Two months ago - Giana's POV

"I won!" Matt hollers excitedly, fist pumping the air as he won the game of scrabble for the fifth time in the row.

I let out a whiny groan like a complete child, one who didn't get the their way to be exact. I cross my arms across my chest as I feel defeated by his constant victories.

"You totally cheated." I pout.

"You just don't like loosing." He grins, tapping his index finger against the top of my nose and I playfully rolled my eyes.

"True," I agreed with a shrug. "One last game until I'm totally over it." I suggest.

"Deal, I'm going first though." He argues with a smile, his hands now fidgety as he takes the wooden letters off the board.

"Do you think you grab me a water, babe?" He politely asks and I nod, warning him not to cheat while I'm gone. I hurriedly pace over to the fridge in the kitchen, and grab two bottles of water, before returning to the family room.

"Your turn." He calls out while his back is still towards me, I make my way to where he's sitting on the floor, crisscrossing my legs together when I take a seat besides him, my eyes focusing on the pieces that are scrawled onto the board.

My eyes widen as I feel all air inside of my lungs empty.

I don't know what to say, it's like my mouth automatically just glued itself shut, and I have no ability to speak or think rationality about any of this!

Especially with the sudden lightheadedness I'm currently feeling.

"Will you marry me?" He stutters out with a shy grin tugging at the coroners of his lips.

My heart is in my stomach as I see the words 'marry me' spelled out on the board for me.

The sparkly diamond flashes me and my heart races at the kind gesture.

I want this, this is what I want.

I shouldn't feel guilty.

It's the right thing.

"Yes."

Matt's POV - Freshman year

"Because I don't like you like that Rebecca, I never will, so get the illusive idea out of your head." My guards are high as I feel easily triggered by her lead on games day after day.

Rebecca.

The one girl who has enough power to control me, the one girl who has enough power to have my whole heart without even trying, the one girl who has the power to break my heart from all her mind games.

Not being with her hurts me, watching her love someone else kills me, and her playing with my emotions destroys me. 

And now here I am hurting her just as badly as she been hurting me all these years.

I should've walked away when I had the chance. The day her commitment issues all started, the same day that her first relationship completely destroyed her. But me being me insisted that I could be the one to mend her broken heart, the one to love her unconditionally — like he never did.

We can't continue going back and forth like this anymore though.

One day she's confiding that she's into me and in love with a different guy the next. Deep down I think she's scared to get close to me, but she doesn't seem to get that I feel exactly the same way.

I've been head over heels in love with that girl, since the minute she came bouncing into our kindergarten classroom, all those years ago. I can still feel my heart jumping out of my chest at the thought of that moment.

The first day she came running into class with her hair in two pigtails and a large smile plastered on her face that could simply light up any room.

Those days were the days when I wasn't not the most outgoing, I was actually pretty quiet for a kid my age, and I usually tended to sit alone on the playground because everyone already had their friends.

October, it was October when everything changed for me though, it was the day my Rebecca saw me. I was planning to sit by myself just like all the other days that had gone by, but she didn't let me, and ever since that she didn't never let me.

I remember it almost as if it was yesterday; her small hand reaching out to shake mine, her crooked grin, her pigtails swinging from side to side, and even her pink dress that had a bunch of tiny sun flowers scattered across it. The first thing she ever said to me was 'Matt, you're my new friend' she didn't know me, not one thing, but in that moment she was everything.

And from that day on I knew she was going to mean a lot to me.

She even made me a paper airplane that I can't seem to get rid of, by now it should've been long gone and out of sight, but for some reason it's shoved in my desk at home.

This girl has been my world for what seems like forever, but freshman year along and everything changed. She wasn't the same Rebecca, I grew up with, she was different.

I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend. . . I got her favorite bouquet of white sunflowers, I was even stupid enough to pour my heart out and write her a song that I was going to sing to her. All I wanted was to make her mine, but instead I witnessed her arms around another guy — the same day, the same fricken day, I was this close to finally  asking her out after waiting so many years, and that was the same day she decided to get her first boyfriend.

The guy who willingly chose to break her heart.

