For Us (The Girl I Loved Duet 2)

“Absolutely. There’s a whole corner of the internet that’s obsessed with you two,” Gloria says. “Trust me.”

I hold up my free hand in surrender. “I do.”

“Good. Now how public is this? Because this is going to take the gossip world by storm and I want to be on the front lines.”

“Not super public,” Amber says, looking at me, “but not super private either. We’re going to do an interview together, after season one, and we’ll tell people all the details.”

I look down at her, and the happiness glowing in her eyes, and I have to kiss her again. That happiness has been earned by both of us, and now that we have it back, we’re never letting it go.

Epilogue

Amber

Six Months Later

“So you’ve known each other all this time?” The interviewer asks, shocked.

I smile up at Peter. “Yeah. We had our ups and downs. One really big down, actually, but we were high school sweethearts. And when we were both hired on Undercover, we realized that those feelings had never gone away.”

The lights in the studio are bright, and it feels weird to be sitting in front of the camera instead of behind it, but for the moment the set of Undercover is the set for our exclusive interview. We’re telling our story for the first time the way it’s meant to be told, and based on the buzz it’s gotten since it was announced, it’s a story that people have been wanting to hear.

“Now, Peter,” the interviewer asks. “What was your reaction when you saw Amber again for the first time?”

His arm tightens around my waist. “I was…shocked,” he says. “I never thought I was going to see her again, didn’t even know she was in Los Angeles. And when I saw her, I knew it was my chance. I knew I was going to make her fall in love with me again.”

“That’s really sweet.”

The interviewer the entertainment show sent is really good. She bounces back and forth between us, working her way through the story that we briefed her on. We even have the chance to set the record straight about Clay Markham, who despite the legal gag orders he’s signed, has been consistently trying to slander us. It hasn’t worked.

Finally, we get to where we are now. “So you two are working on season two of Undercover, together. How’s it going so far? Has it changed your dynamic on the set?”

“Absolutely not,” Peter answers. We agreed that he’d answer this type of question. “Amber is the head of the show, and just because we’re dating doesn’t change that. She values the opinions of everyone on set, including mine. She’s running a really collaborative show here. And the fact that we’re in a relationship and can be open about it has made the atmosphere even better.”

“That’s fantastic. So what’s on the horizon for you both?”

“Well,” I say, “We’re greenlit through season three of Undercover, so we’ll be doing this together for at least one more year. After that, we’ll see, though we both agree that we want to keep working together on projects when possible, because it’s been an amazing experience so far.”

The interviewer beams. “And personally?”

I blush, we thought this question might come up, but honestly, I hadn’t thought of a good way to answer it. I’m in it for the long haul, and Peter is too. We’ve talked about it. But it’s different when you’re saying it on television. But it’s probably already clear that I’ve gone beet red. So I decide to look at Peter, and let him handle it.

And he has been handling it. Our system just didn’t last the week, it’s still going, because that’s what works for us. He doesn’t mind that I’m the boss at work, and I like that he’s—mostly—the boss at home. We’re a good balance for each other, and the last months have been great as we are starting to learn each other again just as well as we did in high school.

Peter smiles down at me, and kisses me on the forehead. “We’re doing really well, personally, and I think we’ll continue to do well, though I think how well depends on the next few minutes.”

“What are you talking about?”

Peter pulls away from me, off of the couch that we’re sitting on together, and a hush falls over the room, the entire filming crew suddenly going still. I realize what’s happening. This is happening now. “Oh, my God.”

Peter gets down on one knee in front of me, and suddenly I’m crying. The tears are welling up and over my eyes and I can barely see him through the blur. The interviewer has her hands over her mouth. She didn’t know this was happening either, and now it’s being captured by three different cameras.

“Amber,” Peter says, taking my hands in his. “I’ve been in love with you since eleventh grade when you dragged me out of the snow and into drama club. I was in love with you when we talked about forever, even though we were young, and forever is a long time. I was in love with you when we were apart, even if I pretended that I wasn’t. And I’ve fallen in love with you all over again in the last nine months.