MAISIE WAS A lot of things, and unfortunately, a coward was one of them.
When Dani first contacted her wanting to talk about Adrian, she didn't reply. For weeks, she could not stop thinking of the boy who stole her heart at the ripe age of thirteen.
They had been best friends their entire lives. Adrian was the only person in the world she could truly be herself with and not have to hide anything. There were so many expectations of her from everyone around her.
He was the only one who didn't want anything from her.
How could she possibly not fall in love with him?
His dark brown hair always standing up in awkward places and always messy. His grayish eyes with tints of green swallowing her soul every time he looked at her. His sweet, musical voice filling every single broken part of her.
He was the best thing she had ever had.
But there was no way he felt the same way. So, she got herself a boyfriend in seventh grade to get over him.
It didn't work.
She flirted with more guys, hoping one of them would make her feel even an ounce of what Adrian made her feel.
None of them did.
And then summer before junior year had rolled around and they were hanging out at their special cafe that they always went to.
They had been laughing when a girl about a year younger than them with pink streaks in her hair walked up to the two teenagers.
"Hi," she said, staring right at Adrian.
Adrian smiled and sent her a half-wave. She giggled.
Maisie wanted to rip out every single pink strand of hair from the girl's head.
It was the first time someone had ever flirted with him in front of her.
"I think there's something wrong with my phone," the girl started. "It doesn't have your number in it."
Maisie wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or punch that smile off her face. Maybe both.
Adrian sent the girl an easy smile, opening his mouth to say something before Maisie cut him off.
She placed her hand in the crook of his arm and smiled sweetly at the girl.
"He's taken," she said, grinning smugly at the girl's wide eyes. "Sorry."
She didn't sound sorry at all.
"Oh," the girl exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize."
She scurried away before either of them could say anything else. Maisie moved back to her original position and sipped on her milkshake as if nothing had happened.
Adrian turned his head, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"What was that about?" he asked.
She glanced at him briefly before turning back to her drink. "What was what about?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Why did you tell her you're my girlfriend?"
"Technically, I only said you were taken."
"And then implied that you were my girlfriend."
"So?"
He rolled his eyes in amusement. "So why did you do it?"
She let out a huff of frustration. "She was annoying. You wouldn't like her. I could just tell you were suffering over there trying to figure out what to say."
He snorted. "Oh really?"
He leaned closer to her, his breath fanning across her cheeks. Her breath hitched.
His voice lowered to just above a whisper. "That's the only reason?"
"Were you expecting a different one?" Her voice was equally quiet.
For a long moment, they stared at each other, a strange and unfamiliar emotion crossing both of their faces. Maisie's heart was pounding against her chest.
And then, in a voice so quiet she had to strain her ears to hear it, he breathed, "Maybe."
Heat flared through every single inch of her body. She stared at him for a second longer before standing and grabbing his arm. She pulled him to his feet and started to drag him outside. They left the cafe and Maisie pulled Adrian along a forgotten path until they were behind the cafe in an area no one ever went to.
She stopped and turned around to face him. Lifting her hands, she placed them on his chest and pushed him until his back hit the wall of the building behind them.
She stared up at him, leaning forward until their noses brushed.
Her hands grasped the collar of his shirt.
"Maisie..." Adrian whispered, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
"Kiss me," she whispered back. "Kiss me so I can get over you."
His eyes snapped back up to meet hers. His hands, which were hanging by his sides, went to her waist, fingers digging into her skin.
His forehead touched hers.
"No," he said.
She frowned. "No?"
"No." The corners of his lips tugged up. "I don't want you to get over me. I won't be able to get over you."
Her eyes widened. For a second, she was frozen. She couldn't move, she couldn't say anything. Their heartbeats and breaths were the only sounds she could hear.
And then, before she even knew what she was doing, she pulled him down using his collar and crashed her lips against his.
He didn't hesitate. One of his hands grabbed the back of her neck, his thumb rubbing her skin so softly she couldn't help but let out a content sigh against his lips. She felt him smile, his teeth grazing her bottom lip before biting down which was quickly followed by the swipe of his tongue.
