Wasted Words by Staci Hart

I smiled. “And I won’t question you ever again.” I took a breath. “You said something to me earlier, and I didn’t respond. I should have, but I didn’t have words, I couldn’t speak. But I want you to know that I’ve loved you as my friend for so long, but now … I just want you to know that I feel the same. I love you, Tyler.” The words felt strange, words I’d barely uttered in my life but never rang so true as they did in that moment. He kissed me, telling me with his body what he’d said with his words, tangible and undeniable.

I broke away after a moment and folded my arms on his chest, resting my chin on the back of my hands. He propped himself up to look at me.

“So what exactly did Kyle say about me?”

“Oh, no,” he said with a snicker.” You’ll never know. But I’ll tell you this — I decked him for it.”

A laugh burst out of me. “You did?”

“I did, which is a big deal. I’ve punched exactly three people in my life, and two of them where before I was thirteen.”

“I wish I could have seen it.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure there’s a tape of it somewhere. God, I was so pissed, I could have killed him. He turned on me too, said I was nobody because I didn’t go pro.”

My heart sank with my smile. “Tyler, he didn’t.”

His smile was subdued too. “He did, but I don’t take stock in anything he says. He was just trying to rile me up, and it worked.” He held up his right hand, swollen knuckles facing me. “But he got punched in the face, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”

I chuckled and took his hand, kissing the knuckles he’d used to defend my honor. “My Knight in shining armor, come to save me.”

“No, it’s you who saved me. You know, you said you didn’t fit in, and I get that. As ‘in’ as I’ve been, I’ve never felt like I belonged, not outside my family and you. It’s why I didn’t want to lose you, why I’ve tried so hard to convince you. You saved me, Cam. Not the other way around.”

“We saved each other from loneliness and ourselves.”

“Maybe someday you’ll be a Knight too,” he said quietly, wrapping his fingers in mine.

My heart stopped for fear it was all a dream. “If you deem me worthy, I couldn’t say no.”

His face bent with emotion. “You are worthy. You’re everything.” And with that, he pulled me up to him, slipped his hand in my hair and kissed me as the autumn leaves fell around us like rain.

White Knight

Tyler

The day went by in a strange time warp, fast and slow, a dream. We ate our sandwiches and walked through the garden. I showed her the old swing in the back of the yard, and she sat so I could push her. I watched her arch, Chucks in the air and hair flying, the smile on her face one I hope I never went a day without seeing.

A vision passed through my mind of her in a wedding dress just like this, Chucks in the air, the skirt of her dress flying, and I wondered over it. It didn’t even surprise me, the thought. I only longed for it, hoped it would come true.

We walked back up to the house, hand in hand, spending the rest of the day with my family. Dinner was a loud affair, full of laughing and stories of our childhood — the more embarrassing the better, as far as my sisters were concerned. And that night, we all sat in the family room and talked until Cam was tucked into my side half asleep and yawns stretched the faces of most of the Knights.

Mom had set Cam up in the guest bedroom down the hall, though once we were dressed for bed and the house was settling down, I met Cam in the bathroom where we brushed our teeth together like we always did.

We stood in the dim hallway and said goodnight in whispers and promises, hating to part, wishing we were at home where could be alone, where she could sleep in my arms.

I didn’t want to be apart from her for another minute.

But I made my way to my room, feeling her down the hall as tangibly as if I’d left a limb with her. Though I had, I supposed. She had my heart.

I tossed and turned for a long while, my mind on her until I couldn’t take it anymore — I snuck down the hall, avoiding the creaking boards, and opened her door, closing it behind me softly.

“You came,” she whispered.

“I always will,” I whispered back as I slipped in next to her.

She sighed and shifted until our bodies were flush, her head tucked under my chin. And I felt more at home than I ever had before.

We didn’t talk, just held each other in the moonlight. Didn’t kiss, just breathed. And when I finally drifted off to sleep, it was with her name on my lips and her body against mine.

MIRROR

Cam

IT WAS STILL DARK WHEN he woke, leaving me with a kiss and the brush of my cheek, and I slipped back into sleep with a smile. When I woke again, the sun was up, and I stretched like a cat, hoping he was already awake, wishing he were still in bed with me.

When I was dressed, I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding Tyler there, reading. I’d brought him The Hobbit, and he was bent over it, engrossed in the words. He didn’t see me approach, not until I was next to him, pressing a kiss on his temple.

His mom was making breakfast, eggs and bacon and hash browns, but the kitchen was otherwise empty.

“Morning, Cam,” she said. “Sleep well?”

I smiled at Tyler. “Great, thanks for asking. Are the girls at school?” I asked as I sat down next to him.

“They are,” she said, “and Carl too, but he’ll be by later to see you both off.”