Page 149 of Promising You
It’s almost midnight and I can’t sleep. I’m so used to having Garret beside me that the tiny twin bed feels big and empty without him. As I reposition my pillow for the hundredth time trying to get comfortable, I hear a soft knock on the door. I grab my crutches and get up to answer it.
“Hey.” It’s Garret, dressed in the navy shorts and white t-shirt he often wears to bed. The anger in his eyes is gone and he seems more relaxed. “Am I still invited?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
He comes in and shuts the door. “I’m sorry about how I reacted earlier. I shouldn’t have shut you out like that. It’s just that the thought of you with him for all that time—” He stops and takes a deep breath. “Never mind. I’m sorry. That’s what I came down here to say. I love you and I don’t want to fight about this.”
“I don’t want to fight either.”
Garret sets my crutches down on the floor and picks me up and carries me back to the bed. He lies beside me, wrapping me in his arms. “Sorry if I woke you up. I should’ve come down earlier.”
“You didn’t wake me up. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Me either. I’m so used to sleeping next to you that now I can’t sleep unless you’re beside me. I’m really going to miss you next week. I wish I was going with you. If it weren’t for this fucking reality show. I’m so sick of this.”
I feel him tensing up.
“It’ll be over soon.” I tug his arm closer around me and feel him relax again.
I shut my eyes, but part of me still feels anxious about our fight. In the past I would’ve said nothing and just gone to sleep, but that just makes things worse. If I want this relationship to work, I need to just say what I need to say.
“Garret?”
“Yeah.”
“I know you were mad at me tonight, but I can’t have you telling me to go away like that. It makes me feel like you don’t want this anymore. And then I get mad at myself for getting involved with you in the first place. I know I can’t react like that every time we fight, but until I get over it could you maybe not throw me out of your room when I piss you off?”
“I’m sorry, but I just didn’t want to yell at you and say something I didn’t mean. And you didn’t piss me off. I was pissed off at Carson and I needed some time to calm down.”
“Well, maybe next time we could just sit together and not talk.”
“We could do that.” He sits up on his side and I turn to face him. “But Jade, you need to understand that we’re going to fight. It’s normal and it’s okay. We won’t always agree on stuff. Sometimes I’ll be mad at you and sometimes you’ll be mad at me. But that doesn’t mean we’ll break up.”
“I know we’ll fight, but I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t either, but it’s part of being in a relationship.” He runs his hand down the side of my face. “Even if we fight, don’t you ever think I don’t want this. I want this more than I’ve wanted anything. I wantyoumore than anything.”
I nod.
He kisses me. “So are we okay now?”
“Yes.” I yawn as my eyelids get heavy and close.
“Hey.” I feel him nudge my side.
“Yeah.” I open my eyes again.
“Don’t be afraid to tell me when I’m being an ass. I do stupid shit all the time, especially when I’m pissed, so feel free to call me on it. I won’t get mad at you for it.”
“I know. I just don’t like yelling at you.”
“You don’t have to yell. Just tell me. I can handle it. I know this may come as a shock, Jade, but I’m not perfect.” He can’t even say it without laughing. “And neither are you.”
I sit up, trying not to laugh. “Hey, I’m totally perfect!”
“You’re not.” He lays me back down and drops a kiss on my lips. “Neither one of us is. But together we’re kind of perfect. So it works.”
“Yeah, it does.”
