It's Not A Ghost Story, It's A Love Story: A Xephmadia Tale

Chapter 2

Xephos's POV:
"Happy Birthday Lom!" Xephos greeted his girlfriend with a hug as she opened her front door. He placed a kiss on her nose when they broke apart. Today was special because today was Lomadia's 21st birthday.
"How are you?" Xeph asked.
"Doing great now that you're here." The witch laughed, her green eyes glittering brightly.
"Well then!" Xeph laughed, "Are you ready for our picnic?
Lomadia's eyes flickered as she glanced to the basket as he picked it up. "Of course!"
Xephos watched as she locked her door and laced her arm through his, causing him to blush. Despite the fact that they had found and fallen in love with each other seven years ago, he still couldn't believe how lucky he was to love such a wonderful girl with such a wonderful family that actually approved of him.
Every time he would be around Lomadia's family, he would be hit with a twinge of jealousy. He knew it was ridiculous, but his family had never loved him the way Lom's family loved her. Actually Lomadia's mother, Crystal, had once offered to take custody of him when he was 14, because his family kicked him out of the house for a week, but he had declined because he didn't want the family to have to go through the court case.
He did end up moving in with them on his 16th birthday, but as he promised them then, he found a place of his own and moved out on his 18th birthday.
"You don't have to, it's a pleasure having you stay with us." Crystal had said as he was packing his things one afternoon.
"I appreciate it, but you shouldn't have had to provide for me at all, so I just don't think it's right to have you keep providing for me now that I can do so for myself. But I will never forget what you have done for me, and I will forever be thankful." He had replied.
"You always have been so polite, since the day you met Lomadia, just remember you are always welcome here if you ever need anything.
"Thank you." Xeph cast a glance a Crystal's dim, grey eyes which caused a pang of sorrow to run through him, he knew she had lost her love when Lom was young, and it had been so long, that the glow had left her eyes.
"You alright?" Lomadia's voice shook him from his thoughts. She was looking at him, concern shimmering in the green depths of her eyes.
"Hu- Oh I'm fine, lets go." Xeph said, shaking the memory from his mind, today was going to be a good day.
It didn't take long for the duo to reach their destination, a small stretch of beach, secluded from the town nearby by and expanse of trees. The sun caught the waves, turning them bright orange,
The pair laid out the blanket and laughed when Xephos slipped and fell in the water.

Lomadia's POV:
The picnic was amazing. There were little sandwiches, lemonade, chips, watermelon, and everything else you would need for a perfect afternoon.
Now Lomadia was walking around in the surf as Xeph looked on with a smile.
"What are you smiling at?" The girl laughed.
"You," He called, "You're adorable when you're happy!"
"You're one to talk!" Lom responded as she walked over and sat down. "Look at you beaming away like you're father Christmas."
Xephos's eyes lit up even brighter as he pulled her into a kiss. When they broke apart, she allowed herself to get lost in his piercing blue gaze.

-----Later-----

Xeph and Lom packed up the picnic and headed to Lomadia's mother's as the sun began to set, so her mother could wish her a happy birthday as well.
It was dark long before they made it to her mother's house, so the couple spent most of the walk with their eyes angled towards the sky. At one point her boyfriend was so focused on the stars that he ran face first into a street lamp.
CLANG!
"Ow!" Xeph exclaimed.
"I know the stars are beautiful, but you still need to watch where you're going." Lom laughed as he rubbed his nose where it had intersected the pole.
"I can see that now." He grumbled, side stepping around the street lamp.
When they got to her mother's house, she threw her arms around her daughter. "Happy Birthday!"

Xephos's POV:
"Happy Birthday!" Lomadia's mother pulled her into a hug.
When she released her daughter, Crystal held her out at arm's length, "My baby, 21 years old! I can't believe you're officially an adult!"
Lomadia smiled.
Crystal then turned to Xephos with a playful smirk, "Are you treating my daughter right?"
Responding to her playful manner, he stood up straight with his shoulders back and saluted her. "Yes ma'am!"
After that the trio broke into a fit of giggles and it was hard to tell but in her laughter, Xeph could almost swear he saw a glimmer of sadness and her grey gaze.
When Lomadia went inside to change, Xephos pulled Crystal off to the side, "Is everything okay? You seem sad."
She sighed, looking at the ground, "You always could see right through facades." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Lomadia trained as a Skylord when she was younger, so we could pay for her education after her father's death."
"Okay?" He was having trouble putting two and two together.
"The only catch for having them pay for her education was they could call her back if they ever needed her...I got a call from them today." She said, tears springing into her eyes.
"What did they say?" Xephos whispered, for fear that Lom may hear them.
"There is a space exploration expedition that they want her to go on, the only problem is, it could potentially be very dangerous. They are going to study planets in deep space with extremely extremely strong outer gravity. That means, the gravity on the surface is fairly normal, but there is an outer shell of much stronger gravity, if they get past it, it will take an immense amount of power to get back through it, more than is fathomable." Xephos couldn't respond, there was a very good chance he could lose the one person he cared about most, but he didn't have time to dwell on it because Lomadia opened the door. "Are you too just going to stay out on the porch all night?"
"Of course not!" Crystal had regained her facade.
"You know I actually should get going." Xeph knew Crystal probably didn't want him around when she told Lom about the expedition, his prediction was confirmed when she gave him a thankful glance.
"Are you sure?" Lomadia asked, giving him a hug.
"Yeah, I got to spend all day with you, it's only fair that you spend some time with your mother." Xephos said before placing a light kiss on her lips. "Happy Birthday Lomadia."

-----Later-----

Lomadia's POV:
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, she had spent a wonderful day with Xephos only to come home to some of the worst news she could get.
"Why me?!" Lomadia shrieked, "Why now?!"
Without thinking she bolted out the door of her mother's house and made her way blindly down the cracked road, her vision blurry with tears.
Before she knew what was going on, she was standing on Xeph's porch, heating the faint chime of the doorbell echo from inside.
When he opened the door, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing.
"Whoa, calm down." Xephos whispered calmingly.

Xephos's POV:
Xephos stood, grudgingly breaking away from his thoughts as the doorbell spoke in it's melodious tones. He had no time to greet the girl at the door before she flung herself into his arms, sobbing.
"Whoa, calm down." Xeph whispered to his crying girlfriend.
He could guess what she was so upset about, but he just held her, and let her sob into his shirt.
"I can't leave you!" She said at last, looking up at him.
"I know, your mother told me, but you can do this, you're a strong woman, if anyone can deal with this it's you." He soothed as he brushed a piece of hair that had fallen into her face, behind her ear.
Lomadia looked shocked for a moment that he knew what was going on, but it was soon replaced with fear and grief. "I- I don't want to leave you...I love you."
"Darling I love you too, and just remember no matter how far away you might be, we are still soulmates," He gestured towards their glowing eyes, "And I will always love you."
He knew the girl was too shaken to walk home, so he took her into his own house. He grabbed his phone and texted her mother, to make sure she knew Lom was going to be safe and well taken care of for the night.
As he made her a cup of tea, she was sitting on the sofa, staring off into space.
"How do you even go about leaving everyone you love?" Lomadia turned to look at him, her green eyes sparkling with tears.
Xephos smiled sadly as her, "I don't know...you're the only person I've ever loved."
He realized the moment he said it that he probably shouldn't have, because she started crying again. "This is why I can't leave! I can't leave you here alone!"

-----One Week Later-----

Xephos stood off to the side as Lom said goodbye to her mother.
Soon, his arms wrapped around her for the last time, his lips pressed to hers in a kiss he wished would last forever.