we’re even.”
She kisses my forehead. “I’m glad you’re here.”
As she excuses herself to get coffee, I rise to my feet and approach Kit’s bed. His eyes flutter open, sensing me. I press a kiss to his pink, pink strawberry lips.
“You scared me,” I murmur.
His thumb strokes over my hand. “I’m sorry, quark. Everything’s going to be okay. As long as you stay with me.”
I give him a fierce nod. “I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
“I’ll need you forever.”
“Then forever you’ll have me.”
Epilogue
Kit
October 4
“…and this year’s Homecoming prince is Kit Strong!” Miss Beasely announces on the speakers.
I quirk a brow at Eric. “They have princes at these things?”
“They have a whole court,” Eric starts to explain but is cut off by Miss Beasely again.
“Our Homecoming king is Eric Davidson!”
We both walk toward the center stage, arm in arm. Eric is nervous, but he doesn’t let it show. His mom is proud of him. Everyone at school knows he’s gay now, so it’s not like he has anything to fear. I’d finally convinced him today to let me come to his house before the crowning ceremony so we could take pictures and break the news to his mother in a more controlled environment. Jasper, Henry, Harloe, and Serena were there to also lend their support. Rather than yelling at him like he worried, she was thrilled he had the bravery to tell her.
Miss Beasley places a small crown on my head and then a larger one on Eric. Eric also gets bestowed with a sash that matches Harloe’s since she’s our queen. I scan the crowd, looking for my man. In the front row, Jasper sits beside Serena looking hot as ever.
We have to stand there in front of all our peers and parents for the Homecoming banquet, grinning, as Miss Beasley makes a speech about our football team, cheerleaders, and school. I can’t take my eyes off Jasper, though.
My hero.
I just had to save him first.
It’s hard to believe just over a month ago, he wanted to die. The moment I locked eyes with him, I felt something was severely wrong with him. It was clouding the air around him, toxic and suffocating. I knew everyone felt it but avoided it.
I couldn’t.
Not after reading up on social media about what happened to his brother and then seeing firsthand the utter despair he was experiencing. I knew I had to do something. I had to find a way to pull him to me and keep him together.
The Strong Force as my parents call it.
At first, I wanted to be a friend. But the moment I heard his voice and felt all of his emotions so clearly as though they were my own, I was captivated by him.
Back then, he was empty and sad. The most beautiful guy I’d ever seen wrapped in a blanket of sorrow and pain. I craved to tug that blanket away and wrap my warmth around him, comforting him in a different sort of way.
We fell.
So fast and so hard into each other.
Each day, we fall a little more.
Mom wasn’t sure of Jasper to begin with. He wore dark clothes and his smiles were rare. But Jasper is one of those people you can’t help but gravitate toward. He’s like a beacon, pulsating and urging you forward. It’s like he wears his emotions on the outside. Places his tender heart right on his shoulder where everyone can see. All it does is make you want to crowd around him to protect it.
Jasper doesn’t see what everyone else does.
He didn’t see the way his mother would cry when he’d turn his back, terrified she’d failed him. He never saw how his teacher, Mr. Halston, fretted over his psychological well-being. Jasper didn’t notice the way the kids watched him, slightly hopeful that he might speak to them and then sad when he didn’t.
Everyone wanted to help.
He’d lost his brother and was clearly suffering from it.
The poor guy thought he was all alone.
It didn’t take long to make him realize he wasn’t alone. He had me and his family and my family and his teachers and his peers. It took hard work from everyone to slowly bring him away from death’s doors and right in the center of our world where he belongs.
Jasper always fondly tells me of how his brother was the star.
Perhaps Julian was.
But if Julian was the star, Jasper is the moon.
Lighting up the darkness. Glowing bright and brilliant for all to see. A force