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"One night he wakes
Strange look on his face
Pauses, then says
You're my best friend
And you knew what it was
He is in love"

You Are In Love - Taylor Swift
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Chapter Three:

- Everly -

The next morning I woke up naked next to James in his bed. I nearly rolled off the bed realizing last night hadn't been a dream. I turned to look at him. Because I just couldn't get enough of those blue eyes. His arms wrapped around me or his smile. My whole life I felt James and I spoke our own language. Words and feelings only we could understand.

I was at a loss of words for the night I'd spent under James Beaufort. I closed my eyes imagining myself there again, running my nails down his back. Staring up at those piercing blue eyes, smiling back at me. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I imagined him pulling his shirt off in the lacrosse locker room. Allistar wouldn't even be able to stop his laughter. And Cyril would ask who the lucky girl was. I wonder if James would say it was me. I wondered if we were going to keep this thing between us or if James really believed we were capable of going public with our relationship. Everything would change. And change always had a way of creating fear in both of us.

Don't get me wrong, I knew I had made the right decision. James was the right person....no he was the perfect person to share my first time with. I'd heard horror stories about people's first times going embarrassingly wrong. Mine couldn't have been more romantic, the first...all the way into the fifth time we did it. I felt like I was just starting to get good. I'll admit James was a great teacher, the boy knew just where to put his hands. It made my heart skip a beat in the best way. As I laid my head on his chest, cuddling into the nape of his neck a montage of the last few years played in my head. All these years and I never knew James felt the same. How could this be real? I felt different...in the best way. I tried to push the fear out of my mind for just as second as James opened his eyes.

"Morning Evie." James said kissing my head. "Fun night?" he laughed as he wrapped his arm around me.

"Maybe a little too much, I can't find my pajama shirt anywhere." I laughed wrapping his quilt around my naked body. "I will say I can't believe we didn't do that sooner. It was..." I bit my lip thinking about his hands on my waist. Searching the room I pulled James' collared shirt off the chair and put it on.

"Was worth the wait then?" He asked admiring the shape of my body in nothing but his dress shirt.

"Yes, that would be the proper way to describe it. But since we're behind closed doors, 'fucking amazing' works too," I said, climbing back into bed on top of him. He looked at me as though I was the best thing he'd ever seen, like a priceless work of art.

"You were pretty great yourself." James complimented me. "I would've never known it was your first time." He said.

"Well I think I've fantasized about the moment long enough. I was hoping I wouldn't choke." I said as I ran my hands over his chest. "Was I gentle enough?" I teased him. "I was trying not to hurt you worse. You know I'm pretty wild in bed." I winked at him.

"You were, and yep now....I can confirm Jasper really fucked up." James said as he kissed me. "So would you like us to handle this?" He asked.

"You mean pretend it never happened? Or are you proposing?" I joked with him.

"Oh yeah like I'm letting you get away that easy." James said as he stared up at me. "I mean I'd like everyone to know we're together Evie. So I don't have to get into it with Wellington again." James shook his head with disgust thinking about the fight all over again.

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend James Beaufort?" I questioned him, while lying on top of him half naked.

"Yes Evie. Something I've wanted to do for so long. However you're a Calloway so you definitely do deserve a more formal approach. I've got an idea." James replied as he got up out of his bed. I stood there staring at his bruised chest as he searched his closet for something. He came out wearing his Maxton Hall uniform, with his shirt unbuttoned and tie undone. "Miss Everly Calloway, will you do me the greatest honor and be my girlfriend?" He asked positioning himself in front of me on bended knee.

"I mean we'd need you to be holding a diamond to really seal the deal. But I accept." I teased James as I kissed him. Suddenly I was giddy like a school girl and red blush flooded my cheeks. I never thought James and I would get here. To go from hearing him admit to having a crush on me for years to being his girlfriend...I had to be dreaming. And to think I'd felt the same way about him all these years thinking the feelings weren't returned.

"Oh don't worry I've got that covered." James said as I stared up at him."You know Everly there was never anyone above you in my eyes." James smiled.

"Jamesie, you better stop this right now. If you make me fall even more in love with you and go hook up Ellie, I'll get back at you by fucking Jasper on the lacrosse field during intermission." I winked at him.

"Oh my eyes!" James teased me as he pulled in for another kiss. "Let's give us a real try Evie. No hiding, no pushing each other away. Just us...together. I promise I won't do anything to fuck this up." James said as he stared into my eyes. It wasn't James I was worried about ruining our bliss, it was all my own insecurities and the mess my family was currently in. I told myself once again to push the fear out of my mind. So I took a deep breath and nodded, our noses still touching as Lydia walked in.

"Well it's about time...Jamesie should get his arse kicked more often." She teased both of us, not realizing that I was completely naked under James' dress shirt. I pulled it closed and hid under the covers.

"Lydia! You really must learn to knock!" James and I both said in unison trying to cover ourselves.

"Please...sweethearts no one in this house is surprised. More so relieved." She laughed as she handed me my uniform. "I'll leave you to it then, see you downstairs in 10. Oh...and Evie your lacy panties are swinging from James' ceiling fan. And your bra is on the book shelf." Lydia winked closing the door behind her.

"Oh my god..." I was beat red as James pulled them down for me. We both couldn't help but burst out laughing and I walked over the books, we had nearly taken down half of in our intense make out session.

"Here...I've got it." James laughed as he pulled my bra down for me. "Might keep it as a souvenir from my girlfriend." His eyes asking for permission to kiss me. I smiled at him.

"If you are suggesting your girlfriend go braless to class Beaufort, Cyril might be getting a better show than you." I teased pulled it out of his hand. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me in.

