Summer Forever

22.

Last Summer

Everett sat beside me. His laptop lay propped open beside him on the mattress, his lap completely occupied with me laying in it. One of his hands toyed with my hair, the other idly scrolling through his notes.

I turned, shifting slightly so that I could see his screen more clearly.

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be on break?" I asked.

He snorted, pausing his scrolling to smile at me. "There's no such thing as a break in college. I still have assignments due."

I sighed, leaning back to look up at him. His hand moved, sliding over my forehead, and brushing my hair back, out of my face, as he met my eyes. It was only the start of December, so the weather was still warming up. It wasn't quite summer yet, but I'd savour our time together as much as possible before he left again for university.

Before I left for university.

"That sucks," I muttered. "You deserve a break."

"It's only for a few years," he said, smiling. He leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss just above my brow. I melted under his lips. "Besides, I'm trying to get my grades up. I need to ace this assignment."

"Is it going to be like this when I'm at uni too?" I asked. He didn't have to answer me. I already knew what I'd signed up for. "How will we have time to do anything else?"

"We'll find time," he replied easily, like it was nothing. Like the thought of going long distance again didn't weigh on his shoulders. Our shoulders. "We've always found time before, haven't we?"

"You're right," I said. I offered him a small smile. "You're always right."

"I try," he hummed, his eyes veering back to his laptop screen.

He resumed his scrolling, occasionally pausing to highlight certain sentences or bold words. I watched him in silence for a few minutes, observing the layout of his notes, watching the way his hand slid across his keyboard.

For a moment, I wondered. What would it have been like if we'd met like normal teenagers? If we'd gone to school together and bumped into each other in a classroom instead of in Shellside Bay. What would it have been like then?

The thought fleeted and I shut my eyes for a moment. There was no point in thinking about those things. They would never happen. But what we did have, it was more than enough. It was perfect.

I opened my eyes again to find Everett already staring at me. We locked eyes and his lips twitched in a smile.

"What are you thinking of?" he asked. His hand drifted through my hair again, combing strands back from my forehead before tracing a path down the edges of my face.

I smiled back at him, memorising the feel of his fingerprints on my skin.

"Nothing," I said.

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"You know, if you started earlier, you would've been done by now."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to look up and see Everett's smirking face through my screen.

"What was that you told me last time? Can't change the past? Besides, I was busy studying for my final exams."

"Not sure why you bothered. You did amazing on that quiz last time," Everett said.

I looked up, finally, and smiled arrogantly at him. "I did, didn't I?"