Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"I love thee with a love that shall not die, till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old" (William Shakespeare).
|◁ II ▷|
I wake up with a sore throat, but I pull myself out of bed, anyways. I text Valen, making sure we can still go to lunch and go to some antique stores. I find myself replaying the events of the past night, scared and worried he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore.
Why did I have to lose control? I got a freaking panic attack in front of him.
Valen /Of course. If you feel up to it/
A sigh of relief fills me.
Nico /pick me up at 11?/
When Valen's "yes" comes through, I rush to the bathroom to get ready, hoping thirty minutes will be enough. I spend extra time on my eyeshadow today, hoping that if I look pretty enough, he'll forget about last night. Or maybe he won't connect the insane, sobbing girl from last night to the hopefully beautiful girl going to lunch with him today.
By the time his car pulls around, I'm downstairs pulling my boots on. I pull the door open as he gets out of his car, carefully closing the black door to the driver's side. He opens the passenger side as I walk over, and his smile brightens my own face.
"Hey," I greet once he sits down and shuts his door.
"Hey," He responds, his gaze resting on me. "Did you—How did you sleep last night?"
I smile, hoping to disguise the truth. "Pretty good."
"Nico—" Valen warns.
I shake my head. "I don't really want to talk about it, if that's okay. I'm... quite frankly, very embarrassed. Could we go get lunch?"
Valen starts the car, nodding. "Yeah. Don't feel embarrassed about anything you do with or in front of me. I promise you, it won't change my perception of you negatively. All I saw last night was a strong girl pushed past her human capacity, and that's all I'll say, okay? That, and that you are absolutely stunning and that I've never—I've never seen you as anything less than that."
I sit, stunned, as he drives off. He starts the music, once again playing my playlist. A smile nudges at my lips, and before long, it turns into a full smile I can't seem to keep away.
Valen parks at the cafe and sees my smile. "What?"