"Aren't you seeing a guy name Logan? Or is it Ryan now? I've lost track." I growl lowly and her eyes flash pain, clearly hitting a nerve.

I can't believe she's actually here standing in front of me and  confessing that she 'might be in love with me.'

She's only going to break my heart.

I've trusted her so many times for only her to walk out on me. 

"You're still into Giana?" She whispers, terrified that she's loosing me because of her best friend.

I'm not into Giana like that. Sure, we might play around and flirt here and there, but it's nothing serious. It's light and playful.

Giana is fun, she's easy to be around. It's like being with your best friend at all times, but Rebecca? Rebecca is different, but I won't let her confuse me anymore. She constantly strings me along like some sort of lost puppy.

One second she acts like she's into me and the next she's going on double dates. It's always hot and cold.

I choose to ignore her question and skip right into the part that she needs to hear, the topic that I've been avoiding for a while. 

"I'm leaving, Becca, next week I won't be here and you're going to move on just like you always do." I breathe out heavily.

She nibbles on her lower lip and I'm taken back by the slight glisten shining in her eyes, but I can be very much mistaken with the sunlight hitting her sharp beautiful features.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm moving."

Giana's POV - Senior year

"How can you not like reading books?" I splutter in disbelief. "Every book is like living a different reality." I continue, curious as to how he has no interest in the one thing that entertains me.

His arm is swung across my shoulders as I inhale is familiar strong cologne. The breeze in the February air fills my lungs, the grass swaying back and forth below my fingertips, I lean my head onto his shoulder as his back presses to the trunk of the tree.

The green leaves above slowly fall down from the wind surrounding us and I can't help the slight jump in my heart as he rubs circles on the palm of my hand.

"Because this is the only reality I want to live in." He promises, his intense gaze now finding mine, and I can't help the grin that takes over my features as he continues to play with the loose strands of my hair.

"This here with you," he pauses, trying his best to contain his own smile that's starting to curl up at the corners of his lips, staring down at me like I'm the most fascinating this in the world.

I swallow hardly at the intense rapid beat of my heart, feeling my lungs squeeze at how much I love him.

"No book can compare, Giana. I don't need to escape because being here with you is worth more than a billion lifetimes."

_________

Giana's POV - present time

My hand trails along the cold railing as my eye roams the sea full of people but I was only looking for one.

"Isn't this cruise sick?" Emma blows out with a whistle besides me and I automatically nod. "I bet, Logan is somewhere here, complaining about how he has to wear a tux all of tonight." She snorts a laugh at the thought alone.

Tonight is our last night on the ship and it was decided to have a formal night, so everyone is pretty much required to dress up.

I'm wearing a tight, bodycon dress which is in a pretty lilac color, and covered in little sparkles that shines when the light hits it. My hair is pulled into a tight, high ponytail and I accessorized with a few gold bangles, earring, and a pair of nude heels to finish the look.

My breathing comes to a halt as I stop at the end of the staircase that leads into the ballroom floor of the ship. An instant wave of bundled nervous hit me as my eyes roam his wild ones.

The pulsing of my heart is loud enough to override the classical music around us.

How did he — when did he — why is he wearing the tux that I designed? Better yet why does it look that good?

I mean I've been trying months to nail this collection and nothing has really spark a light inside of me, screaming that this is a good line to release, but now? Now I'm sure it isn't the tux that makes him, but him who makes the tux.

My heart instantly picks its pace up at the wrong one.

But then again it always does.

I push aside my feelings and take a deep breath as my grip tightens against the railing. Matt and I had a very, very long conversation about our relationship yesterday — I actually wanted to wait until after the vacation so we don't ruin Emma's week, but it seemed like we both had the same thoughts.

Different feelings, but same thoughts, nevertheless.

I can't help but chuckle underneath my breath at how he styled his hair, more like what he used to style his hair. Gel, he hates gel, or anything that requires taking longer than five minutes to get ready.

"You just gonna stand there?" I hum teasingly as he stuffs his hands into his pockets as I take a step towards him.

