The Upside of Falling Back To You

chapter twenty eight | valentine's day

nine years ago; february 2021, grade 11

OF COURSE, it's not long before Ronan and I get back together. I'm sure the entire school population is tired of us by now.

It's not that we make our relationship everyone else's business - it's that everyone else wants to stick their nose in our lives, since they don't really have anything else to do. I'm sure there's a line of girls waiting for me to finally give Ronan up so they can swoop in and steal his heart. But it's going to be a while until that day comes.

We make up about two month into school. Our first biology test and project ends up being a partnered one, and Ronan and I had marks close enough to be put together for both. It wasn't long before study sessions turned to make-out sessions, and everything felt right again.

The list still made me uneasy, but Ronan (and the rest of the guys) continued to explain that they truly had no part in the list. They overheard it being made, but if anything, they tried to get the ranking to stop.

And, you know, Ronan beating up Drake and being suspended for a week after said a lot. I know his father wasn't too happy about that - I saw the bruises to prove that.

It was smooth sailing since then - Christmas with our families went uninterrupted, and our parents once again exploded on with our New Year's kiss. So I wasn't surprised when Ronan showed up on Valentine's day morning, bright and early for a Sunday. He had a bouquet of red roses in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other.

"Why don't you let me sleep in?" I whined, but gladly took the box of chocolates from him. He refused to give me a kiss on the lips because of my breath but I couldn't complain about that. I opened the chocolates and pop one in my mouth.

"Ronan!" Mom exclaimed his name when she saw him at the door. "You're here early, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No, I haven't actually." I grab the flowers from him and hand them to Mom, asking her to put it in a vase. "I woke up early this morning and got too excited for today, so I just came here."

"Excited?" I repeated. "Excited for what?"

"Well, last year wasn't, um, ideal to say the least-" I bite my lip as we both remember our awkward partial fallout from only a year before. "So, I planned out a few things for us to do today. I hope you aren't too busy."

I crossed my arms. "You're lucky I expected you to have something up your sleeve for today, I finished all my homework yesterday. So does this plan of yours start before or after breakfast?"

"Well, I do smell chocolate chip pancakes, so..." Ronan looked to my mother.

She laughed. "You can, of course, stay for breakfast. Asteria, you probably want to head upstairs to freshen up and get ready. Ronan, make yourself comfortable."

We part ways. I don't think I've ever gotten ready for a day so quickly, but I manage to get all the knots out of my hair and choose a comfortable (but cute!) outfit in less than twenty minutes.

Ronan's sitting at the dining table, scrolling through his phone when I sit down beside him. Mom's still in the kitchen preparing breakfast. I take the opportunity to lean closer to Ronan and ask: "What's going on at home?"

He put down his phone and begins to rub his wrist. He glances at my mother before replying. "Woke up to them arguing. I don't think Dad actually came home last night and Mom got really pissed."

That's all he could say before it seemed like a stampede made their way down the stairs. The first one down was Cas, who excitedly rushed to the table. He gives Ronan a fist bump and then begins to pester Mom. Behind him was a groggy Griffin, who saluted Ronan a good morning before heading into the living room where he usually watched cartoons with Cas on Sunday mornings. Dad's the last one down, with another box of chocolates in hand and another small box.