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She glanced over at her friends. They were dancing happily, Aimee and Justin, a ball of energy on the dance floor. Would all three of them last in their relationships during their off semester? They were lucky they’d found perfect partners in one apartment.
“Something’s going through your mind. What’s up?”
Holly smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You always catch me.”
He chuckled and waited for her answer.
“Fine, I was wondering how our apartment got so lucky finding all three of you. And I was just wondering which of us three couples will make it.”
“Hmm, I think that is up to us. If we want things to work, don’t we need to work on it? If two people have chemistry and are willing to put in time, sacrifice for each other, and make the other person happy, I think they can work.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, slow and long. “Chemistry is definitely there. I think the rest will come with our willingness.”
“Chemistry is on point, for sure.”
“See? Don’t worry so much. We’ll be fine.”
Holly couldn’t help but worry, but she smiled anyway. Only time could tell if their relationship would unravel or cling together.
25
Eric
During finals week, Eric must’ve stopped by Holly’s apartment three dozen times. He brought her meals, treats before exams, or he just grabbed a hug for good luck. Every day, his departure date was nearing, and he dreaded it.
Finally, he and Holly were in the normal zone again. Long talks on the phone, brief kisses between classes, and date nights whenever they could squeeze them in. It was the happiest Eric could remember being.
After his last exam, he headed to Holly’s apartment, where they’d planned to have dinner to celebrate the end of the semester. The next morning, way before Holly would wake up, he would start the long twenty-two-hour drive to Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was hoping to pull an all-nighter and arrive at two or three in the morning. A few long phone conversations with Holly would help him get through most of it.
One more night, and he wouldn’t see Holly for a few months. Of course, he would plan a surprise visit if he could fit it in, but he wanted them to adjust to their new schedules before picking a date.
The girls’ apartment was dark when he peeked through the window. He knocked a few times and tried the door handle. Locked. Where else could she be? Her last final had been hours before. She had been pretty busy packing and cleaning the apartment. She and her roommates would have to be out before the week was over. When he’d asked if she wanted help moving, she’d said she didn’t have much stuff and could fit it all into Diane’s car before Diane left for Nevada.
On his way back down the hall, he searched the lobby and reception area to see if she was cleaning the office, but she wasn’t there either. Maybe laundry?
He headed there and stopped short when he saw Holly crouched in a corner of the laundry room. He breathed a sigh of relief. Time lost was time wasted.
“There you are. Are you doing your laundry?”
Instead of greeting him with a smile, Holly hid her face in her knees and sniffled.
That was not a good sign. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Without looking up, she sniffled again. “It just hit me today. I went to bring you something, and all your bags were by the door. The room was packed up, cleaned, and the only thing left is for you to leave.” A sob escaped, and she covered her face with her knees again.
His heart squeezed as he joined her on the floor and held her in his arms. What could he say when his heart was breaking too? Instead, he held her tight.
“Should we plan on dating other people?” she asked, “I don’t want to hold you back.”
He pulled her back to an upright sitting position. “Holly, what’s going on? Of course, I don’t want that. We said a long-distance relationship would work as long as we both worked at it.”
“I know,” she said miserably. “But that was before it was the night before you left.”
He lifted her chin and wiped away her tears with the sleeve of his hoodie. “I was hoping to take you out for dinner. I can’t take you out crying like this. Someone will think I wronged you somehow.”
She gave a small laugh and then dropped her head on his arm and cried. “I don’t want you to leave. When people leave in my life”—she paused as her throat tightened and tears blurred in her vision—“they don’t come back.”
He slipped an arm around her back and patted it softly. “You know I’m not your parents, right? Or any friends who abandoned you after your accident? I’m the Diane type, one of the people who will stick by you forever... and love you through your pain.”
She leaned against him and sighed. “I don’t deserve you. Don’t you see that you can find better than me? Someone... prettier?”