The arm around her waist pulled her even closer to him as she pushed herself against him. His fingers gently intertwined with her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp as they opened their mouths under each other.
His tongue brushed hers softly, teasing her. She groaned in frustration before he smiled and kissed her deeper, running his hands along her spine. She let out a moan into his mouth as she tugged at his hair.
She wanted that moment to last forever.
She wanted Adrian to last forever.
Eventually, they pulled away for air. Her breaths came rapidly, matching his. They stared at each other for a long moment, their heads against one another.
Her fingers played with the hair on the back of his head.
"I love you," she whispered, their heads so close that her lips brushed against his when she spoke the words.
She heard the hitch in his breath, saw the swallow in his throat.
His eyes glazed over with something Maisie couldn't decipher. Her heart beat louder in anticipation of his reaction.
"Fuck."
Her brows creased. Out of all the things she had expected him to say, that wasn't one of them.
"What?" she asked, confused and a little hurt.
He closed his eyes for a second, holding her closer to him. When he opened his eyes, she suddenly knew what that emotion was in his eyes. It was so clearly obvious that she wondered how she had never seen it before.
The smile that played at his lips was so soft, so loving.
"I love you too," he said, his smile growing wider as he took in her expression.
She scowled at him, shoving him away and hitting his shoulder.
"Why did you have to fucking scare me like that, dipshit! I literally hate you."
He wasn't deterred. His grin grew even brighter as he stepped closer to her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek.
"No, you don't."
His thumb brushed her chin, resting at the corner of her mouth. Her face softened as she held back a smile.
She rolled her eyes and shot him an unimpressed look. "I do."
His brow raised. "Alright, I think I might go find the girl from earlier—"
"No!" Her sudden outburst surprised more her than him. She cleared her throat, narrowing her eyes and sending him a pointed look. "I'll fucking kill you if you do."
His grin was so wide and smug that she glared at him. His finger poked her cheek before his mouth lowered to hover above hers.
"You're the only one I want, Maisie Drey. You're the only one I have ever wanted and the only one I will ever want a hundred years from now."
Her heart melted at his words. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
The words echoed in her head the day she broke up with him.
It was a couple of weeks before summer break ended and she would be moving to California for college. Up until the last few weeks, she hadn't even so much as thought about breaking up with Adrian or him breaking up with her.
They were going strong despite her family's reservations about their relationship. Both of them thought they'd outlast college.
But sometimes, love isn't enough.
Pressure from every single person around her had suddenly caught up to her. Her family took any chance possible to get her to look down on Adrian. They kept talking about upholding the family's reputation and how he was too out of her league.
And then there was the fact that she was leaving the only home she'd ever known to move to the other side of the country where she knew no one.
She had wanted to go to school in California to pursue photography since forever. Her parents had never understood this. On top of trying to get her to break up with her best friend, they also tried to talk her out of doing the one thing she loved more than anything else.
Adrian had been nothing but supportive. He told her he'd stay with her no matter what. That they could always talk on the phone or buy a plane ticket to go see each other.
Despite that, Maisie had the feeling that she was somehow holding him back. That maybe he could do so much more if her family didn't look so down on him. It would be so much easier for him to date someone else. Someone whose family would love him as much as she did. It would be easier if they weren't dating anymore. If she wasn't part of his life anymore.
He was in the long game, he had said when they were laying in bed together a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't going to leave her.
So she left him.
"Why?" he had said when she told him they needed to break up.
He looked so broken that Maisie wanted to take back her words and pretend she had never said them.
She held back a sob. "I just—I can't hold you back. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me—"
"Hold me back?" His face twisted into a heartbreaking frown. "Who said you were holding me back? I love you, Maisie. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You're it for me."
Tears started running down her face before she could stop them.
"Stop," she whispered, shaking her head. "I just can't."
She couldn't get anything else out without letting out the sobs that were climbing up her throat.
