Hey all,
Sorry it's been such a while. I've been mentally finished with this story for a while now and ready for the next one so it's been difficult to sit down and properly give this story the ending it deserves. It's always tough to appreciate your first work especially when it's so cringy and it makes it hard to want to continue to put effort into something you've outgrown. However, I feel I have still been able to bring Lily and Liam full circle in the quickest way possible that I feel still is authentic to their story. Thanks for all your patience and dedication to this first piece, I really appreciate those of you who have taken the time to read the mixed up, embarrassing, cringy, fairytale story that popped into my head one day. Just knowing somebody out there is reading something I've written is enough to encourage me to continue working and improving. Anyway, enough rambling for one day. Please enjoy the final installment of Stardust and Smiles.
All the love,
L✨
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Hours later I'm in the kitchen helping Elaine get dinner ready, stomach filled with a nervous excitement. It feels good knowing that in a couple hours, there'll be no more secrets between us. Everything will be out in the open, for better or worse. But my gut tells me she'll understand-they both will.
I toss the veggies I've finished slicing in a pan and enjoy the crackling sizzle of their protest as the smokey haze fills the tiny cabin kitchen.
"Be right back!" Elaine calls as she wipes her hands on a towel hanging by the sink and runs towards the bathroom down the hall. I shake my head, laughing and stirring the veggies around absentmindedly in the pan, enjoying the symphony of noises and smells.
Footsteps pad down the stairs behind me and before I know it, strong arms circle my waist from behind. I laugh and his deep voice shushes me.
"How much longer until we don't have to hide?" The pout in his voice sounds adorable.
I twist myself around to face him.
"Just one dinner." He frowns like a child and I smile.
"I don't know if I can wait that long." He whines and kisses me quickly before I can respond. I push him away, shaking my head, the smile still stuck on my lips.
"We owe them that much, babe." A goofy grin lights up his face at the word "babe". I roll my eyes. "Now, shoo, El's gonna be out of the bathroom in a few seconds." He pokes me in the side teasingly and I squirm, hitting him playfully as he exits the kitchen right as the bathroom door swings back open and Elaine comes bouncing back in.
We finish cooking as Archer eventually joins Liam at the table, all of us laughing and joking around as us girls cook. Every now and again Liam sends me a stupid little wink and I shoot him a faux annoyed look to which he just smiles widely like a little boy who was just told he can have all the candy he wants. It takes some work to hide my laugh.
It's the best dinner the four of us have had in a long time. We talk and laugh and it's just like when we were kids. That's the magic of the cabin, I guess.
"There's more, right?" Archer asks through a mouthful of eggs. Elaine and I exchange a look and she replies.
"After more than a decade of there never being enough food for you I think we've figured out by now that we need to at least triple a recipe so there's enough for you."
Everyone laughs except Archer, who just frowns and swallows.
"Just make with the food." He complains.
Soon, Archer's eaten enough to feed a small army and the rest of us have finished with a reasonable amount for an average adult human. We stay at the table as Elaine brings up a new topic.
"So, you two-" she gestures to Liam and I and my stomach dips in panic, "both had drama this weekend. I think I speak for Archer too when I say no more outsiders in the cabin!" She laughs and Archer nods vigorously in agreement. Liam and I exchange a look but agree.
"But seriously, you guys gonna be okay?" It takes all my willpower not to look at Liam.
He answers for both of us.
"Oh, I don't think you'll ever have to ask me that question again." I can hear the smirk in his voice and I stare at my hands nervously.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Archer asks, licking his fingers in an attempt to get every last crumb cleared.
"Yeah, Liam, what's that supposed to mean?" I challenge him, giving him a warning look. Unfortunately, Elaine catches me.
YOU ARE READING
Stardust & Smiles ✅
Romantikus♥️"If this isn't love then I don't think I'll ever fall."♥️ Lily is a young adult with a few disastrous secrets. First, her dark past and the accompanying anxiety formed from the trauma of her past relationship she can't seem to forget, no matter h...
