Thrive (Addicted Series)

One day at a time. “Isn’t that too slow for you?” I ask. The Loren Hale that I’m used to wants no delay on life, no drawing out the agony. He hates the wait.

I watch his gaze fall to my belly. And then they flicker to my features. He searches them like he’s engraining each freckle, each piece of me. “Life moves too quickly,” he says. “I don’t want to speed through a single moment. Not anymore.”

I cry into a laugh because I never thought I’d hear him talk this way. He brushes my tears for me, our lips only a breath apart.

And I whisper, “One day at a time then.”

“Fantastic,” Ryke replies.

“Not fucking fantastic?” Daisy whispers to him with a bright smile.

He actually smiles back

In the beginning of everything, he empathized most with Quicksilver. For being the son of an undesirable man. For being rebellious and wishing that life would just hurry up already. He’s not perfect by any means, but that’s why Lo loves him: every imperfection, every flaw. He is a hero in my eyes because of each one.

“Maximoff,” he says. My tears brim. I flip the ornament over and see Lo’s name etched into the back. He draws me closer and rubs his sleeve below my eyes. “Say something.”

“I love it,” I say with a laugh the produces more tears. Maximoff. Quicksilver’s last name. And then it clicks. “Remember when we said that the best Ravenclaws are the ones who can cheer for the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs?”

Lo nods.

“Luna,” I say. “For a girl…”

He smiles. “It’s perfect…just don’t tell Rose and Connor that it’s because of them.” He knows that Luna makes me think of my sister and his best friend.

He sets me on my feet, the giant brick and stone house looming behind us. Eight rooms. Even more bathrooms.

It reminds me, every day, that we can afford our mistakes. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why we end up making more.

“Open it,” Lo smiles.

I pop the lid off the tube and delicately remove the thin paper that contains my certificate.

“Now you’re an official college graduate, Lily Calloway. How does it feel?” he asks, pride overtaking his features.

“Good,” I say. Really, really good. It took me a long time to graduate from Princeton, especially after transferring there. I passed with a very low GPA, but I passed. That’s all that matters to me. I look up at him. “But it’s not as good as other accomplishments.” Going through recovery, taking the steps to be a better me, that achievement surpasses all others.

He tugs my Wampa cap on my head, pulling the flaps over my ears for warmth. “Are you too good to hang out with me now?” he asks, propping an arm on the mailbox.

I lose myself to his amber eyes for a moment, and then I say, “We’re the same.”

I pull it out like it’s a dream.

“You did it, Lil,” Lo says, heading down the driveway with a cardboard box labeled Christmas. One of my puffy winter jackets rests on top of it. He sets the box down and joins me.

“I can’t believe that I didn’t even cheat,” I say, waving the tube around like a lightsaber. “Towards the end, at least.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I do,” he says, nodding. “I should’ve done it months ago. The hardest things in life are usually the right things. I just hated Dad too much to do the right thing.” He throws the towel on his gym bag. “When I clear his name of the allegations, I want you to know that it’s not for him, okay?” He turns to me. “I’m doing this for you, and for me.”

I pat his back, choked up for a second. I rub my lips as I process these feelings. It takes me a minute to finally say what’s been inside of me for years. “Thank you.”

Without my brother, I wouldn’t be sober. I’m not even sure I’d be alive. His decision to enter my life and never let go was one that saved me. No thank you will repay what he’s given me. But it’s all I have. And by the smile that begins to lighten his normally darkened face—something tells me that it’s enough for him.

Post-traumatic stress. “I’m sorry,” I immediately say. That’s why he wanted Daisy to live in the same apartment complex as him. That’s why he spent so many days and hours with her.

That’s how they began to fall in love

He stares deeply into me and says, “I just don’t want our kid to be damaged like us.”

My breath catches and it takes me a minute to collect the right words. “We can’t live in fear of that. It’ll cripple us.”

He pulls me closer, and he kisses me so strongly that the air is vacuumed from my lungs. A head rush of epic proportions.

When we break apart, his forehead on mine, he whispers, “You and me.”

I smile against his lips. “Lily and Lo.”

“And someone else,” he says.

And someone else.

I have many more months before I meet that someone, but we’re beginning to accept this new world, a new reality where we’re no longer allowed to be selfish. It’s our greatest test yet.

“I love you,” he whispers, combing my damp hair off my forehead.

I lift my chin to look at him, about to say I love you too but it sounds too practiced, not encompassing even half of my sentiments.

He sees it in my eyes. “I know,” he says