Be My Always - A Casey and Izzie Story

16. human version of the heart eye emoji

Casey:

"Can we please hurry it up? I'm going to miss the bus." I whined at my parents as they continued taking their sweet time gathering up the remainders of their luggage and making sure Sam was all set for a weekend by himself.

I grabbed my duffel and dropped it loudly at the front door hoping to grab my parent's attention before grabbing my dad's car keys and jiggling them obnoxiously.

I looked over at where Sam was being smothered and bored to death by the lists of do's and don'ts my mother was going over with him for the trillionth time today. His eyes found mine and we flashed each other the same 'get her out of here' look. "Mom. You can go. I have it all written down. Bye, dad. Bye, Casey, good luck."

I flashed a grateful smile at him as my parents finally made their way to the door, finally ready to get going. "Love you, Sam!" we chorused as the door closed behind us.

~~~

Izzie:

"Please, call me if you need anything." I pleaded as I squeezed my grandma tight while I held my youngest sister in my arms.

She chucked softly. "Please, Belle, stop stressing. It's just a few more extra night then I would usually take them for, we've got this."

"I know, I know. I've just never been so far away from them for so long."

She looked at me as a saddened expression wash over her face. "Bella. Go, stop stressing about everything back here. Go and be a teenager, make memories with that cute friend of yours and escape through your running. You sound more like the mother of those children then your own mother ever has. Please."

I quickly wiped away a lone tear that fell from my eye. "I love you, grams." I told her as I gave her one more tight squeeze. "Give the other two my love when they get home from school." And I kissed Luci a few too many times on the top of her head as she giggled, wiping away the tears that rolled down my cheek.

My grandmother reached out to take Luci from my arms. "Your Uber is here, my love." She told me as I reached down to pick up my duffel. "Run your heart out, Belle. We'll be cheering you on from home and will call you every night."

I waved and blew kisses all the way from the front of her apartment complex to the street as tears streamed down my face. Four nights did really feel like forever when I had never been more than half an hour away from any of them.

~~~

My car approached Clayton as I watched the girls in my team begin to arrive with bags full of luggage and in high spirits. I thanked my driver as I hoped out and begin to walk through the gates.

I looked around in hopes to spot Casey in the crowd. I pulled out my phone ready to compose a message asking how far off she was when I spotted Doug's familiar red truck pulling up into the parking lot behind me.

"Hey!" I called as I approached the car and watched as Doug grabbed Casey's bags out the trunk.

I approached Elsa's door as she hung out the window, pulling me in for a hug and kissing me on the cheek. "Izzie!"

"Hey!" Casey called from the other side of the car, "She's mine, back off, mom." She called out as she came over and kissed me on the forehead.

Elsa watched us in awe. "You two are the cutest."

I felt my cheeks burn red and watched as Casey rolled her eyes and laughed as she pulled me close to her. "Cool it, Elsa. You look like the human version of the heart eye emoji."