𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 | 𝖩𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖡𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗁𝖺𝗆

³³. 𝗆𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗒 𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗇

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━   𝖠𝖫𝖤𝖷 𝖵𝖠𝖫𝖤

FIVE MONTHS LATER

IT'S BEEN FIVE months—yes, five fucking months—since Jobe and I went public. And honestly? The internet took it surprisingly well. Since I don't have social media, my friends keep me updated, and apparently, people actually like me. They call me pretty, which is kind of nice. Of course, there are hate comments, but my friends never show me those. I went looking for them once... for some reason. Fucking dumb idea.

Jobe and I are coming up on six months together, and honestly? He's the best boyfriend ever. Usually, when a girl gets her first boyfriend, it can go really well or really bad. In my case, it turned out pretty fucking good.

Layla and Ethan are still my biggest supporters, and even my coworkers—Leo and, surprisingly, Eli—seem happy for me. Eli's been picking up more shifts, which means Joe didn't fire him after all. But after he fired Mia and Ava, we got new coworkers, Asia and Jada. And honestly? They're the sweetest people I've ever met. They obviously know I'm dating Jobe, but I love that they don't treat me differently because of it.

I did end up telling Jobe about Mia and Ava, though. He was pissed that I hadn't told him sooner, but I didn't want him to worry. I knew I could handle it on my own—and I did.

Right now, I'm in Barcelona with Jobe and his family. Crazy, right? I've lived in Madrid my whole life, and yet, this is my first time here. Since Jobe and I do long-distance—him in Sunderland, me in Madrid—it's rare that we get time like this together. We're both busy people, so moments like this mean everything.

But if I'm being honest, the past few months have made me feel some type of way about Jobe. I still haven't told him I love him. And since that day when he first said it, he hasn't said it again either. I think he's waiting for me to say it first—either that, or he doesn't want to pressure me. But fuck, there are times when I wish he would just say it again.

I catch him looking at me sometimes, and I know he wants to say it. But instead, he always settles for, "I like you so much." Which is sweet, don't get me wrong. But love—those three words, I love you—they make my knees weak.

And the truth is, I do love him. But saying it? Actually saying it? That's where I struggle. I've had so many chances—on the phone, over text, on FaceTime—but none of them felt right. Saying it through a screen feels corny, and texting it? Ugly.

That's why I want to say it in person. But I can't just randomly drop it out of nowhere—that would be so awkward.

I sat on the bed of our hotel room, scrolling mindlessly through my phone while waiting for Jobe to finally finish in the shower. He had this whole plan to show me around Barcelona, and for some reason, he was really set on taking me to some park—though he hadn't told me why.