Underage

[44] I Love You

[44] I Love You 

I hear him open the door but I don't look at him. I keep my eyes on the canvas in front of me. I didn't have a single image in mind when I flung a random color at the blinding white board in front of me.

It's an explosion of reds and dark blues and purples, like fireworks in the sky.

For the past two hours, I've been locked in my art room. I spent the morning at the coffee shop helping Kyle plan his and Trevor's first date. I had only been home for a few hours before he pushed me into my art room and locked the door behind me. At first I tried to get out, banging on the doors and shouting at my boyfriend, but then I figured it must be important to him. So, instead I took my frustration out on the paint.

Frustration for the fact that he's choosing a school two hundred and seventy miles away from me. A four and a half hour drive away. He made his choice. It breaks my heart, chips away at it with each second we lose and move towards that day, but it's what he wants. I'll fake a smile until he's driving away, until his eyes are firmly on the road and he's making his way two hundred and seventy miles away from me. Until I know he won't see me as I collapse onto the ground and cry.

"Am I allowed to leave now?"

Ethan presses himself against my back and winds his arms around me. He places a kiss on my cheek. "Don't be mad at me."

I ignore him. "Did you make a mess of my house?"

For the last two hours, I've heard nothing but him opening and closing doors and moving things around. At one point, it went completely silent for thirty minutes and I had no idea what was going on. One minute, Magnus is barking at something and the next, I can hear the lock clicking in the front room and it goes silent.

Ethan chuckles. "Of course not." He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before threading our fingers together. "Follow me."

My living room looks fine as we exit my art room and turn right, towards my bedroom. But I can't help but notice my missing dog. "Where's Magnus?"

"With Grace and Cooper."

Ethan opens the door to my bedroom. He doesn't let me pause as I take in the bare mattress in the middle of my room. Everything from my comforter to my sheets and my pillows are missing. My bedside table is nowhere to be seen and the blinds to the balcony are shut. He pulls me to the left and towards my bathroom.

Inside, the lights are dim. The bath is full to the top and tea-light candles are at each end. The curtain is missing and there's a bottle of sparkling wine sitting on my bedside table, along with two clear plastic glasses.

I laugh as he tugs me forward and wraps his arms around my waist. "What is this for?"

"You don't remember?" He asks me, placing a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt."

"Remember what?" I ask him. It's not his birthday. It's not mine. It's not a holiday.

"We've been together two months today, baby." I raise my eyebrows and try to think of the date, but I'm coming up blank. There's no way we've been together for only two months. It feels like we've been together forever. "It's the twelfth. Two months ago we were spray painting the side of a train."

I shake my head, but smile at the thought. That was so long ago. It was before I found my love for painting. Before I found what I want to do with my life. Before I punched Julia and made new friends. Before I even got Magnus. I can't believe it's only been two months.

"It feels like so much longer than that."

"It does." Ethan gives me a smirk, a dangerous one. His mouth is near my ear when he speaks. "Now, take off your clothes."