Expectedly Holding On - Book 2

New York

The days leading up to New York were amazing.

Jess and I were civil with each other and she hadn't tried anything with me, no kissing, hand holding, or anything.

The hotel we were staying in was pretty cool. But right after settling in Jess took us to NYU.

The campus was really nice, but then she took us to her dorm.

It was simple really. Two beds on both sides, a desk in front of the bed on the left. A closet in between the desk and bed and a small bathroom on the right.

I could instantly tell which side was hers. Pictures of us were on her wall, my high school basketball jersey, and on her bed were all the stuffed animals I had ever bought her; a dog, a bear, and a wolf.

"That is so, excessive." Drew said causing Ali to nudge him in the side.

Jess chuckled," I like to think it's cute. Oh," she went over to the wall and took a photo down," Alex you remember this?"

The picture was of us on our 1 year anniversary. She had come to California and we went to a Fair. The picture was cliche really, us on the Ferris wheel. We rode it to the top and kissed.

The sun was setting in the back and there we were, the brightest, most genuine smiles on our faces.

I nodded," yeah, I remember."

She smiled and rubbed my back," that was a good day, one of the best ever."

"It was." I said looking in her eyes.

Ali cleared her throat," right. Let's go shall we?"

Everyone turned to leave, Jess staying put beside me.

"I thought you would've taken these down after our break up." I said walking over to her wall of pictures.

They weren't all of us. Some had her and Ali, her and Kat, her and Roxy, all four of them. Then there were some from Prom and Graduation.

My eyes landed on the photo of us on Prom night. I unpinned it from the wall and grabbed it.

"Seems like forever ago." I said running my thumb over the picture.

She stood next to me and looked at it," seems like yesterday to me."

I nodded," yeah. Time does fly huh."

She sighed," are you ever going to feel the same for me again?"

"Probably not. I don't know. Things change largely over time. And like I've said, I'm seeing someone."

With that being said, I stood up and walked to the door," come on." I told her.

She stood up, walked over, and held her hand out to me. I shook my head and we left her room.

New Years Eve left the streets of New York packed.

Jess took us to a deli, she frequented, for lunch. We ordered a bunch of subs and bought some chips and juices before going to Central Park and having lunch.

"This is nice, you do this everyday?" I asked Jess.

She nodded her head and said," not everyday, mostly weekends, or days when I don't have afternoon classes."

"I'd kill for a view like this everyday. Sure there are a lot of people talking but in all honesty it couldn't be anymore serene than this." I said looking around.

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

Austin came and sat in front of us, his legs crossed," so, you two friends or something?"