Timeless

Chapter 21

22nd November 2012

'Finally got some spare time. Dinner tonight? I need to talk to you. If you say yes I'll be there at 6 to pick you up'

It takes me a while to respond with, 'K, I'll be ready. See you then'

I don't get a response, which I thought would be the case. I wonder if the boys have found time to sleep? I make myself sick with worry as the day passes. I think about Julian's note, and I think about him moving back to Adelaide. Nothing makes sense, because as much as it seems he wants us to be together, I don't know how it'll work.

Tonight is the night. Tonight is the night that will make or break Julian and I. I feel sick, but strangely calm at the same time. I realise it's the same feeling I had when I found out I had cancer. I knew it was a scary thing, but there was nothing I could do, so I just accepted it. I know I'll just have to accept him moving back to Adelaide. Maybe we'll lie to each other and say a long distance relationship will work. Maybe we'll be honest and call it quits tonight. I don't doubt Julian's feelings for me, or mine for him. But I doubt our ability to make them work with state lines between us.

Julian picks me up, and apart from a quick peck on the cheek and 'hi', we walk to the car in silence. The drive is also eerily quiet, and we're both tense as anything. I watch the houses and shops fly by us, and I listen as Justin Bieber sings about what he would do if he was my boyfriend.

The restaurant we stop at I recognise as the Italian one we went to as a group on the first day we met. How ironic of Julian to bring us to the place it all started just to let it fall apart. We're shown to a table, and brought some water and bread. I order the seafood dish from last time.

"So you wanted to talk?" I ask hesitantly, playing with the napkin beside me.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I haven't been in contact much the last couple of days. We've been busy. Just trying to decide..." he trails off.

I shrug. "It's ok. I get it. I just can't believe..." Now I trail off, staring intently at my glass of water. I shake it off. "So what's going to happen?" I ask, delaying the inevitable.

"We want to keep The Collective going," he concludes. "But there's no way it'll work living all over the place."

My heart rate picks up as I think, 'and neither will we.' "Adelaide is far away," I say without realising.

"Far away from you," Julian adds, like I didn't already know. "And that's why..."

"It's ok, I always kind of knew it would happen." I chew at my lip, avoiding his gaze.

"You always knew I'd move to Sydney?"

My eyes snap up to look at Julian who is grinning mischievously, his eyes glinting in the low light. "What?" I ask, in complete disbelief of what I've just heard.

"The boys and I are moving here." He smiles like he's just won a marathon, but then his face falls. "You didn't seriously think I brought you here to break up with you?" Julian asks with a frown, obviously figuring out why I'm so shocked.

"It crossed my mind," I mumble, though of course it was my only thought. I didn't think he'd move away from home.

His hand finds mine. "That's why you were so quiet today." Julian shakes his head and chuckles. "I can't believe you'd ever think I'd let a little distance keep us apart."

I scoff. "A little distance?"

Julian laughs. "Adelaide's only a two hour flight. So I can go and see my family and stuff when I need to. Then we'll be off about with tours and stuff, but other than that I'll be here."

"So it'll be just like we're not together anyway," I say sarcastically, but of course it's more than enough.

"Well we can always go with your plan," Julian says.

"No!" I screech almost immediately.

"Good. Because our single is released tomorrow, so we're pretty serious about all of it." He gives me a hesitant look. "I'm pretty serious about you."

I smile, rubbing at my neck a little with the hand that isn't holding Julian's. "I got your reminder yesterday." My thumb rubs across his knuckles.

Julian chuckles. "Yeah, I, uh, thought it was a good idea. Probably woulda been better if I just found the time to message you. But after Tuesday night I didn't think you'd want to talk to me."

I stare wide eyed at the boy sitting across from me. "You thought I wouldn't want to talk to you?" I ask in disbelief. "Why on earth would you think that?"

Julian shrugs. "Because we didn't win X Factor. Because I thought you were bored of me. I don't know."

I roll my eyes and nearly die from a fit of laughter. But in all honesty it's almost kind of sad. "How could you ever think that? You're the best thing to ever happen to me. I thought maybe you had realised you were better than me and wanted to move on."

Julian pulls his chair around so he's next to me and pulls me close. "From now on, let's not assume what the other person is thinking. Because clearly we're both just too insecure in ourselves for that." He chuckles.

The rest of dinner is fantastic, now that the fest of losing Julian is gone. Just like last time, he gives me Italian lessons, and just like last time, I'm terrible. We finish dinner at eight, and then decide to go for a walk around the nearby lake. Our hands swing back and forth as we walk in silence. The lake is really pretty, the moon is shining, the stars are out - it's all very picturesque in the most cliché of ways.

Julian stops abruptly and pulls me around gently to face him. He regards me cautiously for a second. "I have one more Italian phrase for you," he says with a smile playing at his lips. "Ti amo," he whispers.

My breath catches, and my heart races. My hands come up to rest on his chest. I know that one, but still, I play along, wanting to hear him say those three words. "And what does that mean?" I ask breathlessly, fighting a smile.

Julian's blue eyes remain locked to my brown ones as he says the words I want to hear. "I love you."

My right hand comes up to trace a pattern along his jaw line. "I love you too."

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Ermagherd!! So that's the end of that :-( It's only short, but I didn't want to drag it out. A longer epilogue is coming, and it's going to be full of adorable Julery? Avian? hahaha what an awkward couple name... :-S Anyways I hope you've all enjoyed reading Timeless. Please do check out my other stories if you did. Please vote/comment/share etc. I live to write and I write to please :-)