Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

• Chapter Ten •

A warm feeling surrounds you're body as you flutter your eyes open, adjusting to the light. As you adjust to your surroundings you noticed Ted's arms still wrapped around you. You smile lightly to yourself as you move slightly to get more comfy. "Morning sleepy." You hear Ted say. You hum slightly. He chuckles at you, seeing that your trying to go back to bed. "You have to get up soon. You have a flight to get ready for." He informs you, hearing the tinge of sadness in his voice.

"I'll get up in a bit... I'm comfy right now.." You reply shifting closer to Ted's chest. He moves his arm to play with your hair, giving you a slight scalp massage. "Am I comfy or is it because your warm?" He asks. "Both.." You reply with a yawn.

Ted says your name questioningly. "Yeah?" You say looking up at him slightly. "I... Okay well. I have more than one question. And I don't know where to start." He says looking away, unsure of himself. "Let me get coffee in me first and you can ask me all the questions you want." You say as you place your thumb on his cheek rubbing it back and forth. He places his hand ontop of yours, kissing it lovingly.

After a couple more minutes, you finally get up and stretch, walking over to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Ted follows shortly after, taking a seat at the kitchen island. "Alright chief, shoot em at me." You say as you stir your coffee, blowing on the cup and taking a sip as he looks to his left. "You're gonna visit again soon right?" He asks, immediately opening his mouth afterwards. "I didn't mean for that to sound clingy. It's just I know you live kinda far away but, it kinda leads into other questions I have." He says looking right into your eyes. "Of course I'll come visit. Ain't no doubt about that." You say smiling, taking another sip of your coffee. You see relief in his face as he eases a bit.

"Alright good... next question," He starts as he shifts slightly. "Do we want to consider ourselves together as a couple?" He states as he starts picking at the dirt under his fingernails. "I don't see why not. But I don't want to announce anything publicly yet. If that's alright?" You say stating your boundaries, him nodding enthusiastically. "Oh absolutely. That answers my other question then." He says with a smile. "Now if we wanna take pictures and stuff, by all means we can do that. It's just right after my face reveal, I don't want to announce I'm in a relationship right away." You say holding your coffee in both hands near your chest, Ted nodding. "Completely understandable. Don't wanna give your fans a double whammy." He jokes. You chuckle in response.

You both continue to chat on the topic until your alarm starts going off. The one you set to wake up and get ready to pack up your stuff. You walk over to your phone to turn it off, looking at the overwhelming social media notifications. You ignore them for now considering this is becoming normal for you.  "How do I set my social medias to turn off my Dms? Cause holy shit my phone has atleast twenty notifications right now." You joke looking over at Ted who looks a little gloomy. He smiles at you, "I'll show ya'" He says extending his hand out, waiting for you to give him your phone. You hesitate, "I uh... actually.. yeah take it and do it for me." You shake of the situation with a laugh, trying to get over your PTSD from the past. Ted looks at you questioningly as he grabs your phone gently. "Are you okay with me touching your phone?" He asks respecting your feelings. "Yeah yeah, go ahead. I just hesitated because of stuff that's happened to me in the past. But that's the past. I trust you." You smile as you feel your anxiety rise. Ted looks as you and does one of the most thoughtful things, he hands you back your phone. "I don't know your passcode, but let's do it this way instead. I'll just tell you where you need to go instead." Ted states, placing his hand ontop of yours lovingly. You're heartbeats faster as you look up at him, filled with love.

You both sit there, joking back and forth and figuring out each social media settings. Suddenly a message catches your eye, it was from someone in your family. The family you forcefully cut off years ago. You quickly swiped away the message and Ted noticed the change in your demeanor. "You alright?" He asks concerned. "Yeah. I got a message from someone I cut off years ago. I'll... I'll have to look at it later. I don't feel like ruining my mood right now." You say looking up at him with a reassuring smile, he smiles back. You stare at each other for a couple seconds until you reach your hand up to cup his cheek. You lean in closer to him and connect your lips with his again, you feel him cup the back of your head and pull you in closer. You place your phone down on the counter and wrap your arms around him. Releasing from the kiss you place your head on his chest. "I know you may not feel comfortable to tell me anything about your past but, just know that I'm always going to be here when your demons get to loud. Okay?" He says softly and he kisses the top of your head. You squeeze him tighter, "Thank you." You reply.

