Flashcards On The Wall

Chapter 61: Just A Girl And A Guy

A few days later Gabriel and I are checking in with each other.

"So I'm officially full-time and have over time when I want it," Gabriel tells me.

"That's great," I reply, "I have news to, not amazing but I'm going back to the restaurant."

"What?" he asks.

"I just gave Dorothy notice," I respond.

"Why? You like working at the bakery," he replies.

"I make more at the restaurant. The tips are good. This will help us. It's time," I say.

"I don't know Amelia," Gabe looks worried.

"It's only for now. I'll still be writing. I want to do this for us," I explain.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Look, you're sacrificing and I can too. We're doing this. Finally," I remind him.

"Finally," he agrees, "Hey, I have something for you."

He hands me a thin square package wrapped in brown paper."

"What is it?" I ask.

"See for yourself," he answers.

I unwrap the package, lacking the words to describe what I feel when I discover what it is. In the frame is the picture of the house we drew. The diagonal and horizontal lines where the folds had once been, are still visible. So were the wrinkles which had been the result of an angry day.

The shock almost has me unable to speak, "I thought I got rid of it. Where did you get this?"

"I found it crumbled on the floor the day you wrecked your room," he answers.

"You...kept it?"

"Somebody was pretty adamant about it being so important," he responds.

I had been. It was a cold day, but I made Gabriel take me to the beach. We knew the water was freezing. So was the wind outside. We sat in the car watching the waves. We started talking about the future, where we wanted to end up. I ripped out a page from one of my notebooks. He borrowed a pen. One by one we went through every part of the house. Inside and out.

"That was a good day," I say.

"It also inspired your first tattoo," he reminds me.

"And now I have two," I tell him.

"I know. You're clearly rebelling," he jokes.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," I say.

"You can have it Millie, the house and anything else you want.

"And you?"

"I am included there as well," he answers.

"I love you so much" I tell Gabriel.

"I love you so much more," he replies.

I'm finally down to the last few bins of my things. Hours ago, I'd gotten to the point where it seemed the boxes having taken over the entire apartment. We're just about done now.

Gabriel stares at my wall covered in flashcards, "It's still here."

"It's the last thing I have to take down," I say as I stare at the words in red.

"Are you going to set aside a wall at the new place?" he asks.

"I don't know. It's a part of me I don't want to let go of. Where I've been. How hard this journey has been. It's me. I don't think we'll have space though," I respond.

"We can make space," he tells me.

"We'll see," I say.

"Remember when we put that together?" Gabriel turns to the desk.

"How could I not?" I ask, "This is where we started."

"I thought we started in an incredibly small room where a girl was very willing to share her knowledge?" he questions.

"Or we started in classroom, where I was just a girl and you were just a guy and neither had any idea what this could be," I offer.

I think of how long it's taken Gabriel and me toreally believe in our relationship, for it to feel secure enough for the bothof us. The truth is we don't know. There are no guarantees. All I know is I'lltake any time I can get. For as long as I can have him. Three months. A year.Five years. For now, we have each other. While the rest may have to wait, rightnow, I am free.