"You and I, we're one too many worlds apart
It really shouldn't work but it does
It really shouldn't work but it does
And side by side, we're different but somehow the same
It really shouldn't work but it does"
When It Comes To Us - Frances

oOoOo

On Thursday morning, I'm woken by my phone ringing. It seems like it's becoming a common theme.

I reach over to my nightstand to answer it.

"Hello?" I ask groggily.

"Good morning. Happy Valentine's Day," Kaden says.

Valen-? Oh, shit. It's Valentine's Day. I can't believe I almost forgot.

"Morning, happy Valentine's Day," I say with a yawn.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, it's okay, though." I check the time. "I need to be on campus in a little over an hour anyway."

"When is your last class over?"

"Around two. Why?"

"Stop by The Brew. I'll be working then."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Bye, love you." My heart skips a beat. I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing him say that.

"Love you too," I respond before ending the call.

I reluctantly get out of bed and go into my closet to pick out leggings and a hoodie to wear. I don't even bother doing my makeup; It's too much work and I don't have the energy to pretend I care.

I slowly walk into the kitchen, catching up on social media.

I hear a cough as I walk into the kitchen. Looking up from my phone, I see that Blair and Marc are in here. Blair's seated on the counter and Marc is standing in between her legs, fervently kissing her. They were clearly having a moment that I just interrupted.

"Shit, sorry," I mutter.

Blair's face turns scarlet as she looks away.

"Um, I'll just... I'll just grab something and go." I grab an apple from the basket by the fridge. I hear the telltale sound of a belt buckle falling to the ground. "Remember to sterilize the counter when you're done!" I call over my shoulder as I exit the kitchen.

I hear Marc's laughter. There's a loud slap and an 'ow' that follows.

oOoOo

An hour and a half later, Blair and I arrive on campus. We part ways as I enter my Marketing class.

The day progresses slowly. I go to Brit Lit, Sociology, and Calc and get a ton of homework.

As I promised, I stop by The Brew, dragging an annoyed Marc along with me. He's bitching and moaning about wanting to see his girlfriend, not the lovefest Kaden and I will put on. I offered to go alone, but he refused to leave me alone.

I walk into The Brew and immediately seek out Kaden. He's at the main counter. I catch his eye, and he gets someone to cover him so he can take a break.

I head to our usual spot in the corner and take a seat. The next thing I know, strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me to a standing position.

"Hey," I breathe into Kaden's chest. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart."

We embrace for a few seconds before he pulls away to give me a kiss.

I overhear Marc's dramatic gagging. He needs to fuck off and let us enjoy our moment. It's not like I interrupted them that much this morning.

"I'm sorry we can't go out anywhere tonight," I tell him.

Kaden wanted to take me out on a date tonight. He planned an entire romantic evening, but we had to cancel it. Having to keep our relationship under wraps sucks, but it would be terrible if the press were to catch wind of it. As far as they know, I'm still with Xander and Kaden is just a friend. They would have fun ripping us into a million tiny pieces.

"Don't you worry. I have a plan."

"You? A plan?" I tease.

"Yes. A plan. And I'll inform you that it's a hundred times better than a fancy dinner and stargazing."

"We'll have to see," I say, vainly trying to be serious. My beaming grin betrays me.

"I need to get back to work now," he says with an adorable frown on his face. "I'll see you at five."

"Wait, where?"

"I'm bringing the date to you." With that, he walks away.

I watch him walk away.

"Are you ready to go now?" Marc asks impatiently, snapping me out of my daze.

"What if I say no?" I taunt.

"I'd drag you out of here. I want to get back to Blair."

"Why? So you can finish what you started on the kitchen counter this morning?"

"Yes," he replies bluntly without even skipping a beat.

Marc escorts me out of the coffee shop. I trail a few feet behind him.

"Looks like I'll be needing my earplugs again," I mutter.

He turns around. "Heard that. We're not that loud."

"You aren't, but Blair is. I don't need to hear my best friend's moans." I shiver in disgust, just thinking about it.

oOoOo

When we get home, I get started on my essay for Brit Lit. I was assigned an essay about feminism in Jane Eyre. It's due in four days. I don't know why professors assume we can get all of this shit done so fast.

