Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen

           

-Liv's POV-

            I felt like I was glowing as I watched Mikey disappear, leaving the room with a little skip. For a moment I simply lied there, basking in the glory and beauty of young love. I wasn't quite sure if we would last forever, but I would be lucky if we did. He was both a lover and a best friend, and I couldn't ask for much more than that.

            It was as that word – best friend – flickered across my mind that I remembered the envelope that Andy had given me before we'd left. I'd spent all of my time so completely consumed by Mikey and sightseeing and the brief panic attack that I had at the airport that it had slipped out of my mind entirely.

            I tumbled out of bed and over to my bag. I shuffled through the items in it before declaring the effort useless and turning it upside down, dumping its contents onto the crumpled up bed sheets. At the top of the pile rested the white envelope with my name written so carefully across it. I held it, wondering what it had hidden inside of it before I gently set it to the side while I cleaned up the mess that I had made.

            I tried to tear it open carefully, but the paper ripped anyways, resulting in a jagged crack across the back of it. I grimaced, but there was no undoing it now. What really mattered was what was inside, not what hid it.

            I pulled out a folded up square of paper. Ink stains from the other side showed through – A letter. I unfolded it slowly, and another thin slip fell out as I did. I picked it up, gasping when I saw what it was- A check. And not just any old check – One for £9k. I looked around the room, half wondering if this was some sort of prank. How did Andy get this sort of money? When? And why was he giving it to me?

            Once I'd fought through the initial shock, I figured that the letter probably contained the answers that I was looking for. With shaking hands, I flattened out the creases, taking my time with it, as I was no longer certain whether or not I was ready to find out what it would reveal. Still, Mikey would be coming back any minute now, so I took a deep breath and began to read.

Dear Liv,

            Can you keep a secret?

I can, and I have for quite a while now. Remember how we used to have sleepovers every Friday night? We would watch movies, and your mum would make us popcorn, and we'd usually fall asleep on the couch together, missing the ending every time. Sometimes, I feel like you don't remember any of the moments from our childhood, but I do. I do, because one of those nights, right before we conked out, I realized that I was in love with you. I still am. It feels like I always have been. But you can't help who you love, I know that. I wasn't going to tell you, because I know you have Mikey, but with everything that's happened, I figured you should know: I love you with everything I have in me, Olivia. I can't imagine feeling this way about anyone else, but If you want me to – If you don't feel the same way, and you're sure you never will – Then I will try. I would do anything for you, and that includes letting you go. Just...please don't leave me. I don't want a life without you in it, and I mean that. I don't want this to make things too awkward between us. I just...couldn't keep it inside anymore. I hope you understand. Please call me once you read this.

Yours, forever and always,

Andy

P.S. The money is for you to go to university. I know how much you've always wanted to go, and how upsetting it was when you found out you couldn't afford it. You deserve to have the chance to chase your dreams. x

            I slowly lowered the letter, feeling my head pulse. Within a matter of minutes, a page of words had changed my world, and everything in it. Almost numbly, I reached for my phone, which had been resting on the bedside table. I speed dialed the first contact listed, the one that I had called more times than I could count. All of the phone calls, the FaceTimes, the text messages – I had never known. It rang three times before the line was picked up.

            "Andy?"