Winter Love (Thomas Brodie Sangster FanFic)

Chapter 1 ~ It all starts here

"Bye mom, bye dad," I say to my parents; my mom who is dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief to wipe the tears away and my dad who is holding her tightly.

"My baby's all grown up," dad chokes out a he let's go of my mom and hugs me tightly. A lump forms in my throat as my dad let's go and hands me my 2 baggages and carry on. I swing my messenger bag from one shoulder to the other.

I never knew that saying goodbye to your family to go to college was this hard. I know that it hurts to be left behind after Dylan went to college but I never would have thought it would be difficult being the one going. I exhale deeply and put on a brave smile for my parents. "Mom, Dad, I am very thankful to you guys for preparing me for this day. I'm really sorry that I have to leave you both-"

I am cut off as my mom and dad hug me again, making me lose control as I let a few tears fall. "Oh honey you don't have to be sorry, we're both so, so proud of you. We're just sad that both our babies a have grown up to become amazing and talented young adults." My mom sobs even more as she kisses my forehead. She let's go and chuckles as she says "this is the last hug."

Dad caresses my cheek and looks down at my small stature of 5'6 compared to his height of 6'2. I look up at his dark brown eyes and see that his normally stern looking eyes are glistening with tears. "Yes sweetie, we are so proud. Really, really, really proud," he states. "You leaving hurts us but, our pride in you overshadows that sadness and it leaves us truly proud."

I sniff as I wipe my face from the tears and kiss my father's cheek one last time before he lightly pushes me to the check in gates. "We love you!" My parents yell before I enter, I turn around and see that their eyes filled with pride and joy that my heart tightens.

Starting from now, I vow to live up to their expectations and never let them down. I smile and answer back with a loud, "I love you too!"

I turn my back on them and push my cart with all my baggage as I walk up to the small Booth where a worker checks for my passport. "Oh gosh, it must be hard to leave your parents behind huh?" The lady says with a sympathetic smile as she stamps my passport and passes it back to me.

"It is pretty hard but as long as they support me, I just can't disappoint them," I say with a thank you. The lady smiles and waves me goodbye.

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I struggle to place my carry ons in the compartment above my seat. Then with a groan, I successfully close it and plop down on my seat. I listen to the pilot as he announces the usual stuff that happens when we take off. After that I click my seat belt on and happily put my headphones on as I slide up the window to catch a glimpse of Springfield township, New Jersey as we descend to the sky.

With my hometown slowly getting farther and farther away, I press play on my phone and listen to Photograph by Ed Sheeran. I take my iPad out of my bag, since mom insisted that I have a bag close to me that contains my valuables. The sticker-filled case makes me chuckle. Relieving my memories of my childhood best friend Valerie "Val" Ferrak. Val who is the complete opposite of me, confident, and outgoing compared to the shy and social outcast me. We used to collect Mod pizza, vans, beats and apple stickers and place them anywhere we can, whilst laughing if we ever earn judging stares from others. Even with being able to be hang out with the popular kids as we grew up, she still chose to hang out with a nerd like me. I shake my head as I reminiscence our unforgettable childhood.
I try not to remember the last time we saw each other. Which was a month ago since she had to leave early for her scholarship in paris. Whenever I would think about it, I would feel so proud for having such a talented best friend. It's not like I'm not talented, well at least I think I'm not.

I open my iPad and go to the Sketchbook app and scroll through my designs. Since I don't want to get too immersed in drawing an architectural structure, I just skim through and edit some of my previous one. After that I check my phone for any reminders and see one that I already made yesterday: call mom when I arrive at dorm. Okay! I decide to let that stay in my notifications so that I won't forget. I also add: call Val when I land.

I place my phone in my jacket pocket and return my iPad back in my backpack and hug it close to me as to avoid any theft incident. I close my eyes and think of what is going to happen from now on. I haven't told Dylan about my arrival yet so he is definitely going to surprised. I smile at the thought of his face as I appear in his dorm and give him a surprise hug. My heart tightens as I realize how I really do miss my brother.

My thoughts then switches to my dorm and my roommates. I suddenly worry about how they would think of me. No matter what mom or Dylan says I just can't stop being self conscious of my outward appearance. I mean it's human nature to judge and be judged, so of course I would be self conscious. My thoughts drift back to my high school freshman year, but I stop the memories from coming back and just think about how I would decorate my room or my half of the room. Unable to control the urge, I grab my iPad and start scribbling ideas.
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