Page 49 of The Fate Of Us

I felt my heart lodge in my throat. My pulse started dying.Goldie’s soothing tones paused, allowing me to focus on the words plastered on myphone screen, along with a picture of Nate and Amber sliding into a car together.

Here’s the latest from Entertainment NYC; superstars of the acting world, Nate Patricks and Amber Westbrooke, were spotted leaving the set of the up-and-coming movie adaptation ‘Forever’ and Always', where the two are co-stars.

The picture depicts Patricks and Westbrooke sneaking out of the production lot in Lower Manhattan. The next photo shows the famous pair ten minutes later, sliding out of a car and entering one of the East Villages’ more well-known apartment blocks.

Fans lined the doorway, hoping the pair would return shortly after, but there has been no sign of them since.

Could this be a blossoming friendship? Could the movie gods be working their magic and making sparks fly both on and off-screen? Stay tuned for updates!

It was as if a storm had infiltrated the city. The sun wasn’t shining nearly as bright asit had done a second ago, and the colours of the sky had dulled, a boring dusky blue taking its place. Grey clouds bordered my vision, my screen blurring.

The only thing I could see clearly was his smile. The one I could write an entire novelon from memory.

He used to tell me I was the only one with the power to make them appear. Clearly,his smiles also had a taste for southern belles who make a colour their entire personality.

"I really like Nate."

Amber's confession rings in my ear, that whole encounter from the first day of filming replaying in my mind.

I felt my heart ache in a way that it hadn’t since the day he never came back for me.I didn’t understand Nate sometimes. Didn’t understand our relationship. One minute,we’d be silent; the next, he’d notice how I'd shut myself out from the lights and the set, we’d talk about how I was doing with this career that he knew I hated.

And then, as if his memory had been wiped, he’d urge me closer, whisper things thatwouldn't make sense, reminding me that I was childish, when I had no idea what was wrong with us, what I’d supposedly done to make him neverwant to see me again.

I could see the fear in his eyes. He didn’t want to tell me, he wanted me to remember,and I think that my finally understanding why he never showed up that day scares him more than he’ll ever admit.

It means a conversation that is seven years past its due date.

It means dissecting a weird relationship built on lies and silence and secrets.

It means talking without wanting to kiss him.

My eyes hover over the image of him and Amber, absorbing every smile line, everyfleck of light in their eyes, every unspoken word floating between them.

It means nothing.

I’ve tried to reason with him. I’ve tried to find out what went wrong with us. I’ve triedto be his friend. I’ve tried not to let him get the better of me. I’ve tried to tell him that I don’t hate him…

But if all Amber has to do for him to listen is bat her lashes and smile, then what was the point?

We’re over.

I shake my shoulders, straightening my spine to regain the inches of my height I’d lostwhile in my thoughts. Suddenly the blue in the sky was bright again. The sun was warm. Not a fucking cloud in sight.

“Did you see it?” Goldie asks, sight concern in her voice.

I lick away a smile. “Yeah… I did.” Before she can question me about what I thinkabout them, my voice breaks through again. “You know what, Goldie? I think you might be right about the dating thing.”

She gasps. “Really?”

“Yeah… I do.” I delete the article from my phone, and swipe up my contacts. “Andluckily for me, I never deleted Asher’s number.”

Asher ??

Today 17:33 PM

Hey, Asher. It’s Adaline. I really hope you haven’t changedyour number since you were seventeen, but if you have,you won’t receive this anyway.

But if this is you, I have a question for you.

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