Just for This Year

Bonus Chapter!

"Hi, by the way," Sam tried as he waved lamely towards her back.

Though she knew the two couldn't see it, she rolled her eyes as she marched into the bathroom. "I'm never visiting you guys again."

"She said that last time," she heard her brother remind Ashton.

Her boyfriend hummed in thought. "Last time she just had to put out a fire, though, she might draw the line at mouse in the face."

"That feels fair."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A half an hour long shower of scrubbing her face with every soap in sight along with pizza courtesy of her boyfriend, Lila was feeling a lot better.

College was going better than she had expected it to go. Like anything else, it was an adjustment. But she eventually got the hang of things, and actually preferred it to high school. The structure made more sense to her, she was able to dedicate herself more to certain subjects that she had genuine interest in.

Her roommate, Nori, was the best kind of insane. She seemed a bit nuts when Lila first met her, but in an endearing way where she was sure her roommate would be the type to believe in fairies and forest nymphs. Lila enjoyed her ramblings, finding them to be a nice way to tune out her problems. Lila would let her go on for hours, and she could tell Nori enjoyed it too. She was the kind of person who was refreshing to be around.

Life had just gotten better. Her senior year had certainly gone in a way she didn't expect. She learned a lot about herself, and had to learn to grow with it all. She was proud to say she could see her own growth. That wasn't to say she didn't still have bad days, but she was able to get through them instead of hiding away.

College seemed to be going well for everyone, for the most part. Bumps in the road were inevitable, but everyone had adjusted. It was a surprise to everyone when Ashton and Sam decided to live together. Lila certainly did not see that one coming. Neither felt the need to mention it to her, apparently. She only found out when she went to move them both in and they walked into the same room. She remembered vividly how happy it had made her. She was genuinely so happy they wouldn't be alone.

They would never admit it, but they were each other's best friends— no matter how much they bit each other's heads off.

Charlie arrived some time while she was in the shower. He flew out for a long weekend, deciding to take a day off from classes. He claimed that it was a light day for his schedule, but Lila had a feeling he just really wanted to see Sam. One thing that Lila was proud of the most was her friendship with Charlie. High school was rough for her, and she didn't prioritize her friends the way she wanted to. She understood now how to prioritize both herself and her friends.

The two spoke on the phone at least twice a week to catch up. Whether it be for five minutes or two hours, it didn't matter. He was her best friend, and she was happy things were how they should be again. She never wanted to go back to how it was.

It was the same with Estelle, who had gone to college a couple hours away from their home town. They spoke frequently— not as often as they used to, but that was okay too. Lila's love for her friend never lessened with how much they spoke. That part never mattered in their friendship. They didn't need to talk to each other daily, they never has felt that way.

Lila laid on the couch with her back against an arm rest and her legs draped lazily over Ashton's thighs. He fiddled with her sweatpants as he listened to Charlie talk about his new job on campus. Sam sat with his arm hung on the couch behind Charlie, his fingers drawing mindless shapes into his boyfriend's shoulders. The twins sat and just enjoyed hearing the other two talk. They were hardly paying attention to what was on the television, their focus was elsewhere.

"And then, this dude tells me he doesn't want the order at all," Charlie finished in a heated voice, rolling his eyes.

"That's ridiculous, he made you fix the order ten times," Ashton pointed out with furrowed eyebrows.

"I know!" Charlie cried out, looking vindicated by the way Ashton responded. "There was this one time when Sam visited that one girl threw her drink at us because she said it was so bad. Remember that, Sam?" Charlie asked as he looked at his boyfriend who has his eyes locked on him the whole time.

"Hm?" Sam mused, shaking his head as he broke his focus slightly.

"Were you even listening to me?" Charlie questioned as he raised an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face.

"Course I was," Sam assured him in a low voice.

Ashton scoffed. "No, he wasn't. He does the same thing to me all the time. Doesn't listen to a word I say."

"I tune you out for a different reason, you annoy me," Sam shot back instantly, making the other boy roll his eyes. "Don't just look at me, Twin B is over there doing the same."

"You'd never, right, Li?" Ashton checked as he glanced down at his girlfriend, shaking her leg slightly.

"What?" Lila asked as she blinked hard once.

"God, you're whipped," Sam teased with a grin.

Lila gaped at him, sitting up slightly from the couch. "You are so much worse than me, don't even try."

"I think it's cute," Ashton assured her.

She paused dangerously, tilting her head at him with a glare on her face. "I am not cute."

Sam smiled mockingly, placing a hand over his heart. "Aw, Li. He thinks you're just darling."

"Shut up," Lila and Ashton both snapped simultaneously, not even bothering to look at the other twin.

"All right then," Sam bellowed with a clap, settling back in to Charlie's side comfortably.

"Anyways," she said pointedly, turning her focus back to the other two on the opposite couch. "What are we doing tonight? Did we wanna check out that house party you guys were talking about?"

"We don't exactly have the best track record with house parties though, do we?" Sam questioned as he pretended to think for a moment. "Last ones we went to, each of us got kicked out for different reasons."

"Those were just misunderstandings, I'm sure there's no hard feelings," Lila brushed off, waving her hand dismissively. "Our track record with parties is fine."

"Well..." Charlie started to say but winced and decided to leave it at that.

"God, a girl finds out she's adopted at a house party one time and suddenly it's a pattern," she sighed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I also got into a car crash that night," Sam chimed in as he lifted a hand.

Charlie lifted his hand. "Last month, someone tried to punch me cause he thought I stole his beer."

"Last month, I got kicked out because I punched that person who tried to punch Charlie," Ashton added as his hand also went up.

"All right! Let's stay in, yeah?" Lila decided, looking at each of them individually. There was a collective murmur of agreement amongst the rest of them, settling back into their spots.

Lila's phone buzzed and she picked it up from her lap, narrowing her eyes slightly. It was a text from Nate, she swiped open her phone, looking up to see if Sam got a text as well. He glanced over at her before focusing on his phone, both of them reading the group text with everyone in their family except for their older sister.

Lila shot up with a gasp. Ashton looked at her with concern, wrapping his hand around her calve to get her attention. "Everything okay?"

"Holy shit," Sam managed out, flipping his phone around to show Charlie. Lila smiled, doing the same to show her boyfriend.

It was a picture of an engagement ring along with a text that said:

"Wanna help me propose to your sister?"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Just a lil thing for funsies!! Finishing up the plan for "Just for Now" and will start posting next month :)