My friends instantly go catch up with their partners, getting to know them better, and getting along more than they originally thought they would.

"Or are you gonna ask me to dance, Palazzesi?" I smirk. "Because if I do recall correctly, I did get cheated out of one all those years ago." I continue, my smirk widening as I see his taken back expression.

Jessica, his ex, decided to cut into my one and only prom dance with Liam that I got.

"Are you sure you're fiancé is going to like that?" He breathes heavily, his eyes filled with more emotions than the Atlantic Ocean is with water.

His eyes glance down at the now missing heavy ring on my finger, making his eyebrows buckle together in confusion.

Liam doesn't see me budging anytime soon and gives in, he holds his hand out for me to take, and I graciously accept.

We walked hand in hand towards the crowded scene, couples dancing and laughing, my hands go out and I let them fall behind his neck as he tugs me closer towards him by my waist.

"Don't marry him."

It feels like I have to do a double take as my eyes bug out, I freeze as his words sends shiver down my spine.

Am I hearing him correctly?

"W-What?" I stutter out.

"Don't marry him," he shakes his head lightly. He swiftly takes one of my hands from behind him, brushing his thumb over my knuckles, and his eyes glistening underneath the twinkling lights.

"Please," he begs. "Don't do it, letting you walk away once broke me enough, but letting you go again, I don't think I can handle it." His voice cracks and so does a piece of my heart.

"Why now?" I knew what I wanted to do, what I wanted to say, what I really feel, but that isn't going to stop me from seeing what his true intentions are.

"Why after all this time? You had years, Liam." I cried, not physically, but more mentally. Do I even make sense anymore? "Years, years I waited for you, waited for you to come back. . . A-Are you jealous is this a pride thing?"

"What? Gosh, no, Giana! I'm tired of wasting time that we can be spending together." He swears.

His eyes are now soft and gentle, letting his guards down and the arrogance that usually follows, and my heart thumping at words that I didn't even know I've been longing to hear.

"Please, tell me you don't hate me." He whispers for just the two of us to hear.

My forehead is pressed against his as we sway to the music. "I don't hate you, not even if I tried to." I confess. "I hate all the hurt you put me through, but I don't hate you." My voice is just as weak and raw as his.

His grip on my waist tightens and as I lift my head up to meet his chocolate eyes, the same ones that I get lost in. Every. Single. Time.

He doesn't utter a word, instead he just stares at me, he stares as if he's trying to memorize every and any little detail about this moment here with me.

"Why are you with Sierra Summers?" I croak out, and his eyes noticeably widen, clearly taken back by my question.

He can't help but glance around the crowded room, a few eyes on us probably from those few people who know who we are. . . Those who know who Liam is.

"C'mon," He ushers, lacing his fingers thorough mine and pulling me through the sea full of people, I don't bother telling Emma, where I'm going since she's probably snooping across the room with Logan anyways.

Liam leads me to a quiet space outside, the breeze hitting me right in the face, and swaying my hair from one side of my shoulder to the other.

"Did Logan," he pauses for a brief second as he sees the curiosity written on my face more than ever. "Did he never tell you why Sierra and I started dating?"

My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion at the random question "Why would I want to hear or know that?" I scoff, folding my arms across my chest defensively, only for Liam to chuckle at me in amusement.

He roll his eyes lightly at my obvious jealously, grabbing my arms so I won't be in a defensive state of mind, and clutches my face in between his hands.

My breathing falters as his thumb brushes over my cheeks ever so lightly. The moonlight continues to shine above us, like one big star, lighting the sky and mending our hearts into one.

His eyes pierce through not only me but my million and one thoughts as well. And for once in my life, I don't question it, I let it consume me, I have no willpower when it comes to those chocolate eyes.

"We're not actually—"

"Liam!" Sierra's voice cuts through, cutting the truth, cutting the words I've been needing to hear since the day he broke my heart, but most of all cutting the strings in my heart as she runs up to him and wraps her dainty arms around his tall frame. 

(A/n- Chapter thirteen is officially out!

- What are your thoughts on this chapter?
- What do you think is going to happen next?

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