Too Good To Be True?

Chapter 20

The next morning we had to scramble to get our things together so we wouldn't miss our flight and as soon as we landed back in America, our lives jumped into overdrive and stayed that way for the whole length of Angel's senior year.

When we arrived back at her house and she realized summer was over, she thought that maybe she had missed Minecon but I explained to her that there hadn't been one this year since Minecraft's popularity was dwindling in Fortnite's shadow. She was disappointed and started focusing more on other games on her channel, but she never fully got rid of Minecraft. I would join her on a series once in a while but I started taking my own channel in a different direction and lessened my upload frequency, instead looking around for voice acting opportunities and surprisingly finding some success. I guess when you're the only native Brit around you're a hot commodity for that type of stuff.

Angel kept getting loads of offers both on YouTube and from production companies but she turned the majority of them down, saying that she wanted to focus on finishing school and spending more time with me. I loved living with her, getting to talk to her every day, to hold her whenever I wanted. It was a dream come true.

Cam and Megan were both off at college and they would come to visit once in a while but I could tell Angel missed them. She didn't have many friends in her class and while she said I was the only person she wanted to hang out with, I knew she was getting lonely. So when her Christmas break started, I surprised her with a visit from all of our friends and she was so excited to see them, especially Beth who was now five months pregnant and constantly gushing about the nursery they were building for their little one.

I talked to Joe a lot during that visit and the way he gazed at his wife and talked about her with such pride made my heart soar and ache all at once. I was ecstatic for them, of course, but it was just a reminder that I had to wait until Angel was ready before I could have what they had. Our age difference had never bothered me but whenever I thought about how much I wanted to start my own family, I would look at my girlfriend and sigh, knowing that I still had a few more years to wait. She was only turning 18, after all. She still had so much life to live, so much youth to enjoy and I wasn't about to take that away from her. I was in it for the long haul and would wait patiently until she was good and ready.

Over the remainder of the holiday break I was able to meet the rest of her family and I was glad to finally be taking that step with her, even if it meant having to convince a-whole-nother group of people that our relationship was okay, but by now neither of us cared what they thought. If they wanted to judge, go ahead and let them. We were perfectly happy in our own little world.

When she went back to school, I found myself with more free time than I had anticipated but since I didn't have the motivation to increase my YouTube production, I instead started learning how to code. At first I thought maybe I could make some mods or something but after realizing just how much I could do with this knowledge, some more complex ideas started churning in my brain and I began working on a secret project, though I doubted it would ever amount to anything. It was just something fun to keep my brain occupied when I wasn't making videos or recording lines.

In January we celebrated our birthdays with a nice weekend trip to a resort up north and had a blast, glad to have a space away from her parents for a bit. After realizing how small the house felt with the four of us in it I offered to find an apartment for Angel and I to stay in but she suggested we save our money for when we decided to move out. We had plenty of money to spare but she was extra cautious and I still had some anxieties about not being able to support us if something happened, so we decided to stay until she graduated.

One day I overheard her parents asking if she wanted to apply to colleges but she said no, that it wasn't something she was interested in anymore and I suddenly felt guilty, knowing that having me in her life was changing the dreams she may have had for herself. When I talked to her about it, though, she assured me that it had never been something she absolutely wanted to do, that it just seemed like a good option to find a sustainable job but now that she was pretty well off she wasn't worried about it. I still asked her about it a few more times just to make sure she was serious about her decision but she was adamant every time. It made me glad to know that building a future together was a priority for her.

The end of April was an exciting time as we went on a visit to England to welcome Joe and Beth's baby, Kevin Garrett, into the world. Angel was absolutely glowing from the moment we arrived and as soon as that little boy was in her arms, I had to hold back the urge to cry. She looked so perfect and serene, that moment reassuring me that she would be a wonderful mother someday. When it was finally my turn to hold him, I looked down into his little eyes, the eyes which looked so much like his dad's, and I knew that I wanted nothing more in the world than for Angel and I to have this moment for ourselves. When I looked up at her and saw the pride in her eyes, I could almost see her imagining the same thing.

One month later it was time for Angel's senior prom and I went with her, renting a limo this time since I didn't want to be anywhere near a driver's seat. Angel made fun of me for it but ever since the accident, my nerves would spike whenever I had to drive her somewhere. I was so afraid of hurting her again and this night in particular hit way too close to home; I was not going to let history repeat itself.

Thankfully everything went smoothly this time and we had a lot of fun singing and dancing and remembering the first time we had danced together at Starlight. She didn't win prom queen since everyone was over the Elsie hype by now but she didn't care, she said being my Princess was the only title she needed and my heart swelled as I swept her off of her feet.

I thought of that moment as I watched her walk across a makeshift stage in her high school's gym a few weeks later, smiling brightly as she received her diploma. I was so very proud of her and as she found my gaze in the sea of people I shot her a thumbs up, earning a teasing eye roll in return. I chuckled as I watched her walk back to her seat, applauding at the end and cheering as they all threw their caps in the air in celebration. Angel had enjoyed school for the most part but I knew that she was more than ready to move on from it.

That night, she asked if she could move to England with me and I could barely contain my excitement. I of course said yes but then I hesitated, asking if she really wanted to leave her family like that. She assured me that she would be alright and that she'd be able to convince her parents to let her do it. She really had shown her strength and independence over the length of her recovery and I knew I wasn't the only one to see it so I wasn't surprised when they agreed, knowing that she was ready to live her own life. It warmed my heart to know that they trusted me enough to let me take her away from them, to take care of her and protect her and love her with all I had and that's exactly what I intended to do.