When the Stars Fall (Lost Stars, #1)

by Emery Rose

Life ain’t fair, sweetheart. Ain’t that the truth.

“If he really likes you, he won’t even care if he has to shave his head because of you.”

“Because, Lila... if a guy won’t give you his favorite hoodie, he’s not worth your time.”

“What happens when the stars fall, Jude?” “I’ll put them back in the sky for you,” he said, sounding so confident. As if he had that kind of power. As if he were a god, and not just a seventeen-year-old boy. “I’d do anything for you, Lila.” “Anything?” “Anything.”

I wanted to go back to my carefree days when nothing scared me. I wanted to be reckless and daring again. And I was determined to do it with or without him.

Love is deaf, dumb, and blind,”

But that was the true definition of bravery. It wasn’t about who could scale a wall or swing across a creek filled with crocodiles. Being brave meant being honest and owning up to the things you’d done to hurt people. It was what my mom had tried to tell me but I’d completely missed the message. Until right this minute. And now I saw it all with such blinding clarity that I had no idea how I’d been so blind.

What I wanted to say was that I never wanted him to leave. Not tonight. Not ever. But I couldn’t say that. “You can stay. If you want.”

It felt dangerous, loving someone the way I loved him. I knew how cruel life could be. The person you loved could be ripped away from you in the blink of an eye. But I did it anyway.

“Baby. I love you. Tell me what I can do to make this better. I’ll do anything.” “Put the stars back in the sky, Jude. It’s so dark and lonely without them.”

I wasn’t scared of storms anymore. Not the ones that raged outside, anyway.

I knew what home felt like. My home was not a place, it was a person.

I hated that he still had this power over me. I hated that I still loved him the way I did. I hated him for leaving me.

In the end, what it came down to was whether or not we could find a way to be together without dredging up all the sins of our past. Without throwing our transgressions into each other’s face every time we argued. Because we would argue. We were still the bull and the lion, and we fought as passionately as we loved. Love tested your limits.