Chapter 1: Leaving Swanson?
~Julio’s P.O.V~
I was stuck staring at Ethan while the two of us sat side by side on his couch in his dorm room. I was left speechless and it was because of Ethan. I was never the one to trip over my words but when it came to Ethan he always knew what to say to shut me up.
“Will you go to Florida with me, Julio?”
It played in my mind again and when he didn’t say anything after I knew he wasn’t kidding. Or maybe he was waiting for me to give him a response.
“I… Florida?” I finally asked.
“Yes,” Ethan responded.
“But what about Swanson? And your job? Your dad’s job.”
Ethan chuckled then shook his head. “He won’t mind that I left the company,” Ethan responded nonchalantly. “He would be happy to see that I’m doing something I love.”
“But you love this job, Ethan,” I pushed further. I don’t know why I was trying so hard to convince Ethan not to leave Swanson.
“Julio I still need an answer,” Ethan said.
“I just don’t know why I would move to Florida,” I stated. “There’s nothing there for me.”
“I’ll be there,” Ethan said with a smirk. “And my mom will be there and I know she would love to meet you.”
“You told your mom about me?” I questioned with wide eyes.
“Not exactly,” he responded. “It’ll be a surprise for her when we get there. I just need an answer. Will you go to Florida with me?”
Was this really going to happen? Was I really going to fly across the world with Ethan just so we could stay together and not be so far apart? I loved Ethan and everyone knew that. Ever since we got back together and he bought us both matching rings on Valentines Day I couldn’t imagine my life without him after that. But this was it… no more waiting.
“Yes,” I said and watched a big grin appear on his face.
“Yes?” he questioned and I nodded.
He pulled me closer to him, wrapping me in his arms while he hugged me tight and I couldn’t help but smile. Ethan meant everything to me and the thought of being in Florida with him, away from school, away from the drama, away from… my mom, Gloria, and Miguel. Suddenly they all ran through my mind at once. I was going to be leaving all of them behind just to be with Ethan.
“Hey,” Ethan’s voice rang in my ear, causing me to focus on him again. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Just thinking about everything and everyone that I’m going to be leaving behind.”
“Your mom,” Ethan said in a soft tone.
“And Gloria and Miguel,” I added.
Now there was a silence that was starting to build up between us.
“But,” I went on before the silence could build. “It’s okay. I’m okay. They still have these fancy things called phones.” We both shared a laugh then as it slowly faded away I felt Ethan’s hand rest on my face while he gently caressed my cheek with his thumb.
“Are you sure?” he asked for reassurance.
I nodded. “I’m sure.” I paused and smiled softly while I looked into his eyes. “I love you, Ethan.”
“I love you too, Julio,” he said, then sure enough our lips connected.
One thing led to another and before I knew it we were both in his bed, me underneath him while he kissed and sucked on my neck. I was going to miss my mom, Gloria, and Miguel while I was in Florida but it was also true that I couldn’t live without Ethan. He means so much more to me than I ever thought he would.
~~~
When I got back to me and Miguel’s dorm the next day I started packing my things. I was halfway through by the time I heard my best friend’s voices behind me. I didn’t waste any time telling them the news once they asked why I was packing my bags.
“I’m leaving to go to Florida with Ethan,” I said but it wasn’t easy for me to say those words and it also wasn’t an easy decision for me to make.
“Leaving?” Gloria and Miguel exclaimed at the same time.
“I’ll still come back,” I said with a chuckle while I stuffed a pair of my black sweatpants in my suitcase.
“Come back when?” Gloria asked.
“And how?” Miguel added. “That’s a lot of money to spend on a plane ticket from Florida to San Francisco.”
“And more money to spend on another plane ticket back to Florida,” Gloria added.
They were right. I didn’t have that type of money to spend just so that I could see my best friends. “I’ll find a way,” I said with a shrug.
I zipped up my suitcase once the silence started to build up in the dorm room. I knew that my friends were looking at each other trying to piece it all together. I was doing the same thing in my head and I still couldn’t believe that I was doing this. Flying across the world just so that I don’t have to be miles away from Ethan. I was doing all of this just to stay with Ethan.
