Healed by Rebecca Brooke Page A

worse.
    “All right, all right. At least there is someone worse than me.”
    The quiet returned for a few more minutes, when Andrew spoke up again.
    “When do you want to move your stuff?”
    Hmm. That was something I had to think about. I still had to explain to my parents that I was going to move off campus. Once they found out I was moving in with Andrew, I knew they were going to offer me the money they would save on room and board for rent. Mom had mentioned it when she told me to talk to Dad again. This was something I had to do on my own, though. It would be comforting to know that I could go to them if needed, but I’d never learn if I kept relying on Mom and Dad.
    “I don’t know. Maybe we can pack throughout the week and move everything this weekend?”
    We were only about halfway through the spring semester. I knew Heather and Jillian, my roommates, wouldn’t mind if I moved out, especially if they could keep the three bedroom apartment without getting anyone else to move in.
    “We can do that.” He placed a kiss on my forehead. “Now get some sleep. You definitely haven’t been getting enough lately.”
    Snuggling into his embrace, I agreed and closed my eyes. He was right. I hadn’t had enough sleep lately and it would be nice to catch-up. My eyelids were heavy and it wasn’t long before I felt myself falling under, Andrew still stroking my hair.

Eight months later . . .
    Andrew
    EMILY MOVED IN THE weekend after I asked her. After a long conversation with her dad, and promises that she’d keep her grades up, he’d given her his blessing to move in with me. I had been concerned that living with Nick might cause some problems, but the two of them got along great. They always had, but you never know when people are actually living under the same roof. Nick and I did get in trouble when we left a mess, though.
    Emily was an absolute neat freak—and I mean a make-your-bed-every-morning kind of a neat freak. The few times we’d left our football equipment out, or dishes in the sink, we got to see her famous temper. The apartment was normally pretty clean, but sometimes when we finished football practice we were too tired to put everything away. We usually did it the next day, but Emily wanted no part of that, and we learned very quickly to clean up after ourselves the minute we got home!
    I could have gotten pissed, or given her a hard time about it, except it just didn’t seem worth it. This was who she was, and we were going to have a lifetime of living together. Like her dad had told me, it was better to pick my battles than to fight them all. That one just didn’t seem all that important.
    The other bonus was that when we did keep everything clean, she was more likely to cook for us. Emily was an amazing cook, but said she hadn’t cooked much on campus, saying it was hard to cook for only one person, and much easier to walk down to the food court and get something.
    So far, she’d done really well with living off campus and staying here all through the summer. She’d decided to take a job over the summer, and convinced her parents to let her pay for things herself. It was a good experience for her, and we still got to spend a ton of our off time together.
    In my opinion, a lot of it had been in her head. She was worried about the unknown, and didn’t realize how much she already did while living on campus. Either way, I was happy that she’d calmed down and reduced her stress levels. She was sleeping much better, although, I still wasn’t sure if that was the lack of stress or the new sleeping arrangements, spending every night cuddled up with me. I knew I slept better when she was there. It felt like a sense of security and peace. When that first semester of our senior year had started, time became a little more strapped, especially since our fields were so different. Our classes were scheduled at all different times—not to mention practices and games. As much as I loved football, it was