When The Stars Align

chapter forty two | party crashers

"Vera's gonna go for me this round." He hands me the ping pong balls. "Don't let me down, Verre."

Please, I think. I used to throw knives for a living.

I sink the two balls and watch as Avery drinks the contents of the cup and almost immediately runs for the bathroom.

We dance the night away - or the hour I have until Tori picks me up. Atticus hasn't left my side, dragging me along to every round of beer pong, every dance on the dance floor, and even that one time he was forced up for karaoke. We probably looked drunk as we belted out the words to Three Seconds' song Wildfire in the middle of the dance floor. I don't think my smile faded since arriving here.

We were now in the back corner of the venue. I sat on the table, staring at the pile of gifts that were also on it. Where does he even put half these things? What exactly are in these boxes?

But he doesn't even seem curious about opening the boxes, his eyes instead on the single sheet of paper I gave him moments ago. He's taking a while to admire the drawing - maybe a little too long. Shit, he hates it.

I grab my fork from Atticus' cake and take some buttercream off of it. It was really good.

Atticus looks up from the piece of paper. "I could get you a piece of cake, Vera." He begins to head back to the food table, but I stop him.

"Honestly, I'll just end up wasting it. But the frosting is like it's from heaven." I take some more off the cake. "I think I'm in love with it."

"That's Olivia Carson's famous buttercream frosting for you," Atticus said with a smile. "I remember you loved it as a kid, too. We'd raid my fridge before my birthday and-"

"We'd lick the bowl clean," I finished his sentence. "I remember that, too. She had to make another batch and who knows where she put it after."

Atticus smiles as he grabs his own fork and takes a bite of cake. Atticus was a weird species - he loved vanilla over chocolate. The frosting made up for his poor choice of cake flavour, though.

I bit my lip, pointing to the paper. "I'm sorry that's all I was able to give you, I think you deserve so much more."

He looks almost confused. "Are you crazy, Vera? The drawing is amazing. It's unique, it's not like I could buy it from a store." He shows me the artwork again, even if I already have it etched into my mind. It's us from that morning. His arm was wrapped around me and his lips were inches from mine. We were the only two people in the world in that moment - almost the opposite from where we were now.

He flipped the paper over. My cheeks burned red from embarrassment.

"I love you, Atticus Rockfeller," he begins to read. I feel the need to hide under a table. "I love you in ways I never thought I could love someone. I think love you more than I love myself. I love the way you smile and the way you laugh and the way you look at me like I'm the most important person in your world. I love the way you love my nieces and nephews. I love the way you treat my siblings like your siblings. I love the way you touch me, the way you kiss me, the way you'd literally do anything for me. Hell, I even love you for your stupid decisions. I love you for somehow always ending up in my kitchen. I love the curls in your hair, the sparks in your eyes. I love the way you make me feel. I thought I was crazy for thinking we could be anything when I first saw you weeks ago, almost crashing my bike into you. I love you, Atticus, and I love you for waiting. For waiting for my return, and for waiting for us. I think I left my heart here with you, too, all those years ago. With all my love, Vera Annalise Carmicheal."

I closed my eyes, processing my own words. "You know, I didn't mean to write that on the back of that page, specifically. Lys and Soph were just too cheesy and in love and I just had to put that down somewhere. It was just a ramble of emotions and... yeah. It's stupid."