Forever and Always

Chapter 35 - Tears

My mom had found me fast asleep, holding tightly to the dog when she got home from work at about eight in the evening. She woke me up gently, petting my hair, and scratching my head until I came to. My eyes focused on her and I sat up instantly, wrapping my arms around her.

"Mom! I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Baby. You're such a sweetie for thinking about some old lady," she chuckled, patting my back while we hugged each other. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore, bursting into tears yet again.

"I love you," I wept, hugging her tighter.

"Aww, Sweet boy. I'm so sorry you're sad. I know you miss him. He texted me to check up on you about an hour ago, but I was still at work. Mikasa said you were probably asleep, and she was right. He's so in love, you know."

"Yeah," I sobbed. "He's wonderful. I miss him so bad. I just love him so much."

"I know, Baby. You have such a big heart. I'm so glad you found somebody who loves you so much. I'm so glad he proposed to you, Sweetie. I was waiting for that ring on your finger to become an engagement ring."

"Mom," I sighed, my breath hitching.

"What? I'm just so happy for you two! And I'm so sorry that you have to be apart for so long, Honey. I'll text him and let him know you're sleeping if you want to get back to that."

I shook my head. "No. I should call him. I promised I would."

"Okay baby. If you need anything, just holler."

"Thanks, Momma," I smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Sweetie. I'll leave you to call him. It's good to have you home. I've missed you," my mother said, smiling and standing up, planting a kiss on my forehead before leaving the room, closing the door behind me.

I pulled my phone out. There were a couple texts from Levi

Hey, Love. I'm landed if you wanna call. The airport is a huge bitch. Pain in my fucking ass. 

Baby, I found my dorm. It's so messy. I need to fix it. Take care. I love you.

I scoffed at the very Levi-esque texts as I articulated my response. Hi. sorry i was sleeping i'm calling right now.

I pressed the phone icon beside Levi's name and the phone started to ring. Levi picked up on the second ring.

"Baby, hi," he sighed over the phone. I could hear the thick relief in his voice.

"Oh my God, hi. It's nice to hear your voice."

"You have no idea how wonderful it is. Your voice is music to my fucking ears, Love. I miss you so damn much."

"I miss you too," I tried to say with a steady voice, but my clogged nose betrayed me. "God, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Love. It's okay to cry. God knows I've been on and off flipping shit all day. How was your flight?"

"Sad," was all I could say. I flopped back onto my bed wiping the dry tears from my eyes. "I cried the whole flight."

"Jesus, Baby. I'm so sorry. It hurts so bad that I can't just be there and hug you and make it all go away."

"Yeah," I sniffed, "but I'm so excited that you're going to Harvard. I'm so proud of you." Trying to look at the positive had always been a positive of mine.

"Thank you, Baby. I wouldn't have taken it if you hadn't basically forced me to."

"Well, I'm glad I did. You're gonna make a great lawyer. I get to brag about you, now. If I ever make friends," I chuckled. "I mean, the last thing that was going around my school was that I was selling meth and doing drive by's. Worst I ever sold was pot. And I don't think I could ever stomach killing somebody."