“For one, you don’t like my boyfriend. I want to be able to have him visit me. For two, I want to experience the university life.”
“We can revisit this conversation later,” Dad says before changing the subject. “Speaking of boyfriends, have you spoken to him?”
“No, I want to surprise him. I’m going to his place, after school,” I say.
“Okay.”
I blink.Did my dad really just say okay? As in, he’s okay with me going to visit Ares?“You do know I’m talking about Ares, right?”
“I would hope so. I’d like to think you didn’t move on to some other punk-ass kid over the last six weeks. I’ve just gotten used to the idea of you being with a De Bellis.”
“You mean you don’t hate Ares anymore?” I ask.
“I’ll always hate him for you, but I can accept that you like him, and I trust you to only ever be with someone who treats you the way you should be treated,” Dad says. “Know your worth, Zara, always.”
“I do. And Ares treats me really good, Dad. He likes me a whole lot.” I smile. I really hope that’s still true.
There’s a knock. I look up and frown. Mum isn’t home. Maybe it’s Kyla.
“I’ll get it,” Dad says, standing and walking over to the door. His body blocks the threshold so I can’t see who’s on the other side. “The door stays open,” Dad grunts before he looks over his shoulder at me. “Yell out if you need anything.” He then steps around the body currently hovering in my doorway.
Ares. He’s here. I stand but don’t move. My hands shake a little. I’ve been so nervous about seeing him, afraid that he wouldn’t want to see me. Now he’s here.
“Ares? What? How?”
“Did you forget to tell me you were coming home, P?” he says, taking slow steps towards me.
I shake my head. “I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to come to your place after school.” I smile. “Surprise,” I add quietly when he stops right in front of me.
Neither of us moves. I don’t know how much time passes while our eyes remain locked.
“I fucking missed you,” Ares says, breaking the silence.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d still want to see me,” I whisper.
“Why the fuck wouldn’t I want to see you, P?”
“Because of what I did,” I tell him. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to apologise enough for the way you found me. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I did, and how that must have been for you, and you have to know that I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you to be sorry, Zara. I just need to know that you’re still mine,” he says. “You wouldn’t let me call you. I was going out of my damn mind wondering why the hell you wouldn’t want to talk to me.”
“I wanted to give you space, to be able to decide if this is something you really want, Ares. I’m a lot. I know that. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to walk away. I wouldn’t like it, but I’d understand.”
“I’m never going to walk away. We’re supposed to be in this together.” Ares closes the distance between us. His arms wrap around the back of my waist, and he pulls me tight against his body. Burying his face in the crook of my neck. “I really, really missed you.”
“I missed you so much,” I tell him.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lying on Zara’s bed with her in my arms feels like a dream. I’ve been going out of my mind missing her for six weeks, worrying about how she was doing. I wanted to call her. I wanted to be able to talk to her about her day, hear all thethings she was doing. The centre didn’t allow calls in, only calls out, and Zara had limited herself to contacting her parents and her sister once a week.
I had to hear about her from her sister. I wasn’t going to give up on her, though. I didn’t understand why she didn’t call me. At first, I was angry. My mum told me to give her space to heal on her own, that it would be better for her in the long run. So I did.
Now that she’s back—actually here, right in my arms—it’s as if I’m breathing properly for the first time in six weeks.
“How did you know I was back?” Zara asks.
“Would you buy it if I told you I was psychic?”
