That Summer - Jure Maček

A Real Future

I wake up in what is possibly the most peaceful morning in a long time. 

I open my eyes slowly, savouring every moment of my sleep. I'm a little bit dizzy and confused, which is probably to blame on the wine of last night. I didn't realise I'd had that much.

An arm is wrapped around my shoulders, Jure's warm body laying close to mine. He's awake and stroking my arm softly.

"Hey, goodmorning," he says with the cutest morning voice ever, once he notices I'm awake.

"Goodmorning," I reach up to kiss him quickly.

"How did you sleep?" he asks. I bury my head into his chest a little more.

"Good, I think. You have a nice bed," he smiles down at me.

"Hopefully you'll be in here a lot more often this coming time," my heart flutters.

"I hope so too," I pause.

"I had a really, really great night," 

"Me too, Julia," 

We lay there for a couple minutes, just enjoying each others' company and warmth. This is the way I would always want to spend my time, honestly.

"Would you like some breakfast?" he eventually asks me. I nod.

"Just stay here, I'll come bring you some," he kisses my forehead before getting up out of bed. He's only wearing his boxers, which is something that doesn't bother me very much. I even boo him a little bit when he pulls on his sweatpants and hoodie. He rolls his eyes at me and smiles in response.

When he's gone, I don't even feel the need to fill the void with endless scrolling on TikTok and Insta like I usually do in the mornings. I just want to enjoy the feeling of being in the bed of someone you....

Someone you've come to love.

I know it all sounds so cheesy, but wow, I never knew finding a good guy and feeling appreciated would be this nice. I always thought I had reached my high with Vic, that I couldn't find anyone better than him. That that was my level. Of course, as a psychology student, I should have known better.

But it was blatant ignorance. Now that I'm with Jure, and I know what real love feels like, I would never ever go back.

After dwelling in the moment just a little bit longer, I see the bedroom door open again. Jure has a tray with him that is filled with food. Pancakes, fruit, coffee, tea, eggs, you name it; it's there.

"Oh my god," I sit up quickly so that he can place the, probably very heavy, tray on the bed.

"That's a lot of food," I state.

"It is," Jure awkwardly chuckles.

"I wasn't really sure what you liked, so I just made everything," he admits.

I don't think anyone has ever done this much for me, I find myself thinking once again.

"Thank you so much, come, sit," I pat the place on the bed next to me, and he sits down before we dive in.

After the breakfast, which was incredible, we are definitely both much more energised. It is, unfortunately, already almost one in the afternoon. So basically, we just had brunch. But that also means my mom is coming to get me soon. 

Next time, I will definitely be coming by train, even if it takes longer.

Next time... when will that be?

"That all tasted so great," I hug him from the side and kiss his cheek to show my gratitude.

"I'm happy you liked it," Jure says, laying back on the bed. I lay on my side, facing him as he looks down at me.

"So... my mom is coming in about an hour," I start.

"Oh," he's clearly disappointed. I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to put such a clear limit on the amount of time we could spend together.

"And... she wants to meet you. That was kind of our deal," I chuckle awkwardly. I hope he's not angry, because this is really quite early to meet someone's family.

"Really? You must be talking about me a lot then," he smiles.

"I'd be happy to meet her," he continues, and pulls me in for another kiss.

GOD how lucky am I with this man? I feel like I've won the lottery. He's doing literally everything right.

"I'm so glad," we lay there for a while, enjoying each others' company and warmth, discussing stuff about the day before. I tell him how excited I'd be to see them play a real concert some time and he says I'll probably be able to see them a lot in the future, which makes me feel all warm inside. 

We talk about travelling, maybe me being able to see Lucia and Lauren more often if I join them for some tours. I really should think about that. Of course, I'll have my degree after this year. But this master's program is not that much work. I'll have time and money to travel with them and then after I finish school, I'll see what I'm going to do.

For years, it has been hard for me to imagine being able to see my friends and travel more often. But now, it might actually happen. 

I can finally see a real future for myself.

Before we know it, my phone rings and it's my mom calling.

"She says she'll be here in 10," I sigh to Jure after hanging up. Being in Slovenia for only one day has made me realise how stuck I feel in my house in Croatia. I always thought that that was my safe space, and I'd be too scared to leave. But my thoughts are slowly changing.

I should start living my own life.

"Would you like it if we saw each other again some time this week?" he asks.

"Well... I'm a bit busy during the week itself. School and work. But I can keep taking the weekends off, and then we can just meet up then," I suggest.

"That sounds good. We'll make it work. I can't wait to see you again,"

"I'm not even out the door," I chuckle.

"I know, but still," 

Then we hear a knock on the door. I walk there with my suitcase in my hand and all dressed, ready to go.

Jure insists on opening up.

"Hi, you must be Jure," 

"It's nice to meet you mrs. Hoffmann," he tries to give her a hand but she immediately pulls him into a tight hug. He smiles to me to the side, and I can't help but smile back.

"Oh, you can call me Paula. Did you have a nice time last night?" she responds.

"Yeah, it was really great," I say.

"I don't think we'll play Monopoly again though," Jure warns.

"Oh, you're such a sore loser," my mom looks at us a little confused, but I give her an 'I'll explain later' sign.

I quickly hug Jure goodbye before walking down to the car with my mom.

"What a charming young man," she winks to me on the way down.

On our way home, we spend our whole car ride talking about last night. The concert, the karaoke, how Lucia suddenly showed up and of course how I kicked everyone's asses in Monopoly.

"I'm so happy for you, sweetheart. I can really see how happy Jure and his friends make you. You haven't looked this good in some time," I accept the slightly backhanded compliment, because I know she's right.

I've been down in the dumps for so long, but now, with Jure, things are finally looking up. I can finally start my journey to happiness.