Smooth Sailing ✓ [Republishing]

27 | coconut and macadamia

Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.

-Lord Byron-
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This chapter has depressing elements to it, so I'm very very sorry if it feels triggering to anyone.

I'm also on a roll with updates at the moment :) the book is almost finished! I'm going to be so upset writing the epilogue :(

[20.07.25] this chapter has been slightly rewritten to make more sense (and make me cringe less lol).

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- L I L A -

Perspiration gathered at my temples, my hair swaying in its high ponytail as Matthew placed the weights down at his feet. Unbeknownst to him, I was practically salivating at how appealing he looked.

His leg muscles tensed, and his biceps strained against his tight, black shirt. Over the last three weeks, Matthew's arm had healed nicely, the only reminders of the accident being the scars he received.

His dark hair, recently cut, stuck to his forehead, and as he drank from his water bottle, his Adam's apple bobbed. I had to stop myself from admiring him. Taking the friendship thing seriously, I backed away from Matthew and tried to keep physical touch to a minimum.

He was recovering from the accident well, which was more than I could say for Greg.

He truly was suffering the most since Yasmine had cut him off completely, and Matthew had stopped speaking to him. All of his friends, somehow, acted indifferently to him since because he was the one behind the wheel, the blame was placed solely on him.

Katherine and Angus decided to sue for the heightened medical expenses, and the cost Matthew had to pay; losing his sight completely. Unlike everybody else, I checked in on Greg from time to time, and he wasn't coping well with his community service.

"Lila?" Matthew spoke into the air, his grey eyes searching for me in the room.

"Yeah." I had no problem refocusing on him as my fingers itched to push through his soft hair.

"I asked if you wanted to go," he continued, pulling his white cane to its normal length. "I'm done with the weights; are you done with yours?"

Nodding silently, I stepped towards him and brought him into a hug that he didn't expect. He laughed, wrapping his arms around me before pulling back. I rubbed my arm and stared up at him with starry eyes. "I'm sorry. I just really wanted to hug you."

"Hey," Matthew grinned, revealing his pearly white teeth. "I'm not going to object to your hugs."

Wiping away a stray strand of hair from my face, I smiled softly and paused to gather my phone and earphones. Matthew had his white cane with him, the end knocking into my foot once I took a miscalculated step to the right.

Silence roamed between us, and I halted when I noticed Matthew's bag in the corner of the room. He followed in my pursuit and stopped walking once I retreated further into the room to retrieve his bag.

When I reached for it, I noticed a silver jewellery box at the top of his things. I picked it up to look at it better and saw the letters 'L' and 'R' were engraved on it. My initials. I figured it must have been a gift. The butterflies swarmed my stomach and I glanced back at him almost in a trance before I realised I was taking too long.