Tessa

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GRADUATION. KIND OF stunned I made it through my college education in one piece, considering the final year it’s been. The ceremony was bittersweet, knowing Aunt Edi wasn’t in the crowd, cheering me on. But so many others showed up to take her place. More than I expected to. Meredith and Miriam both came, Miriam with her whole family in tow. Drea was with me, of course, but Scott and her parents showed an equal enthusiasm for the both of us as we each received our diplomas.

Lane and I argued for days whether he should come or not, given it would mean blatantly exposing the relationship we have and the likelihood it started sometime around our student teacher beginnings. In the end, I always knew my efforts would be futile. He was going to be there. And he was going to cheer me on louder than anyone else in the room. What I didn’t know, was that he’d bring his sister, Alexis and her husband, and that both of them would shower me with so much love and support, I couldn’t help but feel like maybe someday I could call them family as well.

Family.

Riley showed. She sat alone in the very back, until Lane spotted her and dragged her over to sit with him. She and I are getting better, slowly but surely. We’re even talking about having her move in next year, so she can finish high school and start getting serious about college without our mother trying to sabotage her at every turn.

We’re having dinner at the Rose Garden to celebrate this monumental moment for Drea and me. It’s not romantic or fantasy-like, but it still feels a lot like a fairy tale coming into its happy ending as I stand here, waiting for everyone to have a seat at our massive table, taking in all the love coming together for me and my best friend today.

“She’d be so proud of you,” Meredith whispers in my ear, one arm wrapped around my side, her head tipped against mine in the closest thing we’ve ever shared to a hug. “Everything she ever wanted for you, is sitting right here, at this table.” She squeezes me one last time before she lets go. “You created this from nothing, Tessa. If that doesn’t prove you can create anything you want with this life, I don’t know what does.”

Blinking back tears, it’s all I can do to mouth the words ‘thank you’ and nod as she backs away to find her seat beside Miriam.

Dinner is a loud and fabulous affair and by the time the evening winds down, I’m confident for the future in a way I don’t remember ever being before.

“Guess we’re officially grownups now,” Drea says with a painful sigh as we stand together outside our front doors, the only two left to call it a night.

“I think we can manage it.” I wink at her and make her grin.

“But, like...how different do you think it will be?” she asks, a scheming flash in her eyes as though she’s contemplating a way to buck the system, avoid becoming a fully committed adult somehow. Shouldn’t be too hard, all things considered.

“Well, we both enrolled to go back next year to get our masters, so, not all that different Drea,” I point out, laughing. Sure, Scott is making the official move into the apartment, which sounds like a big deal but really isn’t. And, I’m giving up my time at the Basement to write my first big piece on this photographer I know. But, come fall, I have a feeling we’ll still be having that same ‘first week of classes don’t count’ conversation we do every year.

“Feels weird, standing out here,” Drea mumbles.

“Because we’re acting like it’s some big goodbye when really one of us will be busting in on the other again before so much as twenty-four hours has passed,” I tease.

“Speaking of, here’s the new key,” she says, reaching into her pocket to retrieve a small silver key chain.

“What’s wrong with my old key?” I ask, studying the new set she just handed me. I guess Lane gets one too now.

“Doesn’t work since Scott switched the locks. Something about him moving in, new beginnings and new rules. I don’t know, I was only half listening,” she rattles on, her eyes half rolling into her skull, because in what world was changing the locks ever going to put an end to the open-door policy we’ve had for years now?!

“Huh, well, I’m going to pretend the new locks were in the interest of saving me from ever having to view his naked ass again and not some lame attempt at creating boundaries.”

Drea snorts. “Boundaries. Like we would know what to do with those.”

We laugh quietly until the last of it dies down to a soft hum of contentment buzzing through us. It’s been a full year. The kind that makes you giddy just thinking about the future.

“Drea.”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for being the sort of friend who gets drunk and parades around in her prom dress at three in the morning.”

