Soundtrack for this chapter
Beautiful Disaster—Jon McLaughlin
Car Crash—Matt Nathanson
Blackbird—The Beatles

4

I made my way back to the kitchen with a soft smile splayed across my face, placed there to conceal the fatal concoction of emotions that was coursing through my body.

"Well?" Lily was looking at me expectantly. "What did he say?"

I opened up the message and read it aloud to her. "'Hey Elle. I know there's this unwritten rule that you're supposed to wait three days before calling someone you just met, but I'm texting you so I've found a loophole, right? I haven't stopped thinking about you since last night. What do you say to your own personal tour of London tomorrow led by me?'" I looked up at Lily.

"What are you waiting for? Text him back!"

While I was happy to have such strong enthusiasm from my best friend, there were so many thoughts running through my head that my brain was getting tired, and I had no clue what I actually wanted to do.

"What do I say?"

"You say, 'Where should I meet you?'"

"Lily."

"What? Elle, this is a sign. We were talking about him, and now he's texting you. He broke the infamous, yet also completely ridiculous, three day rule. That must mean something."

"If he couldn't wait three days to text me, he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who is into waiting around."

"Will you stop thinking about all the 'what ifs' that are forever invading your pretty little head? Just give it a chance. Live in the moment. It'll probably be like, the first time you've ever done something without completely obsessing over it by thinking it through and planning it out."

"Who's to say I haven't already thought it through? I know exactly how this is going to end. If I go out with him and it goes well, in about a week I'm going to have a conversation with him that I won't particularly want to have because it'll mean that it'll be the last time I see him. Why am I going to put myself through this again?"

"You don't know what will happen. He may be different." Lily had more determination plastered on her face than I had ever seen from her.

"He won't be different. History proves that he won't be different. Plus, he's a celebrity. We've seen enough coverage of them on TV to know exactly what they're like."

"You won't know until you try. You have to get over this fear of yours. I won't be single with you forever. You already mentioned getting a cat, and that sure as hell isn't happening. You're going to let his fine ass cart you around London tomorrow, and you're going to like it. And how do I know this? Because the entire time you were telling me about him when we were making dinner, you were radiating this energy that I haven't felt from you in over a year. I'm not sure I've ever seen you that excited, not even with your ex, and I'm not just saying that because I hated him. You need this, so please, text him back."

I spent the last year listening to my gut, and my gut was telling me to turn Jude down and end it before it became anything at all, but there was a small shred of curiosity dancing around in pit of my heart.

"Fine. I'll text him back."

"Saying..." She looked at me with her eyes wide, eyebrows raised, and the hint of a smile on her face.

"Saying that I'll go, okay?" Lily came over and threw her arms around my neck, but I was still unsure if I was making the right decision, and my mind couldn't help but flash through all of the possible negative outcomes going out with Jude could have.

***

After we cleaned up from dinner, I went into my room to text Jude back. I was overthinking my response and deleted nearly a dozen messages before I was mildly satisfied with what I had written.

'I'd love that. Where should I meet you?' My finger hovered over the send button until I decided that enough was enough. I didn't have to wait long for a reply.

'Have you ridden the Tube? If so, meet me at Leicester Station at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I'll wait just outside the south entrance for you. I can come get you if you're not familiar with the underground.'

I had ridden the Tube every day to work since moving to London, so I knew exactly where he was talking about. I also figured I'd have an easy out if I made my own transportation plans, and just in case things somehow went horribly wrong and he was actually a psychopath, he wouldn't know where I lived if I met him out somewhere. You're doing it again. Stop thinking like a crazy person. I made my best attempt to block out the thousands of pessimistic thoughts plaguing my brain and composed my final text to Jude for the night.  'See you in the morning. Goodnight, Jude.'

I hadn't even set my phone down before it beeped again. 'Goodnight, Elle. x'

I really didn't know how to feel in that moment. I was excited, almost giddy, to see Jude again. I think I convinced myself so wholeheartedly that it wasn't going to happen that it felt like the universe had just thrown some pretty powerful magic my way. I also couldn't quiet the nagging voice in my head that kept reminding me about the inevitability of everything blowing up in my face.  

A/N: As always, thanks for reading! :) if you liked this chapter, please tap that star to vote or leave me a little note! ⭐️