On Friday night, Amalia and I checked into our hotel room at ten o'clock.

The water front hotel was called Beach House Hermosa. It was three stories tall. At the back of the hotel, there was a wide walkway where families were biking, skating or rollerblading and on the other side of the strip, was the beach.

From our room, you could see golden sand that was a discoloured blue hue in the moonlight.

Volleyball nets were spread out. The dock stretched for what appeared to be a hundred or more meters.

It was late but there were still people enjoying the warm night while the waves lapped at the shore.

Our room was on the top floor. It was made up of a big open plan living room, kitchen and dining room.

The bathroom had a spa bath and walk in shower. And the bedroom had a king bed with a white comforter and plump pillows.

The entire left wall was window and a ranch slider that stepped on to a narrow patio. The steel railing was patterned and painted black.

"This is such a nice room," Amalia commented after she'd had a wander.

She found me in the bedroom, collapsed on the bed while I stared out at the stars in the black blanket of night.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I figured we might as well stay somewhere nice while we're here."

She sat down beside me and crossed her feet at the ankles. Her mismatched socks were pink and yellow today.

Her outfits were always so put together. Today for example, she wore a pair of skin tight blue jeans and a thin white sweater that buttoned up at the front and cut off at her midriff.

But once she took her white adidas shoes off, she had this little burst of colourful surprise. I loved it.

"Are you worried about how it will go tomorrow?" She asked, lacing her fingers with mine.

I stared at the ceiling and ran a hand across my tired face. "Yeah I am. Abby isn't the most expressive person unless it's to express rage. We've always been able to talk pretty well. But I'm bracing for her to blow up."

"Intervention can be hard," she gave me a small, understanding smile. "But if Lucas is right, she needs her people. And she might not see it like that at first. But she will, eventually."

I squeezed her hand and felt grateful she was here. She'd come into my life just over a month ago and I already felt like I wouldn't know what to do if she were to suddenly leave.

Everything about her was perfection. Too perfect. Sometimes I felt like I was waiting for the mask to come off.

Surely someone this incredible, couldn't be real?

Her willingness to listen, to support. Her patience. Her honesty. Her understanding.

The smile that lifted her freckled cheeks and the melody of her laugh.

When I thought about the fact that she was with me, when she could have anyone, it made my breath catch and my stomach flop.

Would it last? Or would she leave?

It seemed in life, the good often didn't last. Balance liked to come for those who had outweighed the bad.

And if I were to lose my second chance at happiness, then I would embrace it while it was still mine.

I leaned up on an elbow so I was facing Amalia. Our fingers were still intertwined and she tilted her head, smiling with a curious arch in her brow.

"What do you want in life?" I asked pressing the top of her hand to my lips.

Her brows pinched. "What do you mean?"

"What are your goals? For. . . everything? Career. Love. Travel. Family?"

She lightly laughed and pulled her legs into a criss cross position.

I did the same and waited for her answer. Because while I knew things about her, like her favourite colour and her favourite breakfast. I knew what she liked to listen to and watch on television. I knew her family meant everything to her and I knew art was her passion, I needed to know more.

I needed to know where she saw herself in five years. 

I needed to know what kind of future she had laid out for herself. What she wanted to achieve and how she wanted to achieve it. And as crazy as it was, I wanted to know if I could fit into it.

"Okay," she said, her brows pinching while she pursed her lips. Her thinking face was adorable, watching her mind work made my heart speed. "Well, travel. I would travel anywhere. Of course, I wanna go home at some point. Not to live. But to visit. And I would love to visit Greece. Oh and Thailand. There are too many beautiful places in the world to list."

"True," I said, scooting closer so our knees were touching. "Keep going."

"Okay," she grinned and her voice hitched as if she was breathless. "Um I want to own my own parlour one day. I want to hire an all female artist staff. I want to watch my sister achieve all of her dreams. I want my Dad to be happy."

She swallowed and averted her stare to the window for a moment. I watched her side profile and squeezed her hand tighter.

