By Chance | Complete |

Chapter Seventy Three

Lyra

"Are you happy?" River's soft voice mumbled against my hair.

This past week has been one of the best weeks of my life. It had been full of excitement and new experiences that I was lucky enough to share with River. I was lucky enough that he had brought me to Paris, to Disney in Paris.

He listened to me, he remembered what I spoke about, the stories I had told him. He remembered that I hadn't been able to go with Bridgette so he took me.

Every moment I spent with him made me more and more aware of my feelings. Of how he made me feel.

He made me feel like I was walking on a fucking cloud everyday. Everyday started wasn't met with dread, or a great disappointment. Everyday was new, and brighter.

We had both been incredibly tired when we landed in New York, and to our surprise, his parents were waiting for us at the airport.

Miranda had a warm smile on her face. "How was Paris?"

"Good. Tiring." Slipped his arm around my waist, giving it a squeeze.

"There's takeout at the house." Thomas took our bags from us while Miranda asked about our trip on the way to the car. She was asking far too many questions right now, especially this early after our flight.

It wasn't long before we had crashed in River's massive bed. As nice as the bed was at the hotel, I missed his bed far more than anything.

I missed being home.

"He took you to Paris," Charlotte said blankly as she snapped another shot of the basketball game.

"It was a Valentine's gift."

"Only psycho desirables give someone a trip to Paris." She laughed. "Not that he's psycho."

"Sometimes," I grinned before turning back towards the game. Looking into my camera, I focused the shot on River as he went for a basket with less than a minute left on the clock.

The photo snapped as the balls hit the corner of the backboard, rolling around on the rim before falling into the basket, the crowd erupted with cheers.

"Please tell me you got that."

A grin spread across my lips. "I sure did."

"I love you, I could kiss you right now."

"I don't think that's the best idea. He gets pretty jealous."

"Let's not ruin his winning streak."

The team had been on a five game winning streak to today, meaning that today's game was their sixth win in a row. River had been in a constant state of euphoria.

The things that usually pissed him off didn't seem to bother him. He was on top of his basketball game, he was doing well in school. We were doing incredible. Especially since Paris.

A week alone really proved how he felt. And It made me see how good he was to me. How kind, and gentle he was. He was understanding, and he didn't blame me for what happened.

Although, the little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that things wouldn't last long. He would dump me eventually, just like Lilian said he would.

The problems he didn't know about would come to light soon enough, and I know that that would be the end for us. I couldn't expect him to stay with me when he finds out about my father's abuse, about Lilian's.

River jogged over to me, running his hand through his damp hair. "Hi, Baby." He pecked my lips.

"My basketball star." I wrapped my arms around his neck, he lifted me off the floor, hurrying his face in my neck. "I got your winning shot."