𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 - Matt Sturniolo

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✽+†+✽―― What a time ――✽+†+✽
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Mᴀᴛᴛ

We were lying in my bed. I was leaning back against the wall while she was looking into her book with her head in my lap. The title was 'a thousand boys kisses'.

We lay there for quite a while and she was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even notice me looking at her for minutes. She kept frowning as she read and I wondered why.

"What's the book about?" I asked and she only looked at me two seconds later and laid the book open on her stomach. "What did you say?" she asked, giving me an apologetic look.

I laughed, she was almost unresponsive as soon as she read and I thought it was so sweet. "I asked you what the book was about." I explained and she started to grin and her eyes sparkled with joy.

She loved talking about her books and explaining to her how things were going to change. And I loved listening to her. Books were her passion and when she talked about them she looked so happy and I loved to see her like that.

"It's about Poppy and Rune who have loved each other since they were little. Then he moves away for 2 years and she just drops him, so he comes back two years later a completely different person. But their love is still there but then it comes out that Poppy dropped him because she is dead sick..."

I listened to her as she continued to speak and saw how her face was full of emotion. She told it like it was her story, like she was living it.

"Matt, can you promise me something?" she asked at the end and I nodded. "What is it?" "If we see each other again sometime after the vacations, that you'll still be you."

It hurt me to be reminded that she would be leaving in 3 weeks, it really got me down. I pressed my lips together and looked at the wall.

"Matt..." she sighed and grabbed my cheek, forcing me to look at her. "I don't like to think about it either, but we can't just ignore the fact that I'm leaving soon." "I know." I just said and sighed too.

"I just think it's so incredibly difficult with a long-distance relationship." I explained. Months ago, I could never have imagined having a long-distance relationship, but she had changed my mind.

"It's not going to be easy either. But we'll manage, won't we? We'll write to each other, we'll talk on the phone. We'll stay in touch." She said and pulled her hand back but I took her hand in mine.

"Yes, we'll work it out. And I'll come to you after Christmas. We'll take every opportunity to see each other." She smiled at me and at that moment I was sure. We would work it out, she would come here to go to college and we would build a life together.

"And I promise you I will be who I am. But I can't promise you that I won't change a little bit. People change all the time." She nodded and I leaned down to kiss her.

And then we looked at each other and then she grabbed my ear and stroked my cheek. "I love you." She said softly but loud enough for me to understand clearly. She smiled and my heart stopped. She had said it. She had said those 3 words and they meant more to me than anything else at that moment.

"I love you too." I said and we both laughed. She sat up and shook her head. "That's crazy, I've known you for a month." She said and put the book down.

"It is crazy." I agreed. Then she took my face in her hands and kissed me. "But it's real." "Of course it's real." I said because I didn't understand what she meant.

"I read so many love stories that sometimes I have to ask myself what's real and what's not. But this is real. You're not a fictional character and we don't exist on paper."

"Not yet." I joked. I had thought about putting my love for her on paper a few times. Maybe I would do that one day.

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Today was the day of her departure and it was raining. As if the weather had known that this day would be sad for us.

Her aunt had agreed to see her off at the house, so my brothers and I drove her to the airport.

When I parked there, we all sat quietly. No one knew what to say. There were no words for how I felt either. Everything about me didn't want to let her go. Because I wouldn't see her again for another 4 months.

I looked at her. Her eyes were red from crying and she looked anything but happy. And I wanted nothing more to make her happy but I couldn't do anything. She had to go, she lived in LA and I lived here.

"I don't want you to go." Chris said and we all turned to the back. "Nobody wants that." Nick said, emphasizing it a little more sensitively this time.

"We should go inside or you'll miss your flight." I said and sighed as I opened the door. "Maybe I want to miss it too." She said and I looked at her. What I wouldn't have given to spend another week with her.

"Even if you miss it, it won't hurt any less to say goodbye." I said sadly. She sighed and then nodded.

After a brief silence, we got out of the car and I took her suitcases from the head compartment and gave one of them to Chris.

My brothers and Chaise talked about how much she would miss them and that they had really grown fond of Chaise. I listened but didn't say anything. I don't know why either.

When we got to the entrance, Chris hugged Chaise, who seemed confused. "Aren't you coming in?" she asked in a panic and Nick shook his head as he hugged her tightly. "No, this is Matt and your moment. Chris and I have no business there."

I pressed my lips together and thanked my brothers for doing this for me. "I'm going to miss you two so much. We need to talk on the phone in there too." "I'll miss you too. And you have to come back next summer." Nick said and she nodded.

She took her head from Chris and gave the two of them another group hug. "Bye, you two. I love you." "We love you too." My brothers replied at the same time.

She looked at me sadly and I held the door open for her as we went in. We were silent. We should have spent the last minutes and seconds talking but we kept quiet for whatever reason. It didn't feel wrong to be silent even though we had so many things to say.

Then we arrived at the bag drop and we stayed looking. We looked at each other and I saw a tear running down her cheek. She fell into my arms and hugged me.

'I don't want to go. I want to stay here, with you, with your brothers. I will hate fate every day for living in LA." She said, running her fingers through her hair. I loved her so much and my heart ached to have to let her go.

"Four months." I said. She put her chin on my chest and looked up at me. "We'll see each other again in 4 months. We'll talk on the phone and write to each other. We'll make it. I believe in us."

She nodded. "I do too, but four months is so long." "I know, but we'll make the best of it." I said and she hugged me. "I love you Matt, so damn much." "I love you too, much more than you could ever imagine."

And at the end of the story, I let her go with a heavy heart. With the certainty that I would see her again in 4 months. But I didn't know then that things would turn out differently.

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