Anywhere With You • {J.C.}

||Twenty-Three|"I Love You"||

"I know this for sure, I'm walking out that door."
-Last Nite

Eight hours—that's how long it took for the colors of the room to stop changing. Harlow had dozed off, and when she awoke, the overcast was illuminating the window in a gloomy haze.

Julian had fallen asleep at the end of the bed, the top of his head hanging off the edge with his feet hanging off to the side. He had taken off his jacket sometime during the night, using it as a cover.

"Jules... Jules." Harlow repeated, sitting up in the bed while rubbing the sleep away from her eyes.

"Wha- what is it?" Julian rose quickly, nearly falling out of the bed as he scrambled to collect himself.

"What time is it?"

"Uh... I don't know." He chuckled. He couldn't feel colors anymore, so he assumed it was sometime in the afternoon. "Shit... I gotta go. My mom's gonna be wonderin' where the fuck I am."

"What's gonna happen now? I mean, what am I gonna feel like later?"

"Uh, same? Jus- you know, drink plenty of water." Julian chuckled, slinking into his leather jacket.

"Wait... you're just gonna go? You're leaving?"

He stopped, letting his jacket fall from his shoulder. "Unless you have something else in mind?" He winked suggestively, crawling up the bed over to Harlow.

She giggled as he rushed to climb on top of her. What had began as something playful, was suddenly taking a turn into something more serious as quiet moans broke through his kisses along her mouth. He was jokingly exaggerating the sounds, but then they grew softer—more sincere. Her hands trailed through his hair, feeling the slight sting of her upper lip she had nearly forgotten about.

Julian's mouth went to her neck, feeling her heart beat against his lips, her breathing in his ear. This is what should've taken place last night, instead of a near freak out from Harlow. She liked this—he liked this. It was what they both really wanted to happen; it was simply inevitable that it would always happen when they were alone together, so why had he tried to deflect from it?

Then, it happened.

"I love you." Harlow spoke in a breathy sigh. Julian stiffened—his lips stopped moving. That was why—that was exactly why Julian had tried a diversion.

He exhaled a little too loudly, dropping his head between her breasts, his ear at her heart. It was pounding away—he could not only hear it, he could also feel it.

His head raised from her chest, and without making eye contact, he rushed to get his jacket from the end of the bed. He snatched his shoes from the floor, dressing at the foot of the bed.

She couldn't help it, the words just slipped out—it felt right. But watching Julian rush to collect his things to leave, made her wish she'd had a better handle on her emotions. She regretted it and felt like a fool for letting herself say what she had just said.

But... it was true.

It wasn't a lie.

"I'm gonna go. I, ah... I'll see you next week, okay? I'll talk to you later." Julian stood from the bed, making his way toward the door.

"I'm sorry, Jules... it- it just slipped out."

"It's cool, I just... I really gotta go. My mom, you know."

A lie.

Harlow knew Jeanette cared a lot about Julian, but he was a "man" now, well over the legal age to come and go as he pleased. Most often than not, his mother's words went in one ear and out the other, ignoring Jeanette's demands.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Harlow whispered.

But, Julian was already out the door.

__________
::A/N::
This chapter is so short, so I'm gonna go ahead and post it. Also, a huge thanks to everyone reading and voting—truly means a lot.
❤️