Darcy and her father return back to their old stomping grounds of New York City. With her, Darcy brings habits of being reclusive. She is perfectly content spending most of her time within the walls of her father's café and sees nothing wrong with t...
Although reminders of her and Gray were scattered all around our home, I knew very few stories, and I yearned to learn more. If not to fuel the imaginative part of me that dreams of a universe that stitched the past and present to make one happy reality, I would feel more connected to Papa. I hated knowing there was such a huge part of him that I don't know and haven't known for years. More than once have their names teetered on the tip of my tongue recently. But with Papa and Aunt Suzie having a matching hole in their heart, I have years of learning to not let curiosity kill the cat.
The thought of Suzie reminded me of the message she sent to me late last night. I opened my phone to my messages and scrolled until I found her conversation thread.
Suzie:Hi, Darcy. Forgot to tell you I sent you a package a little while ago. Call me when it reaches you. Don't let your father see it – it's just between the two of us girls.
I sent an enthusiastic message in reply, but the last sentence made me feel anything but. What could Suzie have sent that Papa couldn't see? Surely it wasn't an early birthday present – not with their type of relationship. The tension between Papa and Suzie was yet another mystery from history, another thing for me to piece together eventually.
A knock at the door startled me from my thoughts and a glance at the clock told me Chris was right on time, just like he always was. I hurried to the door but froze with my hand atop the doorknob and my heart attempting a jail break through my chest.
"Relax, Darce, relax," I whispered, fanning my burning cheeks as if trying to blow out a candle flame with my hands.
Everything that's happened in the past couple days shuttered through my mind like a flipbook, leading to this exact moment. Since our time on the rooftop, the shift from Darcy + Chris = best friends to Darcy + Chris = best friends and something more has been our little secret. We've kept to our own little world for a while, and now it was time to step into the real world together as we are. But as I opened the door and embraced the swell in my chest at the sight of him in his favorite black hoodie and a smile that showed through his entire posture, I was struck with the finality of it all.
I wanted to love and be loved by him – openly, freely, and completely.
As if the universe knew what had to be done, the door to London's apartment flung open and out came the woman herself, just in time to see Chris's lips only mere centimeters to mine.
Both her backpack and her jaw dropped to the floor.
"Oh. My. Go–" I shut the door before London's scream could reach Papa's sleeping ears.
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The gang's reaction wasn't any more different than London's this morning: hilarious yet mortifying. I just about full body tackled Marissa into being quiet as she began to scream while jumping in place. Bryson and Cooper – in turn – had tackled Chris into a celebration group huddle of back slaps and hair ruffling while Philip stood with a grin, nodding and saying, "It's about time."
