Opening my window, a cold breeze begins to flood my room. Glancing back, I stick one leg out and onto the ladder that I always keep just outside my window. With a deep breath, I move to lift my other leg out, just as the door behind me opens and I freeze. 

"Where are you sneaking off to?" I jump as I hear my mom's voice behind me. "You know you can use the front door right?"

Biting back a smile, I dramatically sigh as I climb back into my room, "Why can't you act like a normal parent and scold me for trying to sneak out?" I ask.

"I am not like a regular mom. I am a cool mom." She smirks as she quotes mean girls and sits on the edge of my bed, patting the space beside her.

Mean Girls is her all-time favorite movie. I've lost count on how many times dad and I have watched it with her. 

"It doesn't make you cool, moooooom!" Why does every parent want to be cool? I really don't understand it.

Moving to sit beside her, she asks, "So, where were you sneaking off to? Some Sunday party or shit like that?"

"MOM!"

"What?"

"You used the word shit!" I exclaimed.

The room tinkles with her laugh as my heart soars at the sound. I love hearing her laugh. "What's wrong with the word shit?" she asks.

"Parents don't say shit," I grumble. 

"Oh please, grow up! I am an advanced parent and I love cursing," she says, rolling her eyes as I smile. Of course, my parents aren't normal, they're the coolest parents anyone can ever have.

"Back to the topic, where were you going?" She raises an eyebrow. 

"To Angel…'s friend's house. She's throwing a party and invited me." I start and then quickly change my reply. 

I have an easy relationship with my parents and I've never been one to hide things from them. They were wild kids of their time and understood how frustrating boundaries can be sometimes. 

So they let me have my fun, but they made sure that I understood my limits because they both know how to unleash hell if I ever cross them. So telling her I am sneaking off to a girl's house? Yeah, no. She would hang me upside down and then whoop my ass if she found out. 

"Avery huh? Does her mom know you talk to her?" she asks, frowning skeptically.

"No, of course not. Her mom would cut my penis in half if I ever went near Ang-- Avery in front of her. I swear her mom is really scary when it comes to her." 

"She has every reason to be," Mom says so quietly and I freeze.

Why do I have a feeling she knows about Angel's past? 

"Mom…" I start hesitantly, "What do you mean?" Looking at each other for a few seconds, her eyes flash with recognition. 

"How do you know about her past, Mom?" I ask softly and her eyes instantly cloud with sadness.

"Well, her mom and I have faced quite similar 

situations and we bonded over our pain. Our mind craves bonding, mutual trust, and understanding and I found all of that in her, I found an honest friend in her. She understands what I've been through, she brings me peace just by listening, absorbing, and responding."

"You miss her, don't you?" I ask softly, my voice barely audible even to my own ears.

Her eyes water but she looks me square in the eyes, "I do. But now that I think about Ivory, I only think about our happy memories."

I wipe the single tear that escapes my mom's eyes and gathers her in my arms, "We all miss her mom, we all do." 

"Don't play with Avery, Rome. She's not the kind of girl you play with," she says as I release her from the hug. 

"I know, but I can't help it. I can't stay away, at least not without exploring whatever we have a bit more. Do you know what Ivory would have said right now? 'Never miss out on anything in life, Rome. Because failure is always better than regret.'" I smile as I get up, kissing her on the cheek. I head back over to the window and climb out.

"Then try not to break her heart," she says as she follows behind me.

Stopping on the top rung of the ladder, I look at my mom through the window, "Who says that she won't break mine?" 

I ask. 

She purses her lips and then speaks again, "Just take care of yourself then and her as well." 

I nod and send a smile her way.

"Why do you call her Angel though?" she asks.

"Because if Angels exist-- and now I know they do-- they would look exactly like her," I reply honestly, and mom smiles and sighs in contentment. 

"We raised you well."

"I'm not good, mom. I'm a pansy-ass who likes to boss people around and show them who's got the power." 

