An Accidental I Love You

Seventeen

・seven months later・

7 months, 3 days, 23 hours, and 16 minutes

seven months, three days, twenty-three hours, and sixteen minutes since I last saw Anthony.

since I've seen the boy I called my best friend for over 10 years.

I've reached out to his parents ⏤ no answer, their phones go straight to voicemail.

The last thing I got from anything connecting to him is a birthday card signed by his parents, them saying that Anthony sends his best wishes.

That was 5 months ago.

... but nothing from him.

I've been accepted into UT Austin with Jullian and made the move with him to this giant state a few months ago to start the new college life. It was a hard choice- separating from our family- but it was worth it since I couldn't stand going around seeing all the placed Anthony and I used to go.

Jullian and I's dorms are relatively close, they're in the same building but just a few floors away which is good. I quickly grab my keys from my desk and head out the door, locking it before I make my way to the cafe.

"Hey Char," I say walking into the cafe, hearing the bell single when I step through the door. I see her quickly wave before serving coffee to the awaiting customer, getting a polite 'thank you' which she quickly replies with a 'no problem' before heading back behind the counter.

"Back corner," she says with a smile which I nod,  heading towards the back of the cafe, looking for Jullian as a smile creeps to my face when I spot him with my regular across from him as he quietly works on his computer.

"Hey loser," I chuckle, sitting across from him in the booth, taking a sniff of my coffee, almost moaning at the smell, "you're a true lifesaver."

"That's what boyfriends are for right?" He smiles as he closes his laptop, holding one of my hands on top of the table as I use the other to take a sip of my coffee. 

"Yeah," I smile, putting my cup down. One of Jullian's eyebrows raise I continue to look at him, "What?"

"You have a little-" he begins to say, starting to chuckle. I begin to join him as I attempt to lick it off my face, probably failing. "Here let me get it," he smiles, leaning across the table to bring the soft padding of his thumb across my lip, his emotion turning solemn. I look to his eyes as I watch them glued to my lips. After a moment of silence, he lets out an abrupt soft chuckle, leaning back into his seat, wiping the whipped cream on the square napkin under his coffee. I begin burying my face in my oversized sweater, hiding the heat rising into my cheeks. "It's funny how I still manage to make you blush Norie," he smiles, watching me.

"Well that's what happens when you do things like... that," I mumble, letting out a small cough as my face calms down.

"Things like what?" He says innocently, his face turning into a devilish smile. His grin only grows as he begins leaning over the table again, the pad of his thumb running back over my upper lip. "Things like... this?" He asks, bringing his thumb to his mouth as he licks the remaining whipped cream off of his fingers. "I missed some."

If we weren't in a public setting I think my mouth would've just hung open for hours, I was in shock. My stomach erupted with butterflies as my skin burned with his light touch. As my eyeballs refrained from bulging out of my skull he continued to stare at me, his eyes trained on my next move. "I uh-" is all I'm able to fumble out before my cheeks turn to crimson and a smile appears on Jullian's face from ear-to-ear.