THE FIGHTER (Origninally called my UFC FIGHTER)

21. Noah

The following weeks after school began, Ethan and I hung out as much as we could when he had the chance. Levi and I also hung out a lot after school like we always did before our group of friends had gone off to college over the summer.

"So what are your plans for the weekend?" Levi asked as we made our way out of the school building since it was the end of the day.

"Probably not-" I cut off  when I saw both Andrew and Ethan waiting for us in the parking lot. Levi turned to the direction I was looking and raised a brow. Both college students had been talking about god knows what when they saw us and smiled waving at us as we approached them. "What are you two doing here?"

We hugged our boyfriends before looking up at them. Andrew answered my previous question with a grin, "we thought we'd surprise our boyfriends at school."

Ethan chimed in, "Yeah, we missed you guys so we decided to swing by and hang out for a bit." Levi and I exchanged glances, both feeling overwhelmed with joy at the unexpected visit. He had his arm over my shoulder as we talked. I knew we were being watched by the passing students that still lingered in school so Ethan said, "why don't we head to the diner and eat something?"

We decided to carpool to the diner after dropping mine, and Andrew's cars at my house. I had picked Levi up this morning for school and we had planned to hang out as free classes ended but with our boyfriends we made other lambs with them instead.

"How's school?" He asked as he drove us to the diner and I sighed making him look over for a split second, "what's wrong?"

"It's just weird bing in that school without you and the others," I replied as I looked over at him. He held my hand and brought it up to his lips giving it a soft kiss which made me smile.

"I know," he replied, "but at least we can still hang out after school and on the weekends. We'll make it work, just like we always do." 

I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder as we continued on our way to the diner. When we arrived, we all sat down at a booth and ordered our food, catching up on each other's lives. It was a simple, unexpected visit, but it brought us all so much joy to be together again. As we ate and laughed, I realized just how lucky I was to have these amazing friends and my wonderful boyfriend by my side.

****

We all headed back to my house and hung out for a bit before Andrew and Levi went home. Papa and Dad came home after that and greeted Ethan with a smile.

"Hello Ethan, how's college going?" Papa asked as they shook hands and Ethan smiled.

"It's going well," Ethan said as he sat back beside me on the couch.

"That's good," Dad replied with a nod, "will you be joining us for dinner?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't tonight. I have some studying to catch up on," Ethan said apologetically.  I glanced up at him and nodded, understanding the demands of college.

"No problem. Maybe next time," Dad said with a warm smile. 

"Definitely," Ethan replied before giving me a quick kiss and heading out the door.  I waved goodbye to him, feeling grateful for the unexpected visit and already looking forward to the next time we could all hang out again.

"So how was school?" Papa asked as we walked to the kitchen as Dad started on dinner. The house felt empty without Jay and his obnoxious laughter.

"It was good, Ethan and Andrew came and surprised Levi and me after school and the four of us went to the local diner for a bit before we came home and just hung out."

Papa smiled, "That sounds nice. It's important to spend time with your friends, especially when you're all getting ready to head off to college. How's Levi doing?"

"He's doing well," I replied, "We're both adjusting to being back in school without everyone else around, but it's nice to have each other and our friends for support."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Papa said, patting my back. "And how's Ethan? It must be a big change for him, going off to college."

"Yeah, he's doing well too," I said, "He's been busy with classes and studying, but he's managing it all. I'm just glad we were able to spend some time together today."

Dinner that night was filled with laughter and good food, and I couldn't help but feel grateful for the amazing people in my life. I knew that even as we all headed off in different directions, our friendships would continue to stay strong. And with Ethan by my side, I felt ready to take on whatever the future had in store for us.