*Isabella's POV*
"Hey, it's not for losers," Elly said, her tone gentle but firm, like she was correcting a flaw in the way i was raised. "Did your high school boyfriend ever say it?" she asked, her head tilted to one side.
"He did," I admitted, "But I never told him back. And then my mom got sick, and I... I felt I couldn't do something as fucking selfish as dating while my mom was struggling with cancer. So... I ghosted him." The word hung in the cold air, ugly and final. "And I eventually started to have one-night stands. I still needed to get laid, you know."
"Oh, my poor bitch," she said, placing a hand over her heart. "But did you ever fall in love?" she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"I... I think I did.... Last year," I admitted, the words feeling like a confession. I couldn't meet her gaze, staring instead at a crack in the tombstone as if it held the secrets of the universe.
Elly's gasp was so loud it could have woken the dead. She looked at me in shock, her eyes wide with glee. "You're in love with the hot brothers, aren't you?" she asked, a mischievous, victorious smile spreading across her face.
"I will neither confirm nor deny," I said flatly, crossing my arms in a pathetic attempt to look nonchalant.
"Saying 'I love you' isn't necessary," she said, wisely changing tactics, her playful tone softening into something more sincere. "But sometimes people feel good if they hear it. How did you feel when they told you?" she asked.
"Loved," I said, the word barely a whisper. "It felt good. Especially since one of them had the usual fucking trouble in expressing emotions." I said nervously, my fingers picking at a loose thread on my coat.
"Just like you, huh?" she asked, a soft, knowing smile replacing her earlier smirk.
"Just like me," I agreed, a small, sad smile touching my own lips.
"You should say it," she said, her voice gentle but insistent. "You'll feel liberated." She gave my arm a supportive squeeze.
I took a deep, shaky breath, the cold air stinging my lungs. I turned back to the tombstone, to the name engraved in cold, unyielding stone. "I'm not good at this, Mom," I began, my voice cracking. "But I love you."
A few Months flew by in a blur of new routines. I got into a rhythm at Smith & Johnson Co., the world of numbers and audits a welcome, logical distraction. I threw myself into my final semester, the structured chaos of balancing work and school providing a foundation for my broken life to rebuild itself. Soon, May came around, and just like that, I was graduating.
The day was a blur of black gowns and proud, beaming parents. But my parents weren't there...they couldn't be. My people were. Elly and her mom, Katherine, were a loud, welcome splash of colour in the sea of bored faces, cheering like lunatics every time my name was so much as mentioned.
"You shouldn't have come," I said to Katherine, feeling a familiar flush of embarrassment.
"Are you kidding me?" she said, her voice warm and full of genuine affection. She gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Elly," I began, my voice suddenly nervous, my eyes finding hers.
"What is it, my college graduate bitch?" Elly asked with a wink and a grin so wide it was infectious, making me smile despite myself.
"Thank you," I said, the words feeling thick and clumsy in my throat. "For... for making me feel part of a family for once." I whispered it, the admission so quiet I almost hoped she wouldn't hear.
"What for?" she asked, cupping her ear dramatically. "You mumble under your breath, how on earth was I supposed to understand that?" she said with a mischievous smile that made me laugh.
"Anyway, let's take a pic," she said, pulling out her phone. "You're rocking the boring graduation gown." I struck a silly pose, putting my hands on my hips, just as she was about to click the button.
A voice, a low, familiar rumble that cut right through the noise of the crowd, chimed in. "Can we take a pic with the graduate sweetheart too?"
I froze. My heart did a stupid flutter, a chaotic drum solo against my ribs. It can't be... there is no way. I slowly, so slowly, looked up.
"Jacob? Damien?" There they were. Standing there, looking handsome and rugged as ever, a fucking vision from my past that had just crashed headfirst into my future.
I gave a nod, my throat too tight to form words. They moved in, a space opening up in the little circle of my family. Damien stood stiffly beside me, a solid, reassuring presence, while Jacob slung an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a one-armed hug that felt both overwhelmingly familiar and completely foreign. The flash of Elly's phone went off, blinding me for a second, capturing a moment that felt more surreal than any dream.
As soon as the pictures were taken, Elly and her mom moved a few feet away, pretending to be fascinated by the balloons, giving us a sliver of privacy in the middle of the graduation chaos.
"Isabella, I'm so proud. Congratulations," Damien said, his voice low and sincere, meant only for me. The words, coming from him, meant more than any diploma ever could. They settled over me like a warm, heavy blanket.
"We're both proud," Jacob chimed in, his arm brushing against mine, and I felt a hot blush creep up my neck.
"Now that you're free, we need you to go with us somewhere," Jacob said, his tone shifting from celebratory to business, shattering the moment.
"Where?" I asked, my voice small, a flicker of confusion cutting through my surprise.
"To see Madam Suzanne. I found her," Jacob said, and my mouth fell open.
"Where did you find her?" I asked, my mind reeling.
"She wasn't easy to find," he said, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "I hired a private investigator, but I ended up finding her myself, online. Purely coincidental. How fucked up is that?" he said, the last part a frustrated sigh, as if the universe was playing a cruel, anticlimactic joke on him.