*

I excuse myself and go to our room. I hear the others say goodbye and then the front door closing. I cover my head under the sheets and continue to cry.

The bed dips, cold air hits my back, and then Cameron's warm arms are around me. "Lucy?" he whispers, his voice hesitant.

I sit up and face him. He leans back against the headboard and pats his lap twice. I climb on him, knowing my face is a mess from all the uncontrolled tears.

"You're hurting?" he asks.

I nod.

"Talk to me."

I try to settle my sobs, my voice coming out strained when I say, "I think I should reach out to her. I think that I should be a friend. Maybe she doesn't have any left after what happened. I don't know. I just feel like I should do something."

My breaths are broken with each inhale. I cry hard and loud into his neck.

"I know, babe," he says. "It's because you care so much. You feel everything so intensely. You hate seeing devastation around people, and you want to be their rock. You've always been like that."

I pull back and look in his eyes as they scan mine.

"Even before your mom died you took care of your family. And when she passed, you took care of your brothers, your dad, everyone but yourself. You wanted to be the glue that held them together, but you're allowed to break, Lucy. If you want to be her friend, I'll support you, but you have to let her break."

I nod and cry again. I can't stop crying. "You're my rock," I tell him. I rub my eyes with the back of my hand. "I don't know how I would have gotten through any of it if you didn't show up every day. If you weren't there..."

"Shhh." He pulls me closer and rubs slow circles on my back, the way he always does when I'm upset. "Don't think about it."

"But I have to!" I lean back again so we're face to face, because we need to have this conversation. "I'm not being petty and insecure, Cameron. This is real life, this isn't a fairy tale where everything ends with a happily ever after. What if we go to college and things change? What if something or someone gets between us? What then?"

"Stop," he says, his eyes glazing. "I hate thinking about this."

"I know, but we need to."

"No we don't, Luce. I love you. You love me. That love's forever. Nothing else matters. I promise."

"You can't promise that. You can't predict the future. You can't tell me that we'll be forever when you don't know."

He lets his head fall back onto the headboard and looks up at the ceiling.

"I'm serious, Cam."

"I know, babe," he sighs, then straightens up and holds my head in his hands. Our eyes lock for the longest time. Like we're taking each other in for the first time, or the last. It could have been seconds. It could have been hours. Then he speaks, "I love you, Lucy. I'll always love you, even if you don't know it. So... even if forever isn't eternal, I promise to love you for our forever."

I try to sniff back my sobs, but it doesn't work. "And what happens if our forever is short? What if something happens?"

He kisses me softly, for so long, that I almost forget why I'm crying. He pulls away, but not enough that his lips leave mine. "Then I will love you, for our forever more."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

COLLEGE – SOPHOMORE YEAR

-CAMERON-

This girl has been looking at me strange since class started. I'd seen her before but we've never spoken. I see her get up from the corner of my eye and start walking toward me. She dresses differently than Lucy, not in a bad way. Just different.

The scraping of the chair next to me has me flinching, but I don't look up.

"Hey," she whispers.

"What's up?" I try to keep my tone even. Not unfriendly, but not friendly either. I don't want her getting the wrong idea.

"You're Cameron, right?"

I nod, my eyes staying fixed on the plan I'm working on.

"I'm Roxy."

"Cool."

She laughs quietly. "It's okay," she says, "I'm not trying to hit on you, if that's the reason you're being an asshole right now."

I can't contain the chuckle that escapes. Finally lifting my eyes to hers, I ask, "What's up?"

"You work at Bradman, right?"

"Kind of. It's unpaid. They kind of float me so I can study here."

"Oh." She smiles with excitement. I can't tell if it's genuine or not. "That's kind of a big deal."

I shrug. "Not really. It's kind of an 'I know people who know people' deal."

She continues to smile, her thick long black hair swaying with her nods.

My eyebrows draw in. "Why?"

"Oh," she says, laughing again. She laughs a lot. Not fake, I don't think. More like carefree. "I applied for a job there. It's not much but it's good experience. I was hoping maybe you could..." she trails off.

"Could what?" I ask. I know what she wants but I feel like being a dick.

She smacks my arm with the back of her hand and rolls her eyes. "You're going to make me ask?"

"Yup."

"Fine," she sighs. "Dearest Cameron, if you would be so obliged to perhaps offer a good word in response to myself, that would be more than fabulous. You are also welcome to state the fact that I have fairly large bosoms, if you so wish."