After I've typed my name and one sentence, my phone rings. I eagerly grab it, wanting to take a much-needed break.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask Maeve.

"Not much. What's up with you? Oh wait, you never tell me."

Well, someone's pissed off. I wonder what I did this time...

"Um, that's not true, but okay."

She scoffs.

"Okay, what did I do?"

"It's more like what you didn't do," she says bitterly.

"I swear to fucking God, Maeve, cut to the chase. I don't have time for this shit."

"Okay, fine," she whines. "Why didn't you tell me you and Kaden got back together?"

"I thought I told you... Don't you remember calling Blair, Grace, and me the day before we got back together?"

Silence.

"You snuck into the liquor cabinet and got drunk... You rambled about dogs and bones and licking... Ring any bells?"

"Not really. It's a hazy memory. You never told me how your talk went." I can picture the childish pout on her face.

"Well, we got back together."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Wait, how did you find out anyway?" If I didn't tell her, then who the fuck did?

"Instagram," she mumbles.

I groan. "Maeve, please don't tell me you are stalking Kaden."

He posted one of the photos we took during our Christmas party on his story this morning.

"Nope. Not stalking him."

"Then where did you see the photo?"

"His story. I'm following him, not stalking him," she replies cheekily.

"Like that's so much better. I remember strictly forbidding you to follow him."

"You're not my mom. I don't have to listen to you." It is National Be A Brat Day today or something?

"Bye, Maeve." I hang up on her without notice. I'd rather work on my essay than listen to her whining. There's only so much of it I can take.

oOoOo

I go back to working on my essay until forty minutes before Kaden is due to arrive.

I hastily throw on a sweater and do my makeup. I want to still look somewhat presentable, even if we don't have any special plans.

At quarter-to-five, I walk into the living room. There are pots and pans clanging in the kitchen, so I go to investigate.

I find Kaden cooking in the kitchen.

"You're here early," I state with my eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I was trying to surprise you by cooking dinner."

"Shit, I'm sorry. I'll pretend I didn't see anything." I cover my eyes and walk away backwards.

I sit on my bed and busy myself with catching up on emails. I have 21 unanswered emails from Juliet today. There's another charity event that I'm supposed to be planning. I wish Maeve could just take over for me. It would be so much easier for her to do it, instead of me doing it via email and Zoom meetings.

Twenty minutes of answering emails pass. Kaden reappears and shuts my computer for me.

"C'mon, dinner's ready," Kaden says.

"One more email," I protest, trying to reopen my computer. He is stronger than me and manages to keep it shut.

"Nope. You can do it later."

"Okay, I guess you're right."

He pulls me up from the couch and leads me into the kitchen.

I gasp when I walk inside.

The room is dimly lit, and candles are spread out on the table, counter, and island. He sprinkled rose petals on the floor beneath the table. Our fanciest plates and silverware are set on the table, along with the fancy metal plate covers.

"Aw, this is so sweet. Thank you." I turn around to give him a peck on the lips.

"My pleasure, sweetheart." He pulls out a chair for me, and I sit down.

After he takes a seat, I open the plate cover, eager to see what he cooked.

It's grilled cheese and tomato soup. My mouth waters; it smells heavenly.

"I know it's not a super romantic meal, but at least I tried," he laughs.

"It's perfect. I would have been happy with burnt toast."

"Good. Cause it's kinda burnt on the bottom." He lifts up his grilled cheese to show me the charred bottom.

"Fine by me. I still love you."

I take a bite of my sandwich. Kaden dips his in the soup.

"So, how was your day?" He asks after chewing.

"Pretty good." I chew my sandwich. "I worked on some homework."

"Oh, by the way, I got a call from Maeve."

He hums.

"She said she's following you on Instagram?"

"Oh, yeah," he chuckles, "She slid into my DMs and commented on a ton of my posts."

I have the urge to strangle her. "I'm sorry for whatever she said. I told her to leave you alone."

"I don't mind it. She's a lot funnier than my sister."

