Our Life Together

Chapter Thirty Two

I gently knock on the doors to the library Flynn was working in today. As pointless as it is to wait for him to come out, I stand there until he pushes the door open and sticks out his confused face.

"Hi, Celia. Can I help you with something?" he asks. I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to tell myself that this is the right decision. He needs to know the truth.

"Hey, um, I was wondering if you could take a break," I say hesitantly in a voice just above a whisper. I fold my arms across my chest as he steps the rest of the way out and nods.

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?" he asks. I almost nod my head to make him think it is okay but then I stop myself since I know we aren't okay.

"I think it will be after we talk," I reply. He raises his eyebrows and steps out of the room. I begin to walk towards the stairs and he follows behind me.

"Where are we going?" he asks as we reach the stairs that seem much steeper than usual.

"It is my special place," I say behind me. He nods and follows me to the third level where our bedroom is and then to the staircase to the fourth floor. As we pass through the halls they seem much darker and empty than they normally are.

When we reach the door to my special room, Flynn raises his eyebrows. "Where are we?" he asks. I open the door and motion for him to go inside.

"This is my special part of the palace. When my brother and I were little, my parents decided it would be good for us each to have our own private place where we could just be ourselves," I say. I follow him into the room. While he takes in the instruments and furniture, I walk over to the bay window and sit down.

"Are you sure I should be up here?" he asks. I nod and nod my head towards the stack up pastel colored pillows. He walks over and hesitantly sits down on them.

"Um, I have been keeping a secret from you," I say. His eyebrows knot together.

"It isn't anything about you being in love with your brother or something really creepy is it?" he asks. I smile and shake my head.

"No, I think I would have told you that by now," I say. He nods and brings his hand over to rest on my knee that I have pulled up to my chest.

"Celia, whatever it is, you can tell me," he says. I nod and take a deep breath before putting it out there.

"Coen kissed me," I quickly blurt out. Flynn's eyebrows join together like he doesn't understand but then they slowly separate as he realizes what I just admitted.

The words seem to hang like an invisible weight in the air, crushing us both. It almost choked me to let it out. I figured it would cause that feeling to go away once it was out there but now it only seems to make the feeling worse.

"When did it happen?" he asks. His eyes don't meet mine. Instead, they are looking outside at the garden below.

"The same day that you called," I whisper. His eyes still don't meet mine. I can tell just from being able to see part of them the disappointment in them.

"Did you kiss him or did he kiss you?" he asks, watching one of the stable hands lead a horse out of the stable.

"He kissed me," I reply. He nods but that is the only response he gives. Instead, it is on the stable hand who is now getting on the horse to ride it so it will get some exercise.

"Flynn, will you say something?" I ask. He turns back to me and although he is looking into my eyes, it seems as though he is staring more into my soul.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks. I shrug.

"I don't know. I just thought it was a good idea if you didn't know," I reply. He shakes his head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he roars in a much louder tone. It almost causes me to flinch since I am used to his gentle, kinder tones.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I figured you would upset at me and. . . I don't know," I say. He stands up and puts his hands behind his head like athletes do after a taxing run.

"Celia, I wouldn't have mad at you. It wasn't your fault that my brother kissed you," he says. I shake my head.

"But you're still upset with me," I offer. He nods.

"I am upset with you, Celia. . . But only because you kept this a secret," he says before walking off towards the door. He closes it with a loud thud that causes me to jump and I instinctively jump up to follow behind him.

Okay, guys... Cliffhanger! Not to spoil anything but everything goes down hill after this... OH, if only you all knew. Please comment and vote!

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass wrote The Selection. It was I, a measly 8th grader, who wrote this.