ROSE |J.MAYBANK

XXIII. them all along

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
THEM ALL ALONG

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

the afternoon after the previous events, lilith had awoken to the best feeling in the world once she remembered the moments shared between herself and the blonde maybank boy. she never thought it would happen. she'd tried to let go so many times before, but it was physically impossible. she was in love with her best friend and nobody could ever change that. she fell in love with him the moment they met and four years later, she couldn't possibly imagine herself without him.

when lilith's eyes slowly pushed themselves open in the afternoon, she'd faced the wardrobe of jj maybanks bedroom in the château and felt a strong arm over her waist, a limp hand lightly brushing against her bare stomach every once in a while, sending tingles across her body. lilith couldn't stop herself from smiling everytime his hand touched her skin. it sent butterflies through her stomach, knowing that it was her bestfriend that she'd waited so long for. and everytime his hot death hit the back of her neck, a smile crawled across her features.

slowly and carefully, lilith began to turn around trying her best not to awake the tired boy next to her. thinking her attempt had worked perfectly, she lifted her hand, reaching to the side of jj's head and beginning to softly brush his hair. lilith smiled as she watched the boy in peace, soft breaths falling from his lips every couple of seconds.

"like what you see, princess?" jj's deep, croaky voice spoke as he readjusted his head, making himself more comfortable. lilith rolled her eyes at him, retrieving her hand from his soft, blonde hair. "oh wait, that's right, you love what you see." jj smirked but his eyes remained closed. lilith gently smacked her hand against jj's chest, a scoff rolling off her tongue. lilith quickly lifted herself, moving to climb out of bed. however, before she made it onto her own two feet, a strong grip took a hold of her, pulling her body swiftly back into bed.

jj landed the girl on her back before leaning over her, resting his tanned body on the bed beside her. jj smirked as he looked down at her, reminding himself of her words from the previous night. i love you. lilith loved jj. she loved him. three words he would have never imagined becoming true. even being possible. in a less platonic way.

"i love what i see too." jj almost whispered, only loud enough for lilith to be able to gather what he said. at the small comment, a soft smile plastered itself across lilith's face. no matter how hard she tried to rid of it, it was impossible. his smile was purely contagious. jj slowly leaned down towards lilith, closing his eyes which was quickly followed by lilith. his soft, sweet lips gently connected with lilith's, it was calming. slowly, lilith's hand reached up to the maybank boy and landed on the back of his head, gently caressing his soft, tanned skin.