Locked in a lifelong rivalry, Lena and Theo go way back - but do they really know each other?
When Theo goes to college, leaving Elena, his best friend's annoying sister he grew up with, behind at his home town, he thinks that she will never be in...
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My whole life I've been wanting to feel loved. I've wanted someone to love me without me having to beg for it. I don't care if Elena is clingy. I love that about her. The double texts, the constant physical touch, the reassurance, the goodnight kisses or calls. It means she cares. It means she tries. I never had that growing up.
Everyday, she's fixing something she didn't break. She's healing every inch of me by replacing every fear for a memory of her.
We've been dating and hiding it for almost a month now. Everything has been just perfect in our home dates but I feel like there's so much more we could be doing outside.
For that reason, I finally verbalize it.
"As much as I absolutely love being at my place with you all the time, don't you think it's time we stop being scared of running into your brother and just go for an actual date?"
"I just really don't want Oliver to find out about us by seeing us somewhere, you know? What if he hates us? He's always been so protective of me. I'm afraid he'll feel betrayed, like we kept another secret from him and I don't want him to think we were hiding it out of distrust or because we were doing something wrong."
I nod, knowing that she's right and that there's probably not even a delicate way to handle this.
"I know but we'll have to tell him, and soon. It's better that he hears it from us, together, rather than finding out on his own. We've been together for almost a month, Elena."
She bites her lip, anxiety etched into her face.
I tilt her chin up gently, making her look into my eyes.
"Elena, we'll handle this together. We'll explain everything to him. How we have always cared about each other, how we didn't mean to hurt him. He might be upset at first, but he loves us. He'll understand it eventually."
She nods, trying to draw strength from my words.
"I hope you're right."
I press a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I am. Also, I really want to take you out tomorrow for our first month anniversary so don't even try to use Oliver as an excuse. I have the perfect date planned and I just need you to be there, you don't have to do anything else."
"Fine, we can do it. But I need a clue."
"No clues."
"Ugh, fine. Am I supposed to bring stuff to sleep over?"
"If you want to, you can."
"Okay, I will then."
Elena's head is resting on my shoulder, and I'm absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair between my fingers in one of those moments where everything feels just right.
Just like that, my phone buzzes on the coffee table, making me have to stand up. I reach over, curious. The number isn't familiar, but I decide to answer it anyway.
