Page 27 of The Forever After Bet

I close my eyes, remembering the anguish on Ford’s face that night. The tears running down his cheeks. I’d never seen him cry. It was horrifying.

Somewhere in the back of the house, a door opens and closes. I glance at Mrs. Evans, who gives me another smile and pats my knee again.

“Gigi! I’m here. What was so urgent you needed me to come over? Do I smell cookies?”

I jump out of my seat. I glance around the room, looking for the nearest exit. There’s a back sliding door, but the patio’s covered in snow. I stare at Gigi wide-eyed. “What did you do?” I whisper.

“What I should’ve done two and a half weeks ago,” she says, giving me a sad smile.

Ford strides into the family room. He’s freshly showered. He probably came straight from basketball practice. When he sees me standing next to Gigi, his smile disappears. “What’s going on?” he asks, looking from me to his grandma.

My heart feels like a crazed animal clawing at my chest to escape. I feel dizzy, and my head spins. I reach out for the sofa, and half sit, half fall back onto it.

“Hannah!” Ford exclaims, running up to me.

When I open my eyes, Ford is only inches from me. His forehead is scrunched with worry. I reach out, my hand touching his cheek, letting my fingers glide whisper light along his jaw. The concern on his face disappears, and his eyes flutter close. “Hannah,” he whispers.

I’ve dreamed about getting back together for the last nineteen days. At night, when I’m lying in bed and can’t sleep, I pick a moment from our time together and relive it. Sometimes I dream of us in the future.

Ford closes his hand over mine. I inhale, trying to catch my breath, trying to tell myself all the reasons we can’t be together yet, but my mind is blank. I let out a ragged sob and then launch myself off the sofa, wrapping my arms around Ford as tight as I can. Ford holds me, fisting his hands in the back of my shirt. We sit on the floor together, crying.

“I’m—so—sorry,” I blurt between sobs. “I love you so much.” I burrow my tear-stained face into his neck, kissing him there.

“Oh God,” Ford sobs, holding me tighter. “I love you too. You mean everything to me, Hannah.”

“You don’t hate me for what I did?”

Ford pushes on my shoulders to look at me, and I reluctantly loosen my hold. He cups his hands around my face, wiping away my tears with his thumbs. “I didn’t understand then, but I do now. We’re not ready to give up our families. I love you for your courage to do such a hard thing. I never, for one second, stopped loving you. You have my whole heart for my whole life. You’re the love of my life.”

Everything I’ve been holding in for the past two weeks finally boils over. “I’ve made a complete mess of everything.”

“No, Baby.” Ford soothes. “You were trying to survive.”

I lay my head against Ford’s chest, trying to calm down and breathe. Ford slips his hand underneath my shirt, rubbing my back, and I relax against him. He takes my hand, sliding it under his shirt, resting it against his chest. I groan, brushing my fingers along the dips and curves of his chest.

“This is heaven,” I breathe. The storm that’s been raging inside me for so long is finally calm.

Ford places little kisses in my hair and along my temple. I close my eyes, and before I know it, I drift off to sleep.

14. Gigi’s Scheme

Hannah’s breathing evens out, and her hand movements slow. She’s fallen asleep. I wipe at my face, but my tears have dried. When I saw Hannah standing next to my grandma, all the hope I had for the two of us rushed into my heart. I could see Hannah’s internal struggle. She didn’t know what to do. All this time, I thought she avoided me because she didn’t want to be with me anymore. She kept telling me to keep my promise, and I thought that meant she didn’t want to be together until after we graduated. I’m not sure where we go from here; but now that I have her in my arms again, I’m not letting go. We have a lot to discuss, but right now, this is exactly where we need to be.

I glide my hand down Hannah’s arm. When I reach her hand, I circle her wrist with my fingers. She’s lost weight. Jack mentioned that she doesn’t eat much. Holding her, I can tell she’s lost a lot of weight in only two weeks. If something doesn’t change fast, she will end up with an eating disorder. I exhale a slow breath. Hopefully, she doesn’t have one already. I carefully pull my phone out of my pocket. My grandparents live on the edge of town, but a couple of places will deliver food out here. One of them is an Italian place called Maxie’s. I use their mobile app and order a large cheese pizza, their fettuccine alfredo, creamy lemon garlic pasta, and breadsticks. It’s enough food for six people, but I don’t care. Hannah and I have a lot to talk about. We can do some of that over dinner.

I can’t describe how it feels to hold her in my arms again. There were moments over the past weeks I thought we’d never get this back.

Jack said that Beth has been oblivious to Hannah’s struggles. She walks around on cloud nine because she thinks everything has returned to normal. Things are far from normal. We can’t go backward in life. It doesn’t work that way.

Gigi peeks her head around the corner.

I smile, shaking my head at her.

“Is she asleep?” She asks.

“Yes,” I whisper.

“Is she going to be all right?”

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