The promise. [Short Chapters]

Chapter TwentyTwo.

When I awoke from a deep slumber half-naked next to a boy with a head of curly bedhead for the second time in five months, I was significantly less panicked than the first time it happened, if you want to hear a massive understatement. There was no ignoring of a hangover headache to scramble out from underneath the sheets and tug my clothes back on (well, there was no hangover to begin with), and there was no thought of,"Oh God, who is this and why are we naked?". There was just a smiling stretch, a yawn, and a snuggle to further cozy myself into the warm, loving arms of the boy next to me.

I briefly wondered what Ella was going to say when I emerged from the room later that morning. No doubt a rousing speech about how she always knew I had it in me, maybe a little victory song and dance, something weird to make it more embarrassing for her than for me. I wondered if she already knew, what with our impeccable sense of best friend telepathy, in which case, Max probably knew and would join in on her victory dance. They always did care more about my virginity than I did.

Yeah, yeah, you heard me. Lola's been deflowered, call in the cavalry or something. But it wasn't so much that fact that I cared about. Sure, I was pleased to finally have, as Ella put it, swapped Pokemon cards with someone, but it was more the who than the what that really got me.

The body wrapped around mine stirred so the face was visible before settling once more, making it possible for me to further admire the boy. Previously straightened hair now fell curly over his big eyes, covered by sleepy eyelids and long, dark lashes. His lips were curled into a smile, like he was having a good dream, and my mind wandered to that fact. Maybe he was dreaming about me, evening out the countless times I'd dreamt about him, even before this whole thing started. If only I'd listened to my mind back then.

The thought got my mind wandering back to the beginning of the school year, back before the drama and the beauty and everything in between. I was always so down on myself, never sure about anything except that I was worthless and irrelevant. But now, looking at the boy to my side, I was feeling different. I had him, Ella, Max, and Ryan; nobody with friends that wonderful could be so worthless.

It had been another few minutes of basking in the morning sun peeking through the curtains before I felt the boy next to me stir once more, but this time, he was actually awake. I watched as his deep blue eyes eased open until they focused on me, while the rest of his features curled into a smile.

"Morning, lovely," Josh uttered softly. I felt one of his hands tangle loosely into my hair as he placed a small peck on my lips. "You feelin' okay?"

I simply nodded in response. I wasn't sure how he did it, but just the simple kiss had rendered me speechless. I crept my arms around his waist so my hands met, one on top of another, on the small of his back, and he did the same to me, but with his hands on my hips.

"So little words for the girl who usually talks so much," he chuckled, squeezing my hips lightly to get a chuckle out of me.

"Shut up," I giggled, removing one hand from his back to smack him in the chest. I intended to bring the hand back to its resting place, but my slap was as good as a decree of war to Josh. His hands slid from my hips up to my sides, fingers digging into the pale skin as he tickled me, causing me to wriggle and kick and scratch at him. He continued this until I finally got the bright idea to bite him, sink my teeth right into his left forearm until he squealed his forfeit.

"Cannibal," he chuckled to himself as we collapsed back onto my pillows once more. He laced his fingers with mine, but not before giving my right forefinger the slightest nibble. We were both giggling as I sat up and stretched before sitting right on his hips, my legs straddling his body. Josh raised a quizzical eyebrow, but returned his hands to my hips all the same. We were staring at each other for the longest time before I spoke.

"You're cute when you sleep," I noted, tapping his bare stomach with my palms and ignoring the bra strap that was slipping down my shoulder.

"You're cute when you exist," Josh shot back expertly, and he let his fingers slip under the fallen strap to slide it back up to its rightful place over my collarbone. We stared at one another again, but we couldn't hold straight faces this time. For some unknown reason, the pair of us just started laughing all over the place until Josh's voice cut the noise. "Food time. I'm hungry."

"You always are," I insisted as I removed myself from his lap, pulling a robe on over my bra and knickers while Josh threw a t-shirt on with his boxers. He approached me, right arm out to connect his fingers with mine, and we strolled out of the room, down the hallway, and into the common room, where, as expected, a pair of cheeky smiles met us.

"Fun night?" Max's suggestive tone was only aided by the stretched grin on his face and the obvious laugh he was holding back. Ella hit him in the shoulder, but she was laughing all the same. She leaped up from the sofa and threw her arms around me in a warm, friendly hug while Max affectionately clapped Josh on the back.

"Aw, look at their smiles, Maxxie! How'd you deny this for so long?" Ella teased as she and Max immediately wrapped their arms around one another.

"Yeah, Maxxie," Josh teased right back, giving Max a playful smack across the face, "how could you?"

Max swatted at his hand lamely. "I'm never gonna live down The Promise, am I?"

"Give it some time, y'know-- a few months, maybe years, decades," I joked as I tugged on Josh's hand so we could continue on our way to the dining hall before Adolf Price found something to get pissed at us for. We wandered downstairs where we met Ryan at his usual place in the dining hall, raving about the girl he'd taken to the ball, whilst inhaling all the food in his reach. The five of us fell into lighthearted conversation and I found myself happier than I'd been in the longest time.

Something about that cold Sunday morning sort or revived my faith in humankind. Because yeah, maybe I had a shitty family life and a stupid name, hair that never did what I wanted it to, and a past love life that was nothing to be proud of, but that didn't change the fact that there were four people around me who somehow still thought the sun shone out of my behind and a boyfriend who turned my romantic history around. So who cares if I was seventeen and awkward and from a family comprised of crazy hippies and/or posh arseholes? I had my own dysfunctional family right under my nose the whole time, complete with our own drama and dumb promises, and I couldn't ask for anything better.

"Lola," I heard Josh's voice say softly, his elbow gently colliding with my side to break me out of my blissful daze. He rested his chin on my shoulder as the other three at our table continued talking. The both of us cracked a smile before our foreheads touched, followed by our noses, and finally our lips. After a brief kiss, his chin was right back on my shoulder, lips curled into a calm grin as he whispered, "I love you. Promise or not, I've always loved you."

And I guess, when it comes down to it, no matter how cliché it sounds, some Promise's were meant to be broken.

FINALLY COMPLETED! HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE STORY, SO IT TOOK A WHILE TO ACTUALLY WRITE HAHA, BUT ITS NOW FINISHED AND I HAVE A GREEN TICK, YAY. :-D