Loving Mr. Collins

Chapter 12

After almost three months, I've completely moved out of my apartment. It feels strange yet  amazing to live with him at his house. The living room especially brings back memories of us from years ago. Now, we'll be making new memories.
I take a selfie and send it to Christina and Violet in a group chat.
"I'm all moved in. You could say that we're moving fast but I'm happy," I send.
"I don't think that at all. I'm glad you're happy," Violet replies.
"Yeah. You're way more of a house person anyway. It suits you," Christina replies.
"Thanks, girls. Love you both," I reply.
"We love you too,"  Christina replies.
"Yeah. Love you," Violet replies.
I smile and put my phone away. Chris brings a bottle of champagne and pours some into two empty glasses. We raise them.
"Here's to living together," he says.
"Cheers."
We clink them together and drink from them. I set my glass down on the coffee table.
"What?" He asks.
"I want to cuddle. It'll be kind of hard if I'm holding a champagne glass."
"That's true."
He sets his glass down.
"Come here," he adds.
I move closer to him and he wraps his right arm around me. I rest my head against him.
"I have a question," he says.
"Anything."
"You never really told me what life was like for you when, you know, everything happened."
I feel tears forming in my eyes as the memories come rushing back.
"It was terrible."
"Tell me."
"I went quite some time without talking to my friends. I had to move in with my aunt and uncle because my parents didn't want anything to do with me. People booed me at graduation because I had that reputation of hooking up with my teacher. When I got to college, I just wanted to live a somewhat normal life as an adult. Even when I turned eighteen, I was dealing with that, so I didn't feel like an adult at the time."
"I'm so sorry."
"Hey. It's in the past. I still managed to do things that I'm proud of and built those relationships again. It definitely got better after I left high school."
"That's good."
I smile.
"Now, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Tell me the truth."
"Of course."
"Did you really wait for me the entire time?"
"I did. The thought of getting to reunite with you is what kept me going. I didn't pursue any other relationships. I know that you said you did and I get it. I did wonder if you ever thought about building a life with any of them."
"No. They weren't serious like that. No offense to them but I knew that I couldn't commit. Someone else still had my heart."
"Well, it's the same for me. You have my entire heart. I don't care if I ever get it back."
"That's good. I wasn't planning on giving it back."
We sit in comfortable silence for a moment.
"I have one last question," he says.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to go out for dinner or have something here?"
I take a moment to think about it.
"I don't really feel like cooking or going out. Can we order takeout? That way, we can still eat something on our first night of living together."
"Yeah. That's fine. I'm kind of glad that you chose that because I don't really feel like getting up."
I click my tongue.
"You're going to have to. Your phone is charging in the kitchen."
"Not if we use yours."
"It's in the same place."
"I don't suppose you love me enough to go get them?"
I sigh and scoot off of the couch.
"You know, one of these days, that's not gonna work anymore," I tease.
"It's not today, so I'm not worried."
I roll my eyes playfully.
"I'll be right back."
I head to the kitchen and gently unplug our phones from the charging cords. I bring them into the living room and sit back down beside him. I hand his phone to him.
"Thank you, baby," he says.
"Anytime."
"What kind of food do you want?"
"I was thinking Chinese but whatever is fine."
"We can have Chinese. There are some good places nearby anyway."
"Cool."
"Okay. So you probably want the sesame chicken with white rice and sweet tea, am I right?" He asks.
"I hate how well you know me," I say as a confirmation.
He grins.
"Alright. Try to guess my order to make it even."
"That's not fair. You usually order one of two possible options."
"That's why I said you have to guess it."
"Okay. You like to get either the orange chicken with fried rice or beef and broccoli with white rice. I'm going to guess that you're in the mood for beef and broccoli with white rice."
"Nope."
"What do you mean nope? You want the orange chicken with fried rice?"
"No. I want the beef and broccoli but I'm kind of craving fried rice."
"I hate you. You asked me a trick question on purpose," I say while trying not to laugh.
"Yes, I did. But to be fair, I did switch it up at the last minute. You were right about the things that I usually tend to order."
"See? I know you just as well as you know me."
"I guess you do."
I smile. He calls the Chinese restaurant and places our orders. A few minutes later, there's a knock on the door.
"Is that even possible?" I ask.
"At this hour? No way. Too much traffic."
"Yeah. That's what I thought."
I scoot off the couch.
"Yes. I love you enough to answer it," I say jokingly.
"I didn't say anything."
I open the door and gasp when I saw who it is. Nothing in this world could've prepared me for this.