Life was great.

After recent events, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off our shoulders now that Stacey Bennett wasn't a part of our lives anymore.

For the first couple of weeks, Aiden was still not back to his normal self. Despite everything, I knew that he loved her so it was inevitable for him to feel heartbroken. He was a lot quieter than usual, putting on a facade that made it seem like he was okay. I made it known to him that I was always available to talk to, for which he was grateful for. But from throwing himself into football and school work, Aiden managed to become his usual self again as he started to heal.

He even swore off girls for a while, stating that he wanted to concentrate on his future, starting with finals.

Speaking of school, the news of Coral Springs power couple breaking up spread around like wildfire and it was all I ever heard about for a while. The rumours that people made up were absolutely insane. But after Aiden and Nixon gave out death glares, everyone became too scared to mention it again.

The relationship between my brother and my boyfriend has also been a big change recently. Maybe they weren't best buddies yet, but they were more than civil and my brother actually seemed to be making an effort.

"What's on your mind baby?"

Nixon's voice brought me out of my thoughts as we were cuddling on the couch together. We were currently home alone, his mom and sister were out for the day, which meant we had his whole house to ourselves.

"I was just thinking about how much has changed recently," I smiled up at the handsome boy I loved.

"Oh yeah, like what?" He planted a soft kiss at the top of my nose.

"Like slutty Stacey being out of lives, and your relationship with Aiden,"

Nixon laughed shaking his head. "I still can't believe that was your name for her all this time,"

"What?" I laughed back. "It was true wasn't it? I mean the girl literally did a strip tease in the middle of the school cafeteria last year,"

"Thank god I wasn't there," He shuddered in disgust which made me laugh. Nixon cupped my cheek gently as his fingers stroked my soft skin. He was looking at me with so much love that I couldn't help but smile at him in awe. "You're so beautiful, you know that?"

I felt my cheeks redden at his comment and he kissed me softly on my lips. I eventually deepened the kiss as I straddled him and raked my hands through his brown locks. Breaking the kiss to take a breath, I spoke.

"Nixon?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" His voice was hoarse as we were both breathing heavily.

"I think I'm ready," I said as my eyes bore into his. His expression dawned with realization as he knew exactly what I was referring to.

"Are you sure?" He asked tenderly as he cupped my face. "We can wait for as long as you want,"

I nodded. "I've been thinking about it for a while now. You're pretty much it for me Nixon. You're the boy I fell in love with, there's nobody else I want to do life with,"

The look I was receiving filled my heart with so much warmth, which showed nothing but love and joy.

"I'm crazy in love with you Mara Ellsworth. You're it for me too. You're my everything,"

And with that, his lips were on mine.

The electricity that surged through my body was overwhelmingly amazing and it wasn't a feeling I had ever felt before. As our kiss deepened, Nixon stood us up with my legs wrapped tightly around his waist and held me up like I weighed nothing.

He effortlessly walked us up the stairs and before I knew it, I was gently being laid down flat onto his bed. Breaking our kiss for a few moments, Nixon went to grab the bottom of his t shirt but I stopped him.

"Let me,"

Smiling up at him, I took off his shirt as he raised his arms and ran my hand all over his chest and torso. His abs and defined chest felt amazing under my touch, so I couldn't help but plant kisses onto the soft muscular skin.

"Now it's my turn," Nixon gave me a sexy smirk as he gently pushed me back into the bed, unbuttoning my blouse slowly. He peppered kisses from the top and made his way down as more skin was exposed.

Revealing my lacy bra, Nixon's eyes darkened. "You're so beautiful,"

It wasn't long until we were both naked, and went into euphoria together.

****

"I'm hungry now,"

Nixon laughed. We were laying side by side wrapped in his sheets.

"What?" I nudged him playfully.

"Only you, Mara Ellsworth would choose to say that as your first words after sex,"

"Hey. It took up a lot of my energy,"

"Oh yeah? Well I think we need to work on that stamina on yours," Nixon smirked at me and started to plant soft kisses on my neck.

I moaned in pleasure. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I have a few ideas," He mumbled against my skin.

