Always There

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Chapter Eighty-Eight:

Lexi's POV

Vanessa tugs me out of the kitchen and down the hallway, her grip on my hand firm, not bothering to tell me what she wants to talk about.

I guess she doesn't really have to tell me, though. I'm already entirely certain as of to what it is.

I wait until we get far enough away from the kitchen for Bryce and Mateo to be unable to hear us before I let out a girly squeal and pull her into a fierce hug.

"Oh. My. God! Nessa! I'm so freaking happy for you!" I exclaim, hugging her even tighter.

She hugs me back just as hard, letting out a little squeal of her own. "Thank you! I'm so freaking happy too!"

This makes us both burst out into a fit of giggles as we pull away from our hug. Vanessa instantly begins to bounce up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement, which just makes me giggle even harder.

God, it's nice to have a friend like this.

I never anticipated finding a new close friend during my summer break, but I'm so very thankful. There's just something about Vanessa that makes me feel as though we'll probably be friends for a very, very, very long time, and that makes me happy beyond words.

She almost feels like the sister that I never had while growing up.

This thought makes me beam at her. "So? I need all the details! I seriously want to know everything."

Vanessa beams back at me, briefly taking my hands in hers. She squeezes gently before saying, "Oh, Lexi. It was so incredible. I'm so in love with him. He's the kindest, most compassionate person I know. And he loves me back! I can't believe it. Yesterday was just so very wonderful.

I clap my hands together in delight. "Yay! You deserve this. All of it. And of course he loves you! Didn't I tell you that last night?"

Vanessa sticks her tongue out at me, which just makes us both dissolve into giggles once again.

I'm able to catch my breath and compose myself first, and so I ask Vanessa, "How did it all go down? I wasn't kidding when I said that I want all of the details."

Vanessa lets out a dreamy sigh, and her eyes flutter shut as though she's recalling memories from last night. I watch as she takes few moments to ponder her thoughts before she opens her eyes and lets out another content sigh.

"Well, after we all came inside and went to bed last night, I went up to the room I'm staying in and—" Vanessa cuts herself off when she looks at my face.

My confusion must be evident. I just didn't think her and Mateo would be staying in separate rooms.

"You haven't been sleeping in Mateo's room?" I ask her, genuinely curious.

She shakes her head at me. "No. Since we hadn't really defined our relationship or talked about our true feelings yet, we decided it would be best for us to sleep in separate rooms for now. Not to mention that last night was actually only the second time that we've shared a bed."

I tilt my head to the side. "What was the first time?"

Vanessa blushes the slightest bit. "It wasn't anything romantic or intimate. We only did it out of convenience. We had had a Marvel movie marathon all day, and we lost track of time. It was super late by the time we finished the last movie, and so we figured it would just be best if Matt stayed the night at my parents' place. He offered to sleep on the couch, but I just thought that would be unfair and so we ended up sleeping in my bed together."