Her lips purse and her eyes flash with delight as she attempts to suppress her amusement. “Don’t recall ever being thanked for that before.”

“Well, just think. If I hadn’t been distracted with dragging your drunken Cinderella ass up the stairs that night, I wouldn’t have walked in at the exact moment Lane was standing naked in the middle of my apartment. Instead, I might never have seen him until the next morning. Or he would have found me while I was passed out in my bed. Cops could have been called. I could have been arrested. It all could have gone so very differently.”

She grins. “Timing is everything.”

“On that note, I’m going to go inside.” I wiggle my brows. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and catch another showing.”

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LANE

“Lane!” she shouts my name for the third time. I can hear her wander from room to room inside our apartment, searching for me to no avail. How she still has not found me, baffles me somewhat. I made coffee and took two giant cups of it outside with me. I left the door open. The scent alone should have worked as a summons of sorts.

She sounds like she’s about to yell my name again when I spot Dick slinking his way through the curtains to meet me on the other side. At least one of them has realized the sliding glass doors to the balcony are open.

“You seriously didn’t hear me?” she huffs, having finally followed the cat out. She stares me down while I keep swaying back and forth in the hammock, my eyelids dreamily drifting up and down with the motion just to aggravate her more.

“I did hear you,” I confirm. “I liked it.”

“Excuse me?”

“You, saying my name. Over, and over again. It was nice.” I grin. It’s just too easy.

“You’re a jackass.”

“But?”

“No, that’s it. You’re just a jackass.” She slides down beside me, causing the hammock to take a turbulent swing before settling back down.

I shrug, reaching one arm around her and curling her toward me. “I can live with that.”

She flicks at my jaw when she catches me closing my eyes again. “Hey! No, sleeping. I wasn’t just calling out for you for the pure joy of having your name dance over my tongue.”

“Speaking of dancing tongues and pure joy.”

“Not making out with you right now,” she says dryly.

I sigh. “You’ll change your mind. Just give it a minute.”

Tess bites her bottom lip, trying to keep hidden any signs she finds me amusing even in the least. We both know she does. In the most possible way. “Lane.”

“So nice,” I hum, lids drooping shut.

“You paid me rent again.”

“Also, very nice.”

She lifts herself onto my chest and begins to tap the tip of my nose repeatedly with her finger until she annoys me to the point I have no choice but to open my eyes and pay attention to her. I don’t mind. To be perfectly honest, she has my attention every second of every day. She just doesn’t have to be aware of it all the time.

“Your lease ended two months ago. How are we even still having this argument?”

I smirk. “Because it’s fun.”

“How’s that exactly?”

“Well, I pay you rent. You get all huffy about it, insist I take it back. Then, I get all snarky and refuse to. Eventually, we agree on a truce. I’ll take the money back but only if I get to take you out somewhere. Then we go out, and because you want to stick it to me for annoying you earlier, you pick some place extravagant or crazy or out of the country, places that wind up turning a simple date into amazing adventures, places you would never choose if I just said, hey, let’s go to dinner.”

She moves to roll off of me and get out of the hammock, but I snag her to me tighter before she even puts so much as an inch between us.

“I don’t like you right now,” she mutters.

“Liar.”

“Fine. But I’m still not making out with you.”

I lift my head up to be even with hers, gliding my hand tenderly over the soft skin of her arm, over her shoulder until it curls around the nape of her neck. “You’re the worst liar ever,” I utter under my breath, drawing her to me until her mouth is hovering torturously over mine.

“Lane?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Dinner cruise.”

“Done.” My mouth has barely formed the word when it’s crushing hers, and she sinks deeper into mine, both of us reveling in the sheer bliss of this moment without worrying or wondering about the moments to follow. Because she knows now. We both do. It’s safe to have faith in what we’ve found here. It’s real. And it’s going to last. And there will always be another kiss. Another touch. Another ‘I love you’ to follow the last. Because the best part of falling, is doing it over and over and over again.

And so we do.

Every day.

As often as we can.