You both stand there for a couple more seconds until you realise you need to pack for your flight. You chuckle to yourself, "I gotta pack for my flight, and though missing it sounds like a great idea. 'Cause I'd spend more time with you, I have a business I need to take care of and adopt a cute cat I've had my eyes set on for a while now." You say as you pull away from Ted, walking over to your luggage. You begin to fold your clothing as Ted walks back over to the couch. "Whatcha gonna name the cat? Do you know the gender?" He asks with a smile.

"I haven't thought of a name yet, but it's a sweet little female kitten. Do you wanna help with the name?" You insist as you start picking up your phone charger and other items. "Hmm... Violet?" He replies as he flips through the recommended section on youtube. "Mm... It's cute but no, I had a hamster named that. I was thinking something more... fantasy-esk?" You say zipping up a pocket on your luggage. "How about.... huh... Esperia? That sounds cool right?" Ted says looking over at you for your approval. You're eyes light up as you stare at him, "I love it. It sounds like it could be in Lord of the Rings. Maybe I should get a male one too and name it Legolas-" You say as you stop yourself, "I'm already giving myself bad ideas." You laugh at yourself, and a laugh from Ted follows. "Could always have two cats named Link and Zelda. Since I know you have an interest in Legend of Zelda." Ted suggests as you go over to him and sit down, snuggling into him. "I like that idea. But now I have to choose between Esperia and Zelda." You rub your eyes as you comfortably lay your head on Ted's chest, his arm wrapping around you. "Well you can think about that on the plane ride home. Besides that, do you have everything?" He asks, double checking for you. "I should. If not you can always send anything to me by mail." You say rubbing hearts lightly on his stomach with your index finger. "That's true. I just wanna make sure cause we gotta leave in 45 minutes." Ted says looking at his phone for the time.

"45 minutes, 45 shminutes. That's nothing... cue 45 minutes pass and I'm sitting here saying 'WhErEd thE tiMe gO?'" You say mockingly, making Ted cackle. You couldn't help but also laugh at your goofiness. "I'm really gonna miss you.." Ted says rubbing your arm up and down, a slight smile on his face. "I promise it wont be long till I visit again. Or hell, you could always visit me too. Whatever works." You say looking up at him, you grab his right hand and kiss the back of it.

"I'll have to take you up on that offer. Maybe even play some minecraft, put our beds next to each other." He jokes, making you laugh. "Yes yes, we'll play Minecraft together in the meantime. And yes.. we can put our beds together... you simp." You joke as he boops your nose. "I might be a simp, but I'm your simp." He replies making you smile. "Ditto. I'm a huge simp, but only for you. You've only seen a fraction of my simpage." You say chuckling to yourself, hearing a quiet 'Oh god.' come from Ted, making you laugh.

The both of you spend time making jokes back and forth, watching random youtube videos and just being cute. Eventually its time for you to head out to the airport, from there you and Ted became a little less talkative. You both were a little upset having to leave each others presence. You kept reminding yourself that it wouldn't be long till you saw him again. You knew you could always video chat with him too, which was nice.

One of your favorite songs came on the radio and you couldn't help but sing to it. Ted looked back and forth at you with this saddened smile. Loving every second he'd been spending with you, and this moment just making it grow stronger. He reached his hand over to grab yours, intertwining his fingers into yours. You couldn't help but smile widely like a goofball. Everything about this situation felt so right to you. The overwhelming feeling of pure joy and euphoria rushing over you once again.

Once you had arrived at the airport, Ted walked with you inside, walking you to your terminal. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then?" Ted says grabbing both your hands in his. "For now yes. Remember Theodore, we are in the age of technology. Don't be afraid to call me if your feeling lonely. Okay?" You say lifting one of your hands to caress his cheek. He grabs the hand gently and flips it over, kissing the back of it. "Likewise, just know if I dont get back to you right away... It may be because I'm working. I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to talk to you." He replies, kissing your forehead, moving down your face and kissing your nose, lastly landing on your lips. You both part and you reply, "I love you." You say looking into his eyes. "And I love you." He says caressing your cheek. Letting go he hugs you one last time. "I'm gonna get going now, don't wanna get caught up in school traffic again. Text me when you land okay? Love you!" He says beginning to walk away. "Of course, love you too!" You say happily, sitting down with your luggage. It was hard to watch him walk away, and you saw him look back at you before exiting your view.

'He's the one... I can feel it.' You think to yourself...

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Lots of Love ❤️
-Ete/Onyx