Page 152 of Under the Waves
She was sprinting towards me, tears streaking down her cheeks and sobs echoing in the wind.
My own legs began to move. My body propelling me forwards. To meet her.To reach her.
I opened my arms.
She reached out towards me.
And only when our bodies finally clashed in a mess of limbs and tears, did I let myself breathe.
Her hands wrapped around my neck, fingers tangling themselves in my hair as her face fell into the crook of my neck, fitting perfectly as if my body was molded to match her very soul.
I cupped the back of her head in my hand, gently stroking her hair as my whole body shook. My other arm wrapped around her waist, holding her against me, not once letting go.
“You came,” she sobbed. “You came,” she repeated in disbelief. “You actuallycame.”
There were tears falling down my cheeks as I replied, hugging onto her as tight as I could, “Of course I came, Wellsy. I won’t evernotcome to you.”
We collapsed to the ground beneath our own weight. Mud and grass stained our skin, but neither of us made anyattempt to move.
Instead, we just stayed there, holding onto each other like a lifeline, never ever letting go.
48
Jasper Ridge
“Hey Jasper?” Poppy whispered, green eyes glistening under the moonlight that filtered in through my blinds.
“Yeah?” I hummed, threading my fingers through her curls, admiring the masterpiece that was her.
There was no place I would’ve rather been than tangled in the essence of her, spread across my bed sheets with Marvel’sCivil Warplaying in the background.
“We’re for reals, aren’t we?”
I perched up onto my elbows. “Of course we are, Wellsy.”
Poppy copied my movements, resting her head against the headboard, eyes fluttering closed.
Her quiet voice filled my room.
My lifeline in the silence.
“Will…will you hold me?”
Her raspy breath kissed every inch of theexposed skin at my neck. Those eyes–those damned saddened green eyes stared into mine, so round, so full of uncertainty. They were my own personal riptide, and I found myself entirely willing to be swept away by their ferocious currents.
“You know I will, Wellsy.” I smiled, tugging her into my side as she buried her head against my chest. “I will always hold you when the darkness gets too close.”
“For infinity?” She asked, voice quiet and small.
I reached for her, pulling her body flush up against mine as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “For infinity,” I promised her.
Tomorrow, I wanted to take her down to the records store after finishing our shifts at the surf school. I’d asked them to put aside one of their newHarry’s Housevinyl so I could surprise her with it. Because that girl, who believed with her entire heart that she was devastatingly broken to the point of being unfixable, needed to be shown that she was anything butbroken.
I had never been one to believe in love but for Poppy Wells, I felt like I was full of it.
She was my religion, my addiction, my heart and soul.
Every atom inside me worshipped her.