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"She would actually encourage you guys to break the rules?"

"Ahed "And maybe it was because she trusted us not to screw up too badly that none of us really went too far" He laughed again "Well, except for Drew"

"What did he do, beyond breaking both legs and terrorizing all of you with the wheelchair?"

"It’s not my story to tell, unfortunately But I’et it out of hi to a pretty girl about what a badass he is"

Serena smiled back, but he could see it was forced this tietherone that suddenly seeht away that she was sick She’d had a cold for a while At least, that’s what she thought it was My dad was the one who finally insisted on taking her to the doctor She hated doctors and hospitals, ever since she was a kid and had ended up in a hospital with pneumonia And since she was always really healthy, it didn’t seeo much The cancer…it was already pretty advanced by the time they checked her out They said--" Oh man, he’d et all the way through it

He heard Serena say his name and realized that she had put her arht "You don’t have to keep talking about your h it was the hardest thing he’d ever done, he needed to get it off his chest Finally, get it out there "They said that if she’d just coht it in tier rose up inside him "In time to save her life"

"Oh, Sean I’m so sorry"

"I was so htened up, and it was hard to get words out past the lump that had foretting poked at by some doctors a couple of times a year Damn it…" The tears he hadn’t let hi, and he couldn’t seem to stop them "I’et over it"

There was such deep, powerful love in Sean’s voice when he spoke about his mom And such pain, too Pain that broke Serena’s heart into tiny little pieces Especially now that she knew his grief was both for losing herand because he’d been beating hier at how it had all cory," she finally said while his heart beat hard and fast against her own, "if you hadn’t loved her so much And I can see why you did She sounds like the perfect ht she was perfect But she wasn’t"

"When I was , I always hated the word perfect and the pressure that came with it," she admitted, "especially when I kneasn’t possible to be perfect, that so about me that could have been better I was expected to be prepared for absolutely every possibility, but I was just a kid trying to do my best and I think" She sed hard as he drew back to look at her She didn’t have a clue if this was the right thing to say, but needed to risk saying it anyway "I think youryou’ve toldBut she wasn’t perfect None of us are"

As he continued to stare at her, she held her breath, praying she hadn’t just upset hi she’d ever want to do But then, when he finally reached out to cup her cheek, she kneas safe to let her breath whoosh back out of her lungs

"I thought it was going to be so hard to talk about her again" He leaned forward slightly so that his forehead was pressed to hers "And it was, but you made it easier"

"Any ti else, I’ll be there," she pro on--" Even if she ended up on ato be there for you So if you want to talkhis head, and she could feel the change in the way his fingers were stroking over her skin Fros of desire

"I don’t think we need to talk about ht" His other hand cupped the other side of her face "Do you?"

There were a s they could have said to each other about the past and the future But, suddenly, she realized he was right--they’d both gone through enough for one night The hard decisions would still be there waiting for theht, while they had each other, they should celebrate the one thing they both knew for sure: They loved each other

"As the last rein on the planet," she said softly, "I used to wonder if I’d ever know for sure that I was ready, or if I’d just eventually end up having sex because I felt so behind the curve and needed to catch up" She couldn’t believe she was actually shts aloud, but that was the er seemed out of reach "But I’ve never been so sure about anyone or anything in lad you’reanyone else the way I trust you I’lad I waited for you, that there hasn’t been anyone else"

His lad there hasn’t been anyone else for you, either"

And then he was kissing her, and it was their sweetest, sexiest, h her bloodstreaht of revelations, when all she wanted to do was let herself drift away in sensation, she couldn’t quite turn off her brain, couldn’t stop herself fro, "I wish--"

"Tell me, Serena Tell me what you wish and I’ll do whatever I can to make it come true"