I stared at this wild, stubborn, hysterical girl lying mud-soaked and shaking on Taylor’s back lawn, and all I could think of was how much I wanted to kiss her. 

But I was too busy shaking my head. “You were saving me? Baby, I think the exact opposite happened.”

She didn’t seem to notice the endearment. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. “Gabe, you can’t do this. I don’t care if you don’t love me anymore. You can’t go back.”

My heart stalled. “How’d you find out about the show?”

She tilted her head to the side. “The show? No, I’m talking about the pills. The drugs. You can’t go back to that. You’re better now!”

I was falling. Head over heels and tumbling right back in love with her. If I was honest with myself, I’d never not been in love with her. I’d only been too chickenshit to deal with what that meant for us both. “Baby, no.” I pulled my shaking, shivering, soaking wet girl into my arms. “I’m not on pills again. I’m not.”

“Rachel said that—at this party—”

“There were some people scoring here. But I wasn’t one of them.” I pressed my lips against her forehead. “Was that really why you decided to wade into a creek during a flood warning? To knock the pills right out of my hands?” My heart was so big it crowded my chest. 

“I was going to try and reason with you first, at least,” she protested, burying her face into my chest. 

“God, I love you so much,” I sighed. 

Her face tilted to mine and I covered her mouth and kissed her with all of my love. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back the way only Everly could. “I love you too,” she sighed against my mouth. “Clearly.” I felt her smile. “I wish I could see you right now.”

“We’re getting really good at kissing in the dark.” 

She hummed, a little noise of remembrance, and pulled back from me. “But why did you break up with me? I’m sorry I freaked out about Noelle. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. That was me. I see that. It was my own insecurity and I put it on you. But then—” She gulped back a sob. “You let me go so easily.”

“That was me,” I said quickly. “My insecurity.” I held my breath and let it out again in a rush. It was time for the truth. She deserved it after wading into a flood to make sure I was safe. She deserved it after taking a risk like that for me. “I was breaking up with you then so you couldn’t break up with me now.”

“Why would I break up with you?”

“Because I was about to leave to start filming King of Pain again.”

“When?” I couldn’t see her face, but I could hear the horror in her voice.

I was the biggest piece of shit on the planet. “Tomorrow.”

“What the fuck? Gabe! Are you seriously going back to doing that daredevil shit?”

“That daredevil shit helped drag you out of a creek just now,” I pointed out. “But who are you yelling? You went charging off into a flood to save me instead of, oh, I dunno, calling my brother or your housemate and asking them if I was okay.” I grinned like a fool. God, I loved her so much. “Which one of us is the real daredevil?”

“But Gabe…tomorrow?”

I kissed her.

I kissed her slow enough and long enough that the rain started to lighten. When I finally pulled back, it was with new clarity. “I won’t go,” I declared. 

“Of course you will,” she said. “But not tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Can you give me ’til I re-take my boards?”

“Everly?” Hope thudded in my chest. 

“If you’re gonna risk yourself like that, you’re gonna need a nurse. I’ll come with you once I have my license.” 

I felt so light I could float away. I was higher than I’d ever been before. “Seriously, baby? You can do whatever you want as long as you say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” she said, pressing her hand to my heart. She smiled against my lips.  “Glad you finally noticed,” she said, and kissed me again.