Trace of Innocence | Sweet and Sour (Book 4)

Chapter 89

(No Control | Holding Me Ransom - 89 - Take You To The Start) 

Grimmy gives me a gentle thump on the back as I lick my lips nervously and press them together. Waiting for Jess to walk into the room feels like an eternity. My heart is pounding so hard, I can actually hear the blood whooshing through my ears. Ellie is sitting on the arm of the sofa in the same place as last time and she catches my eye and grins, giving a discreet thumbs up. I smile back nervously, my eyes darting towards the door waiting for Jess to walk in. 

I see Callie first. She has entered the room in front of Jess, just like last time. She catches my eye and gives me a small smile and a nod. I return both gestures and then wait for Jess to appear behind her, a couple of inches shorter, and blonde to Callie's dark. My breath catches in my throat as I catch sight of her. She looks breathtaking, and oh my God, she's wearing the Fuck Me dress. Her hair is curled around her shoulders and I'm pretty sure that's the bracelet I bought her for her birthday twinkling on her wrist. She's looking directly at Ellie Goulding with a mixed expression of realisation and emotion. Ellie turns to look at me, beaming, and Jess follows her gaze, her eyes locking with mine. She looks ready to burst with emotion. I feel exactly the same.

"Hi," I greet her, resisting the urge to ruin the moment by adding fancy seeing you here. 

"Hi," she replies, her voice wavering and her bottom lip twitching a couple of times. 

I'm suddenly lost for words, feeling like I should explain all of this but understanding that I don't need to because she gets it, she understands. She knows exactly what I have done. 

"I thought you were in Holmes Chapel," she says after a moment, her eyes never leaving mine. 

"And I thought you didn't want to do anything in particular tonight," I smirk, my heart pounding a little harder.

"I didn't think you'd remembered," she mumbles, and I step towards her so she will hear my reply. 

"You didn't think I remembered the day I met the love of my life?"

Her lip is definitely trembling now. 

"You said... You said you were at your mum's for the weekend?"

"I know," I murmur. "I had to say that to stop you planning a big surprise for me. I wanted to do this for you, to make everything right."

Her brow twists in confusion. "But... How did you know I was planning something? What do you mean, make everything right?"

I pull her towards me, taking her in my arms and moving her out of the way of a couple of Grimmy's friends squeezing past us on their way to the kitchen. "Callie tipped me off. She knew what I was planning, and she didn't want you to get carried away planning something of your own," I tell her. "So she told me you wanted to surprise me, and planted the idea with you that I might be busy. So I told you I was. It wasn't a complete lie - I did go up to see Mum on Thursday, but I did that because I needed to be back in London today, and I needed to celebrate Mothers Day with her early."

Her eyes widen as this sinks in and she glances around the room at everyone around us who are chatting away and taking no notice of us. 

"So all this..?" She trails off and I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, turning her face back towards me. Now is the time to explain. 

"Remember you said you wanted to start again? To wipe the slate clean; to erase the bad memories?" (She nods.) "Well, obviously we can never completely erase the past, and this last year has proved to be the most eventful one of my life, but for all the right reasons." I pause, taking a breath before I speak as I want to phrase this right. "I would relive the heartache ten times over, just for the happy times we had. I can't turn the clock back, or change what happened, but this is the nearest I could get. I wanted to bring you back here, to where it all began, and start us again. Leave the mistakes and the bad memories in the past where they belong and move forward with the happy ones, starting with the best one of all: the moment I first saw you, from across the room. Because... well, I could tell that you were curious."