when we collide ✰ l.h.

Epilogue

June 8th, 2016

Waiting was never fun.

Tonight I found myself waiting for Luke to pick up his phone and it was only on the second ring. Even though I did this every night I was afraid that one day he wasn't going to answer.

"Hi Autumn." Luke's voice was softly heard through my speaker and I smiled.

"Hi." I replied as I stopped pacing around my kitchen.

"How are you?" He asked, fumbling with something over the line.

"Tired." I sighed, moving towards my living room and sitting down on the same couch I've had since Luke and I lived together 3 years ago.

Luke paused for a second, "Did graduation wear you out?" He questioned, his genuine tone being noticeable.

"It did." I frowned. I let out a quiet sigh as Luke did too.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come." He sheepishly said.

I softly laughed, "Don't be, I couldn't go to yours either." I shifted on my couch, wanting more than anything for Luke to be sitting right next to me. Not on his couch 2,500 miles away.

"We'll figure something out. It's the summer and we're out of college and soon we'll be flying back and forth to see each other." He assured me, which he always did.

Two years ago, at the end of our second year of college, I wasn't satisfied with New York and the school I was at. After a visit or two more to California, at the same spot as spring break a while back, I decided to apply for the next year at a college out there. I was accepted on short notice and packed up and left.

I didn't have one regret about it, I was happier now and figuring out my own life. There was just the disadvantage of being so far from Luke. After being able to keep our relationship steady for about three and a half years, it was pretty hard to leave him. It was hard on him to since he had also just found everything good in his life.

We talked about breaking up because of the distance and we talked about making it work and it's obvious which one we chose. At the time, Luke had just been getting out of his dark spot in his life and I didn't want to be the reason he went back to it. It took him a bit to get through it, but now he seemed more alive than ever.

It's been tough since I've seen him about 7 times over the course of 2 years. If flights from New York to California weren't so expensive and we weren't college students living off of a small income, then it would be a different story.

"I've actually been saving up. Ever since I got a raise my paychecks have been getting a little bigger." I told him, which only made me more excited. I had a small amount of money set aside for a ticket and other expenses just to see him, but it's been a bit slow. The raise in my income wasn't much, but just enough.

"Really?" He asked."My boss is still an asshole, if you're wondering. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a monkey." He said.

I giggled at his response and tucked my legs in to my chest, "At least he's paying you."

"That's true," He replied, the rest of his words drowning out from my apartment door being knocked on. "What was that?" He asked.

"The door." I replied, getting up and heading over to it while Luke quickly went back to what he was saying.

"But I think I could get a ticket to come see you. I have just enough for the ticket, but I would be eating your money while I was there." He chuckled, making me miss his laugh more than anything.

I sighed again, winding through my kitchen to get to my front door. I slowly unlocked it as I kept blabbering to Luke.

"But it would be nice for me to see everyone," I began. "Like my family and stuff, you know? I haven't seen them-" I stopped myself as I opened my front door, nearly dropping my phone in the process.