Goodbye
I squeezed Nick's hand, holding back the tears that threatened to come pouring out of my eyes. I needed to be strong. I needed to show Nick that I could do this without him, that I'd be okay even if we were a while apart.
"I'm gonna miss you," Nick whispered, looking into my eyes with a love that I've seen him look at me with for years. I smiled softly and look down at our hands.
"I'll miss you too," I admitted quietly. "But we can call and text and video call..." I drifted off, not wanting to imply the things I might have fantasized about doing with him over a video call.
Nick laughed. "Yeah, okay. And I'll come visit you or you can come visit me every like... two weeks. So it won't be that long in between seeing each other," Nick reassured himself. I could sense his anxiety and unsureness radiating off of him in waves, some of it transferring into me.
I took a deep breath and took a step forward, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could manage. I squeezed my us shut, blocking out the tears and the thoughts saying that this wouldn't work for us. It would work.
This had to work.
Nick returned the embrace, taking in my scent. We had traded a sweatshirt, even though Nick would never fit into mine, it was a good comfort item. Something to help the longing.
"Okay, you should probably start heading over there," I laughed weakly. I stepped back from Nick, and his arms fell loosely to his sides. He looked down.
"Yeah," he agreed and shut the trunk of his car, as he was already finished packing all of his things into it. He looked at me sadly.
"I love you, Charlie," he said,
"I love you too," I replied, that statement staying as the first time I ever said it.
He kissed me quickly, lips pressed against mine, and then returned to the car, climbing into the driver's seat. He buckled himself in and started the car, backing out of the driveway slowly. He gave me a small wave before driving down the street.
I finally let the tears flow.