“He really said that he was sending her to a public high school?” Something akin to awe laced my voice, and I laughed loudly when Ally nodded vigorously as she sat between my legs with an assignment in her hand. “That’s great. I never thought I’d hear that. What happened after? Before you texted me, I mean.”

“I went and told Kelly, like, immediately. It was so surreal. I’m still in shock about the whole thing. And the thing is, Cassandra didn’t seem all that scared or surprised. I think she thought she could get out of it, but her dad- I got the sense that he’s hard to anger. I don’t think she realizes how bad a storm she created.” Scribbling elegantly with a red pen, Ally talked as she worked, and I rubbed her shoulders gently. Listening to her talk about what happened earlier in the day gave me a sense of something I never had before. The sensation was warm, fluid, and indescribable, but if I had to try, I only had one word.

Happiness.

This was a different happiness than getting what I wanted for Christmas as a kid or splurging a little on an experience I wanted to have.

This was the happiness of having a woman in my life that completed me in every way. Not many people were destined to experience this, I knew, and I was beyond grateful I could.

Rubbing Ally’s shoulders as she set the paper in the ‘done’ pile to her right, I snapped out of my daydream to lick my lips. My mind was in a fog, and I blinked hard before her voice filtered through my eardrums.

“I love you.” Blinking hard, I stiffened at that, and my heart nearly stopped beating. Under my tense hands, Ally wiggled her shoulders, and she glanced over my knuckles with a small frown.

“What did you say?” A lump lodged in my throat, and I had to force my question to squeeze past it. Coming out a strangled gasp, I furrowed my brows and tried to get those three words off my mind as Ally opened her mouth.

“I said ‘I’m done now’? What did you think I said? You look ready to throw up or pass out- or both…” My heart did stop at that, and I leaned back while Ally twisted to face me fully. Concern painted her expression, and I ground my teeth together as I debated lying or not. Dropping my gaze, I let out a hot breath before opening my mouth.

“I thought… you said that you loved me.” Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I felt like a teenager fumbling over my first glimpse of the popular, perfect girl at school. “I don’t know why. I’m sorry- just forget I said anything.”

“Uh- I mean- I- I… accept your apology?” Confusion and embarrassment tickled my ears, riding Ally’s high voice, and I pursed my lips into a thin line. When I couldn’t take the quiet anymore, I looked up, and she still stared at me with wide, bright eyes and a frozen expression.

I just fucked it all up.

“I’ll go.” Untangling myself from her, I hauled myself halfway off the couch before she grabbed the waistline of my pants and yanked. Falling backwards, I grunted when my ankle hit the coffee table, and the world spun for a few dizzying seconds. Before I even had a chance to get my bearings, Ally was on top of me. She liked to sit on me; it was an intimate position, a comforting position, and I’d never gotten aroused from it alone.

“No- Roark… we need to talk about this.” Conviction threaded Ally’s declaration, and I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. “Are you going to play dead or say something?”

“What do you want me to say, Ally? That I’ve been trying to stave off this feeling that I could marry you tomorrow and be perfectly, blissfully happy for the rest of my life because I promised we’d take it slow? I don’t want to go home because I get the urge to pack you up and take you with me? That I have so much fun with you that I don’t find you sexually attractive until I get hit with this overwhelming need for you that I can’t fulfill?” Self-depreciative desperation leaked into my tone, and I scoffed lightly- as if I hadn’t just thrust myself deep into a radioactive zone. “I can’t stop thinking about the future, and you’re always there. Two hours from now- two days from now- two years from now…”

“Roark…” Clamping my hand over Ally’s mouth to staunch whatever she was going to say, I opened my eyes and lifted my head to stare into her incredibly wide eyes.

“I can never shake this feeling that where ever I am, you’re supposed to be there with me, Ally. And when I’m not with you, I wonder how I can function properly. You don’t understand how much this fucking sucks. I- I can’t take this anymore. It’s driving me insane. I mean, I just heard you say something you didn’t even say, for Christ’s sake…” Carefully releasing Ally’s lips, I caressed the soft flesh with my thumb even as a hollow chuckle bubbled up my tight throat. “I know what I said, Ally- but I can’t keep that promise.”

“Tha- that’s a lot to take in, Roark…” Sinking into my lap heavily, Ally picked at her fingernails as I dropped my head to stare at the ceiling. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted to crawl into a hole and wallow in my own misery; that simple fact wasn’t impressive at all, but it made it increasingly hard to breathe. “I don’t even know what to say…”

“So much for talking about it.” Scorn dripped from my tongue like acid, and I struggled to take a shallow breath before continuing. “I was stupid to tell you.”

“No- no… I’m glad you told me, Roark… I just-… I feel the same way, but it’s… scary, honestly.” Ally’s confession was a shock to my heart, forcing it to beat hard and fast as the bone-deep cold slithering through my veins began to warm. Holding my breath, my chest tightened when she pressed her palm there to anchor her nails in my shirt. “You make me feel like I’m 17 again, but I’m… I’m terrified it’ll be a train wreck like most teenage relationships.”

Sluggishly covering her hand with my own, I forced a deep breath into my lungs, and Ally’s fingers curled into a fist under my own. For what felt like minutes we sat in silence, basking in what had been revealed during this conversation. My body stabilized by the time I opened my mouth, and I licked my chapped lips heavily before speaking up.

“Do you believe in soul mates?” The question sounded so stupid to my ears, I nearly cringed, and I silently cursed Sam for his crappy words of wisdom.

“Yes?” Maybe not so bad words after all. Wrapping my arms around Ally at her tiny, singular admission, I pulled her to my chest to close my eyes and relish this moment. She came easily, her hands slithering over my shoulders to grip the top of the futon mattress. Releasing a sigh, a hundred pounds lifted from me, and I managed to do something I hadn’t done in a long time.

Well and truly relax.

As with all perfect moments, ours was over too soon, and I groaned softly in annoyance when a phone chimed out a ringtone. Even my foggy mind registered that it wasn’t my cell phone, and Ally shuffled atop me to fling her arm out across the couch.

“Hello?” There was a smile in her voice; I heard it clear as day, and my lips curved to accompany the affection that swelled to crowd my heart. Whatever she heard, she must not have liked it, and Ally shot up with shock coloring her features. Her eyes darted around, and I held her hips as she frowned deeply.

“How did you get this number, Riley? I told you never to contact me again after you stole all of my shit to support your girlfriend’s drug habit.” My eyes widened at that, and Ally’s face became pinched as incoherent, muffled words tickled my ears. “Why would they call you about that?”

“… Well, thanks for telling me- but if you ever call me again, I’m gonna find you and that won’t be pretty.” The conversation spanned mere seconds before Ally hung up abruptly, and I furrowed my brows in a silent question as she huffed. “My brother- youngest brother- Riley. I guess he went to see Matt, and Matt told him that his parole hearing has a set date. I didn’t know it would be so fast…”

“Prisons are crowded and underfunded, Ally. There was no possible way your brother was going to serve his full sentence. So, why did Riley call you? Why not Matt?” Truthfully, I was just as surprised as Ally was that her brother already had a parole hearing. Then again, he’s in for a misdemeanor. He’s not required to carry a gun permit, but he does have to have it. If it wasn’t already in the system, he would’ve gone down for a felony.

“I don’t know…”