𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 - 𝐡𝐬𝐦𝐭𝐦𝐭𝐬 (𝐢𝐯) | ✔

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒙𝒙𝒊. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞
━━ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅

Juliette stood in front of the open trunk of the van the Duchamps had rented for that day, the day Juliette was moving out of Salt Lake. It was full of boxes with different labels and they contained the whole of Juliette's life. The girl's eyes were red as Ricky loaded the last box into the trunk of the van and closed it, leaning his body against it. He took the girl by the hand and pulled her until she was directly in front of him, putting a hand on her chin and softly raising her head to force her to look at him.

Juliette's brief experience in L.A. had been a great one but it was only dawning on her now that she was moving out for good, that she was not coming back in a few days. She had been crying on and off ever since Ricky had arrived that morning to help them load everything into the van and say a final goodbye to his girlfriend.

"Hey," Ricky whispered, looking for Juliette's eyes. "What did we say about crying?"

"That it wasn't allowed," Juliette responded.

"Why are you crying then?" he asked, his own voice involuntarily breaking in the process. Before driving there that morning, he had promised himself he would not cry in front of Juliette but all of his plans had been turned upside down as soon as he had seen her puffy eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ricky," she lunged herself forward, hugging him in between tears. Ricky immediately put his arms around her, rubbing her back as he allowed Juliette to cry into his shirt for the third time that day. "It wasn't' supposed to be like this."

"It was supposed to be exactly like this. And I'll drive to you as soon as you're settled down okay? You can show me around and introduce me to all the cool friends you'll make."

The voice of her sisters reached them from inside the house, trying to decide which one of them would sleep in Juliette's room while she was not there, but she didn't have the strength to yell back at them.

"Come on, Jules. You're going to have an amazing time at college. And I'll be right here when you come back for Christmas break and I'll call you every single night," he tried to console her, but that only made her cry harder. "And plus, Nini's in L.A. as well!"

"What if I don't like it there? Or if I don't make friends or...?"

"Juliette," Ricky stated, taking her by her shoulders and pushing her slightly back so he could look her in the eyes. "You are the loveliest girl I have ever met. You will make so many friends and party so hard that you will forget about Salt Lake in a week."

"I could never forget about Salt Lake. My heart stays here," she replied, looking at him.

"Time to go," Mr Duchamp interrupted them, his voice sad as well. They had a long drive ahead of them and they had to leave already if they didn't want to get there too late. Juliette had tried to get Ricky to go with them but, much to everybody's dismay, they had all convened that it would be best for him to stay here.

"I love you, okay?" Ricky whispered to Juliette in between kisses. "I love you so much it's gross."

"Don't use my song against me," she tried to joke, unsuccessfully. "I love you, Ricky."

He left a last kiss on his girlfriend's lips, which she elongated as much as possible just so she wouldn't have to say goodbye. Nevertheless, Ricky had to be the responsible one and break it so the girl could get into the van and start her journey.

"Wait!" a voice reached them from down the street. As they turned around, they saw a brunette girl running up to them. As soon as she reached them, she lunged herself at Juliette's arms and hugged her tight. "God, I thought I had missed you."

"Oh my God, Alex," Juliette breathed out. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I won't say goodbye because I'm travelling there every month. I hope you have room for me."

"I'll always have room for you. We can sleep in my bed," she murmured into Alex's hair.

"Me too?" Ricky asked, trying to lighten up the mood, which earnt him a hard look from Alex.

"After what happened at prom? No way."

"Alex! I told you not to say anything!" Juliette exclaimed, which made all of them laugh. Of course she would tell her best friend what had happened at prom, but it was still embarrassing for his boyfriend to know she had done so.

Mr Duchamp called for her daughter again and she got into the van, her hands shaking lightly. She looked at him through the window, her eyes now an endless stream of tears. Ricky willed himself not to cry, not in front of the girl, but he simply could not help it and tears started falling from his eyes as well. Much to his surprise, Alex hugged him sideways. He put an arm around her and both of them waved goodbye to Juliette. They stood there, in the Duchamp front lawn, until they could no longer see the van.

Juliette's phone pinged as soon as Ricky was out of sight. Opening it, she read his message: seven hundred miles is only one 'I love you' away.