Just This Once Novels & Stories

She didn’t come into my life until the summer before our senior year and now it’s so hard to have a life without her. I wish we could go back to the way things were before she got sick again. Just once more I would like to hear her giggle until it hurt…just one more kiss without thinking it could be the last…just one more hug so tight that I can’t breathe…just one more I love you knowing that I’ll hear the same again tomorrow, but I know none of that could ever happen again. Our ending came while we were still in the beginning.

"Are you serious those will kill me, don't you have something else I could wear something a little lower or a lot lower like some cute flatts or maybe even flip flops?" "Uh Uh these are it sunshine now strap them on and try to walk in them for a second you are wearing my finale design which means you are on in five, just pretend you are carrying one of those fancy wedding cakes you make!" Cass smirked "You'll be fine just stop thinking so much. You look hot bitch now go out there, work it, and sell my dress!"

Evelyn st⁠oo⁠d alone in the silenc‌e of the hon‌eymoon suite, her pulse ring⁠ing in her ear‌s. She star‌ed⁠ at the door he’d disapp‍eared thr‌oug‍h… and whispered to he‌rself:‍ “If he des‍pises⁠ me this much… what happens next?”

“I want to do this right. When it’s real. Properly real. No contract. No arrangement. Just us.” Just us. Two words. Simple. Devastating. “Okay,” I whisper. He steps back. Drops his hand. The look on his face is the most honest thing I’ve ever seen on another person. “Goodnight, Zara,” he says. “Goodnight,” I manage. He leaves. I go inside. Close the door. Lean against it. Just us. I say it in my head three more times. Just us. Just us. Just us. Like something I’m trying to memorise before it

My heart was killing me at the moment, I couldn't breathe. Albert opened his eyes, smiled at me then heaved a sigh before planting a kiss on my forehead. "One. Nine-eleven attacks." My forehead furrowed. What did he mean by one? He kissed the tip of my nose, "Two. Mozilla Firefox," I gasped. I let my brain backtrack from what he was saying. He kissed my cheeks. "Three. Ousting SH. Four, F******k."

Out of sight, out of mind. My phone buzzes against the table. I barely glance at it at first. Unknown number. “Spam,” I mutter, unlocking it. The message loads. " It’s okay to reject me.You don’t have to go through this at all. " I freeze. “Kane,” I say under my breath. A whole month of nothing and this is what he sends? Just— Permission. My grip tightens around the phone. “It’s okay to reject me.” I let out a short, sharp laugh.

A small white card. I unpinned it with numb fingers and read the words written in sharp, clean handwriting. "Wear this tomorrow. —T"

Before ‘both. Hair wet. Shower. First one in 66 days without phone. On counter. “Donuts,” Adrian said. 61 BPM. Walking over. To us. All of us. “Day 1 rules. We get donuts. And we don’t set alarms. And we don’t answer phones. And we don’t say ‘court.’ Ever again. Deal?” “Deal,” Alex said. “Deal,” Ivy said. Copying. “Deal,” Isla said. Copying.

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she whispered. But the memory did not stop. She remembered how confused she felt. How everything happened too fast. How she did not understand what was going on at first. She remembered her heart beating loudly. She remembered her weak voice saying, “Please…” She remembered strong arms. Warm breath. The heavy silence after. Tears rolled down her face faster. “It happened only once,” she whispered. Only once. She did not plan it. She did not want it. She did not even understand it fully.