Page 64 of Discord
“She said you were a dingus, but you always come to your senses.”
A smile touched his eyes before turning serious. “Mia, if you change your mind again… I have no leverage—”
I swallowed. “You don’t need leverage.”
“Oh, yeah? I thought no one came above Milo.” The words sounded menacing though it was laced with panic and dread. Fear over losing me, I realized.
“There is one person. If you haven’t figured that out by now, then you are a dingus.” My heart was at my throat, tears prickling. There were too many emotions, and I felt unprepared for them all.
“So?”
I frowned. “What?”
His eyes moved over my face, filled with dark satisfaction. “So, is it embarrassing for you to be this obsessed with me?”
One lone tear fell down my cheek. “I guess you’re okay.”
He wiped the tear away with his thumb. “And you’re not going to change your mind?”
I shook my head. “If you agree to one thing, I’ll never change my mind.”
“What?” His voice was hoarse.
“We have to hide our relationship for a little longer while I attend Yale.” Yes, I was almost eighteen, and I knew Brandon had plans of charging ahead once I hit the milestone. But it was imperative that I experience life on my own. I had something to prove, especially if our relationship might be called into question in the future. I knew Brandon wouldn’t want to put a pause on our relationship. To be honest, I didn’t want to, either. So, I hoped we could compromise. “I know you loathe sneaking around and long distance isn’t ideal—”
His lips were on mine before I could finish the sentence. Fireworks exploded in my chest, blood heating with every swipe of his tongue.
“Done,” he whispered against my lips. “I’ll give you everything you want, Bunny.”
My chest felt heavy with relief as the emotions boggled me down. I breathed against his lips, “That’s good to know because I fucking love you, too.”
Mia
My first semesterat Yale was a cakewalk since I only took a few online courses while pursuing other interests.
For my second semester, I moved to Connecticut and started attending Yale as a full-time student. The first month was overwhelming. Everyone was brilliant, and I could barely keep my head above water. But eventually, I got the hang of it.
As for Brandon, he drove up every weekend to visit me. We’d say our goodbyes on Sunday nights and itch for our reunion the following Friday. The days in between were tough.
Whenever something exciting happened, my first instinct was to climb onto his lap and tell him all about it. Then I’d look around to realize he was approximately one hundred miles in the opposite direction. It made my heart heavy, tugging and suffocating it. Everything sucked without him by my side.
Everyone claimed long-distance relationships never worked. Eventually, couples argued and fought. Got jealous. There was validity to the point, and we were privy to it all.
However, we were also more madly in love than before.
Patience wasn’t a virtue either of us possessed, and it had become the true testament of our relationship. Fed up with the distance, Brandon pressed the topic of a permanent move. He suggested it’d be best if we get married. The shock blindsided me the first time he brought it up.
I turned to pace Brandon’s living room before realizing I shouldn’t be surprised.Brandon preferred done deals.
“It’s a little bigger of a celebration than I had hoped for my eighteenth birthday. How about we go to Disneyland instead?” I suggested.
His eyes were unfathomable, determined.
“Why do you want to get married anyways? Because you need a guarantee?”
“No. Because I can’t live without you.” Brandon casually folded the newspaper he was lazily perusing.
No passive-aggressiveness. No hidden meanings. No hesitation in his voice. Not a tremor. Just plain honesty.
