than prom does." He was still grinning. "It's not funny," I said. "My broken fantasy is not funny."
"No, you're right, it's not," he agreed, his smile fading. "I'd rather treat it like a joke, though, than believe you're really serious."
"But I am serious."
"I know." He sighed deeply. "And you're really that willing?"
The pain was back in his eyes. I bit my lip and nodded. "I'm serious and willing."
"So ready for this to be the end," he murmured, almost to himself, "for this to be the Twilight of your life, though your life has barely started. You're ready to give up everything and live forever?"
"It's not the end, it's the beginning," I disagreed under my breath. "You said it yourself: something can't begin to be perfect until it has begun."
"I'm not perfect," he said sadly.
"Do you remember when you told me that I didn't see myself very clearly?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You obviously have the same blindness."
"I know who I am," Fredward responded, looking down at his hands and then tracing the lengths of his arms with his eyes. "I know what I am," he growled.
I sighed.
But his mercurial mood shifted on me without transition. He pursed his lips and brushed up against the skin just under the corner of my jaw.
"Right now?" he whispered with spunk, blowing cold air onto my neckline and bare shoulders. I shivered involuntarily.

498

Chapter 25

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