"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend James Beaufort?" I questioned him, while lying on top of him half naked.
As James Beaufort and Everly Calloway navigate the delicate transition from friendship to romance, they face obstacles that test the st...
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Chapter Twenty:
< James >
The moment we returned to England, my sole focus became Everly's recovery. More than her physical wounds, it was the trauma she carried—the scars left behind by everything she had endured—that haunted me.
Each night, she slept by my side, her head on my chest, finding solace in the steady rhythm of my heartbeat. But two weeks after we came home, she awoke in the dead of night, tears streaming down her face. She wept as though her soul was unraveling, and all she could say was how sorry she was for the damage loving her had caused.
But none of it was true. The harm had been inflicted by others, driven by their envy of what we had. And as I had promised her in the hospital, we were in this life together, forever.
In that quiet, tear-soaked moment, I made a decision. We would spend the rest of the summer in France, at the same house where we had once found refuge. This time, it would be just the two of us. She needed the space to heal, to process all she had been through, with me by her side.
For the remainder of July and August, we lived in that peaceful sanctuary. By the end of the summer, my girl had found her spark again. The bruises had faded, the night terrors subsided, and she told me she felt stronger. With the doctor's blessing, we returned to England a day before our senior year began. No one had heard from us since we left. Everly had gone off the grid, except for our weekly check-ins with Lydia, Ellie, and Lin. And yes, Ellie and Everly were becoming great friends—Ellie even had a new boyfriend, a transfer from an Irish private school.
I watched Everly reclaim herself, and my heart swelled with joy. When we stepped off the plane, there was Percy, waiting for us with a smile that spoke of relief and happiness.
"Look at our girl, James. When you boarded this plane two months ago, you had to carry her onto it. Now she's leaping down each step with a golden glow. Welcome home, Miss Calloway. How England has missed you so," Percy cheered as I helped her into the car.
"Percy! I couldn't be more thrilled to be home. I really needed that time away. James and I both did. Now, I'm ready to start senior year with my best friends and the love of my life," Everly smirked, resting her legs on my lap, her eyes shining with a newfound light.
