After Us

Chapter Nineteen

I went along with Austin for a hospital check-up. He was getting better and friends kept coming around to the house with flowers and gifts for him. Even got to see Jodie again. When she saw Austin she kissed him so I suppose it signalled that they were back together. She even made the effort to talk to me this time and my first impressions melted away. She actually seemed like a really sweet person. It had been two weeks since I had returned from the trip and as much as I missed it, I had managed to keep myself busy. I went back to working with Josh at Mrs. Grams's place. I even got to see Travis again which was great. I didn't even need to tell Josh about our moving news, he already knew and was happy telling me that he would definitely come see me when he went to visit his Grandpa. 

The process of moving wasn't as easy as I had thought. Each day mom would have a pile of jobs writen down for me and if I let out a single groan, she would start her whole moving converstation up again. Austin even helped move furniture around for the open house that was going to be at the end of the month. I had to get rid of a ton of clothes and loose childhood items that were under my bed. As sad as it was to give them to charity, it would all be worth it. Time to move onwards and upwards.

After Oliver got back from his three-week trip I met him with milkshakes so that he could tell me all about it. I had missed him so much. We spent three hours at the diner catching up, just like old times, there was so much to say. It sounded like he had a fun time and he'd even met a guy who he'd kept in contact with.

"Annalise you'd fall in love with him if he was straight!" Oliver bubbled over with laughter.

I clapped my hands, "Yay, Olive I'm really so happy for you, tell me more! "He was French and was traveling in America with his family for the summer. I told Oliver all about Miles and me and to my surprise he had a knowing look on his face as if he'd expected this all along. His reaction caught me off guard and had me blushing through my grin as I confessed. "It came out of nowhere really though. He kissed me right on the first day we got there. Everything was perfect."

"So he's still in town now?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah he is. Just spending some time with his mom and sister before he has to head back in a few weeks. Since our trip, we've still been meeting up and his family came over for dinner one night."

Oliver fiddled the straw in his cup and then took another big sip, "What are you going to do when he goes back?" Oliver asks eyes wide with concern. I hadn't told him I moving yet and quite frankly I didn't want to, but, he did ask and so I had to tell him.

"I promise I'll call you every night and you must come and visit during holidays. I'd love to introduce you to everyone. They'll adore you." I pushed the empty metal smoothie cups out the way and squeezed his hand across the table.

"Everyone. You mean that it wasn't just a romantic week away for the two of you." He smiled and and my anxiety melted away. "I guess I could still help you with math. We could do a Google meet or you could send me a photo of the problem."I laughed, "Good idea. I will finally be able to pass math class without you bothering me." I looked at him and then got up and crossed over to sit on the same side of the booth as him.

"This is really amazing news Ann," he said hugging me, "I'm really happy for you!" I knew he genuinely was, he was such a good friend. We sat there hugging in the now empty diner was super quiet, the dark clouds forming outside gave added a dusky but cosy glow. It was like a scene from a book, however, more perfect because this was actually reality and not fiction.

That night, Miles took me out for a night under the stars where we drove up in the mini to this quiet parking lot on a faraway hill, lying a picnic blanket down in the grass by the side. We lay comfortably next to one another staring at the stars and talking about life and adventures ahead. I truly loved being next to him, our hands brushing together with a whisper of a touch. I've always dreamed about having a moment like this with a boy. It was hard to believe that this moment was actually happening.