"Is it because of your family?" he asked. "Maisie, we can get through that. I'll do everything I can to get them to approve of me. They can't be against us forever—"
"Adrian," she cut him off. "I don't want to do this, okay? Please don't make this harder than it already is."
His eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"I love you," he whispered, taking her face in his hands. "I love you, Maisie. I love you, and I don't want to break up."
"I know," she whispered back, leaning into his touch.
They stayed like that for a long time. Until, finally, Maisie couldn't bear it anymore. She untangled herself and stepped away from him.
"If we're meant to be, we'll be," she said, trying to convince herself as much as she was him.
Adrian said nothing. He just stared at her, drinking her in as if it were the last time he would ever see her.
Unable to hold back her tears for a second longer, she turned and started walking away without a glance back.
She wished she told him she loved him one last time.
That was the last time they saw each other.
That was a year ago.
That was the moment Maisie regretted most in her life.
It had been a year, and she hadn't spent a single second not thinking of him. His perfect smile and his perfect dimple and his perfect laugh and his perfect voice and his perfect everything.
She had spent the last year wondering what he was doing, where he was, who he was with, how he was doing. Thoughts of him plagued every single part of her.
It was as she was thinking over her relationship with Adrian that she suddenly couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her phone and texted Dani back.
She needed to see him. She needed to fix this. She wanted him back. She ached for him so badly it hurt.
So, here she now was. Standing outside where the debutante ball was being held at Cousins. Anxiety seeping through her veins deeper and deeper with every second that passed.
What would he do when he saw her again? What would he say? Would he—
His eyes met hers. Her breath caught in her throat. His eyes widened.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sudden burst of warmth that spread in her chest at the sight of him.
They stood staring at each other for what seemed like forever. They couldn't stop. Not when they hadn't seen each other in a year.
Maisie stepped forward. "Hi," she said quietly.
Adrian stayed quiet. He didn't seem as if he'd heard her. He just couldn't take his eyes off her.
Dani winked at Maisie discreetly, who smiled at her before she started walking away to give them some privacy.
Maisie was eternally grateful to her.
She closed the distance between her and Adrian. She saw the rapid rising and falling of his chest. It matched her own.
She sent him a tentative smile. "Adrian."
"You're here," he whispered, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"I am."
"You dyed your hair."
"I did."
They were silent for a moment, so many unspoken words between them.
Maisie wanted to stay with him forever.
His hand twitched, but he didn't touch her.
"Am I still it for you?" she asked, hesitant and unsure.
Adrian was quiet for so long that she was sure he was angry with her for breaking up with him.
But then he smiled.
And she wondered why she had ever been nervous to see him.
"You're always going to be it for me." He stepped closer, his hand coming to rest at the back of her neck, his thumb grazing her jaw.
Her heart wavered. "I'm sorry, Adrian. I'm so, so, so sorry. I was so fucking stupid. I couldn't get you off my mind. I just—I couldn't stop loving you no matter how hard I tried."
He leaned down so that their foreheads were touching. "Good. Because I never stopped loving you despite never trying. Even if I did, it would be in vain. How could I ever find someone even half as beautiful as you?"
She swallowed, unable to stop the tears from forming in her eyes and the smile from forming on her face.
"I love you," she told him. "I love you, and if you take me back, I'll never hurt you again. I swear."
He didn't respond. Not in words, at least.
He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers.
"I love you, Maisie. I'm never going to stop loving you even if you do hurt me."
"I won't."
"I know."
He smiled at her, his dimple spreading warmth through her body. She smiled back, the sight making his eyes soften into the most loving look she had ever seen.
And then he kissed her.
And she kissed him.
And in that moment, everything was perfect.
𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 !
pov you use the same pick up line the girl used on adrian irl to get guys' numbers....
def not the best way to flirt. at all. i have too many horror stories lol.
anyway here's a special chapter as a thank you for 100k reads!!!
i literally adore adrian and maisie so much and i've wanted to write about them for so long! i hope you enjoyed reading about them <3