

The words rip a sob from my chest, guttural and loud, which probably makes the controller of this balloon think I have just had a poor reaction to a very sweet proposal... which may have crossed my mind for a horrifying second. This, however, is better in every fathomable way.

"What?" I blubber, hands fisted in his coat as his fingers begins swiping across my cheeks.

"I won't pretend that I know how to run something like this, so we are founders but none of it is rested on our shoulders to run if we don't want too" Hugo elaborates, smiling crazily at my undoubtably messy face. "I invested a lot of the money I got from my parent's settlement money, all the legal fees they owed me and the money of my inheritance that they reimbursed. Then a chunk of excess, but we can hopefully help inform people of how instances effect not just men but women, I've been a kind of terrible on what I want our goals to be for this, but I thought... if you were okay, I did this, that you probably had a million ideas"

"I- H, I do, yes!" I cry, "I don't even know what to say"

Tears blur his own eyes as his relief sags around us, "That's a rare occurrence"

Shaking my head at his silliness, I blurt the only thing that makes sense in this whirlwind of shock. "I love you... more than I think I can ever explain or show you in a thousand lifetimes"

"I think we can give it a good shot of proving it to each other" Hugo nods, pressing a kiss to my teary lips. "My parents caused a lot of hurt for me; I want to be transparent in saying there was some sick satisfaction in putting their money into the foundation"

"At least what they did has gone towards something positive" I smile, "I'm so unbelievably proud of you"

"I love you" He murmurs, "Do you think you can get the girls on my side, so the boys don't pick on me for being so ridiculously sappy?"

"Are you kidding me? The girls will probably cry about this on and off for at least a week, I think you're getting torn to pieces for doing something that is making us all cry"

A wicked glint shines in Hugo's eyes, "Oh no, however will Alfie console Rose-Petal?"

"What have you done?" I grin, poking him in the ribs.

"Let's just say that I might know a little more about the demise of Alfie and Madeline than I may have previously admitted"

And won't that be an interesting development.