Free Keeping London (The Flawed Heart Series Book 2) by Ellie Wade Page B

I’ve tried so hard to be brave my entire life, and I do have the courage to fight for us, for our happiness. But I know that I’ll lose it all if I fall short. If I fail Sarah, I won’t have the courage to fight anymore.

London
    “True love is forever, but so is true friendship, and I can’t live without either.”
    —London Wright
    I light the last candle atop the triple-layered cake that I picked up from an incredible little bakery down the street. The soft glow of the flames dance across the icing, illuminating the edible sugar flowers that adorn the cake. It’s almost too pretty to eat, but with the chocolate mouse filling inside, I know it’s going to taste even more spectacular than it looks.
    Placing my hands beneath the dish that holds the cake, I slowly walk it out to the living room where the birthday girl sits, surrounded by a group of our girlfriends. The room fills with the traditional “Happy Birthday” song as we serenade Paige.
    “Make a wish,” I say when the song is finished.
    Paige closes her eyes as she blows out the candles, and we all clap.
    “Love you, Paige.” I smile down to my best friend.
    “Love you, too.” She grins up at me.
    As I take the cake back into the kitchen to slice it up, our sorority sister Kristyn comes out of the kitchen with a cooler of her famous Jell-O shots, yelling, “It’s party o’clock!” to which the group of girls in the living room cheer.
    Paige and I don’t hang out with our old sorority sisters very often, but every time we do, it’s so much fun.
    I put pieces of cake onto plates and smile to myself as the music from the living room and the laughter of our friends gets louder. There’s nothing like an all-girl celebration. The presence of guys makes girls stupid. It’s a sad fact. It never fails. If guys were here, at least one of our friends would end up crying. The list of possible emotions causing the tears is endless—jealousy, anger, hurt. The list goes on. A no-boys-allowed party is so much better.
    Yet I miss Loïc so much. He leaves in less than a week, and I’m starting to panic. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.
    Stop it, London!
    I swore to myself that I wouldn’t allow my thoughts to be overcome by Loïctonight. Today is Paige’s day. Yes, I love Loïc, so missing him is real. But I love Paige, too. True love is forever, but so is true friendship, and I can’t live without either.
    We dance, drink, eat, take pictures, and laugh. It’s perfect.
    Shortly after eleven, I get a call.
    “The limo’s here!” I yell out when I get off the phone.
    We ask the driver to take pictures of our group in front of the SUV limo before we climb in. Once seated inside, we turn up the dance music, pour a round of champagne, and toast to Paige.
    We instruct the driver to take us to a club in Novi, so we have about forty-five minutes in the limo until we get there.
    “This party is awesome. Thank you, London.” Paige leans her head on my shoulder.
    “You’re so welcome. You know I love you.”
    “And I love you,” she responds, her voice slightly slurred.
    I make a mental note to watch her drink intake from here on out. No one wants to get sick on their birthday. I blame Kristyn’s Jell-O shots. Those things are lethal.
    As I sit here in this limo, surrounded by happiness and laughter, a huge amount of gratitude comes over me. I don’t when it was that I started taking my life for granted. Maybe I always have. But I don’t anymore. I now know how fortunate I am.
    At the end of the day, I know I’ll always have a small part of me that’s materialistic and slightly shallow. Yet I realize that it isn’t things that make one happy; it’s people and the experiences shared with those people. Life is about those people one surrounds themselves with and the mutual love and respect that they share. And I’d have to say that I have a pretty amazing group of people in my corner.

Loïc
    “In my life, there’s always a falling