Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a0<\/p>\n
68\u00a0<\/p>\n
We drove back to Orion\u2019s place in a bubble of pure happiness, Tristan holding my hand the entire way, occasionally lifting it to his\u00a0<\/p>\n
lips to kiss my knuckles like he couldn\u2019t quite believe this was real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe you did that,\u201d he kept saying, shaking his head in wonder. \u201cI can\u2019t believe you actually pulled this off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each time he said it, I\u2019d just smile and squeeze his hand, feeling my own heart swell with joy at seeing him so happy, so overwhelmed, so completely in love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you I was all in,\u201d I reminded him softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, but this\u2026\u201d He lifted our joined hands again, kissing my ring finger where my engagement ring sat. \u201cThis is everything, Athena. Everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drive felt too short and too long at the same time. I wanted to get back and share our news properly with Orion and Sarah, but I\u00a0<\/p>\n
also wanted to stay in this private bubble with Tristan, just the two of us and this monumental thing we\u2019d done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone had been buzzing periodically throughout dinner with texts from Sarah asking how it went, if I\u2019d given it to him yet, what his reaction was. I\u2019d ignored them all, wanting to stay present in the moment with Tristan, but now I pulled out my phone and quickly typed a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He signed it. We\u2019re on our way back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her response was immediate: a string of heart emojis and crying faces that made me laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t wait to see you both! Orion\u2019s been pacing for the last hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That made my heart warm. My brother had been such a huge part of making this happen, keeping my secret, helping me figure out the logistics, being there for me when I\u2019d been nervous about whether this was the right move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought he would disagree when I shared my idea to him, but to my surprise, he smiled and said he would support whatever\u00a0<\/p>\n
decision I made.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Words can\u2019t describe how much love I\u2019d felt when I heard his words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we finally pulled up to his house, I could see him waiting on the porch like he\u2019d been watching for our headlights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had the biggest grin on his face, and I knew immediately that he\u2019d been just as anxious about how tonight would go as I had been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment we got out of the car, Tristan practically ran to him, his emotions clearly overwhelming him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:34 Thu, Jan 29\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 359\u00a0<\/p>\n
68\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d Tristan said, his voice thick as he pulled Orion into a tight hug. \u201cThank you for helping her pull this off. Thank you for keeping the secret, for helping with the license, for everything. For all your support and love and trust.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion hugged him back just as tightly, and I could see his own eyes looking a bit misty in the porch light. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing, man. Congratulations. You deserve this, both of you deserve this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not nothing,\u201d Tristan insisted, pulling back to look at him but keeping his hands on Orion\u2019s shoulders. \u201cYou helped make the most important moment of my life happen. I\u2019ll never forget that, never.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt my own eyes filling with tears watching them. The bond between was so strong, but nearly cracked few days ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing them like this, seeing how much they still mean to each other, made my heart feel full to bursting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re my brother,\u201d Tristan continued, his voice breaking slightly. \u201cNot by blood, but by choice. And you came through for me in the biggest way possible. You\u2019ve always been there, even during my toughest days. I appreciate man.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 359 Athena\u2019s POV\u00a0 A\u00a0 68\u00a0 We drove back to Orion\u2019s place in […]<\/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-26516","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\/26516","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=26516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}