"Yeah?"

Nixon suddenly stopped his kisses, making eye contact with me instead. "Morning jogs,"

That earned him a pillow to the face.

Not long after, we found ourselves dressed and back downstairs. As part of his punishment he was making me food in the kitchen and I requested a grilled cheese sandwich.

Call me crazy, but I felt like finally sleeping together had already caused a shift in our relationship. I didn't think it was possible but I felt so much closer to Nixon. We had now officially given every part of ourselves to each other, mentally as well as physically and I couldn't help but feel like I was on cloud nine.

Plus, now that it's happened it'll be so much harder to keep our hands off of each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Nixon asked as he returned and kissed the side of my head.

"That it's going to be so much harder to keep our hands to ourselves?" I peered up at him smiling.

"Exactly. I don't know how I'm going to do it without going crazy," He smirked as he pulled me closer to him.

Planting a gentle kiss on his lips, I smiled. "Thank you for making it perfect. I love you,"

"I love you too,"

We spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch, enjoying each other's company. At around six I got a call from my dad who wanted me back for dinner, so I reluctantly got a lift home.

In all honesty, this was a blessing in disguise as we both actually needed to study.

The SATs were creeping up and at home we weren't around to distract each other. Me and Nixon had an ongoing challenge of who could get the higher score, courtesy of me. It was fun as well as motivating as I really wanted to win. As we both currently had 4.0 GPAs we were on an even playing field. I always knew Nixon was intelligent and hard working at school, it filled me with so much pride that he prioritised his future. If he wanted to pursue pre-med, then he couldn't afford to slack, just like me with my ambition for law school.

I was an hour into studying, when there was a knock at my door.

I called out, not moving my gaze from the paper I was writing on. "Come in,"

"Hey Mara,"

My head turned in a daze at the voice I least expected to hear. "Kayla." Looking closer at my best friend I realised that there was anything but a smile on her face. "What happened?"

Without hesitation, I stood up walking over to her and pulled her into an embrace as she broke down into tears. I stroked her red hair as she sobbed into my shoulder. We stood like this for a good five minutes, as I let her get it all out. I eventually sat us down on my couch until her sobs turned into sniffles.

"What's going on Kay?" I asked softly as our eyes met.

She sighed deeply before answering. "It's my parents,"

I looked at her in confusion. "What about them?"

"They're getting a divorce,"

"What?" I asked in surprise. "I had no idea that things were bad,"

"They've been fighting for a while now. I'm sorry I never told you guys," Kayla sniffed.

Kay was the most private out of our trio, especially when it came to her home life. This was honestly the first time I had heard anything. I suddenly felt like the worst best friend for not noticing that something was up.

"No, I should be the one apologising to you. I had no idea Kay. I should have noticed,"

"There was no way you could have. I hid things pretty well," She gave me a half hearted smile in between her sniffles.

I hugged her to my side tightly. "I can't imagine what it feels like. But I hope you know that I'm always here for you,"

She smiled at my words. "The whole thing just sucks you know? We were this one big happy family and now it feels like it's been smashed into a million pieces. The twins are too young to fully understand what's happening, I wish I was in their shoes,"

I sighed thinking about the boys. Kay's brother's were only five years old so it made sense that they'd be confused. "But if you were in their shoes then you couldn't be there for them as a big sister. They'll need you now more than ever,"

"You're right," She smiled. "I know they'll have a lot of questions once my dad moves out and why we'll only get to see him on weekends,"

Hearing my best friend say that out loud put it into perspective for me of how big a change it will be. It really did suck and my heart ached for her.

"Is it okay if I stay over? I just really don't want to go back home," Kay's question brought me out my thoughts.

"Like you even have to ask," I nudged her playfully.

And with that, it was settled. My dad gave the okay so we jumped into bed and put on a movie, binging on snacks to bury our sorrows. From the corner of my eye I saw that Kayla had fallen asleep so I switched off the TV and turned off the lights.

Settling into the comforter, my cell buzzed as I got a text from Nixon which simply read, I love you.

With his words ringing through my mind, I fell into a deep slumber.

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😢

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