"Well your dad's sperm did get in my womb but that doesn't make you bad, Rome. Everyone has their quirks, and you've got yours. What makes you good is the person you're turning out to be. The kind of person who can't see anyone being miserable, the kind of person who's protective of the people he loves and would do anything in his power to keep them happy, the kind of person who stands for what's right and what's wrong, the kind of person I wanted my child to be. We raised you well."  She smiles and a little one spreads on my face too. Leave it to my mom to make anyone's day. 

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too."

"BELLA! WHERE ARE YOU?" Dad's screaming breaks the tension and we both break out in hysterics together. He can't stay without her, not even for two minutes. 

"ROMAN IS SNEAKING OUT, RYE! COME AND GIVE OUR BABY A FOREHEAD KISS!" Mom calls out and I quickly climb down the ladder. Getting a forehead kiss from mom is okay, but dad? No way! And knowing dad, he'll definitely give me a forehead kiss.  

I look up, just as dad looks down from the window. "Where are you going?" 

"Avery's friend's party" I reply and dad immediately raises both of his eyebrows and smiles.

"I like her. She's got a pretty smile."

"And pretty eyes too," I add and wink at my dad. 

He chuckles and shakes his head, "Use the front door when you come back, I don't want you climbing ladders in the dark." Dad orders and just like that he whisks mom away with him.

I look forward to the empty road and smile. 

Avery, here I come. 

* * * * * *

I quickly climb up the short tree, right outside her window. Hanging onto a branch, I reach over and knock lightly on her window. Waiting patiently for her to open it. 

A minute goes by before she opens the window with a frown on her face. My heart starts beating fast as I take her in. 

Something is different today, I don't know what it is, but it's different. She looks more beautiful than she's ever been even in her nerdy blue shirt and short pajamas with unicorns all over it. Her hair tossed up in some messy kind of bun. 

Is it because I finally accepted that I like this strong girl? I'm not sure, but what I'm sure of is that this girl makes my head spin with the knowledge of how strong she is, and makes my dick soar to life with the sass she throws at me. 

Talk about my heart, I don't know how I feel about that. All I know is that I like it when I'm around her, her presence soothes me and I crave her presence more and more every day. I like it when she fights with me but what I like more is that she gives in when I push her too far. It's like I was asleep for a long time and I just woke up. 

But the most important thing? I don't miss Ivory as much as I used to. Her absence used to drive me crazy but being with Angel makes me want to let Ivory go. To finally accept that she's never coming back and to move on. Even if it's after ten years. 

Better late than never, I guess. 

Two fingers snap in front of my face and I come crashing back to reality. "What are you doing here?" Angel whisper-yells and I hold in my laugh. 

I capture her shoulders with both of my hands, and gently push her back before hopping into her room, "What do you think I'm doing? I'm sneaking in." I whisper back and stroll deeper into her room. 

I've been here once before but I was too jacked up with guilt that day to notice anything else and now that I look around I'm not surprised. It's small and cozy.

The bed is right in the middle of the squarish room with a nightstand on its right side and with a study desk pushed against a wall a few feet away. It smells like fresh strawberries here, just like her. 

But the room is messy as fuck. Clothes are thrown in a heap on the chair beside the door. One pair of her flip-flops is near the bed while the other is lying on the ground near her door and books are scattered around on her study table. But knowing the crazy head she is, that doesn't surprise me.

Only her bed is neatly made, the mattress and the blankets look squeaky clean. It doesn't fit her room.

Time to mess it up. 

I flop down on the mattress with my legs hanging off of the bed and Angel comes running behind me.

"What are you doing? Do you have a death wish? Get out!" She whisper-yells and takes one of my big hands in her small ones, trying to get me off of the bed, but failing miserably.

"What's wrong? I'm just here to hang out with my friend." I say innocently and make myself more comfortable on her bed. It's really comfortable.

