"I... I..." Daniel started to smile.
"I didn't think I could love anyone as much as I loved Ethan." I stared at my shoes, "And when we met, I never thought in a million years it would be you... b-but it is. And I can't do anything about it."
"Persephone." Daniel grinned, "I love you too." I looked up again, startled.
"W-what? Really?" I asked.
"Yeah." Daniel smiled.
"What about Addy?" I asked.
"I broke up with her today," Daniel told me.
"Oh..." I said, "I'm not sorry. She was a pain in the ass."
Daniel laughed and I smiled. He gazed at me for a while until I finally gave in a kissed him quickly, but softly.
"That's good enough for me." He grinned, "For now."
"Yeah, we'll see, pretty boy." I smiled.
"Hello, assholes." I grinned, walking into class with my arms raised, "What a beautiful setting for the first class of my last day."
"Persephone, you made it." Daniel smiled. We had managed to convince the nurses to let Daniel come to school, just for my last day, "I would get up and kiss you but you know, bruised rib." He gestured to his stomach, then the boot on his foot, then his cast.
"Wait, you're dating?" Harry asked.
"No. Friends with benefits." I shrugged, shoving his head as I walked past his seat to sit next to Daniel, "How's the rib? And the boot? And the cast?"
"They're ok." Daniel said, "Is there seriously no way you can stay?"
"Yeah, there must be a way." Zach turned around in his seat, hearing the conversation.
"Afraid not," I said. I saw Harry shift uncomfortably in his seat. Good. I hope he felt guilty.
"Can Harry Crawford and Persephone Tatum please make their way to the front desk? The principal would like to see you." The speaker said.
"Oh, great. More gloating, I suppose." I got up with a huff, "Come on, you son of a bitch." I said to Harry as I walked past, his eyebrows furrowed together.
"So, why are we here? I've cleaned out my locker and everything." I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Actually, you might have to put it all back." Mr Leto smiled.
"What? Why?" I sat up, abruptly.
"Because of me." Harry glared.
"You're the reason I'm in this mess." I spat.
"No, really, Persephone. You do have to thank Harry for this." Mr Leto nodded.
"Why?" I asked.
"He came to me yesterday, he told me about what he said. About what you've been dealing with, lately." Mr Leto explained.
"That's none of your business." I glared at Harry, worried about he even knew about the abortion.
"What? It's the whole school whose been making comments, it's everyone's business." Harry answered.
"Making comments about what?" I asked, growing panicked.
"How Daniel was in the hospital," Harry said as if it was obvious.
"Oh..." I couldn't help but give an obvious sigh of relief.
"Was... was there something else?" Mr Leto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," I said, a little too quickly with a shake of my head, "So, I'm not expelled?"
"No..." Mr Leto said, "But this is your last chance, Persephone. You got lucky this time."
"Thank you." I grinned before turning to Harry, "Thank you too, I guess."
"Don't mention it, I was being a douchebag." He sighed.
"You're both dismissed." Mr Leto said.
We both got up and wandered out of the office.
"You know, you're not as bad as you think," Harry said.
"I'm not?" I asked, with a small smile.
"No." Harry shook his head, "You're alright, actually."
"Oh lord, what have I done to deserve this praise?" I stopped, looking at the ceiling and spread my arms out. Harry laughed.
"Baby steps are still steps, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." I looked at him, "I guess they are."
"Hey, Persephone, can we... you know, be friends?" Harry asked once we had started walking again.
"I think that can be arranged. I guess I should start being a better person, since I'm on my last chance." I shrugged, "But still, can you handle me?"
"I've handled Abby Burkhart as my debate partner." Harry said, "Test me."
"I can't believe you're staying." Corbyn grinned.
"It's a Christmas miracle." Zach smiled.
"I don't think it's near enough Christmas to be a Christmas miracle." Jack shook his head.
"It's only ten days." Harry pointed out.
"I guess as your girlfriend I should probably get you something." I turned to Daniel, "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything." Daniel smiled, kissing me on the nose.
"Liar," I said.
"I just want you." He shrugged, "What about you? What do you want?"
"Well, now I can't ask for anything, you sweet asshole." I smiled.
"If I ask for something, will you tell me what you want?" Daniel asked.
"Ok." I said.
"Ok... can you bake me some cookies?" Daniel asked with a smile.
"Cookies? Are you serious?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Nutella ones, preferably." Daniel nodded.
"Ok, I'll bake your dumb Nutella Cookies." I smiled.
"And for you, m'lady?" Daniel grinned.
"A beanie. A grey one. Herschel." I said, "But only if you want to."
"I will." He shrugged.
"Now I feel like a shitty person." I sighed, "You're getting like a hundred batches of those Nutella cookies."
"Couldn't ask for anything more." Daniel grinned, kissing me on the cheek.
"So, what do you douches want?" I turned to the guys.
"A remote control car." Zach nodded.
"A social life." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"I'll get you a skateboard," I told him with a smile.
"Ooh, brownies," Corbyn exclaimed.
"A... new sweatshirt." Jonah shrugged.
"And what about you, Crawford?" I asked Harry, who looked surprised.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah, why not?" I smiled, "I'm being a better person, remember?"
"Ok, well..." Harry said, "I'll have some of those Nutella cookies."
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𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆.
𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 "𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅" 𝒃𝒚 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒐𝒑.