Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter XXXIII

It just ticked past 10:26 AM when Briella turned and twisted before opening her eyes.

Taking in a deep breath, she sat up. Ryan was not beside her, his side of the bed was empty.

From there, she rose her gaze until they were met with 2 big pieces of luggage.

'Right... Ryan is going today, isn't he?' Briella thought to herself. Immediately, a melancholic sensation made its uninvited stay within her.

When she swallowed whatever was in her mouth, that was when she noticed the slight lump that grew in her throat. Sadness circulated in the pit of her stomach and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She knew all too well that she would feel all this anguish, this heartbreak for days, maybe even weeks after Ryan would have left.

Taking a told of herself, she took in a deep breath before moving herself to the edge of Ryan's bed. Letting her legs hang down the side of the bed for a second or two, she stoop up and from there, she walked over to her bag. Unzipping her bag, she pulled out a new change of clothes.

Consequently, after taking out all the clothes, she eyed the letter that she purposefully placed at the very bottom of the bag. She didn't want Ryan to have found it, not just yet.

On that note, she asked herself, 'When was the right time for me to give him this letter?'.

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Briella got dressed up and right before she exited the room, she heard the sound of sizzling, which progressively got louder. Not a moment later, she sensed the smell of fried eggs.

Placing her hand on the doorknob, she twisted it and pulled the door, allowing her to exit into the living room. Similar to her house, the living room was pretty much connected to the small dining room which could have also been debated that it was a part of the kitchen itself.

She looked towards the kitchen and saw Ryan by the stove, his hand moving as he stirred the contents in the frying pan.

He heard nothing, but, almost as if he sensed Briella's presence, he turned around, his eyes immediately landing on her.

Upon seeing her, a smile formed on his lips. "Good morning!".

Though all the sadness she felt ever since she woke up, his voice caused her to feel relief. Though she knew it wouldn't have lasted for too long.

"Good morning, Ryan!" she replied, smiling back at him.

Focusing her eyes back onto his face, she looked at the way he looked at him. She noted the way his eyes, his sharp gaze pierced through her body like a thousand acute fragments of glass.

She couldn't believe that these final few gazes of his would be the last ones she'd had looked into and felt for a while. That was until he came back.

It was this exact thought that caused the lump to reemerge in her throat. She clenched her hands into fists in the hope to stop this agonizing feeling from spreading even further.

"W-when's your flight at?" Briella asked, trying to force a smile.

Ryan reoriented himself, returning to stirring the contents that sizzled away in the frying pan. "My flight is meant to board at about 3:30 PM.".

With her hearing his words, Briella's heart sunk even further. Slowly but surely, time... time they had left to spend together was running out.

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Not too long passed before the food was ready. Briella helped Ryan prepare the table for them both to have breakfast.

With the table set up, it was then that they allowed themselves to sit down.

They finished their breakfast not too long after. Cleaning everything up and washing all the dishes, that was when they allowed themselves some quality time together.

They both made their way to Ryan's only sofa before they both sat down. Immediately and gently, Ryan took a hold of Briella before pulling her closer to him.

With her being a close enough distance to him, Ryan wrapped her arms around her. And Briella replied by wrapping her arms around Ryan.

The TV was turned off, there was nothing else the could have intervened in their bonding time. All they heard was the singing of the birds from the other side of the glass-panned window.

Only moments were to have passed when Briella heard another sound. A beat.

She heard Ryan's heart beating, in slow, well-maintained thumps. It was irregular to hers. She noticed that her heart-beats were faster, but not as strong as his.

And then, with every breath she took, she could sense his smell. Ryan's essence.

Upon Ryan digging his nose into Briella's hair, he could have sensed the same. Her smell, the shampoo she used.

"This is what I'll miss. Probably the most," Ryan began. He gave a second or two for his words to dwell on Briella's mind. "Sensing your essence. Being able to smell you. To hug you, embrace you...".

A small, melancholic smile appeared on Ryan's lips. He knew the weight his words carried and was aware of how they affected her.

Out of his sight, Briella allowed tears to accumulate in her eyes. She felt like she wasn't strong enough to stop them. On top of that, she knew that the real deal was still yet to come.

She had to reserve all the power she had to control herself for when they were to part at the airport.

Briella hated the way Ryan's words affected her, the way they made her feel weak, saddened, melancholic. And seconds later, the way that they had broke the barrier and caused an odd tear to run down her cheek.

"Fuck you..." she muttered under her breath, through that one tear, which was them to be followed by an odd, saddened chuckle.

From there, Ryan chuckled along with her.

"This was what you wanted to do? To make me all teary and cry before you leave?".

Ryan let out another giggle. "I couldn't resist. You know that I love to write. I love to play with words. And I love to play with people's feelings using words.".

Briella rose a brow to what he said before she broke their embrace. There, she found herself on Ryan's lap as she looked at him and he at her.

"Well you are doing one hell of a good job. You know that??".

He nodded along to her words, allowing another smile to grow on his lips. "Yes, yes I can see so for myself.".

Immediately after, Ryan rose his hands and cupped Briella's face. And from there, the pathway, the trace that the few odd tears left, he rubbed them all away with his two thumbs.

Keeping his hands cupping her face, he rose himself and allowed his lips to touch hers.