Under the Stars

22. Keeping yourself

chapter 22: Keeping yourself

Mia's POV

*****

I was nervous as I answered Layla's call. I hadn't yet told her about the fact that Theo said that he loved me, mainly because I wanted to talk it out with him first. The thought of telling her scared me, and I didn't know why. I knew that her reaction was going to be an excited one, especially since she seemed to be Mheo's number one fan. Her reaction was not the reason why I was scared, what scared me was the fact that telling Layla made it real. 

Love scared me. I had been around many people who claimed to love each other, but whose relationship seemed to be going down in flames. I did not want to be one of those people. Many say that love lasts forever, and yet it is becoming more and more rare to find a couple who love each other for eternity. 

I liked to think of myself as a strong person, but I was also a sensitive one. I was the kind of person to not take abandonment very well, and that was why I tended not to get too attached to people. Because of so many things that had happened to me in the past, I ended up distancing myself from people who cared about me by time. It took everything in me not to distance myself from Layla and Theo, mainly because I didn't want to. For once in my life I wanted to allow myself to be happy with people I cared about, but that didn't mean that I still wasn't scared. 

A small smile formed on my face as Layla looked at me cheerfully, a big change from the last time I had seen her. As if sensing that something was up with me, she frowned and tilted her head slightly sideways before blinking. 

"What's wrong?" She asked. 

"Nothing's wrong," I replied, not technically lying. 

"Tell me," she pressed, not convincing herself one bit about what I was telling her. 

I sighed, knowing that there was no way I could ever convince her that there was nothing going on. That girl knew me better than I knew myself, in the exact same way I knew her. 

"Please don't freak out," I said, letting out a small sigh in hopes that it would calm down the beating of my heart, which seemed as if it were going to explode. 

I was nervous to tell my boyfriend's twin sister that he said he loved me, especially since I didn't know if Theo even wanted me to tell her. Despite that, Layla was my best friend, and I had to tell her. I couldn't keep it all locked up inside, I knew that I would have gone crazy if I did. Layla had been my go-to person since day one, and telling her, after all, was something which I needed to do. 

"On Monday, Theo called me a bit before class started, and then before he hung up, he said he loved me," I said all in one breath, wanting to get it out as if I were ripping off a band-aid. 

Layla sat there for a moment, her eyes widened and her mouth hanging open slightly. It was evident by the way that she was looking at me that she was not expecting something like that to come out of my mouth. I could not understand what was so unbelievable about Theo telling me that he loved me, and her reaction certainly did nothing to calm my nerves. 

I had been expecting a different number of reactions from Layla, all of which were a possibility, but silence was certainly one which I had not been expecting. The longer we remained in silence, the more anxious I became. 

"He told you he loved you?" She asked, wanting to confirm that she had heard properly. 

"Yeah," I replied with a small nod of the head, fearing what she was going to be saying next.