down,\u201d she said. \u201cSomewhere safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s perfect,\u201d I told her, hugging the journal to my chest. \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next gift was from Lily and Liam, a hand\u2013drawn picture of all of us standing in front of a house. Lily had drawn hearts around everyone and written \u201cFAMILY\u201d at the top in big crooked letters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it ourselves,\u201d Lily said proudly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful,\u201d I told them, and I meant it. \u201cI\u2019m going to keep it forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were more gifts after that. Sarah had gifted me something else, a set of art supplies because Orion told her I used to draw\u00a0<\/p>\n
when I was younger. I couldn\u2019t help but accept it with a smile, that was years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A first aid kit from Derek that made everyone laugh because of course Derek would give something practical, but I loved it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A book on meditation and mindfulness from Orion with a note that said he thought it might help me find balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each gift made my chest feel tighter and my eyes burn more. I hadn\u2019t expected any of this, hadn\u2019t thought I deserved any of this, but\u00a0<\/p>\n
they\u2019d all come together to show me I was wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan hasn\u2019t gifted me anything, wasn\u2019t he going to?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one more,\u201d Tristan said after I\u2019d opened everything on the table. \u201cBut you have to come outside to see it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside?\u201d I asked, confused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust me,\u201d he said, holding out his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took it without hesitation and let him lead me to the door. Everyone followed behind us, their voices and laughter accompanying us\u00a0<\/p>\n
as we walked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we got outside, I stopped so suddenly that Tristan almost bumped into me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There, parked in front of Orion\u2019s driveway, were two vehicles. A sleek black motorcycle that looked fast and dangerous and beautiful, and next to it, a dark blue car that was newer than anything I\u2019d ever owned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe motorcycle is from me,\u201d Tristan said, squeezing my hand. \u201cI know you have one, but I wanted to also get you one. To be part of\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:02 Wed, Jan 14 d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 229\u00a0<\/p>\n
404\u00a0<\/p>\n
your today and tomorrow.\u201d His words made tears gathered around my eyes, that I just needed to blink for it to fall out like a dam.\u00a0<\/p>\n
94\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car is from me,\u201d Orion added, stepping up next to us. \u201cSomething reliable and safe for when you don\u2019t feel like being reckless. I also noticed you need one to drive to work, it\u2019ll make it easier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at both vehicles, unable to process what I was seeing. They\u2019d bought me a motorcycle and a car. Two major, expensive, life- changing gifts that represented more than just transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were breathtaking, exactly how I love it. The tears were threatening to spill but I held it back, I won\u2019t let it fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t accept these,\u201d I said, shaking my head. \u201cThey\u2019re too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not,\u201d Tristan said firmly, turning me to face him. \u201cAthena, you\u2019ve spent so much of your life running from things, hiding from who you are, being scared of what you might become. We want you to start running toward things instead. We want you to live your life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re safe now,\u201d Orion said, his voice thick with emotion. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be afraid anymore. You can go wherever you want, do whatever you want, and you\u2019ll always have a home to come back to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 229 down,\u201d she said. \u201cSomewhere safe.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s perfect,\u201d I told her, hugging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}