for aurora once again, because her endless support is heartwarming and the cover she made me is so gorgeous

"Hey."

"Hey," I smile softly, feeling a blush travel up my cheeks as Brady smiles warmly at me.

"Um," Brady looks around for a second before leaning down close to my ear, so close that his breath tickles my neck. "We need to talk."

I resist the urge to shiver, instead pursing my lips and nodding my head in agreement. I've been thinking a lot lately about Brady and I—honestly just a day—and I still have no clue what to do. The pros and cons are weighed evenly, even after mulling it over with Kendra for a few hours last night, and nothing seems to stick out to me as a reason to not intensify things with Brady or a reason to intensify things. My heart is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and my brain is just numb.

It's lunch time right now, so I know that we can honestly find anywhere to talk but there's one place that comes to mind. "How about the auditorium?" I suggest.

Brady nods and begins to follow me down through the school and towards the one room that feels so much like home to me. I know that here I can be completely honest and vulnerable to Brady, which is exactly what he needs from me after such a kiss. I've also been avoiding him all day—I came extremely early to school to get all of my things and then went straight to class to avoid locker confrontation, power walked through the hallways so that he wouldn't be able to catch me, and in the one class that we shared I excused myself to the bathroom so that I wouldn't have to talk to him for an entire period. Pathetic, I know.

When we reach the auditorium, Brady and I sit on the very edge of the stage so that our feet swing. Brady inhales and exhales, showing the defined bone structure of his face, before speaking with honesty and vulnerability. "I like you, Leah. I really like you."

"I kinda got that." I mutter, beginning to play with the end of my fishtail braid that's down the front of my left shoulder.

"Yeah," He chuckles. "Well I've liked you for a while now, maybe since like the 5th grade. I've wanted to tell you for so long but just when I got the guts, you started liking Ford, a lot, and I didn't want to make things complicated for you so I just kind of kept it to myself. I didn't even really tell Landon until around freshman year, and I never told Kendra because I knew she'd just tell you and that would kind of ruin everything."

"Yeah." I laugh lightly, remembering how horrible Kendra was (and still is) at keeping secrets.

"Anyway though, when you and Ford started dating I just kind of took that as a hint to back off. I still liked you and all but I knew how happy Ford made you and how happy you made Ford so I just took one for the team and learned to deal with myself. I dated girls here and there to get over you but it was never really all that satisfying for me, so that's why they never really lasted." Brady runs a hand through his wavy hair then, sighing through the process. "And then when you and Ford broke up, I knew it definitely wasn't the time. I mean you were completely heartbroken, and how horrible of a time to tell you how I felt? It wasn't my turn with you, and I knew that, so I just focused on making you feel better. Then you got the hair and the confidence and just everything that makes you Leah back and I just couldn't control my emotions around you. I was falling hard for you, Leah, and I know this sounds crazy but I've thought about kissing you so many times that I've lost count.

"And that kiss that we had the other day, it was kind of the best moment of my life—just because of how long I've wanted and waited to do it. You're just such an amazing person Leah, you really have no idea. Whenever I'm near you, you light up my day. Whenever I talk to you, you never fail to make me smile or laugh. Whenever you're sad I feel like I'm dying inside and all I want to do is make you feel like the princess you are to me. It isn't fair that Ford got to control you and make you so sad for so long, and to be honest I was happier than a motherfucker when he broke up with you, just because I knew he'd be out of your life. So now, I want to ask you if you'd like to by my girlfriend.

"If anything is to happen between us, I just want you to know that I'll be nothing short of a gentleman to you. I won't pressure you into doing anything that you don't want to do, I won't violate you in any type of way and I'll respect any decisions that you make. We don't have to be serious if you don't want, but it would make me insanely happy to call you mine. I don't want you to feel like you have to say yes, so if you're completely uninterested now would be the time to tell me. Just letting you know."

Brady finishes with an exhale then, his breath filling the entire auditorium with its delicacy. I don't know how he does it or why, but my emotions get the better of me as I find myself leaning towards him and connecting my lips with his. For a millisecond there is no movement, but then he kisses me back with full force and I know that this is right—that this, Brady, is what I want.

"Yes," I murmur against his lips, pulling back just a little to engage in eye contact with him. "I'll be your girlfriend, Brady."

"Are you sure?" He asks me. "You're not just saying that to be nice?"

I reach for Brady's hand, intertwining my fingers with his before smiling back up at him. "I said it because I like you, and you're the sweetest person I know." I tell him. "I want to try us, Brady, and see just how gentlemanly you can be."