She'd forgiven her father for keeping his love a secret, but they still hadn't spoken. When she turned back to me, she smiled and shook her head.

"Anyway," she inhaled a deep breath. "I want to be in love. I've never centred my happiness around a relationship. I've learned how to be okay on my own. But I do want that. I want to get married and have children. Two boys. Maybe one girl. But she'd have to be the youngest."

We both laughed, knowing that wasn't quite how it worked. But my heart swelled at her certainty.

"I've never had someone who I pictured fitting into my future," she said, quietly, more nervous than I was used to hearing from her. "Not until recently."

The expression of time standing still had only really impacted me once in my life. It was when Kyla told me she was sick.

Everything stopped. And life felt uncertain and I didn't know where to go from that moment on.

But now, as I looked at Amalia and I saw her big brown eyes and long lashes. Her adorable nose and freckled cheeks and the way she looked at me, time stood still.

But it didn't hurt. It didn't stab me in the heart. There was a burst of hope and I saw good and my heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest.

I took her face in my hands and drew her in, pausing an inch from her mouth to absorb the wonder I held.

Her fingers slid up my arms and rested on top of my hands that held her face. We watched each other for a moment.

Her breath fanned my lips and the scent of her bubblegum she'd chewed on the plane was fruity.

My thumb stroked her cheek and I slowly leaned in, pressing my lips against her own and feeling inexplicably grateful for fate allowing her to find me.

I couldn't believe the timing wasn't bigger than us. She'd opened me up so much. She brought me out of my shell. She made me want to experience anything and everything.

My tongue ran across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth so our tongues could meet as I shifted so I was kneeling.

With one hand on the mattress and the other cupping her neck, I laid her down and felt her body tremble beneath me.

If there was any chance that this girl was the one I was meant for, I would never waste the chance to show her how important she is.

In the morning, I woke up before Amalia. Finally. She'd been beating me to it every morning.

But this time, I sat up in bed at eight and peered over at my girl. She was still naked and the thin white sheet draped low on her waist.

Her chest made my mouth feel dry and I swallowed, running a hand through my hair.

It was no wonder she was still fast asleep. She'd tired herself out last night.

I wanted to kiss her shoulder. Her soft skin was practically glowing. But I knew if I touched her, she'd wake up. She was a light sleeper.

In fact, if we weren't spooning at night, the covers would end up in a heap on the floor from all of her kicking and restless shuffling.

Memories of our night together came flooding in while I was showering, it didn't help that I already had morning wood.

She was so exquisite. Passionate in everything including our sex. 

It was nice not having to shower in front of a mirror for once. It made it less awkward when I pleasured myself to thoughts of the girl I was becoming enamoured with.

After the shower, I pulled on boxer briefs and a pair of sweats before I went out to the kitchen and found the room service card.

The menu was decent and the staff let me know the food would be up in about fifteen minutes. I sat on the leather sofa in the living area and watched the beach outside.

It wasn't packed but it wasn't vacant. Little ant sized people walked their dogs or went for a morning dip. There was a game of volleyball going on and I stood, walking to the window to get a closer look.

The anxiety over today crept in while I stood there, watching the world move below me. Thinking about talking to Abby made my chest tighten and a bout of nausea swirled in my stomach.

What was I going to say to her? What did she look like now? Obviously bad enough that it had Lucas worked up. What if she didn't want my help? What if she wouldn't even see me?

I was prepared for that. It was why she didn't even know I was in California. I'd been careful travelling and taking an unmarked car from the airport due to the the paparazzi taking a bit more interest in my life since the Instagram article came out about Amalia and I.

If Abby found out I was here, she'd want to know why I hadn't told her I was coming and that would put her on high alert. It'd be too hard to track her down.

My phone rang from my pocket I saw Lucas' face on my screen. I sighed and braced for something. I wasn't sure what, but it was always good to be prepared when it came to Lucas.

"Morning," I answered and rested an arm above my head on the window pane.

"What up," he sounded tired but he still managed to be louder than anyone else first thing in the morning. "You made it to Hermosa?"

