"We have all of summer to hang out," my boyfriend said as his arm slung over my shoulder. "Then we have to stay in touch and see each other during breaks."
Ricky nodded. "Simple as that."
"Simple as that," I repeated.
Eventually the others left to go find their families in the crowd of people on the football field. Javi and I went toward the exit so that we could find his parents' car, that's where they were waiting for us at.
"You know what I just realized?" Javier asked me as we walked.
"What?"
"If we ever have kids they're going to hate us. Their dads graduated high school at the top of their class and will probably again for college too. We’re gonna end up being insufferable know-it-all parents."
"Maybe just a little," I said, looping my arm through his and locking them together. "Graduating the top of the class in college? That's a little optimistic."
"I don't think so," he hummed. "When our kids need help with homework we will argue over which one of us gets to help them. Then, we'll argue over who's showing them the right and more efficient way. My way will be the better way, of course."
"You're ridiculous, Javier Cortez."
"Ridiculously in love with you, Elias Richardson."
My heart fluttered in my chest. "Jesus, Javi, how do you do that? You always say things so..."
"Effortlessly?" my boyfriend asked, his voice soft.
"Yeah, effortlessly."
Epilogue
Javier
Three Months Later
Time only flies by when you don’t want it to.
It was already August, where had the summer gone? I was supposed to be rotting on the couch with my legs kicked up on the coffee table as my boyfriend and I competed against each other in video games. My time was supposed to consist of gallivanting around town with my friends as we figured out where to go hang out next.
Instead, I was doing the last-minute packing to move into my college dorm tomorrow. Summer skated by in the blink of an eye and I hadn’t realized until it was too late. Now I had to go back to classes and deadlines instead of staying snuggled up with my boyfriend all day.
Eli was more eager to move into our shoebox of a dorm than I was. He had his things packed for over a month, all besides the new wardrobe my parents surprised him with a few days ago. He thought they were done buying him things after they gifted him some clothes when he first moved in, but he was mistaken. Those weren’t even half of the new clothing items that he would receive.
My boyfriend and I would be sharing a dorm and that was one thing I could not be more excited for. No parents barging in and no nosy siblings listening at the door. An entire room for just him and I. It definitely made up for the cramped nature of the dorm and the fact that we had to share a bathroom with other guys.
We were completely aware that rooming with your significant other your freshman year of college was not advised. I had heard horror stories of couples breaking up in the middle of the year and trying to separate, but the college refused to allow it. Then the exes were forced to live with each other for the remainder of the year.
Those stories made us nervous, but Eli and I were confident enough in our relationship to not let that happen.
The sound of the door shutting took my attention and I turned over my shoulder. Eli had entered the room, a contagious smile on his face.
“Hey, you’re back.” I felt my lips curl into a grin. “I’m taking that by the smile on your face, it went well?”
He held his hands behind his back as he nodded. “We had some really great conversations. I feel like I learned things about them that I never knew.”
Eli had been gone for a while because his siblings insisted on taking him out for lunch. They wanted to see him one last time before he left for college, even though the college was only forty-five minutes away from my house. Actually, the twins’ apartment was even closer to the college, so it truly was a short drive for them to see him. Still, the wanted to take their brother out.
I was wary about him going with them the afternoon before our big day tomorrow. Easton and Emerson had been making an effort to try and mend their relationship with Elias, but they did not always go about it correctly.
They only saw each other four times during the summer, which was not a huge problem because the three needed space from each other to heal individually. Though, after one of their meetings Eli came back upset. He tried to downplay it to old memories flooding back randomly, but he eventually let out that they had fallen into an argument toward the end of the outing.