"Oh yeah?" He murmurs, connecting our lips for a moment as I begin to laugh lightly.

"Yeah," I breath, kissing him with just as much force as he did—mostly to convince myself—and it works, because Brady performs the part of an amazing kisser.

And he performs it well.

↣↣↣↣↣↣

less than a year ago

Ford takes my hand in his, kissing it softly, before gripping it and using it to pull me up the stairs of his house. The kiss leaves a tingly feeling on my hand that vibrates through my fingers and soon up my arm where it reaches my heart.

When Ford and I reach his room he releases my hand and closes the door while I sit down on his bed, mentally preparing myself for the day. Usually Ford calls me to hangout but today he texted me, so I'm assuming that something might be up. Maybe he just didn't feel like speaking at the moment, maybe he was too tired or thought his breath stunk—I don't know but I could just be superstitious. I'm sure nothing is actually wrong.

Ford takes a deep breath before joining me on his bed, sitting on the right side of me and taking both of my hands in his. He looks at them like they're delicate beings, turning them over and running his finger along my veins. He then pulls my right hand up to his lips and kisses it once again, lingering for a bit, before beginning to trial kisses up my hand and arm and shoulder until he reaches my cheek. He breathes deeply, planting the softest of kisses there, and then does the same with my lips. "Ford," I breath, feeling my entire body become hot from his breath prickling my heart.

Ford pulls away then, but holds onto my hand still. "Sorry," He murmurs. "Just wanted to do that one more time."

"Huh?" I giggle, seemingly amused by this version of Ford. But when he doesn't laugh back, my smile falls. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Ford inhales shakily, turning to look at me. I take that moment to really study the boy I know—my boyfriend. His earthy eyes are glossy and frail, he looks more tired than usual, and the spark of life that's so commonly found in that face has faded, leaving nothing but someone shaken and seemingly scared.

Ford exhales shakily, running a hand over his face. "I think we should break up."

I blink, not yet registering his words. My surroundings begin to move slowly, giving me the feeling that I am the only thing without motion. I try to breath but it feels like my lungs are frozen, I try to speak but it's like my tongue has been cut off—nothing wants to work.

"I just ... I don't think we're working out." Ford continues softly, gripping tightly onto my limp hand. "I don't want you to feel like you're being dragged along with me, Leah. You deserve to find someone who really ... really wants you."

It's then that everything hits me, everything just comes crashing down. My heart feels like it's been frozen for eternity and has just been completely shattered by the arrow that is Ford. Everything either feels numb or immensely painful—both of which my brain can't stand. Tears hot as a caldron run down my cheeks, and as my shaking hands reach up to get rid of them I know exactly what I have to do. I can't stay in this room any longer because if I do I might just completely fall apart, and I don't want Ford to see that—he doesn't deserve to see that.

"O-Okay." I stammer shakily, attempting to smile through the pain. "That's okay."

"Leah," Ford reaches for my hand but misses as I push myself off of his bed. Stumbling, I walk backwards towards his door, smiling painfully the entire time. "Leah you don't have to pretend, I-I know this hurts."

I shake my head, pursing my lips to hold back the sobs. "I'm fine." I choke out. "I'll see you."

And with that, I quickly exit Fords door and shut it tightly behind me. Standing behind it, I don't move for a second, I just stand there and cover my mouth. My eyes burn from the tears so I shut them tightly to try and keep myself at bay but I know it's not working at all because the tears just keep coming and the pain throbs so deeply inside of me that I feel like I'm going to burst. I shouldn't be crying this hard right now because I knew we'd end eventually. I don't deserve someone as amazing and wonderful as Ford, so there's no way that we would've even lasted that long.

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a u t h o r s n o t e:

AHHH 2K READS + 200 VOTES OMFG THANK YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!!! it literally feels like we hit 1K a week ago lmao.

I hope you guys are all having a much better few weeks than I am, because I'm pretty exhausted and not really feeling the whole "do homework thing". granted my school so you all are probably way better off than I am (((: I know that I only have like less than 30 days left though, so hallelujah to THAT.

RIP PRINCE ❤️❤️❤️

okay so I DID reactivate my ask so you guys should go spam with questions and stuff, or else the point of having an ask is eliminated and I'll probs deactivate it again lol.

be sure to tell me what you thought of this chapter now that #Breah is official, and also how you thought Leah handled her (old) breakup with Ford. have a gr8 weekend!