17 Last Times

⤹17❁ Valentine's

Welcome back! I am super upset right now because of my workplace but I managed to get this chapter done for you. Enjoy!

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𝓓𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓪

I can't believe that I am saying this, but things have been good. Very good actually.

A few months ago I would have never imagined a future like this, a future in which I am smiling and continuing to live my life peacefully. I guess I owe most of it to Nathan, though, he wasn't the only person who had an impact on my healing process. Truth be told, without Will's money, I would have been struggling quite hard, I still would be to this point, maybe even would have had to sell the house. But Will not only paid off my bills for the whole year, he also wiped out the rest of the mortgage that my parents had left behind. I found out as soon as I received the ownership documents.

I wanted to thank him, after all he made my life so much easier by doing it, but he clearly didn't want to stay in touch as he shunned me relentlessly. Eventually, I had given up. I left a "thank you" card on his desk in the lecture hall, because naturally, he had moved seats.

I continued my therapy sessions, for which, I had been paying myself. It meant that I had to work a little bit more throughout each month — sadly food and house essentials didn't come for free — but I made it work. Well, sometimes I would get some unasked help from Nathan. Sometimes I would open the door to my house and find a grocery guy at my doorstep, waiting with a little device, on which I had to scribble down my signature.

As for my therapist — Nicole — she grew on me eventually. She knew exactly how I felt, what I thought, and meeting by meeting, she pushed me out of my grieving episode. The sadness was still there, and so was the longing for my parents' presence, but it hindered me no more. I started to move on. I started to become an adult.

I moved back to the dorm, which once again, thanks to Will, had been waiting for me to return to. Rayna's beam when she noticed me at the door with a suitcase felt like a warm summer rain washing over my skin. I guess I still had a home somewhere, after all.

The mysterious bunny guy had never replied to my note. I visited the graveyard repeatedly, but found nothing except for the tombstone that was no longer so abundant in flowers, which with time, had diminished to only mine and Nathan's bouquets. Sometimes, though very sporadically, I would discover a modest but genuine wreath, with which, Will paid his respects. I found it very thoughtful and sweet.

Speaking of mysterious people, the new guy — Ambrose — had been acting in a very peculiar way towards me. After Will had swapped the seats, Ambrose ended up sitting right next to me and Rayna. He wasn't much of a talkative person. The only time I heard him speak was when the professor asked him a question or when I asked him one myself. However, each time I did, he would stiffen in an odd way and mutter a quick response under his breath, so I left him be.

My social life had gone back to normal. Sometimes I would meet up with Mason, Imaan and Declan outside of work. Often I would go for coffee with Rayna and Connor, but most of my time I would dedicate to Nathan. Jeremy liked to tag along every now and then, and every now and then I would ignore his bruises and scratches that always seemed to occur on his skin after weekends.

Now we are virtually half through February, which means the Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I would be lying if I said that I don't have any hopes as to Nathan asking me out on a date. We had become really close. Almost inseparable. He'd been extremely supportive and understanding throughout the past few months, and a part of me wishes it's not solely due to the predicament that had occurred in my life. I really started to stress about whether he still likes me, whether he hadn't changed his mind, because it'd been almost half a year and apart from a few times when he innocently held my hand, he hadn't really showed any interest.