But it won’t be.
It can’t be.
He’s not flying back to Dallas until after the weekend.
I still have time to decide. I still have time.
“There he… there he is!” Cyrus points, getting all excited as he watches his brother walk up onto the stage.
Tyrell’s family were nice enough to invite me to sit next to them for the graduation ceremony. They scored an extra ticket—I’m not even sure how—so I’m here, sitting at the back of the large auditorium and gazing down at a sea of blue gowns as the university celebrates their graduates.
I’ve spent the majority of the ceremony tuning out while different speeches were made, but now I blink, forcing my head back into the moment as I watch Tyrell, all handsome in his gown and cap, accepting his degree.
“Yes! My boy!” His mama rises to her feet, cheering loudly while his sister snaps photos on her phone. His father struggles to his feet as well, whooping and cheering.
“Yay, Tyrell!” Cyrus laughs, giggling in his sweet way and clapping loudly. “Yay! That’s my brother. That’s my brother!” he yells to everyone around us.
The crowd laughs, joining in the celebration and glancing at Cyrus.
“Good boy.” Mrs. Jackson takes his hand and makes him sit back down again. “That was good, cheering for Tyrell, baby.”
“He’s my brother.” Cyrus keeps grinning, turning his smile on me and whispering, “Tyrell graduated.”
“I know. He did so good.”
“Yeah.” Cyrus nods, giving me an adorable grin before turning back to see who’s going next.
The rest of the ceremony runs smoothly, pockets of families rising to cheer as their son, daughter, sibling, or grandchild goes up to get their diplomas.
I glance over my shoulder, taking in the row associated with Football Frat. They’re loud and playful, cheering on their housemates, but it’s impossible to miss the frown on Carson’s face and the sad wrinkle between Grady’s eyebrows. They’re going to miss their friends.
I turn back to face the front, making myself think ahead for once, imagining what it’s going to be like here without Jed and Tobin. Nix will still be around, but we won’t be living together anymore.
And Tyrell will be gone.
Now that I see how long his father’s recovery is taking and how much his mother is carrying, I get why he feels he needs to go home.
Nolan won’t be the same without him.
Yes, I didn’t know he was here for the first few months, so I was living quite happily without him.
Well, not happily, but I was getting by just fine.
But since we’ve started spending time together, he’s become a really important aspect of this place, and when he leaves, I’m going to feel it.
I’m gonna feel it big.
So why don’t you just go with him?
My heart picks up as I try to imagine what that might look like. Driving down to Dallas with him, moving in with his family. His sweet, kind family who gave me hugs the second they saw me. They remember me. They asked me how I was doing, and they seem thrilled that I’m dating Tyrell.
He didn’t call me his girlfriend, and his mama told him off for not saying it.
“You’re dating the girl, ain’t you? Call her yours, boy.”
His smile fled and he murmured, “We’re just seeing how things go. We don’t need the pressure of labels.”
And I wanted to correct him, to wipe that look off his face.
