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To say that Arabella Jennings was stunned would be an understatement.

One minute, she was laughing along with her friends, savoring a delicious slice of pizza and making fun of the ridiculous party decorations. The next, she was being guided away from the auditorium, every eye in the room fixated on her and Rob as they made their exit. With every step she took, the reality of her situation began to sink in: the most intimate secret they’d shared for the last three years had now become public knowledge.

Before she realized it, the pair had reached the school’s indoor pool, and she followed the young man’s lead to take a seat on the bleachers. It wasn’t long before her friend began to address her.Arabella remained quiet while Robert spoke, laughing as he brought up the memory of their first day together back in third grade. When he’d made his arrival at Sterling Heights Elementary looking like a deer in headlights, Ara had jumped up from her seat, grabbed his arm and taken him under her wing. She’d shown him around the school, made sure he felt as comfortable as he possibly could, and was there to do it all over again the next day. Ever since, they’d been inseparable: best friends for life.

Ara laughed when he mentioned ‘the asshole ex-boyfriends’, the faces of Benjamin Cross and Ronald Calloway flashing before her eyes before fading away into the irrelevant nothingness where they belonged. And when he mentioned their sleeping together, her cheeks immediately blushed scarlett as the memories of their sneaking around played like a slideshow in her mind. Sometime when they were young and naive, Ara and Rob had made a pact: no matter what happened, they would always be each other’s firsts. They had been faithful to that when they were ten and shared their first innocent kiss. And they were eventually faithful to their promise when they were older and decided it was time to take the leap. 

Then the tone of the conversation changed for a second. At the mention of his mother, the blonde’s eyes filled with tears, lower lip starting to quiver. The loss of Annette Cadogan had been the biggest challenge that Ara and Rob had faced together. It had been her the one to comfort both Rob and his brother Matt when the unimaginable tragedy, stepping into the role of a ‘mini-mom’ when their father Karl was out trying to make ends meet. She’d made sure the two boys were fed, that their clothes were washed and their home was spotless (by sending them the family maid, of course). The loss had only help strengthen the tightly-knit bond they already had.

Then the mood changed again as Robert changed the conversation to the present. He spoke about his fear of losing her, his worry about their friendship suffering, and finally, the words Ara never thought she would her from her best friend:

[i][color=777777]”I love you, Ara… I always have. it’s just taken until now to realise it.[/color][/i]

A moment of silence hung heavy in the air after Rob stopped speaking, with the young woman mulling over the love confession that had just been revealed. Finally, Arabella threw her slender arms around Rob’s tall, athletic frame and began to sob.

[color=E053B3]“I love you too, Robbie!”[/color] Ara mumbled, her voice muffled by her face being buried in his chest. [color=E053B3]“I love you so, so much. I’ve always been in love with you. It’s always, [i]always[/i] been you.”[/color]
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