Book 1: Echoes Of The Past

Chapter 18 - **Shannon's POV**

Ivy was lying lazily in my arms, still in my bed. She had drifted off to sleep, but I was still wide awake trying to figure out if I was dreaming all of this.

I looked down at her in my arms and felt my heart flutter. This is what I had wanted for so long. Not the sex; yeah, I mean that had been incredible, better than anything I had ever imagined with her, and I had thought about it a lot I'll admit. But her. I just wanted her.

There was nothing more that I wanted, than just her and me. Fuck everything and everyone. I wanted to call her mine. Yes, I guess that sounded a little possessive, but it was more that I wanted to show the whole world the girl who stole my heart, right back to when she was in Middle School and I was in High School.

The blonde whirlwind who came stomping through her front door in a strop because she had been forced to stand in for 'Juliet' in the school play and had told me to 'fuck off' because I was standing in the way of the refrigerator.

She had no idea how jealous I was of the kid who was getting to play Romeo opposite her in the play; I wanted to be her Romeo.

I had accidently walked in on her in the bathroom at her house kissing an apple, and questioned her about what the fuck she was even doing. She was mortified and had turned redder than the apple I'd caught her making-out with, until it clicked with me that she was practicing for 'that kiss' in the play 'Romeo and Juliet', after which, in my true dickhead fashion, I'd just stood there and laughed at her.

I'd laughed even harder when she got so enraged at me, she'd started to cry. I didn't realise that she had never kissed anyone at that stage and that she was freaking out badly at now having to kiss this Jesse kid who was playing Romeo; I would have killed to be her first kiss, her first everything.

I knew I was fucked, seriously fucked from the first moment I set eyes on her and again, that's why I was such a dick to her for so many years.

It had broken my heart when I'd walked past her bedroom one time, when I'd been round their house to hang out with Bryce and heard her sobbing. I casually asked him what was wrong with her and he'd just shrugged and said something about how the guy who was meant to be taking her to the school dance had bailed on her and it hurt me even more to find out the reason behind it.

Apparently, it had been a sick joke, a bet that the guy had made with some friends that he could get her to say 'yes' to going with him, but that when it had come down to it; as time grew closer, he couldn't go through with it.

I'd wanted to punch his fucking lights out for doing that to her. If I had, the guy would probably be in a wheelchair now, so it was probably for the best that I hadn't found out who he was to have done that to him.

I knew we hadn't really talked about things this evening and that us having sex hadn't resolved any issues or worries she may still be having, but right now, I didn't care. I just wanted to stay in this moment for as long as I could.

She was mumbling and muttering whilst she napped. It was the most adorable thing. She looked so peaceful. Her full lashes grazed her cheeks and fluttered slightly as she dreamt.

I lay there just watching her as the memories of the morning swirled around in my head. How did I go from not seeing her for 10 years, filming our video and then ending up in bed with her?

Then I started to worry that I may have royally fucked things up between us, now that we had slept together. What if I'd scared her off now? I knew I shouldn't have gone there, but she seemed to have wanted this as much as me.

I was taken from my thoughts by my phone going from somewhere in my room. God knows where it was in amongst the menagerie of clothing that now littered my bedroom floor. I was tired, and just wanted to go for a nap with Ivy. It had been a very long day.