Rooming with the Bad Boy

Nineteen.

Chapter Nineteen -

"Really? You're holding up a sign with my name on it?"

Dylan grinned as he lowered the white cardboard in his grasp. "You may have forgotten what I looked like. I was only taking precautions."

I laughed and pulled him into a lung-stopping hug while dropping my backpack onto the ground near my feet. "I've missed you Dyl."

"I've missed you as well, Ella. Come on, let's get you home."

"Home sounds great." I sighed, stretching from exhaustion.

"How was the trip?" He asked, making conversation as we searched for my bag.

"Long." I muttered, moving my head around to get the stiff feeling out of my neck. "Does your mom know I'm coming?"

"Yeah, I told her this morning. She got so excited that she's already pulled out your bed and she's making you lasagna." He laughed.

"Oh my god. I love her." I grinned, picturing Dylan's mom's black curls holding a baked lasagna for me upon entry with a grin on her face.

"I think she was more excited than I was this time 'round. You should've seen her."

I laughed as we exited the airport. "I can imagine it already."

Dylan nodded and grinned back in response as he carried my bag to his mom's maroon sedan and threw it in the back seat. I opened the front door and sat in the passenger seat while pulling out my phone. I was just about to turn it back on when I remembered that practically everyone had my phone number back in New York and were probably trying to reach me.

"I need to get a new number." I told Dylan once he got into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, you do. We'll pick one up on the way home if you like."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded, putting the phone back into the pocket of my jeans. "So what have you been up to lately?" I asked, reaching over to turn on the radio.

Dylan shrugged beside me as he drove out of the airport. "Just my usual."

"Still making videos?"

"Well, my main muse kind of left me for eight months so I had nothing else to film. I've pretty much just made a bunch of cartoon edits once I ran out of footage that I actually liked." A slight tint coloured Dylan's cheeks, and I let out a laugh.

"Wow. I can't wait to see those." I smirked in amusement. "Why didn't you just film Jasmine or something? Don't tell me you broke it off again." I frowned in disapproval, waiting for his answer.

He stayed silent for a moment, before giving me a quick guilt-filled sideways glance. "No..." He trailed off.

"Dylan!" I exclaimed, slapping the side of his arm.

"Hey! Don't injure the driver." He laughed, inching away from me in fake fear.

I huffed in annoyance and shook my head. "I can't believe you. That girl deserves a special medal for accepting your sorry-ass apologies and getting back with you. You're slowly becoming one of those guys, and I don't like it."

He sighed. "I swear I'm not doing it to her on purpose. I really like her. She's fun and kind and a really cool person to be around. I'm just not as into the relationship as she is and I really hate that. I prefer her to be miserable for a while without me than to be in a relationship with me and be miserable because I don't give her as much affection as she deserves."

I bit my bottom lip in thought while his words registered in my mind. "Okay, I see your point there. Have you told her that?"

"No..." He stated slowly again, causing me to hit him.