A Little Hope

29. So Close, Yet So Far

"I think I've seen this film before
and I didn't like the ending.
You're not my homeland anymore,
so what am I defending now?
You were my town, now
I'm in exile seeing you out."
~Taylor Swift

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚　˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Savannah's POV
I stared at the campus in awe. It was huge compared to community college. Walter had paid for it all, four years, and everything. No requirements he said. Even if I disappeared from Gabriel's life, he was still grateful for me bringing him out of his depression.

The two had issues but neither would go into full detail. I didn't push and just supported Gabriel as much as I could. Jasmine has been weary and she warned me when she heard about the whole university thing. She thought they were trying to trap me but she didn't realize that they weren't like that.

Gabriel was smart and kind. Walter was strange but he still had the same kindness that Gabriel had. I shook my head at the thoughts and tried to focus on my first class. After our travels, I figured out what I wanted to do. I wanted to open a nonprofit organization that would help children who had been abused. The organization would provide resources for them to receive help with getting out and finding private foster homes so that they wouldn't be thrown into the system where the same thing could repeat itself. I knew that I needed a partner in this so I asked Rue.

Rue agreed and now he was going to school too. It felt good and fulfilling to finally feel like I had control over my life and a sense of who I was. Sure, I missed Sebastian, but at the same time, I knew I would miss this feeling of finding myself even more if I went back to him.

I took the long trek to go to my first class, English 120. The class was inside a small building on the outskirts of the campus. I headed into the class and tuned it out as he went over the syllabus and class expectations. I sat at the back of the room and waited until it was finally over to scurry out of there. As I headed out the door, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me aside.

I looked over at who it was in shock. Sebastian was standing there, giving me the hardest stare that I've ever seen him give. I tried to protest but he ignored me and dragged to behind the building, away from curious eyes.

"Sebastian, what do you think your-" I tried to say, but he cut me off.

"Quiet, Savannah. I've let you talk, time, and time again. Now you're going to listen to what I have to say."

"No, Sebastian. Get off," I said, but he pinned me against the wall and brought his face close to mine.

My vision went blurry as I felt his hot breath near my mouth. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife and I suddenly remembered every kiss and every touch we ever shared. I lost control as I felt myself edging my face closer to his, but Sebastian pulled away and grabbed my chin to force me to look at him.

Two months had done some damage to him. His hair was unkempt and had grown to his chin and he looked like he had lost a lot of weight. His eyes were tired and he looked as though he had aged at least five years.

"We're not playing this weird game between us where we get caught up in a moment but then don't fix any of the underlying issues," he said sternly.