VII

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I sat awake in bed for what felt like hours unable to shut my brain off. All I could think about was my family and how much I missed them- a feeling I usually tried to suppress far inside me was resurfacing.

I heard the door squeak slowly open and I sat up quickly.

"Drew?" I couldn't see anything in the darkness and my nerves were usually high.

"It's me. It's me." I breathed in relief at his voice.

He walked over trying to be quiet as if I was asleep and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Are you okay? You seemed upset earlier I just wanted to check on you."

I couldn't help but smile a little at the gesture. "Yeah... I'll be fine." I looked at him and took a second to appreciate his company. The world was a disaster, but right here right now. Everything was ok.

"How about you? You were pretty drunk." I giggled.

"I know." He shook his head at the ground. " "hope I didn't say anything embarrassing." He laughed and bit his lip. I knew he remembered slightly and felt embarrassed by it.

"You didn't." I smirked. "Don't worry about it."

Drew was different from other boys I had known. At first glance, he wasn't my usual type- he was just a few inches taller than me and quite lanky but his boyish face was simply adorable and his sweetness melted my heart a bit. But none of that mattered- we weren't in a relationship and we weren't going to be.

It might seem cavalier to even think about your romantic potential with someone when the outside world was so horrendous,And to be honest it was. But some part of me felt deserving of this blissful distraction and although pointless and temporary, at least the idea of a relationship filled my head with an rare amount of positivity.

I was distracted with thoughts while he spoke about something that I was tuning out.

"Do you like me?" I blurted out

He looked and me with wide eyes and craned his neck out like what I asked was so shocking.

"I- do I what- do you mean." He mumbled.

"Don't make me ask again." I laughed and squinted my eyes.

He looked down and blushed with his embarrassed smile that so graciously revealed his dimples and smile lines.

"Do you like me or are you just obnoxiously nice?" I said as we both let out an unruly amount of nervous giggles.

He gasped "Am I obnoxious?"

"Drew!" I yelled and smacked his arm. We interacted as if we were friends who had known each other for years. Instead we were what felt like the 'last two people on earth'. The more I thought about the fact that the only other person here was Drew, made a convincing case for fate.

"Okaaaaay I like you. A lot. I mean I basically had a crush on you the second I saw you." He didn't make eye contact with me while he made his admission.

To my dismay, my stomach erupted
with butterflies. I had a feeling about all of this the whole time, but thinking someone likes you is way different than hearing them say they like you. Especially if you might- kinda- sorta like them back.

All I could do was smile in response.

"Wow that was hard to say sober."

"But way more satisfying for me because now I know it's true." I smirked.

"Oh satisfying? " He mimicked. "Does that mean someone might possibly like me... back?" He raised his brows and insisted I answer.

Instead, I leaned forward, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Drew wasn't the kind of guy to make the first move. But lucky for him, I was the girl who would. However I think the gesture pleasantly surprised him as he more- than- willingly kissed me back like he'd been waiting to forever.

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