privilege. {a. matthews}

FALL- ING IN LOVE.

Macey sat in the crowded 200 person lecture hall with her eyes glued to the MacBook in front of her. she was vaguely listening to the professor at the front of the room rambling about genetic makeup when her screen lit up with an iMessage.

AUSTON ❤️ MATTHEWS
what are we?

no. no. nope. he had not just her asked that God awful question. one he knew she did not have the answer to.
labeling relationships was dangerous, Macey and Auston both knew it.

that simple fact was the exact reason why they hadn't had one in the 2 years that they had been doing whatever it was that they were doing.

what exactly were they doing?

sure they were kissing, cuddling, jumping on planes and crossing borders to see one another, and for the last 6 months sleeping in one another's beds.

but what did it all mean?

things had gotten messier since they had added that last part, but it was no ones fault but their own. 

she loved him and all but the words girlfriend and boyfriend were never used.

not by each other at least.

their parents tossed it around, the media just assumed, and their friends had given up trying to figure them out a long time ago.

to them, he was Auston and she was Macey and they were just happy to be in the same place as one another.

nothing else even mattered as long as they were together.

but now, they weren't together.

once again he was gone and this time for as long as the Maple Leafs would have him. Auston was going to be in Canada, she was going to be in Arizona, and the lights were going to be shining brighter on Auston now more than ever.

"what are we?"

we're stupid, that's what Macey wanted to say.

we're stupid for thinking we could do this.

we're stupid for being more than just friends.

and I for one am stupidly in love with you.

but instead she just said: you tell me.

hitting send Macey felt like her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. she felt her stomach sinking farther and farther down with each second that he didn't respond.

her focus was so on her iPhone and the 3 little dots appearing and disappearing that she didn't even hear the professor say that class was over.

sitting there as everyone else packed up their things Macey waited. and waited. and then there it was.

three little words, clear as day.

you. are. mine.

the girl smiled to herself or rather at her screen, if that's what he wanted she would gladly be all his.

after all, he had already had her heart for longer than he truly knew.

deal, as long as you're mine too.

standing she closed her laptop, gathered up her papers and tossed it all into her overflowing backpack. with a smile on her face she threw the bag over her shoulder and prepared herself to walk out into the still burning hot September heat.

as she walked along the concrete path through campus she felt the familiar vibration of a FaceTime call in the pocket of her signature overalls.

fetching the phone Macey's grin grew wider seeing Auston's face covering the screen.