She folds her arms in front of her chest and glares down at me, "Who said I'm your friend?" 

I look up at her and smirk, "Aren't we? We've done everything friends do. We've shopped together, baked, pranked, fought, had dinner with each other's parents. That makes us friends, doesn't it?" I raise an eyebrow. 

She finally sighs and wisely understands I'm not going anywhere and sits on the chair of her study desk. "Fine, but if my mom finds out, I won't rescue you " She warns and then smirks when I shiver at the thought of her mom finding out. 

"So what were you doing?" I ask.

"Nothing you would be interested in," she replies dryly.

"Oh, I forgot. I tried to find you on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, even Pinterest, but I couldn't find you. Aren't you on any social media platforms?" I ask. I mean who doesn't use any kind of social media these days. 

"No." She replies and quickly gets back to the textbook that's open on her desk and starts scribbling before I can see her face. 

"Why?" 

"Because you're there. I don't want you to stalk me like a creepy stalker." She looks back at me and sticks her tongue out.

She's adorable.

I chuckle, "You wish, Angel. Besides, people like me don't stalk people with no followers at all. I don't have 25k followers for nothing." 

She swivels in her chair and looks at me with wide eyes. "You've 25k followers? Are you a tik-toker or something?" She asks in a high-pitched voice and I smirk.

"No, I'm not but I guess people like my bare-chested pictures." I shrug.

"Bare-chested pictures? If it were up to me I would've reported you under nudity or sexual activity." She scoffs and I bark out a laugh. 

The sass on this girl.

"You know all about social media though." I point out. 

"Of course I do. I haven't teleported myself from 1800 BCE to 2020, dumbass." She points back out. 

"Then why don't you use it?" I ask and she stutters.

"Because- because it just doesn't seem interesting to me. I have better things to do than passing my day by scrolling on Instagram or TikTok all day." She replies in a bored tone and gets back to her textbook. 

I look at her for a few seconds and that's when it hits me. Of course, she doesn't use social media. She must've received hate there too.

I don't speak for a few minutes and she doesn't either. She quietly scribbles in her textbook while I use that time to think about how to approach the topic I want to talk about. 

"Why are you like this?" I ask quietly. 

She looks at me and questions back, "Like what?"

I take my time to reply to her. I don't know how to say it, so I just say the first thing that comes to mind, "Like... So serious, all the time. You're not enjoying your life, Angel. You're just merely living it." 

"I'm doing what I know best," she replies quietly. 

"And what's that?" I ask, gently.

She looks at me directly in the eyes and whispers, "Surviving. Life made me a survivor and that's what I'm doing."

My heart buckles. That's the first piece of herself she's ever given to me and it makes my chest ache. I know she doesn't let anyone see her true self and I'm honored to be that person. But I don't want her to survive. I want her to live carefreely, I want her to live with no excuses and love with no regrets. 

That's how Ivory used to live, that's how I live and I want Angel to live like that too and I vow to help her get there. I want to be the light in her dark world. I want to be the light of hope that radiates from her heart. 

Tomorrow, I'll show her how one should live their life, but for that, I have to get out of here right now and get my head straight, "Life is what you make it, Angel. Not the other way around."

"Sometimes, it's the life that makes us Roman." She never once takes her eyes off of me and neither do I. 

"Life can either make you or break you, but the choice is yours. Always yours." I reply, getting up from her bed, I drop a whisper of a kiss on her head and then quickly climb out of her room before she can knee me in the balls for kissing her. 

Get ready Angel, because there's no darkness, so murky, impenetrable, or imperil that cannot be overcome by light. 

*****

AAAAA I literally lost all the motivation to update here but then literally two people texted me all of a sudden asking me for updates and I was like... This is a sign. I need to get back here so here I am. I'll try to update regularly but no promises.

Teaser ~ Amelia running away from Garret?

Vote if you liked this chapter and comment to let me know your thoughts.
Have a great day.
Happy reading.
Kiara <3