Hello, everyone! I'm so excited to take you all on this new adventure with me! I'll save the longer a/n for the end of this chapter, but for now, thank you to my team for holding my hand on this one. Fran, Dani, Ariel, and Gemma for keeping me on track, and for the ladies at The Lemonade Stand who posted a Sneak Peek yesterday from Chapter Six of Unspoken. Thanks to you all, as well, for trusting me enough to jump on this ride with me! I'm warning you now, it will be bumpy, these characters will do things that will make us all scratch our heads, but I'll just remind you all to trust me and we shall be just fine :)
Disclaimer: This fic has been inspired and adapted from one of my favorite books/TV Series, Normal People. If you haven't watched it yet, and you want to see what path our E and B will be on in this story, have a watch! I watched it on Hulu, thinking it would be a quick, fun series to binge while my kids were out of the house for the night, and it's haunted me ever since. Needless to say, Twilight and Normal People are not mine. I just twist them around and play with them to my liking :)
Okay, I guess my a/n went a little longer than expected. I'll stop for now. Enjoy! Let me know what you think - these characters have plagued me for months, always igniting such intense conversations, so I would LOVE to discuss with all of you!
"All these years, they've been like two little plants sharing the same plot of soil, growing around one another, contorting to make room, taking certain unlikely positions."
- Normal People
He knows her.
So do the other people in her life, obviously, but none like the way he does.
He can look across the room, catch her eye, and know what she's thinking. He knows the little smile she gives when she's trying to be kind to someone. He knows the laugh she uses when she's uncomfortable but doesn't want to offend anyone. He knows when she's had enough by the way her eyes scan the room, casually looking for an exit strategy. He recognizes the fire in her eyes when she's about to stand up for herself.
He knows when she needs to escape, he'll follow her.
And she'll let him.
She always will.
When you grow up with a person, you do more than just gain height and scars. You gain experience. Love. Loss. Secrets.
Confusion.
Understanding.
And in time, you grow up and accept these changes and experiences. It's when you're in the midst of it all that none of it makes sense.
They never understood it, especially when they were merely kids trying to navigate the waters of social pressure and expectations. Even when they closed the doors to the outside world, and it was just the two of them, they fumbled over the words they needed to hear from one another.
So they learned to listen to the silence, to everything they didn't say. Her words were the gasps she would make when he was deep inside her—the way she would cling to him like he was the only person who ever bothered to see the person she really was. He thrived on those sounds. The way they both grounded and terrified him.
He held on to her unspoken words even on his darkest days without her.
Without anyone.
They were never just friends.
They were never able to be.
And they never will.
Just a quick introduction for today, but I'll see you soon for our first BPOV. I've also been posting teasers from random, upcoming chapters in both my facebook group, Lily Jill Fics, as well as in The Fic Lab on facebook, as well. You should join both places!
Looking forward to seeing you soon!