Truly

by Carmel Rhodes

Noah Tedesco is hot, I’ll give him that, but so was Ted Bundy.

Ummm

“Truly—” He opens his mouth, then closes it, choosing his next words carefully. “I have always noticed you. You just noticed him first.”

“I’m not your prince, Truly. Our story isn’t a fairytale. I don’t vow to always be kind, or do what the world deems as right, but I will always do right by you. I will always protect you. Plus,” he pauses, and I can feel the corner of his mouth tip up, “I’ll fuck you better than the prince ever could.”

“I love you too. I love you so much that when you hurt me, I forgave you. When you crashed my trip, I forgave you. We talked about our scars. I told you everything. I shared all of me with you, and you’ve been lying to me this entire time. How many times do I have to forgive you, Noah?”

“I am a work in progress, Truly, but I am in progress. I know I haven’t given you much of a reason to forgive me, but you told me I needed to decide if I was the boy from the treehouse or the man you fell in love with on the road.” He shifts up onto his knees, cupping my face between his palms. “You told me you couldn’t keep bending yourself to make me comfortable, and I realized I don’t want to be the kind of man who makes you bend. I don’t want to change the person you are, Truly. I only want to change your last name.”