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“Is it so impossible for you to just be happy for—” The words die in my throat. Winston and Kenji are both bright-eyed and beaming, the two of them failing to fight back enormous smiles.
Aww
An unfamiliar, overwhelming heat erupts in my head, in my chest, pricking the whites of my eyes. Ella takes my hand.
Holy fuck because a) hes tearing up at something kenji said and b) Aaron STOP like why has this man has really never known there were happy types of tears
Kenji genuinely wants me to be happy. “Thank you,” I say to him.
Yes you idiot please be besties with him now
There’s a beat of silence, broken only by the sound of Winston sniffing. “All right, okay, that was a really beautiful moment, but you guys need to knock it off before I start crying,” he says,
ME
you said you’d marry me right then. You said you’d marry me with my bleeding teeth, with a visibly broken leg, with dried blood on my face, with blood dripping from my ears.”
even had a freshly sutured finger. I was Frankenstein’s monster. You remember? From that book—” “Ella—please— We don’t have to talk about this—”
AARON LAUGH THAT JOKE WAS FUNNY
“How did you find so many flowers? Where—”
Awww
I said, You’re going to go back to your room tonight smelling like paint, and he’s going to know! The man is not an idiot! And she was like blah blah blah he’s not going to know, blah blah blah, I’m the queen of the world, blah blah—” “KENJI.”
HHAHAHA IM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS MAN
“What was the paint for?” I ask. “Nope!” Winston claps his hands together. “We’re not doing that right now!
ITS A HOME THEYVE BEEN BUILDING A HOME, change my mind
I shake my head, laughing a little, and she pokes me in the stomach again. “Ow,” I say quietly. Ella beams before wrapping her arms around my waist, hugging me as we walk,
They are literally so precious
“Is this distracting?” I inhale. “Yes.” “What about this?” she says, staring up at me, the picture of innocence as her free hand travels lower, then slips just underneath my waistband. “Is this distracting?” “Ella.” “Yes?”
MY GIRLIE POP IS SO PLAYFUL TODAY, she deserves to be happy :’)
Kenji and Nazeera laugh at that, Kenji drawing an arm around Nazeera’s waist as they walk, pulling her closer. She leans into him, planting a brief kiss at the base of his jaw.
I’m so desperate for an entire kenji and nazeera novel
“And as they’re both such pure, innocent souls, we wouldn’t want them to risk accidental, indecent skin-to-skin contact.” “Yeah, I think it might be too late for that,” Kenji says. “Seriously?” Brendan and Nazeera say at the same time.
Hahahahahah
“Will we be arriving at this mysterious destination soon?” I ask. “We’ve been walking for so long I’m beginning to wonder whether I’ll need international clearance.”
Aaron is actually so funny but no one ever acknowledges it, I THINK ITS FUNNY AARON
“Nouria knew Juliette wouldn’t have postponed the wedding that long. She was probably just torturing you.” “Really.” The revelation makes me scowl. Between her and Sam, I seem to have made two very powerful enemies.
They are actually assholes for no reason
This is happening out of order. I manage to comfort myself with the reminder that everything about us has unfolded in an unconventional way; I shouldn’t be too surprised to discover that, here, too, things are not going to plan.
That part
acknowledging all the while that I am an idiot of astronomical proportions, one who couldn’t even manage to pick out a decent ring for his fiancée. This imagining inspires in me a wave of dread so severe I close my eyes against the force of it. “Aaron,”
Aaron has so much anxiety, get this man into therapy
“You know, I’m not used to seeing you nervous like this.” She tilts her head at me. “It’s kind of adorable.” “I feel like an idiot,” I say, trying and failing to smile. “Though I’m glad you find it entertaining.”
Why does this make me feel so sad
She looks up at me then, and I see, for the first time, that her eyes are bright with tears. The sight cuts me straight through the heart
I wanna cry thinking about the Jules we knew in the first book and how she never thought she would ever have anything like this
The brushed gold band resembles a twig, so delicate it looks almost as if it were forged from thread.
I WANT
the two emerald leaves bright against the infinite branch.
“I’m going to marry you today. And then I’m going to make love to you until you can’t remember your name.”
Didn’t know I needed this but I did
She drags her hand down the front of my pants and I make an anguished sound somewhere deep in my chest.
YALL ARE IN A PUBLIC SETTING
I just had an unrelated thought, I really hope kenji is his best man
her own hands grasping for the button of my pants. In my delirium I let it happen, forgetting for a moment where we are or what we need to be doing until I feel her soft fingers wrap around me—a cool hand against my feverish skin—and
Jfccccc
Just under a dozen houses, each several feet apart, separated by dead, square lawns. My heart pounds wildly in my chest, but this is nothing I haven’t seen before.
