Page 133 of My Family

Not suspecting a thing.

I look at Griff and notice he's watching me too.

Probably reading me.

So I make a point of training harder. I'm going to show everyone I'm fine.

MMA ends.

For a second, I'm afraid Griff is going to pull me aside or say something to Liam. He doesn't.

We're able to head to the showers and we have a quick rinse. We can't fool around in front of everybody.

Then Liam and I go back to the room instead of the rec hall. We're alone. I lie down on my bed. He lies on my chest. For one weak second, I want to cry.

But I don't.

I need to show him it's going to be okay, even if I don't fully believe that myself yet. We're going to get through whatever comes next together.

It's on me to show him that.

If I panic, he'll panic too.

So I keep stroking his hair until another thought pushes its way through everything else.

Last night.

Chicken wings.

Fake candles.

Grape juice in plastic cups.

I want to be with you forever.

Let's get married.

He said it like a joke.

I answered before I even had time to think.

And I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

My hand goes still in his hair.

Liam looks up at me, confused.

I sit up.

He stays on the bed, his eyebrows pulling together as he tries to figure out what's happening.

My heart is racing again.

But this time, I know what I'm doing.

I go to my locker, where I keep the few things that belong to me, and pull out a strip of temporary tattoos Jack gave me at the end of last year, after he'd gone to stay with his sister.

Small connected leaves.