The Mom Next Door

33-Deep

*jens pov*

I groan as my alarm goes off, and I roll over, turning it off. A month has passed, and I've made my decision. I'm going to France.

It wasn't easy to decide since I don't wanna leave Leah or Sofia. Even though Leah told me to do whatever I want, which seemed like she didn't care, I still care because I know I'll miss her, even if she doesn't miss me. But when I think about it, I really do like Leah, and I won't be gone forever. I'll come back and I'll see Leah. One of us might loose feelings by then, but it'll still mean a lot to me.

I get up and dressed for class, then I head to campus. I get to my French class early to talk to my teacher and get signed up for studying abroad. She pulls up the online list with a small amount of people already signed up from the class, and she tells me to add my name, and sign a printed paper. I do what she tells me to do.

Once I finish, I take a deep breath. It feels official now. There's no turning back. Hopefully this is a good decision.

-

"7 months, if I can get the money in time to pay all the fees." I tell Sage after she asks me when I'm leaving for France. "Oh my god..." She says softly, kind of disappointed. "What??" I say and tilt my head. "That's not too far away..." She sighs. "I'm gonna be stuck here, all alone, while you're off eating baguettes." She says and I giggle. "I'll be back before you know it. Plus you can visit me." I nudge her shoulder. "Like I have the money to go to another country-." She says.

"You're tellin me..." I say since I barely have enough money myself. "True...how are you affording all this?" She asks. "Well, I've been saving money since my senior year in high school, and I'm sure I'll be fine after I babysit Sofia a couple more times. Leah pays me really good, so I should be okay." I nod and she just gives me this stare.

"What-?" I ask and make an annoyed face. "She pays you good?" She asks. "Yeah-." I nod. "With money?" She asks and I raise one brow. "What else would she pay me wi-." I stop when I realize what she's hinting at.

"Ok stop. You're the one who never wants to talk about what me and Leah have going on, so don't try and bring it up with your unpure mind." I say and she rolls her eyes.

"Oh I'm the one with an unpure mind?" She giggles and I nod. "Yes- you are. You're dirty." I say and lean against the kitchen counter. "Coming from the girl who fucked her 36 year old divorced neighbor." She says and I suck my teeth.

"Why does it always have to come back to that-?" I ask, worn out by this conversation. "How can it not come back to that?" She laughs a little. "Whatever. Go fuck yourself." I sigh and flip her off as I grab a water bottle. "You first. Ooooo, or you could get Leah to do it for you instead." She smiles. "Sage I swear to god." I shake my head.

"Look we're not here to talk about me and Leah. I'm leaving for a year, and I'm gonna miss you like hell." I say as we walk over to the couch. "I knowwww. I don't even wanna talk about i." She sighs. "We don't have to. We'll just wait for that time to come around." I say and hold her hand.

-

"Are you gonna need me to watch Sof at all this week?" I ask Leah. "Yeah, Wednesday." She nods. "Ok. Buttt is there anyway I could start babysitting more? I could use the money." I tilt my head and she looks at me.

"Baby if you need money then you can just ask me." She shrugs. "I'm not gonna just 'ask' you for money." I say. "Why not? You need it don't you?" She asks. "Well you don't have to do that. Plus I'd rather earn it." I shrug.

"Ok well I have to run errands on Tuesday, so I'll leave Sofia home and you can watch her. And I did wanna go to the gym on Friday, so you can watch her then too." She says. "That okay?" She asks. "Perfect." I nod and smile.

It gets a little quiet and I put my arms on the counter, looking at Leah as I'm sitting at one of the stools to the kitchen island.

"Can you kiss me?" I ask and she raises one brow. "What?" She giggles since I've never really asked that. "I feel like you haven't kissed me in a while." I shrug. "I literally probably kissed you last week.." She says. "Why are you still talking?" I ask and look at her, waiting.

She sighs and smiles, walking over to the counter. She leans over and gives me a kiss. I kiss her back and that spark spreads all throughout my body. It's like her lips are electric, and everytime we kiss it's some type of enjoyable shock.

She pulls away and I slowly open my eyes to her still standing there, admiring my face. "What do you need the extra money for?" She randomly asks.

I continue to look at her, replaying that kiss in my head, not even hesitant for what I'm about to say. "For when I leave." I say with no emotion on my face. She gets quiet, but she quickly recovers from it.

"Ahh." She nods. "So you signed up? It's official?" She asks. "Yep." I sigh and nod. "Well- Why didn't you tell me?" She asks. "I was going to today." I shrug.

"So for a year?" She asks, wondering how long I'll be gone. "That's that plan." I say and she looks away for a second. "So how much longer do I have with you?" She says with a soft smile, holding my hands. I smile since she's finally being affectionate without me having to ask.

"7 months." I tilt my head. She presses her lips and lets it sink in.  "Well maybe me and Sof could come visit you." She says. "You don't have to do that."  I smile and shake my head. "What? You don't want us to?" She asks and I giggle. "Of course I do. I just don't want you to be obligated to see me." I say.

"Well it doesn't matter. We wanna see you...I wanna see you." She tilts her head. "Well that'd make me really happy." I nod. "I'm sure I'll be a little lonely, so it'll be nice to see you two." I smile.

"Now don't go and meet some lil French girl and replace me." She jokes and I giggle.

It sucks because it's the little things Leah says that gets to me. She'll say something and it'll make me feel so special and loved, but then I have to remember that we're not together. She told me not to replace her when we're not even supposed to be feeling this way about eachother.

The right thing to do is to replace her and move on from this admiration. But that'd be impossible. I'm in too deep.