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“I'm going to sleep in your room.”

She laughed.

“I figured.” Ken finished her drink and decided she wanted to sing.

She left me at the table and ran to the stage. I didn’t even try to stop her—her excitement was clear. She typed the song into the device next to her and hit play. The blonde beamed with energy as she grabbed the microphone and the beats of Beyoncé’sLove on Topbegan to echo.

I got up from the table, almost stumbling, a little shocked by Kendra's voice. Colleen quickly came to stand beside me as the entire bar clapped along to the music.

The soft smile on Kendra's face and the sparkle in her eyes made me realize that all we needed in life was to embrace whowe truly are. From the moment she did that, she became the most incredible version of herself. As always in our relationship, I found myself wanting to catch up with her, striving to grow better every day. The difference now was that we were no longer competing against each other; instead, we were fighting side by side for a shared happy ending.

She always gave her all, and she was the one I could count on when I needed her most. Every single time, she had the power to make the world stop spinning just for me. And she didn’t just lift me up figuratively; she would quite literally carry us to the top of the world if I needed her to. In the end, I knew I would do the same for her. Because, as Beyoncé said, nothing is perfect, but it’s worth it. She was worth it, and in that moment, that was all I needed.

When the song ended, I ran to the stage and barely had time to let her move the microphone away from her face before I sealed my lips with hers, in a silent whisper of I love you.

The alarm clock went off, pulling me out of a sleep that hadn’t been deep to begin with. My eyes burned, begging for another six hours of rest, but I couldn't afford that luxury. I turned off the annoying noise and felt Veronica's arms hugging me from behind. She clung to me and placed a kiss in the middle of my back.

“Good morning,mami…” The hoarser voice than usual reverberated low, making my body shiver in front of it.

“Good morning, shorty.”

I considered closing my eyes a little longer, but I knew that if I did so, we would both miss our practice time. I took a deep breath, gathering my courage.

“Hey, come on. We need to get ready!”

Veronica groaned softly, a little frustrated, and let go of me, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. My shirt was too bigfor her, But every time she slept over in my room, she made sure of stealing a piece of my clothing for herself. It was usually my older shirts that I wore for exercising or meditating with Jazmine.

I got out of bed and grabbed my black leggings, top, and loose t-shirt and threw them all under the bed, starting to change from my pajamas to my workout clothes. Veronica got up next and grabbed her clothes from the backpack she had brought last night. We both got ready and I let Veronica braid my hair in two boxer-style braids. We found Sid in the living room and she told us that Jaz had gone to spend the night with Ivan, but that she promised to meet us at the gym.

Now we had Veronica's car to drive around in, so that saved us the 15 minute walk to the training center. We could sleep a little longer and then go get some coffee. Troian joined us, but Emily, from what I understood, had already left on her way.

The atmosphere between the blonde, Troian and my girlfriend was terrible. No wonder Veronica had been sleeping in my room instead of her own for the past few days. And Troian hadn't been sleeping alone either, because Becker was always around the girl.

We got into the car and I put my hand on Roni's thigh and smiled sweetly at her.

“I can drive if you want.” I offered, but she waved me off.

“That's okay,mami.”

A fake puke sound was emitted, forcing us to turn around.

“You two were insufferable with all the fighting and now you're insufferable because you're so mushy…” Troian said, who received a deadpan smile along with my middle finger raised in her direction.

My girlfriend's roommate laughed.

“But honestly, I prefer it this way, if you want to know…” she added with a good-natured tone.

“It’s the least you could do…” I shot back.

Veronica remained silent, but the half-smile tugging at the corner of her mouth made me sure there was a lot on her mind.

Even after the accident, Colleen was always in the gym cheering us on, helping us out, and listening to me complain—which became a regular habit, because the pressure was getting higher and higher.

With my body sweaty and my shirt tied in a knot, I dropped to the floor.

We had just done the entire routine three times, without a second of rest in between. I felt like my body was melting, my muscles felt like jelly, and my mind felt like it was going to spin.

“Hey, have an isotonic drink.” My cousin handed me the bottle.