"True love doesn't exist, does it?"
Lizzie Walter has struggled with the belief that love could actually exist. After her parents' failed relationship, Lizzie prefers to stay with her best friend, avoiding making new friends. When she ends up being...
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"Maybe I don't want to live without you."
I pulled Lizzie in close, one of my hands shifting to the back of her head as she slid her arms around my waist. I could feel her shaking, and I squeezed her tighter if possible. This close, I felt her let out a shaky breath as her adrenaline rush started to calm down.
It had been a boring first day at school, passing through classes in a mindless daze as I couldn't help but be mostly looking forward to seeing Lizzie. After our kiss- mind blowing might I add- I had had a ridiculously hard time actually focusing on anything but kissing her again. It was infuriating how distracting it was, to the point where I had to physically leave my phone in another room to avoid texting her at all hours of the day.
Once lunch had finally arrived, I had gotten caught up chatting with a couple of teammates and had stopped by my locker prior to going to the cafeteria, figuring that I was already there and it would save me a trip later.
Instead, all I had found was a clingy Mariah- Melissa that was adamant about trying to touch me. That had ended abruptly when she placed her lipstick covered mouth on mine- it was chalky and gross- and then I heard footsteps moving away down the hallway. At the time, I hadn't known it was Lizzie who happened to be the unfortunate witness to me being covered in caked, or smeared on, lipstick.
The only reason I found out it was Lizzie was from my brief conversation with the fiery redhead. I had known she was protective over Lizzie, but how protective had remained to be seen. That is, until I got a random phone call from her at five in the afternoon on a Monday.
I won't repeat what she said, mainly because I partially blocked it from my memory in order to not freeze in fear from her rather.. creative choice of words. It was enough to have a 6'1" football player like myself feeling like a child who just got caught stealing, from a candy store.
Harper had also pointedly given me the instructions on how to get to Lizzie's little spot in the clearing, more than happily pointing me in the direction of her upset best friend with a pointed threat that if I screwed it up she would come after me. And I had no doubt that she would have help from the other members of our group as well if I screwed it up that badly.
Luckily, it hadn't gone horribly. And now, here I stood with the very girl I had been pining over for the past several weeks in my arms, albeit still shaken from her emotional outburst. Although Lizzie and I had grown closer, she hadn't really opened up much about her feelings on relationships.
Obviously, she was supportive of her best friend's, always watching from the sidelines with a smile. Yet, I had never thought to ask her about her own ideas on relationships. Now, after her little outburst, I had a feeling she didn't think very positively about them. However, after picking her up after her deadbeat dad hit her, I could see where she got the idea that everyone would leave at some point.
It made sense, honestly. Lizzie was a quiet girl, always to the side and almost unnoticeable unless you were looking for her. And always sticking with one person; Harper. Harper who was popular and well-liked, drawing all the attention off of Lizzie and keeping her in the background.
Up until she met Oliver and he introduced her and Harper to our group, I had never really seen Lizzie around. Now, it was all I could do to walk past her in the hallways without calling out or walking beside her even if my classes were on the opposite side of the building.
Shifting backwards, I craned my neck to look down at her, knowing that I would have to be the one to break the semblance of calm we had found. "Lizzie," I murmured, watching as she took a step backwards to distance us, giving me a wary look. I gave her a reassuring smile.
"I-I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to-" I cut off gently.
"Lizzie, I like you. I don't care that you got upset, you had your reasons. And I don't want to pressure you or anything-" Lizzie interrupted me quickly.
"You're not! I do- I do too. I like you," She mumbled the last part and I barely heard it. A happy grin spread across my face. I stepped closer, her taking a small one backwards. Instantly I retreated, giving her a small bit of space. Her hand waved around in the air as she tried to explain, "Sorry, I just- I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing. And- and I don't want to mess this up and for you to leave or-"
"Lizzie," I spoke firmly, "I'm not just going to up and leave one day. I'm not your father, and I have no plans to become him. I know you don't have the best role models for relationships, and I get the internal fear that comes with it. I didn't have that, I had a great set of parents who are so in love with each other sometimes i think they never existed without each other." She gave me a shy nod, shifting towards me and I smiled.
"I know, it's just- I don't- ugh," She stuttered and I laughed softly. Her pale eyes settled on me with a mock glare.
"I get it, you don't have to put it in words right now. Or at all, honestly. I get it," I emphasized, hoping she would understand that even though she was struggling, I was planning on being here for it all. If she would let me, that is. Pulling back, she moved to make eye contact as she frowned.
"I don't think you do, though." She started slowly. I winced slightly, shifting backwards. She tried to backtrack, "I didn't mean it like that! Like, I just, I don't think you understand that I don't come from a family with a picturesque married couple of parents. My parents divorced years ago and the only interaction I've had with my father obviously didn't go well." Lizzie rolled her eyes at the end of her statement before looking back at me. I nodded slowly, trying to understand.
"I'm not saying that you had a picture perfect childhood or anything. You just, had some better role models I guess. I never had that, so I just, don't really get how a healthy relationship is supposed to go..." Lizzie trailed off, shifting from side to side nervously.
I moved to grasp her hand gently. She flinched, before relaxing. "I'm not going to say I get it, because I really don't, but I will say I understand not knowing how this works. To be honest," I chuckled, "I don't really either. But I think we could figure it out?" Lizzie smiled, looking up at me through her eyelashes and I could feel my own heart seemingly skip an impossible beat.
"Okay," She mumbled, her eyes still looking into mine. I smiled, intertwining my fingers with her own, giving her a light squeeze. She squeezed back, tilting her chin upwards. Leaning down, I moved slowly closer as my eyes focused on her pale lips before meeting her eyes once more. She nodded, inching closer to me as her eyes flicked downwards.
Closing the gap, I pressed my lips to hers gently, pressing harder when she reciprocated. It was short and chaste, just enough to cement the feelings before I pulled back, giving her hand another squeeze. Lizzie looked away, her pale face coloring with a blush as she pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
Slipping my phone out of my pocket with the hand not holding Lizzie's, I cringed at the time. Sliding it back into my pocket, I motioned with my head down the trail. "We should probably get back, yeah?" Lizzie nodded, moving to walk down the trail. I followed behind, letting her hand slowly slide from my grasp before she stopped.
Turning to face me, she tilted her head like a puppy. Lizzie reached for my hand, interlocking it with hers before shifting to walk again. I smiled before walking alongside her, us falling into a matching steps side by side. I took a deep breath, giving her hand a squeeze as we walked through the dark forest together.
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Sorry for the shorter chapter and missing last week's update! This book is finally coming to an end with the next chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, or voted, it means so much to me! Have a great week!
