Settling Down [KJ Apa]

Chapter Twenty Three

I walk up to the door and a wave of nerves surges through my body. I'm not quite nervous, but I know this could backfire so badly. I ring the bell next to the door and hear footsteps approach the door. I smile when Tessa opens the door with a huge smile on her face.

"Georgia!" She exclaims as she opens her arms for me to hug her, "It's so nice to see you. It's been so long."

"I know. I should've come by sooner." 

I reciprocate her bear hug, but I do look over her shoulder into the house.

"Is Keneti home?" I ask her when I let go of her.

"Yeah, he's in the back with his dad. Do you want to go to the back or do I need to get him?"

I take a deep breath in and out, "I'll come out to the back with you."

She smiles and leads me through the hallway to the open plan kitchen. She opens the sash window and announces, "Guess who decided to come over."

She steps to the side, giving me complete view of the back garden. Keneti and his dad are in the back at the barbecue; Keneti is looking like a deer caught in some headlights, not knowing what to make of all of it. But before I can call out to him to talk, I'm picked up by Timena and twirled around.

"It's been months, babe! My god. Way too long." She practically screams in my ear. 

She puts me down and I almost lose my balance, but I'm held up by two strong hands.

"Hey." I simply say when I look up at him.

"Hey, George." He greets me back, "What are you doing here?"

I look past him to see his family eyeing both us expectantly.

"Can we go talk inside?" I whisper and he nods.

He takes my hand and leads me back inside. He stops in front of the sofa, letting go of my hand as he is still frowning.

I take a few steps towards the sofa, but I don't sit down though; I'm too fidgety.

"What's going on, George?" He now asks and I know he's right behind me.

I turn around and look up at him. He looks worried as if I'm here to ruin everything again. I hope I'm not doing that.

"I told you I loved you."

His eyes grow wide as he takes a small step back. His mouth opens and closes a few times while no sound comes out.

"I remembered it after you left and I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact you didn't tell me when I asked you if I said anything important. So, I came here to clear things up."

He looks down and I know he is thinking about the worst case scenario possible right now. 

"I didn't tell you because you were drunk that night. You've always said things in the past you didn't mean while you were drunk." He tells me and I frown. 

"Like when?"

He takes a deep breath and grabs my hands, pulling me to sit down on the sofa. He keeps my hands in his and I can feel them clamp up. Why is he so nervous? It's just me.

"It was the night before we started hooking up. Ever." He begins and I'm immediately pulled back to that night, "We'd been drinking and playing Truth or Dare with the others, and at some point they asked you a question.--"

"Who's your crush?" I interrupt him, "That's what they asked me. And I said you."

"You remember?"

I huff jokingly, "Eventually. My mind gets behind with cocktails."

"Anyways, Aury then dared me to kiss you and we did. Man, that kiss. That really did it for me. We ended up sleeping in the same bed that night, but nothing happened. And we talked about it the next day, coming up with the whole deal. But we also talked about that question and you told me you didn't remember and you just told them you had a crush on me because that was the easy answer."

"Keneti..." I sigh, a weight dropped off my shoulders, "I was stupid. I had a huge crush on you back then. I was scared you didn't feel the same."

I let go of his right hand and reach up to his cheek with my left hand. He leans in the moment I touch his skin, closing his eyes in the moment. I smile, as this is the only confirmation I need to what I have to say next. 

"First of all, I am 100% sober." 

He rolls his eyes at me. 

"Okay, 99% sober. Blame the flight attendants. Those small bottles are devious." I now roll my eyes at him, "What I'm trying to say, you can trust my word."

He looks down again and I search his eyes. Once we finally lock eyes, I'm able to smile at him. Not only because I know he'll be so happy with what I'm about to tell him, but because there are tears rolling down his cheeks. I push some away with my left hand.

"I love you, Keneti." I finally tell him, "So, so much. I have been in love with you ever since we spent that night watching the stars for the first time. I've loved you even when I wasn't with you. I wasn't even scared to come here, because I was going home. Keneti, you are my home. So, let's figure this out, because this is it, Keneti. You are the love of my life. I can't wait any longer for the rest of my life to begin."

He cracks a smile, "You really rehearsed that bit, huh?"

I laugh, "You're an asshole."

He lets go of my hand and makes sure both my hands are out of his way. He grabs my face in his hands and pulls me closer, until our lips almost touch.

"I love you too, George." He whispers.

He leans in completely, pressing his lips onto mine. Even though we've kissed so many times before, I finally feel everything I'm supposed to from kissing your soulmate. I've read about it so much, all the while it was right in front of me. I smile against his lips and he pulls away. His carefree laughter that follows, is warm and full of love, the love I know I deserve.