Page 932 of One More Kiss

“Just be patient with her. When she runs, she really goes,” Daniel shot back.

Luca went on. “Not that you would know this or anything, I mean, I am just your best friend, but I do a lot of car restoration, and if you wanted help rebuilding—”

“Will you shut up already?” Daniel shot out, and we all laughed.

Vee piped in, “What I don’t get is why anyone in their right mind would trade a fucking Mercedes for this heap of junk.”

Daniel turned around and glared at her. “Watch it. She can hear you. She isn’t going to start if you talk badly about her.”

We were sitting in Daniel’s new Jeep, though new wasn’t really the word for it. It was a custom ’99 with three rows, so it wasn’t new, but it was new to him. Luca and Addison were in the third row, Vee and Brendon sat in the middle, and Daniel and I were up front.

I grinned over at him, watching as he tried for the third time to turn the engine over. It coughed like a chain-smoker before finally catching. We all cheered.

“Where are we going again?” Brendon asked.

Vee leaned into Brandon. “Somewhere with beer, I hope.”

“And shots,” Addison chimed in.

Vee turned around. “Ooh yes, shots!”

“Okay, so if we all get plastered, who’s driving?” Luca asked over the girls talking.

“Me. I’m going to be sober for a hot minute.”

I reached over and put my hand on his leg. It had been three months since that day on the cliff, and he was doing amazing. We both were. Just like I’d asked, he’d found a therapist. It wasn’t a psychiatrist, but he said he actually preferred that. When he kicked drinking, he also said he wanted to kick the meds.

We had also decided that the campus could use a student-run group. Not just for grief but for anyone needing a space to be heard. A way to connect. And, of course, it only made sense that we connected students through music. Playlists, obviously. That way, anyone could add music anytime, and we could all mesh through it, whether we were together or not.

Daniel winked, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

“Bro, eyes on the road!” Luca called from the back seat.

“That kid is seriously annoying,” Daniel said. “Maybe we should call him an Uber to take him home.”

“It’d be much safer,” Luca shouted.

I just laughed. Since everything that had happened, Nate had moved out. Whether it had anything to do with Daniel being more transparent, I don’t know. But I couldn’t say it hurt my feelings. With Daniel rediscovering himself, there were relationships that grew stronger and others that became toxic. Nate was part of the latter.

Luca was a true friend to him, who loved every part of Daniel. And Vee eventually warmed up, too. She and Brendon—hottie from the club—had been a thing for a while now. He was quiet, head over heels for her in his own angry-at-the-world sort of way, and still looked just like Damon Salvatore.

We made our way into Rockslide and headed straight for the bar. Addison ordered a round of shots and beer chasers, but I declined. I hadn’t completely stopped drinking, but there were some moments I felt I needed to support Daniel, and this was one of them.

When the drinks arrived. Luca held him in the air. “Hold ‘em up!”

I help up my water. “What are we toasting?”

“How about…” Addison looked around, tapping her finger against her mouth.

“Weird friends,” Brendon cut in, and Vee smacked him on the chest playfully, making him laugh for what I think may have been the first time in his entire life.

“How about real friends?” I asked.

“I like it.” Daniel winked at me. “But since I can’t drink with you guys, I’m going to toast to this in my own way.”

We watched as he pulled out his phone. Then he started playing a song. It was “Carry on” by Fun.

“Well, that needs to go on our playlist,” I said.

He put his arm around me. “Done and done.” He smiled and brought his lips to mine.

I think that was the best part of everything that had happened with Daniel. He wasn’t hiding anymore. Good days and bad, he was transparent with the people who loved him. And trust me, there would always be bad days. No fairytales there. We were fire one day and ice the next, but we always lay down in the evening, tangled up in each other, and had vowed on that cliff never to let go.

Anxiety and depression have a way of making you see the world through dirty windows. And no matter how hard we try to clean them, they still look messed up. But that was what hope was. Believing in the calm despite the storm. That the sun would rise again, no matter how black the night was. It was one day at a time. And sometimes, one minute at a time. But that was okay. As long as you kept going.

The End

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