"Where were we..." James whispered into my lips with another kiss. I had to pry myself away from him just to take a quick shower before we left for college. I met them both downstairs and we headed out the front door meet Percy. It was like everyone instantly knew about what James and I had been up to. Maybe it was the hickies all over him, peaking out from under his collar. Or the fact that I had a natural blush across my entire face. James and I couldn't help but be annoyed. Why hadn't anyone expressed these feelings to us sooner? Lydia explained it was something we had to explore on our own. And explore we did.

"How's that nose?" I asked running my finger over the tiny ribbed bandaids lined up down the bridge of James' nose.

"I'll live." He smirked at me.

"Promise...you leave Jasper alone. James..I don't want us being together to make everything worse." I said as Lydia who was right next to both us was pretending not to listen. She just shook her head.

"Evie...you know I can't promise that. But I'll give it my best go, okay?" James smiled at me. I shook my head with concern. But at least he wouldn't lie to me. He was the only man in my life who didn't.

James got out of the car first, holding the door for Lydia. She smiled back at me and nodded her head. She was obsessed with the idea of James and I together. Her support was all I really needed to know we were making the right decision. It finally clicked why she hated all the girls who tried to date James through the years. She always wanted it to be me. James extended his hand into the car, beckoning me. "Evie," he said with a smirk, assisting me as I stepped out.

As we strolled into Maxton Hall together, all eyes were on us as usual, but this time felt different. "I'm dating Everly Calloway." James teased me as we stopped at his locker.

"And I'm James Beaufort's girlfriend. Wait till I tell Ellie." I said back causing a smirk to appear on his face.

"Nothing in the world makes me happier than knowing you're mine now," James whispered as his hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me in for a kiss as if we weren't in the middle of the school hallway.

"Really... haven't I always been?" I spoke softly into his lips, eliciting an even wider smile from him. James and I were genuinely happy. It was evident to everyone because there was a noticeable difference between my real smile and my fake one.

"Oh well just when I thought I had seen it all. Now I understand why you were so uptight. You'd been dying to try the whore on for size. And after hearing she's wild in the sack...I get it." Jasper scoffed as he walked up to us. I let go of James and shook my head at Jasper, signaling silently for James not to engage. I didn't want things to escalate because I knew it could get ugly. I wanted to avoid another fight and a meeting with Dean Lexington at all costs.

"Jasper, what did I say yesterday? I know you've been hit with a lacrosse stick one too many times. So maybe you've forgotten. Here's your refresher, if you speak to me or interact with my life or friends....or my boyfriend at all..I will get my father involved. He knows the dean well...they golf together." I scolded him.

"Woah Everly? Your boyfriend? You tied Jamesie down? The little minx moves quick. I suppose it makes sense though. I'm simply stating facts, James heard you were good in bed and jumped at the chance. Think about it." Jasper said trying to demean me. I could tell it was killing James not to intervene as he kept looking at me for approval to jump in.

"Oh I forgot..calling me a whore...in the sheets meant good in bed. But let's get one thing straight Wellington, that rumor about Beaufort breaking the waterbed...it's all true" I smirked at Jasper. James had to hide his delight as I continued my rant. "You repulse me. And for the record...you and I both know you will never have the pleasure of knowing what I'm like in bed. But if you're wondering when your by yourself at night...maybe James will be kind enough to describe it to you in detail." I sneered. "I mean it when I say you were a mistake. I'm with James now. I'm sure my words hurt didn't they? Now leave us alone." I said as the bell chimed for the first class of the day.

Jasper stood speechless, his pride shattered, unable to muster a coherent response to the humiliation. James savored every moment, witnessing the spectacle unfold. My cutting remarks, branding James as my boyfriend while subtly hinting at his intimate knowledge of me, stung like salt on a wound. All the privileges Jasper once held were now firmly in James's grasp. I wondered, did that mean I now belonged to James as well? Perhaps I always had, and maybe that wasn't such a terrible fate after all.

"That was a mistake princess." He sneered walking away.

"Eve...please..." James begged me to let him say something as he held my hand.

"It's not worth it, James. It was just your nose this time. I'm not having you break anymore bones because of him. I will not be able to live with myself," I said firmly. James nodded in understanding, but I worried it wasn't something he could control when it came to protecting me. Motioning for him to walk ahead, I finished putting books in my locker. But the moment I opened the door, I felt a hard yank on my ponytail.

"Thought you were smarter than that Everly. I told you that we were done when I said we were." Jasper said this time pushing himself up against me. I immediately regretted making James walk ahead.

"Jasper..I will scream and not just James will come running. I am warning you. Get away from me." I tried to push him back. But he was towering over me. He placed his hands between my head on the lockers and looked down at me.

"It's not over until I say, Calloway. Beaufort can't shield you from yourself. You'd better dump him just like you dumped me, in a humiliating fashion. Eye for an eye, or your Jamesie will live to regret it," he spat, his anger echoing against the lockers with a force that made me flinch. Ducking out from under his menacing glare, I bolted into the classroom, visibly shaken, and sank into the seat next to James, trembling like a startled deer.

"Evie... What's happened?" James whispered as the lecture began. I nodded, trying to convey that I was fine. But I wasn't. I had created this mess. For what reason? To defy my father? To prove I'm not a prude? Or did I do it out of a desire to inflict pain? And all I've accomplished is causing pain to the person I care about the most. I can't let James get involved again. Dealing with Jasper had to be my burden to bear alone. I had already caused him harm once. I couldn't bear the thought of it happening again. So when class ended and James pulled me into another empty classroom for an explanation... I lied to him then and every day after as I stared into his icy blue eyes. I lied in bed with him memorizing every mark on his face because I knew our happiness was coming to an abrupt end.