a long way from home ; g.d.

t w e n t y - s e v e n

"Come with you? To L.A.?" I asked. "And live with you?"

He smiled. "I know, it's pretty crazy."

I sighed. "Can I think about it and get back to you tomorrow morning?"

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Of course."

We stopped talking and watched the ending credits of the movie, until I heard him snoring quietly.

I stared up at him, admiring him as I always did. It blew my mind how a human being could be this beautiful.

I wanted to go to L.A., obviously. Coming to New York was temporary change, but going to live in L.A. would be a total lifestyle change. And what if Grayson and I don't work out? What if we realize that all we had here was just a rush-of-the-moment fling and we break up. I would be completely alone, again. I don't know how confident he is on us being together for a long time, or even forever, but things change. He could change.

But then again, the thought of waking up next to him every morning, getting to kiss him every morning before leaving for work, then coming home and spending the rest of night with him, drawing while he plays piano or watches YouTube videos, then falling asleep in his arms, made the risk sound almost worth it.

I fell asleep soon after, a smile on my face, knowing my whole life was changing the next morning.

The next morning I woke up before him, as usual.
I planted light kisses on his neck and up his face until he woke up, smiling. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

I moved a little closer to him. "So," I said before yawning. "When do you think we should start packing? I imagine the weather in L.A. is pretty nice this time of year."

His eyes shot open, and his bottom lip dropped slightly out of shock. I was still smiling like an idiot. His eyes were alive and awake, and shined from the morning sun pouring into the room. "Wait, does mean..."

"This means, that I love you. And no matter what happens with my family, our story doesn't end when our time in New York does. So, we're gonna go to L.A., and keep living it."

He let out a loud laugh, then leaned over and began kissing my face repeatedly. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he said over and over. I was laughing almost as hard as him, repeating all of his "I love you's" back to him.

"Babe, I can't believe this. I seriously can't. This is like a dream," he said, still hugging me and talking in between kisses. He stopped for a moment and looked me in the eyes just as he had on our first date. "I can't wait for this."

"I can't wait either. I love you so much." I leaned forward and kissed him, slowly and lightly, taking my time to appreciate what the next chapter of my life was gonna be like.

"I love you so much, Elle."

"We have to get up and tell the others," I said happily. We both jumped out of bed and ran over to Emma and Ethan's bed, but they weren't there. James wasn't here either.

"Well, that's weird. They literally never leave this apartment," he said.

"Maybe you should call them. Meanwhile, I have to call Gus and Ava and tell them," I said, searching the room for my phone.

Grayson knew all about Gus and Ava. I hesitated on telling him fear that he would take it the wrong way, but he didn't,  at all. He knew Gus was the first friend I had here. I told him about them the night I met him.

He nodded. "Oh, and I think you might've left your phone in your apartment."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right. I'll go check the room."

I grabbed the room key off of the nightstand and headed out the door, not bothering to change into real clothes.
I took the elevator to my floor and slid the key in, then out, and opened the door.

"There she is," I heard a voice from behind me say. I recognized it immediately, and felt my heart drop to the bottom of my stomach. I didn't close the door behind me, I simply turned around, and saw my worst nightmare standing across the room from me.