Chapter 83

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We laid there trying to come back from the earth shattering sex we just had. It was crazy, even for us. I think we were both feeling desperate and insecure and our physical connection helped to overcome those feeling. Henry had been possessive and domineering, more than he had ever been. I was surprised to find that I liked it. I liked it a lot. And it was okay because I knew he loved me and respected me.

Henry was laying on his side spooning me with his arms wrapped around me tight. There were so many unanswered questions between us but I couldn't bring myself to voice any of them. I wanted to live in this moment forever. It would never be better than this. And that terrified me.

I turned in Henry's arms so I could see his face. I reached up and placed a hand on his too smooth cheek.

"I hate this." I said teasingly.

"What, my face? That's not the reaction I expected after what we just did but ok." He laughed and I pinched his cheeks. He laughed harder and pushed his weight on me so I had to turn onto my back with him now hovering over me.

"I meant I hate that you shaved. It's so not you. You need to grow your beard back or I'm breaking up with you." I giggled and in the moonlight, I could see Henry's eyes widen in surprise. He leaned down and nibbled on my ear while nuzzling my cheek with his. I squealed when he bit down a little harder. He raised up over me and smirked. And just like that, we were desperate for each other again.

The rest of the night went like that. Alternating between making up for lost time and taking small breaks. I barely got any sleep but I wouldn't change any of it. The need for him that I had was insatiable. And he seemed to feel the same way. We ignored all of our issues to have this one perfect night. We both knew it might be a long time before we could have time like this again.

The next morning, I woke up sore and tired. But happy. So very happy. I had to make appearances at my classes and Henry said he had some business to take care of. I was afraid to ask about it so I didn't. We made plans to meet up for dinner since I didn't have to work. Of course the day dragged because all I could think about was seeing Henry. It was scary how happy I felt now that he was here. Finally, it was time to meet up with him again. He asked me to come to the house that he was supposed to live in this year because he was grabbing the rest of his things to take back with him. I tried not to dwell on that too much.

I walked to the house after my last class because I was impatient. Henry was outside loading up boxes into the back of his car.

"Hey baby! How was class?" he asked when he spotted me. He jogged over to where I was standing on the sidewalk and grabbed my face and kissed me.

"Boring. You know how it is the first week. We get our syllabus and go over what is expected for the semester. I should have just skipped and hung out with you all day." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his car.

"As perfect as that sounds, I had to tie up all the loose ends here. I'm officially unenrolled from school and I even found someone to sublet my room because I can't get out of my lease. My father is going to lose his shit when he finds out but fuck him. I'm an adult now and he has no say in my life choices." He walked us over to the front porch where there were old beach chairs set up and we sat down. I had a feeling he was dropping out of school today but hearing that it was final made my stomach drop. It was official now.

"Wow, this is really happening." I don't want to be a downer all the time and I was so happy for him, but I hated how he said that he was tying up loose ends. He said it like it was so easy to end this chapter of his life. Meanwhile, I was still here. It was just another reminder that we were moving in different directions.

He grabbed my hand and placed it in his lap. We stared at each other for a few seconds until I broke the spell and looked down at my lap. What was happening between us just felt so...heavy. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster with my feelings
going up and down constantly. I didn't know if I was strong enough for this.

"Em, I promise I'm going to do better about calling you and answering your texts. I know I've been so shitty to you the past few weeks but I was under an enormous amount of stress. I felt like the bands whole future was on my shoulders and I had to be perfect. And I dropped the ball with us. I'm so sorry." I still had my head down but I could feel his eyes on me. I cleared my throat to get rid of the sadness in my voice. I didn't want to talk about the past few weeks.

"So how long can you stay?" I had to ask. We had avoided it all last night and this morning. I looked up at his face and I could see anxiety and regret in his eyes. I wasn't going to like his answer.

"I need to leave tonight. We have a meeting tomorrow morning with our manager and the lawyer he hired for us to go over the contract the record company sent over. It's moving faster than I expected." I couldn't respond. The disappointment I felt was suffocating me. I would have skipped class today if I had known we would only have one day. When he said he had some time off, I thought that meant a week. We only had a few hours left.

"I want you to come visit when I get a day off again. I want to show you where we are living. Brooklyn is really cool. You would love it. And I could show you the recording studio. I want you to hear what we are working on. The guys miss you." I just nodded my head at everything he was saying. He must have known that I was trying to process this news because he didn't push me to say anything. He had to finish packing up his car. I just sat in the stupid half-broken lawn chair and watched. I couldn't even bring myself to offer to help.

When he was done, we drove over to the Mexican restaurant and to my surprise, we picked up a to-go order. I thought we would eat there but I think I knew where we were going.

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