Another Wave of You ✓

42 • Bad Habits

     Then he watched her disappear, his lips still lingering with her taste.

    "So!" Theo jumped at Daisy's voice, who suddenly appeared right next to him. It didn't help that her height mirrored his, so her face was right next to him. "You and Lenny seem okay!"

    "Yeah!" He couldn't believe it either. "I think we're better, even!"

     After what happened with Travis, he had so many fears — of his dark thoughts flooding, of sleepless nights returning, of his achievement of self-love completely vanishing. But most of all, the thing he feared most, and the one that he actually lost sleep for, was losing El in the process.

     He could overcome anything else. But not her. Never her.

     She was once in a lifetime. His lifetime.

    "You don't know how relieved I am to hear that!" she yelled back. "I mean, everything was going swell and the universe was like ha! Surprise, bitch!" Daisy looked proud at her own metaphor. "But like the bad bitches you are, you resolved it! I don't know if that's a good thing!"

    "I don't know, either!"

     But he did, partially. Because wasn't that the sole ingredient to maintaining a healthy relationship? Going through your ups and downs, and resolving it together? Theo thought it was rather a test from the universe — to see if El and Theo would make it.

     He shook his head with a soft smile. That was something El usually believed in, not him. She got on to him.

     His mind was in replay when she said the three magical words. It was so out of the blue and in the most ordinary place: her damn front porch. But everything about that moment was authentic — those words, coming out naturally from her lips, beautiful and sincere; tugging at Theo's heartstrings until he wanted to envelop himself in her warmth.

    "Hey!" Daisy prodded his shoulder. "I didn't know! What you experienced back in San Diego!" His heart pounded for a second and he stared at her, cold as stone. "I don't want to bring back bad memories, but I'm sorry you had to go through that! Okay?!"

    "Don't be sorry! I was a horrible person and I messed up!"

     That was the harsh truth, and he wasn't afraid of it. Nor was he of the future. It was always possible that Theo could make the same mistakes again; Travis poking at him certainly provoked a disarray of vile thoughts, reminding him of what he could do with a few cruel words.

     Everyone was, at one point, a slave to their bad habits. What truly mattered was what they chose to do after.

    "Don't sweat it, Samuels!" She squeezed his shoulder. "We're all messed up one way or another!"

***

     The wind was howling.

     Either that or the crowd was getting deafening. He pushed his way to the front now, along with Daisy, who was his only companion at the moment.

     He wasn't particularly keen on it.

    "Go Zach!" Daisy screamed right next to Theo's ear.

     He flinched and shoved her away, but not before raising an eyebrow. "You sure Julian's not going to be mad at you for that?!"

    "We're not officially official!" she declared. "And come on, I can't just betray Zach like that!"