Still the One (Book 2 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

21 | The Head and the Heart

Please tell me you will remember,

No matter how much I do wrong

That I had the best of intentions all along

"Best of Intentions" - Travis Tritt

Miles

For the past two weeks, Luke has been completely depressed. I've tried everything to snap him out of it: taking him to the movies, playing Fortnite whenever he wanted, and I even took him to a comedy show on campus. Nothing seemed to work.

The only thing that even remotely made him happy was when Jessica was around. She had stayed away for the first week after our trip back to Panama City, but in the past couple days, she'd been over to the apartment a couple times for dinner. She actually made him smile - something Rachel and I had both been unable to do.

When I got home from class today, Luke was nowhere to be found, but Rachel's car was out front. I dropped my backpack on the couch and went back to our bedroom, where I found her sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching Riverdale.

"Hey baby," I greeted her. She looked up at me and smiled, pausing the DVR.

It struck me again in that moment just how beautiful she was. Her blonde hair had grown quite a lot over the past few months, and it fell over her tanned shoulders in waves. She wasn't wearing any makeup, and she didn't need to. Her face was brown from spending a summer in the Florida sun, and there was an adorable sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks. I'd never be able to look at her long enough.

"Hey, handsome." She cocked her head to the side. "Why are you staring at me?"

I knelt down at the side of the bed and put my hands on her cheeks. "Because you take my breath away." She gasped and I felt her face heat up. "I'm serious. No matter how many days we're together or how many times I see your face... you just amaze me. I love you so much," I whispered, pulling her face to mine and kissing her gently.

She smiled against my lips. "What's gotten into you today, Miles?"

"Nothing, I just... the past two weeks, everything that happened with Brooke and seeing Luke the way he is, I just... I realize once again how fucking lucky I am to have you," I said, pushing her hair over her shoulder and running my thumb along her collarbone.

"Miles, I think you sell yourself short," she said, pulling me up on the bed next to her.

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Even after all this time, I don't think you recognize how amazing you are. You're smart, brave, strong, kind-hearted... when I saw you comforting Luke that day outside the rehab facility, my heart just overflowed with love for you. You truly care about other people, with no ulterior motive. And not to mention... you're sexy as hell," she finished, winking at me and kissing my cheek.

"Sexy as hell, huh?" I teased, pushing her gently back onto the mattress and tickling her.

She dissolved into giggles and we spent the next half hour wrestling around the bed.

Brooke

"Brooke, you've recovered from your miscarriage, and you're 36 days sober," Dr. Young said, peering at me from across her desk. "Part of the stipulations of your DUI sentence mandated that you complete 30 days of rehab. You have fulfilled this requirement, but you are welcome to stay if you feel like you need to. However, I think you're ready. You were on heroin for 6 months, and I think this time here has been very productive for you," she said, and I smiled - my first real smile in weeks.