Read Online I Will Always Love You by Cecily von Ziegesar - Free Book Online
Authors: Cecily von Ziegesar
Ads: Link
bury his nose in her hair, to smell the delicious shampoo she always used. He wanted to press
his lips against hers. He wanted to run his fingers along the curve of her back. Chips’s words rang through his head. You’ll know when you know.
He knew.
“I’m back,” he said finally.
“I can see that,” Blair hedged. She didn’t want to make this easy for him. He’d broken her heart, and she’d sworn she’d never
forgive him.
“Blair, I know I messed up. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. You know I love you. I always have.”
“That’s what you texted. To me and Serena.” Blair put her hands on her hips. The fact that he’d sent the exact same I love you, goodbye message to her and Serena had always been the most difficult thing.
“I know. I was so confused. I’ve known you both forever. Serena’s a friend, but I love you, Blair. I understand if you can’t
forgive me, but I hope we can at least be friends.” Nate’s eyes were pleading.
Blair studied Nate’s face and softened a bit. His green eyes were dull and his face was ashen. He looked like a guy who’d
just realized he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. “So much has happened,” she began, but then trailed off. Where to
even begin?
Blair glanced around. Rain and Laura and a whole bunch of slutty L’École freshmen were peering toward the terrace, watching
them. She didn’t know what she wanted to say to Nate, but she knew she didn’t want an audience.
“We could talk about it somewhere else,” he suggested, as if reading her mind.
Blair gazed at Nate, holding eye contact. Every night before she went to sleep at Yale, she’d revisited the same fantasy,
like a movie playing itself on loop in her head: Nate opening the door to her tiny dorm room and sitting down on the edge
of her regulation-size bed. Telling her that he’d gone out to sea to forget her, but that he couldn’t stay away. That he couldn’t
live without her. That he loved her, always and forever.
It wasn’t happening exactly as she’d imagined it. But it was still happening.
“Can we go back to your house?” Blair asked boldly, surprising herself. She knew what would happen when she was alone with
Nate. But she also knew, finally, that Nate loved her. And he deserved a second chance.
Or a third, or a fourth…
the last moment is the one that counts
Vanessa ran up the steps of the First Avenue L train station at eleven thirty on New Year’s Eve, eager to get to Hollis’s
party before midnight. The stairwell smelled like pee and was crowded with scantily clad revelers getting a late start on
party hopping.
She spontaneously pulled out her camera from her bright orange Brooklyn Industries bag. Last year, she’d captured footage
from a midnight run in Central Park. She loved the idea of having an archive of footage of anonymous New Yorkers, celebrating
the start of a new year. She began filming the packs of people swarming out of the subway station and onto the sidewalk. Avenue
B had been a sketchy avenue in the eighties and nineties, but it was now dotted with gourmet coffee shops and wine bars. The
entire street had the atmosphere of an enormous party, and Vanessa felt a shiver of anticipation run up her spine.
She made her way to the address from Hollis’s text. The black door to the four-story-tall building was propped open with a
broom, and strains of the Clash emanated from the top floor.
The apartment was sticky and humid from so many bodies in such close proximity. Vanessa pulled off her puffer coat and draped
it over her arm. She was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie emblazoned with the logo of her sister’s band, Sugar-Daddy.
She felt plain and underdressed compared to the guys in skinny jeans and ironic T-shirts and the girls in vintage silk dresses,
toasting each other with plastic cups.
Vanessa felt a tug on the hood of her sweatshirt and turned around.
“You came!” A slow smile
his lips against hers. He wanted to run his fingers along the curve of her back. Chips’s words rang through his head. You’ll know when you know.
He knew.
“I’m back,” he said finally.
“I can see that,” Blair hedged. She didn’t want to make this easy for him. He’d broken her heart, and she’d sworn she’d never
forgive him.
“Blair, I know I messed up. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. You know I love you. I always have.”
“That’s what you texted. To me and Serena.” Blair put her hands on her hips. The fact that he’d sent the exact same I love you, goodbye message to her and Serena had always been the most difficult thing.
“I know. I was so confused. I’ve known you both forever. Serena’s a friend, but I love you, Blair. I understand if you can’t
forgive me, but I hope we can at least be friends.” Nate’s eyes were pleading.
Blair studied Nate’s face and softened a bit. His green eyes were dull and his face was ashen. He looked like a guy who’d
just realized he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. “So much has happened,” she began, but then trailed off. Where to
even begin?
Blair glanced around. Rain and Laura and a whole bunch of slutty L’École freshmen were peering toward the terrace, watching
them. She didn’t know what she wanted to say to Nate, but she knew she didn’t want an audience.
“We could talk about it somewhere else,” he suggested, as if reading her mind.
Blair gazed at Nate, holding eye contact. Every night before she went to sleep at Yale, she’d revisited the same fantasy,
like a movie playing itself on loop in her head: Nate opening the door to her tiny dorm room and sitting down on the edge
of her regulation-size bed. Telling her that he’d gone out to sea to forget her, but that he couldn’t stay away. That he couldn’t
live without her. That he loved her, always and forever.
It wasn’t happening exactly as she’d imagined it. But it was still happening.
“Can we go back to your house?” Blair asked boldly, surprising herself. She knew what would happen when she was alone with
Nate. But she also knew, finally, that Nate loved her. And he deserved a second chance.
Or a third, or a fourth…
the last moment is the one that counts
Vanessa ran up the steps of the First Avenue L train station at eleven thirty on New Year’s Eve, eager to get to Hollis’s
party before midnight. The stairwell smelled like pee and was crowded with scantily clad revelers getting a late start on
party hopping.
She spontaneously pulled out her camera from her bright orange Brooklyn Industries bag. Last year, she’d captured footage
from a midnight run in Central Park. She loved the idea of having an archive of footage of anonymous New Yorkers, celebrating
the start of a new year. She began filming the packs of people swarming out of the subway station and onto the sidewalk. Avenue
B had been a sketchy avenue in the eighties and nineties, but it was now dotted with gourmet coffee shops and wine bars. The
entire street had the atmosphere of an enormous party, and Vanessa felt a shiver of anticipation run up her spine.
She made her way to the address from Hollis’s text. The black door to the four-story-tall building was propped open with a
broom, and strains of the Clash emanated from the top floor.
The apartment was sticky and humid from so many bodies in such close proximity. Vanessa pulled off her puffer coat and draped
it over her arm. She was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie emblazoned with the logo of her sister’s band, Sugar-Daddy.
She felt plain and underdressed compared to the guys in skinny jeans and ironic T-shirts and the girls in vintage silk dresses,
toasting each other with plastic cups.
Vanessa felt a tug on the hood of her sweatshirt and turned around.
“You came!” A slow smile
Similar Books