“What’s the reason he’s even going back to Florida?” Gloria asked, breaking the silence.
“His mom,” I grunted while I lifted up my suitcase off of the bed then set the wheels on the ground while I held the handle.
“So why are you going?” Miguel asked and I couldn’t help the way I looked at him.
Is he serious? “Estás bromeando, ¿verdad? (You’re joking right?)” I just had to ask but to my surprise he shook his head.
“We get that you want to stay with Ethan,” Gloria said.
“We do?” Miguel questioned looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes,” Gloria snapped, shooting a glare in his direction. “We do.” Now she turned to look at me again. “But you know traveling across the world just to be with him, I mean come on now Julio doesn’t that sound a little ¿loco? (crazy?)”
“Yes,” I said. “It does but it’s my decision.”
“We’re not trying to stop you from going forward with that de-”
“So, what are we talking about then?” I snapped, trying not to get angry at my best friends. “I’ll only be visiting Florida with Ethan. It’s not like I’m going to move there.”
“It feels like you are,” Miguel said under his breath then my eyes fell on him. He let out a groan. “We’re already separated enough as it is and we go to the same college. Now you’re leaving for someone that you just met!”
I could tell that Miguel was starting to get irritated about the whole situation and I would be lying if I said that it didn’t affect me. Only it did, I just didn’t show it.
I opened my mouth so that I could say something back but when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket I was cut short. I pulled it out to check the notification and saw that it was a text from Ethan.
Ethan: Are you on your way back?
Then there was another one.
Ethan: Do you need help with your stuff?
Finally, I sent a quick message back to him so that he wasn’t worried.
Me: I’m on my way right now.
“I-”
“Go ahead,” Gloria said in a calm tone.
Even though she wore a smile on her face I knew behind that smile she was hurting. When I looked at Miguel his eyes were on the ground, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Miguel…” my tone was soft when I said his name. “Miguel, can you look at me please.”
“I can’t,” he responded, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Don’t be like that,” I said with a chuckle just to hide the pain.
“I’m afraid that if I look at you, I’ll cry,” Miguel admitted then both Gloria and I made eye contact with each other. “I don’t want to cry in front of you guys.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic?” Gloria questioned our friend.
“It’s okay,” I decided to say just to close out the conversation. I cleared my throat then took a step to the door, preparing to leave the bedroom. “I’ll text you guys when we land.”
“Okay,” Gloria said softly. “Have a safe trip, Julio.”
I gave her one last smile then looked at Miguel once again hoping that he would have the strength to look at me. Only his eyes never left the ground which was the answer I needed to know that he wasn’t going to look at me again. I turned away from them then left my bedroom so that I could leave the dorm and once I did, I let the silent tears that were building up inside my eyes begin to fall.
I walked through the door of Ethan’s dorm and saw that he was standing in the kitchen, staring down at his phone. His bags were on both of his sides then once I closed the door and cleared my throat he finally looked at me.
“Took you long enough,” he said with a grin while he stuffed his phone back in his pocket.
I chuckled as I made my way closer to him, leaving my stuff by the door. “Were you worried about me?” I asked once I was standing in his arms.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about calling 9-1-1,” he joked and we shared a laugh.
He pressed his lips to mine for only a second before pulling away to look into my eyes. All of the pain and hurt that I was feeling a few seconds ago suddenly went away while I looked at him. This was something else that Ethan knew how to do, make me feel happy.
“Are you ready?” Ethan asked me.
I’ve thought about changing my mind after my talk with Gloria and Miguel but now standing here in front of my boyfriend, I didn’t have any second thoughts.
❖❖❖
Next Friday - Chapter 2: Welcome to Orlando
I leaned farther back on his bed as he crawled on top of me and I wrapped my legs around his waist. When I felt his hand slip underneath my shirt I stopped the kiss that we shared so that I could grab his wrist and look at him.
“Not right now,” I said in a hush tone.
“She’s on the phone,” Ethan said, trying to continue touching me but I stopped him each time.
“Ethan,” I said in a stern tone.
“Julio,” he said in a stern tone.
“She could walk in at any moment,” I stated.
“So let me touch you while I still can.”
💋💋💋
