When we meet again

50. Until we meet again

He still held his phone in his hand, but all he could hear was a loud beep, indicating the call had ended. Then he turned around, as Ella had instructed him, and there she was. She was still a few metres away from him, but she was closing the distance between them pretty fast, as she actually was running towards him.

He didn't think twice and started running too, meeting her somewhere in the middle, where they did indeed collapse. Ella fell on top of him, but he didn't care. He finally got to see her again and that was all that mattered at this moment.

"I told you we would collapse," she said with a grin on her face.

"Just like I told you it would be worth it." He smiled back at her. For a moment they just lay there, not fully believing that they were actually seeing each other again after all these years. Then she got up from the ground and helped him get up too.

"Thanks," he said. "I didn't expect you to be that nice." However, before he had even finished his sentence, she pushed her bag into his hands. He didn't mind though, this was just how they were, always teasing each other.

"So where's your car?" Before Finn could answer, she had already started walking towards the exit, her suitcase rolling behind her. He sighed, not even trying to answer, and quickly walked in the same direction, Ella's bag still in his hands.

Once they were in the car, they stayed silent for a while. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. Ella was pretty tired of getting out of bed so early, while Finn was focusing on driving. Normally a forty-minute drive would feel never-ending to Finn, but with Ella in the car it seemed to be over in seconds. Ella had managed to fall asleep somewhere during the ride, so he woke her up, telling her they had arrived.

Ella yawned before looking up. She didn't know what she had expected, but it was surely not this. Finn lived in a small apartment, but that's not what surprised her. When she looked to the left she could actually see the sea. She knew Finn lived close to the beach, but she didn't think it would only take a five-minute walk.

Finn took her inside and told her to put her stuff in his room. "I have an air mattress lying around somewhere. I'll get it all ready for you later." Ella nodded. She had already noticed the double bed and knew that they would probably end up sleeping there together, as they had done when they were younger.

"Do you want to chill for a bit or can we start our adventures right now?" Finn asked, knowing Ella hadn't got much sleep last night.

"Let's go," she said anyway. She was tired, yes, but she was also excited and didn't want to waste any time. She could sleep later. "I just need to change."

Minutes later they were walking outside. Finn decided that a walk on the beach would be a good start for them and even though she didn't know it yet, he knew that their walk would be ending at the local ice-cream shop. He hadn't forgotten.

As soon as the concrete turned into sand, Ella took off her flip-flops and walked further on her bare feet. It had been way too long since she'd gone to the beach and she enjoyed the feeling of the warm sand and the cold water. Finn couldn't help but smile when looking at her like that. "Did you know that you look like a little girl on Christmas morning?" he said, mocking her. At which she stuck out her tongue and splashed some water at him.

After a while they reached the ice-cream shop and Ella's eyes got big. "You didn't forget." It was such a small thing, but the fact that he had remembered meant everything to her. She didn't know much people who remembered the details about their conversations and the fact that Finn did, showed her how close they actually were.

With their ice-creams in their hands, they walked back to Finn's apartment, where they let themselves fall on his bed. For a while they just lay there, because even though they had been together for several hours, it was like only now the realisation sunk in that they really were here, together.