Fly With Me | ✓

42

"You said it, not me."

She did, didn't she?

"I don't want to talk about this, it's your day."

"I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

You recognize those are two different things, right?

Shut up, Maverick. Shut up, Everleigh.

"Leigh. You don't have to do this."

Everleigh finished with the buttons on Florence's dress and crossed her arms. "I'm here for you. You've got me, I've got you."

"Are you sure?"

"You've already put makeup on my face, gel in my hair, and I'm wearing a dress."

"You're wearing a romper."

"Close enough."

"Not really." Florence turned to look at her and Everleigh saw herself staring back.

She'd never really understood what people meant when they said she and her sister looked alike. Florence was older than her and it never made sense that they would look alike, they were different people despite the DNA they shared. To her, she'd always looked like her father and Florence had always looked like their mother.

But right then? With worry creasing her face, the slightest hint of exhaustion staring back at her? Every late night study session had made Everleigh the spitting image of her sister. Somewhere, that meant something.

"Today's going to be a great day," Everleigh said, forcing a smile that she hoped didn't look as faked as it felt. "You've been planning this for a while. And it's finally happening. And you're going to marry that idiot you somehow love—"

"Leigh—"

"Okay, fine, maybe we all enjoy his presence sometimes or whatever," Everleigh adjusted, "but you're marrying the guy who you've loved for ages. That's important. You don't have to worry about anything else."

Florence hugged her. Tightly. "I love you, Leigh."

"I love you too, Flo."

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure."

"Did you actually get that thing tailored? It looks loose."

God fucking damn it. Everleigh was hoping no one would notice. She'd managed to get a romper instead of a dress, in the exact colour Florence had wanted her bridesmaids to wear. Maverick had seen her without her shirt on a few too many times for two people who weren't talking about important things, but he'd placed a few too many kisses along her ribcage for it to have been a coincidence.

"I forgot," Everleigh lied, "I'm sorry."

Florence hugged her a little tighter. "It's okay."

*

"I knew I loved you when you told me to not be a wanker while you tried to teach me the ideas behind neural communication in psychology one," Roman said. "You laughed and told me if I didn't stop messing up, you were going to give up and leave the library. The first session, and every session that followed. I think about the third time you came to help me study was when you realized I was acing the class, but that didn't stop you from tutoring me for the entire semester. I fell in love with you over late night study sessions that led to early morning breakfasts at 24-hour diners and I've fallen more in love with you every day since. Loving you is easy, it always has been. But it's always been an honour to have your love in return as well. People always say that school romances never last and rewriting that hypothesis with you is one of our greatest achievements. Thank you for being the first person I want to talk to in the morning and the last person I want to talk to at night. Thank you for being the greatest mother our daughter and for always being there when either of us need a shoulder to cry on. Thank you to your wonderful family for always treating me like one of their own. Thank you for being the best Trivial Pursuit partner, even if we always come in second. Thank you for loving me on good days, bad days, and all the days in between. I promise to love you as long as we live, and I can't wait until our greatest adventure yet: marriage. 'Cause, baby, we're the new romantics."