The New Separation (Book 2)

Chapter 24

Elliot

Time seemed to fly by now that I was dating Colton again. He only had a couple weeks home before he had to go back to school, and they were over in what felt like minutes. He was going back tomorrow and I couldn't even spend today with him, since I was stuck working.

I didn't want him to go back to school, as selfish as that sounded. That place was where he cheated on me, where there were too many temptations for him. Even though he says it's not going to happen again, there's too many factors there that could make him do it. I'd much rather him be home and with me than at school where I didn't know what was going on.

Not that I needed to be near him all the time. That would just be excessive. Sure, I loved him and hated that we needed to do the long distance thing, but I'm sure we could make it work, if only Colton tries harder than he did last semester. I didn't think I could handle him cheating on me again.

A bowl slipped out of my hands and dropped into the sink. Thankfully the sink was full of water, so it didn't break, but it did cover me with the dirty water. With a groan, I yanked off the apron I was wearing, which had gotten the most of the water, and grabbed a new one. I needed to focus on my job right now, not my boyfriend.

"You making a mess back here, Elliot?" Samantha asked with a laugh as she walked by.

I just shook my head at the waitress. "Got a lot on my mind today, apparently."

For the few months I've been working here, I've actually gotten to know Samantha pretty well. She knew a little bit about my relationship, or at least when it fell apart. I haven't had a chance to fill her in on the newest developments.

"Oh no," she said. "Don't tell me it's about that Colton kid again, is it?"

I laughed. "Yeah, kinda. He seems to always be on my mind."

She patted me on my shoulder. "You're young. Get over him. He's not worth it. They'll be others, trust me."

I didn't get a chance to correct her before she was gone again, rushing off to do her job. What if she was right, though? So many people have told me to just move on from Colton. Was giving him a second chance the wrong choice?

I shook the thought out of my head. I couldn't think about him right now. I needed to work. So I grabbed an empty tray and some table cleaning tools and headed out to the dining area to clean some tables.

While I was clearing the second table, I felt the tie on the back of my apron slowly loosen. I turned around, knowing it had to be a person who did that, since had I double knotted it earlier.

And of course there, standing right behind me, was the one person I was trying to get off my mind. Colton was smiling widely. "You look very official in that apron, Mr. Reynolds."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, reaching behind me to retie it. "Oh yeah? Then why'd you try taking it off me?"

He leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I think you look so much better without anything covering that beautiful body up."

I'm sure my face was bright red when I took a step back from him. He couldn't just come in here and say things like that while I was working! It didn't help that his words brought back the memory of last night, when neither of us had any clothes on.

We had been in his room, making out, when the clothes came off. It was getting heavy, he even had two fingers already in me, but I didn't want to go any further. I know we had in the past, but I couldn't do it with him. Not until I knew for sure I could trust him. Although it seemed like he still had the thought on his mind. It made me feel a bit guilty for stopping it last night.

To distract myself from those thoughts, I went back to wiping down the table. Colton slid into the booth, watching me as I worked.

"What are you even doing here?" I asked him after a minute. "Shouldn't you be packing or something? You're leaving tomorrow morning."

He smiled. "Yeah, but I couldn't not see you today. It's going to be months before I get to again." Then he shook his head. "Actually, my dad totally didn't feel like cooking tonight. So of course, I suggested coming here."

Samantha then came out of the kitchen holding a tray of food. She gave me a wink as she walked by. I hoped Colton didn't notice that, but when I looked back at him, his eyes were following the food she was carrying. We watched her walk up to the table with Colton's dad and brother at it, before dropping off their food.

"Go eat, Colton," I told him. "I need to get back to work anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," he said with a sigh as he stood up. "I'll see you soon." Then he pecked me on the lips before walking back over to his table.

Other than while he was here eating dinner, this would be the last time I'd see him until his spring break. I just hope we're still going to be together then. At this point, though, it's completely up to him.

Colton

Being back at school was weirder than I'd thought it'd be. It was a whole new semester of classes, I actually knew people this time and had friends, and I was officially back with Elliot, so I was so much happier than when I left in December.

"You look... cheerful," Danny said with narrowed eyes as soon as I walked into our dorm room. He was standing next to his desk, unpacking his backpack.

I smiled. "Yup. Had a pretty fantastic break, actually. What about you?"

He only shrugged, turning back to his bag. I didn't expect much more from him.

Instead of unpacking my own stuff, I sat down on my bed and pulled out my phone to text my boyfriend. I wish I could have seen more of Elliot yesterday, but at least I got a few minutes while he was at work. I was so incredibly lucky that he gave me a second chance. I still couldn't believe it sometimes.

It was a later that evening when Danny and I decided to go get some dinner. I definitely wasn't looking forward to eating nothing but campus food again for the next couple of months, but I had no other choice, and, frankly, I was hungry.

When we were looking for a table, some kid waved me over. I didn't recognize him at first, not until I got closer. That's when I remembered making out with him once at some party last semester. I hadn't seen him around since that night.

"Hey, wanna sit with me?" the kid - who I didn't even know the name of - asked me.

"Uh..." I looked back to find Danny, but he was still on line for his food. "Sorry, but I'm meeting up with someone else."

"Boyfriend?" The kid was totally getting jealous. If only Elliot was actually here.

I shook my head. "Nope. I had to leave him at home."

The kid crossed his arms over his chest. "Did you have to lie to get out of telling me you don't want me? Why won't you give me a chance? You promised me you'd call and you never did."

I sighed. "Look, kid. The only reason I ever went close to you is because I was heartbroken and acting recklessly. Sorry if I gave you unrealistic expectations, but I'm back with my boyfriend, who I love more than anything in the world, who I really did have to leave behind to come back here. So leave me alone, will you?"

Without waiting to hear his response, I walked away, spying an empty table on the other side of the room.

It would have been easy to sit with him, maybe hit him up again. He was pretty cute, after all. That was the hardest part about being so far from home, from Elliot. It's why I messed up my relationship in the first place. But if I needed to keep my promise to Elliot, I needed to stand my ground. I'd be the strongest I've ever been, just for Elliot.