Stop i thought it was just gonna be one house but its a whole neighborhood?! So the besties can live right by each other?! The survivors :')
This house is bright with possibility, the windows big and brilliant, and beyond them: people. Familiar faces and bodies, crowding together in the front room. If I strain, I can hear their muted voices.
Stop im gonna cry
“There’s no one in the whole world like you,” she says, and I can practically feel her heart beating between us. “I’m so grateful for you.”
My baby heart
Ella is the only one who’s ever bothered to wonder whether I’m more than I appear.
To be fair Kenji did at one point but then you were mean to him again and pushed him away but I do still think he sees more to you anyway.
“They care about you, too, Aaron.” “That is a very generous lie,” I say, smiling now. “It’s not a lie.” “It’s possibly the biggest lie you’ve ever told.”
Haahahhahahahahaha
Part of me is relieved to finally understand the distance I’ve felt between us, while the other part of me wishes I’d been involved.
Seriously id be offended that i wasnt asked to be involved especially when she knew how down you’ve been
“How’s this for a surprise?” Kenji says, leaning against the folding chair. “This beautiful piece of shit right here?” He gestures at the dilapidated house next door. “This one’s mine.” That wipes the smile off my face. “That’s right, buddy.” Kenji is grinning now. “We’re going to be neighbors.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA im so relieved :'))) YES BITCH
“I don’t want any more surprises,” I say, my chest constricting at the very thought. “I can’t take any more surprises.”
Me i hate surprises so much this whole day would make me think my partner doesnt know me at all (Aaron even told her he hated surprises, checks out as Tauruses though lmao)
I try to think, then, of what Ella would do. “Thank you,” I say into the silence. “For everything.”
GOOD BOY
Adam is the first to wave at me from a distant corner, and I notice then that he’s got his free arm wrapped around the waist of a young woman with blond hair. Alia.
Aw :’) ngl i wanted to see more of Adam and James
All these days he’s been working on this project. For Ella. For me. I experience a sharp, distracting stab of guilt.
YOU SHOULD AARON YOUVE BEEN SO ROTTEN TO HIM AND ALL HES WANTED WAS TO BE YOUR FRIEND HE BETTER BE UR BEST MAN OR IM GONNA THROW HANDS
“Great, well, that’s what we like to hear.” Kenji slaps me on the back, and I grit my teeth to keep from killing him.
AaroN
“So, I’m not going to torture you with any more unknowns, because I don’t think you actually like surprises.
Facts
also think you’re probably the kind of guy who likes to be able to pre-visualize stuff—helps manage the anxiety of not knowing things—so I’m going to walk you through this step-by-step. Sound good?”
LOOK HOW WELL KENJI KNOWS YOU, MORE THAN YOUR OWN FIANCEE
“I’m just saying that I think it probably helps you to know exactly what’s going to happen next. You like being in control. You don’t like not knowing things. You probably like to imagine things in your head before they happen.”
BINGO he has OCD just like i thought, me and Aaron are ocd taurus babies with literally the same exact birthday nbd
“I see,” I say, and nod. “I should just kill you here, shouldn’t I? In my own house. On my wedding day. It could be your gift to me.”
Hahaahahahahah
“Hi!” James says, abandoning the door and his brother to invade my personal space. “Did they tell you I’m the only kid allowed at the wedding?”
Hahaahahhaah its so funny how Aaron interacts with James its like I can see it so vividly in my mind
“Thank you,” I say to him. “You’re welcome,” he says, beaming. “Thanks for inviting me.” “I didn’t invi—” “So!” Adam cuts me off,
I stg i think Aaron is just autistic, he has a hard time “reading the room.” he feels everyone’s emotions in a way autistic people do but appears cold regardless of being the one who feels the most
He shrugs. “You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who likes to get up in front of a crowd and shoot from the heart. But I’m happy to be wrong,” he says.
“I would rather impale myself on a pike.” “Yeah.” Kenji grins. “That’s what I thought.”
DEAD
How? I want to ask. How did you know?
Sigh because he cares enough about you to consider your feelings
into a world where I didn’t think I’d ever belong. I could never have anticipated that somehow, somewhere along this tumultuous path— I’d acquired friends.
I can’t believe he referred to them as his friends my heart is full :')
I am in a perfectly tailored, dark green, three-piece suit with a white shirt and black tie.
DaMN GREAT CHOICE
Kenji is right; I don’t enjoy surprises. This is fundamentally true, and yet—I would like to be the kind of person who enjoys surprises.
a) Kenji would actually pass out if you told him he was right b) me too Aaron, but I’m learning how to be more flexible though I don’t think we should have to like surprises
“Listen, I’m sorry.” She sighs. “I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that last night. Really, I didn’t.”
Okay bye bye now! You know you can argue you people without putting them down like you did, truly shocking, i know
you can’t even imagine—” “Can’t I?” I almost smile, even as my jaw tenses. “You think me incapable of understanding the weight of the burden we shoulder now?”
SERIOUSLY
