He went upstairs to his room and stopped for a moment at Beth’s open doorway. Her back was to him, and he could hear her breathing deeply through her mouth. As he turned to leave, though, he heard her voice. “Nick?”
He looked back as she rolled over and looked up at him with those pained, sad green eyes, and almost said something back, but he just shook his head and walked into his room. Then he stripped to his boxers and crawled into bed.
After tossing and turning for a long time, he looked over at the clock to see that over an hour had passed. Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed and down the stairs into the living room. She was sitting on the sofa, reading her book. How had she managed to get downstairs without him hearing?
“I didn’t mean to wake you up. Sorry,” she said softly.
“No, you didn’t wake me up. I just couldn’t fall asleep,” he replied.
“I’m really sorry, Nick,” she whispered hesitantly. “I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. I don’t know why I thought that was right, but I did.”
He sat down next to her. “I just can’t believe that the one person who I thought always told me everything would keep something this important from me.”
“For some reason, I always tell you everything but the important stuff.”
There was a moment of thought for both of them, and then Nick spoke. “What did you mean when you said she was satisfied with seeing you hurting so bad? I thought you got along.”
Beth snickered bitterly. “We didn’t get along from day one. When you brought my stuff upstairs the first day, she threatened me and said that if I laid a finger on you, I was dead. She used some harsh expletives, too. Whenever you weren’t around after that, she made a point to rub it in my face that you were hers and I could never have you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have stopped her!”
“Because I wanted you to be happy.”
“I wouldn’t wanna be happy with a girl who was such a bitch, especially to you, my best friend.”
“I wasn’t going to interfere with your relationship.”
“Did she do anything else to you?”
“She only reminded me she was prettier than I am all the time.”
Nick raised his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you really thinks she’s prettier than you, Lizzy.”
Beth laughed. “Prettier than I am? The bitch looks exactly like Barbie! Then there’s me.”
“I would choose you over her any day, looks-wise, and personality-wise, too, even before I knew what she was really like.”
“Oh, come on. You honestly think I look better?”
“You’re perfect.” He walked over and sat next to her on the sofa, putting his arm around her. “You’re absolutely…breathtaking.”
Her cheeks were burning, and she smiled slightly and looked down at her hands. “Thanks.”
He paused for a few minutes. “Do you remember the first time I kissed you?”
“Of course I do. It was the night we had to babysit for Liss.” She started singing the song from The Little Mermaid with Sebastian’s Jamaican accent, her voice barely above a whisper. “Now’s the moment…floating in a blue lagoon…boy you better do it soon…no time would be better…she don’t say a word and she won’t say a word until you…kiss the girl.”
Just like the first time, Nick placed a finger on her cheek and tilted her head to face him. Then he kissed her with more passion than he’d ever felt in his life. “I love you, Lizzy.”
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
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