"Yep," I said, smiling at an elderly couple walking hand in hand across the beach. "Got here last night."

"Where are you staying?"

"Beach House Hermosa."

"Oh," he said with recognition. "That's not too far from the house, right?"

"About ten minutes."

"Sweet. So you're all good to go then? I think she'll listen to you bro. I fucking hope so anyway."

I felt my stomach twist into an anxious knot again. "Has Milly tried?"

"Yeah of course," Lucas scoffed. "We all have. You're the dipshit that didn't take it seriously. You're a last resort."

I felt terrible. I didn't mean to be oblivious. I just couldn't believe that our strong, confident sister would be having these troubles.

When I thought back on the last few times I'd seen her, I tried to remember seeing her eat. But I couldn't. I had been oblivious.

"I didn't mean to let her down," I murmured.

Lucas sighed on the other end of the line. "Don't worry about it. You're helping now. And that's what's important. She needs a fucking kick up the ass but you can use your gentle methods first. I swear to fuck if it doesn't work I'm gonna take drastic measures."

"Like?"

"Like I'll lock her in a room and force a fucking feeding tube down her throat."

I winced.

"Na but for real. Something has to be done. Mom and Dad are stressing the fuck out."

"Yeah. I hear you. I'll do whatever I can, Luc. Trust me."

"Good. Too bad I couldn't come and join you. Could've hung out or something."

"Amalia actually came with me," I couldn't help but smile when I thought about her lying naked in the other room. "She's not coming with me to see Abby. But she's here and it's helping a lot."

"True," Lucas hollered. "Nothing like pussy to keep your thoughts distracted!"

"I'll call you later."

"Wa—"

I hung up. I was not going to be dragged into his incessant need to share the most intimate details of my life.

Two minutes later, there was a soft tap on the door. I took the tray of food from the hotel staff and gave him a generous tip.

Carefully, I climbed on to the bed, balancing the tray of food in one hand. It was enough movement that she started to stir awake and her long lashes fluttered as her lids opened.

"Hey," her voice had a slight rasp. "What's this?"

"This is waffles, whipped cream, berries, chocolate chips and a coffee."

I set the tray on the mattress between us and watched as she stretched her arms above her head.

Her entire frame arched and levitated as she stretched. It took her a moment or two but once she seemed more alert, she sat up, lips smacking and smiling with the sheet draped across her lap.

Everything about this picture was exquisite. Amalia in a cloud of white bedding, naked, delectable foods laid out in front of her. One person could not be this perfect.

"It smells so good," she tucked her hair behind her ears and peered over at the plate which was still hot enough that steam rose. "Room service?"

"Yeah," I picked up a knife and fork from the tray, handing it to her as I took my own. "There was more on the menu. We can have something different tomorrow."

"I'm gonna need to spend more time at the gym," she mumbled, stabbing her fork into a blueberry. "Where do you go to the gym?"

"I don't. I work out at home," I lightly scratched my bare chest.

"You have that body, from working out at home?"

She looked disbelieving but amused. I shrugged and ate a piece of waffle. "It's not that hard to get good results. Plenty of people work out from home."

"True," she agreed. "Maybe we should work out together. You know, more than we already do."

She stuck the tip of her tongue out in a cheeky grin and I felt my blood heating up and going south. She made me so wound up.

"So," she held the handle of her coffee mug and bought the rim to her lips as she watched me. "You feeling okay? Prepared to be strong enough to get through today?"

I wasn't sure about that. But it didn't matter. Abby was the one who needed me to be strong. So whether I felt confident or not, I was going to pull through and be there for her.

I nodded. "Yeah."

___

So I'm not sure who saw the announcement about wattpad opening their own publishing division called Wattpad Books. But this is huge news for wattpad authors. It's such an honour to be the first book that Wattpad Books ever publishes. Ahhh screaming because The QB Bad Boy and Me will be on shelves and available to be shipped August 20th! I am legit so excited and August can not come soon enough. I love you all for being the best readers on the planet. Couldn't have done it without you.