Happenstance 2 (Happenstance #2)(26)
Author: Jamie McGuire

I raised an eyebrow.

His expression pleaded for me to let him finish explaining. “Sonny said the same thing that Alder did, that you wouldn’t have the nerve. That was all I needed. That one moment.

“I bet her that I could get you to go to prom with me. After one discussion with Brady, the Carrie movie came up. That’s when they tried to talk me into it. That’s when I said yes, but it was always my way of getting close to you without being harassed. Just so we could enjoy it.”

“What about after prom?” I asked.

“I was going to ask you the same question. What about after summer?” he said, intertwining his fingers in mine. “I’ll drive to Oklahoma every weekend if I have to. I know you have this idea of what life after Blackwell was going to be. But you can still be what you wanted to be when we started. I just want to be with you. I wanna leave Blackwell behind with you. I want to watch you become whatever you want.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said. “Neither one of us has a clue what we want to be.”

He squeezed my hand. “All I am is all we are.”

My bottom lip trembled. I’d been so awful to him, and now he was in a hospital bed, trying to make things right. “You shouldn’t be nice to me. I don’t deserve special treatment from you anymore.”

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve loved you, Erin?”

I smiled, tears burning my eyes. “As long as I’ve loved you.”

He pulled me to him, and I lay next to him in his hospital bed, seeing the silhouettes of Veronica and Julianne in the doorway.

Weston wrapped both arms around me and took in a deep breath, resting his head on mine. Soon he relaxed, and the quiet beeping of his heart monitor slowed to an even rhythm.

Veronica hugged Julianne to her side, and they left the doorway, walking down the hall.

I rested my cheek against Weston’s chest. The next weekend was prom, and two weeks after that was graduation. The only thing to worry about was the conversation I needed to have with Gina. Everything else felt like clean PJs and warm sheets straight out of the dryer. Weston and I would have the entire summer to spend together before we left for college, and for the first time, he felt like part of my beginning instead of a happy ending.