Chapter 19 Swayed

I stepped out onto the balcony, a mug of hot cocoa in my hands. A moment later, the sliding door opened and Wes stepped out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind him.

He slipped off his jacket, placing it on top of my shoulders before standing beside me. "It's cold."

"Thanks," I sniffled slightly, the cold air pricking my skin.

"I would say we did well. One night down." He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, grinning proudly.

I nodded my head, exhaling deeply. "We did. You did... really amazing, Wes."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe I should have done a drama major."

I rolled my eyes playfully, laughing at his comment. I turned to look at him, narrowing my eyes slightly. "You remembered all the things I said about med school and my goals." I shook my head, stunned and in disbelief. "I briefly mentioned all that ages ago."

Wes shrugged, giving me a soft smile. "What can I say, Fi? I'm a good listener."

I gave him a dull look.

He laughed, putting his hands up in defence. "Come on, don't be so surprised. I've gone on enough dates to remember which information is key enough to hold onto."

I quirked an eyebrow. "So you're telling me, when I talk, you treat me like you treat every other girl. Carefully choosing what to remember and when to mute me?"

Wes's mouth went agape. He dramatically gasped. "No, of course not! I'm trying to explain how good of a listener I can be when I am actually interested in hearing what someone has to say. Someone, as in you. Because I care when you speak."

I rolled my eyes, grinning nevertheless. "Good save." I paused for a moment, looking out at the sky. I looked down at my cocoa, my mind spinning with so many thoughts about how dinner went. "You never told me about JPMorgan Chase."

Wes looked out at the sky, licking his lips. It was dark but I could see the tip of his nose going pink from the cold air. "I worked my ass off to the point where I basically had no social life because my parents are workaholics. They expect a lot from me but I always wanted to get things on my own. I didn't want anything to be handed to me because of my parents or their connections." He glanced at me, his eyes warm. "Sound familiar?"

I nodded, breathing out a laugh. "Very. For the longest time I've had... goals and dreams but I couldn't even talk about them because my parents are so keen on one path for me, a path I don't want."

Wes sighed, blowing air out into his cheeks. "In some ways, they hardly notice what I do because they're so absent. Even though they're never present, they still have expectations from me because of their own hard work, they want me to be just as successful." He paused, looking away from me again. "Of course I want to be successful but part of the reason I worked so hard was because I wanted to show them how well I could do without them - without them because they were never around for me."

I leaned into his side, smiling softly. "For what it's worth, quite literally nothing is good enough for my parents but they seem to actually be impressed by you. If your parents got to see how amazing you are, they would be proud. I'm sure they are."

Wes smiled down at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer into him because it was getting colder out here. The wind felt nice as it hit my face, especially when my face was feeling so hot and flushed from Wes's touch.

"So..." I drawled out slowly. I looked up at the sky, avoiding locking gazes with Wes. "Commitment and compromise is nothing when it's the right person, huh? You almost had me fooled. You're good with words, Wes." I tried to keep a playfulness tone in my voice.

Wes momentarily tensed. I could tell because he still had an arm wrapped around me. He cleared his throat. "You know what they say. There's a little truth behind every lie."

I pursed my lip, pausing as I debated what I could possibly say. My mind was spinning. "Yeah..." I nodded, agreeing. "I do recall you telling me you weren't afraid of commitment if the girl was worth committing to."

Wes let go of me, turning his body to face me. "I have to confess, I'm not sure I entirely meant that when I said it but I may have been swayed."

I raised my eyebrows. "The dates I set you up on were good enough for you to change your mind?"

Wes scoffed, glancing away from me. "Your picks weren't completely disappointing. Not enough for any of them to get a second date."

I gave him a questioning look. "Then how were you swayed?"

Wes shrugged softly, not meeting my gaze. "I don't know. I guess I've come across someon- some people who have... convinced me it's possible to be consumed by a special person."

I laughed, intrigued. "Who would have thought Wes Hamilton would become a sappy romantic?"

Wes looked at me again, scoffing loudly. "I wouldn't go that far."

I nodded my head to the door. "We should get inside. My face is numb."

Wes laughed, leaning off the railing and opening the door for me. "Ladies first."

I smiled, going back inside and heading to my room with Wes following behind me. He quickly jumped into my bed, wrapping the throw blanket around himself and leaning against the headboard. He grabbed the teddy bear, hugging it to his chest.

"Getting comfortable, I see."

He watched as I walked over, sitting cross-legged in front of him. He smiled softly, his eyes warm and hearty.

I stared down at my hands, fiddling my fingers a bit. "Hypothetically, if you were with someone who you were ready to commit to... would you really pack up and move to where they needed to go?"

Wes blew air out into his cheeks in thought. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, if you met that person who.... consumed you, there would be no question about being with them."

I nodded slowly, still looking down at my hands. "Nate was... so sure about going abroad and travelling for a few years after finishing under-grad." I paused, thinking back to how different Nate's mindset was about this whole idea. "We never talked about further into the future. Of course it crossed my mind but I knew we would be in such different places in our life, it felt pointless thinking long-term."

Wes bit down on his lip, looking at me in thought. "I didn't believe in relationships and love, all of that for a long time. I found it quite stupid because we're so young."

I looked up at him. "What changed?"

"Like I said, I got swayed a bit." He let out a small chuckle. "Thinking about it now, making some sacrifices or compromises seems like nothing in the grand scheme of it all. If you really want to be with someone, if you feel that deeply about someone there is no question in my mind about why you shouldn't put it all in and go for it."

I exhaled sharply. Nate was the opposite of that. At the end of the day, he was selfish and only thought about himself and what he wanted in the long run. "Nate and I were young when we got together, we still are young. I just always had a plan, goals. I knew where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. Of course I loved him at one point but I never had any security when it came to where he stood."

Wes pursed his lips. I wanted to read his mind and understand what he was thinking or how he was feeling about the things I said but it was impossible to read him.

"I guess that's why putting it all in and going for it is so scary," he offered me a small smile, almost a sad one. "You never really know where anything will end up."

I blew air out into my cheeks as I hopped off the bed. "I should change. It's late and we spent a long time driving today."

Wes nodded, sitting up straighter. "You want me to sneak into the guest room? Or just take the ground?"

"What?" I laughed, shaking my head. "Of course not. I am the one who said we can stay in the same room."

"Yeah..." Wes nodded slowly. "But that was just to convince your mom we're dating, right? I don't mind even taking the recliner." He nodded his head to the recliners on one side of my room, in front of the door in my room that led out to the balcony.

"We can share the bed, no biggie."

Wes nodded unsurely. "You sure?"

I shrugged coolly. "It's not weird. Doesn't... have to be."

Wes grinned at me. "Whatever you want, Fia. No promises I'll let you be little spoon."

I snorted, rolling my eyes at him as I grabbed my pyjamas and headed into my bathroom. "Oh, shut up."

When I changed and stepped back into my room, Wes was already in bed. He laid on his side with his arm tucked under his head, peering at me.

I slowly slid into bed beside him, reaching over to turn off the lamp before turning to lie on my side so I was facing him.

A small smile tugged on his lips as he looked at me. "Cute pjs."

I let out a breathy chuckle. "Right."

Wes just looked at me. Even though the room was dark, there was enough light coming through the window from the moon for me to see his perfectly beautiful eyes.

I felt the sleepiness take over my body, feeling like today had been the longest day. I let my eyes shut, my breathing becoming more even as I started to drift off.

"Goodnight, Fi." Wes's voice was soft, delicate and in a whisper. I felt his fingers graze the side of my face as he tucked my hair behind my ear. He let his fingers linger for a moment.

And with that, we both fell asleep.