"It's funny until you have to deal with it for sixteen years," I grumble.

"She's actually befriended Soph on Instagram. She was telling me that Maeve is planning to come and visit her."

"Probably won't be for a while," I comment as I chew. "Maeve is traveling with our parents for the next few weeks. They have a few summits to attend that she is observing."

"Do you go to a lot of those types of things?"

"I go to a lot more than Maeve since I'm first in line. She still has to learn about how everything works, but not as in-depth as I do."

"Makes sense," he nods. "What other responsibilities do you have? You're always talking about emails and meetings."

"I'm pretty much the head of our foundation, so I do the majority of the planning and overseeing. Most of the final decisions are up to me. Most of the emails are from my assistant. She's in charge of my schedule and is always forwarding me documents from my parents."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. I had no idea."

I nod with a strained smile. 'A lot of work' doesn't even scratch the surface.

"Thanks again for dinner. I know you probably didn't want to have to stay in on Valentine's Day. I'm sorry for ruining your plans."

"Hey, there's no need to apologize," he says, reaching over to grasp my hand.

"I know. I just feel terrible that we can't go out alone like normal people." Every single day, I feel like Kaden deserves someone much better than me. Someone who can go out with him in public, without the fear of photographers. Someone who doesn't always have to put their country and responsibilities first. Someone who doesn't have to get rid of her fiancé just to be with him.

"Don't worry about things you can't control. It's an adjustment, but we make it work and still have a great time. That's all that matters." He gives my hand a light squeeze.

I tear up. He's so sweet and selfless. Why am I being so goddamn emotional recently?

I examine his eyes. "I love you. You know that, right?"

He elevates our intertwined hands and places a kiss on the back of my hand.

"Yes. And I love you more."

We stare at each other for a few seconds before he speaks again.

"C'mon, the night's not over yet. Let's go into your room."

I laugh and pat his thigh. "Someone's eager."

"Fuck off. I wanted to give you a present," he chuckles.

"I know, I was just teasing."

oOoOo

He leads me down the hall into my room. We leave the dishes in the kitchen, with a silent understanding of dealing with the mess later.

I sit down on my bed. He reaches under it and procures a red gift bag with pink hearts all over it.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He sets the bag in my lap and motions for me to open it.

I gently remove the tissue paper.

There's a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a mini teddy bear, and a jewelry box inside.

I open the jewelry box and find a Pandora pendant inside.

"It's gorgeous. Thank you," I breathe. I shift to give him a hug.

Kaden grabs the necklace from me. I hold up my hair and he expertly clasps it around my neck. I grab the heart-shaped pendant and twirl it between my thumb and forefinger.

I get up abruptly and go into my closet to grab his present.

I set the decorated mini chest on his lap. He opens it.

Inside is filled with all of his favorite candies. I decorated the inside of the lid with polaroid-sized printouts of pictures of us. I included pictures from Walden Pond, ice skating, Christmas, the Bruins' game, and other miscellaneous photos I got from Blair.

He sets the box and my bag on the ground and kisses me. His tongue sweeps my lips, asking for entrance. My lips part. He gently pushes me down on the bed, without breaking our kiss. It quickly becomes heated.

Just as his shirt comes off, we're disturbed by my phone ringing. I reach over and scramble to decline the call, not wanting to stop.

We instantly resume our makeout session.

My phone rings again a minute or so later. We pull apart.

"Who's calling?" Kaden groans as he carefully rolls off me.

"I don't know," I say breathlessly. I reach over to put my phone in airplane mode. Whoever is calling can wait until the morning. It's probably not important.

I set my phone down on my nightstand and climb on top of Kaden.

He effortlessly flips us over and assaults my face with kisses.

oOoOo

Thanks for reading chapter 34! Please don't forget to follow, like, and comment if you are enjoying the book! Every interaction goes a long way and is much appreciated <3

Also, I'm thinking of shortening this book. I initially planned for about 48 chapters (ending the book at the end of their spring semester), but now I might end it right after the spring break (ch 42 ish). I'm having terrible writers block and I'm a lot more excited about writing my new book. Please don't hate me lol