What He Never Said ✔️

chapter thirty-five • a thousand years

"Right from the start, I knew that I found a home for my heart."
- Christina Perri

It's almost seven o'clock by the time dinner is finished. Once the dishes are washed and the leftovers are divided up for people to take home, I'm able to sneak away with Zayna.

"Bowie, just tell me where we're going!" she exclaims, climbing into the BMW.

"No can do, baby." I close her door behind her and get in on the driver's side. After starting the car and backing out of the driveway, I take her hand in mine. "It's nothing too crazy, I promise."

Mostly, I'm just excited to finally have her all to myself.

"It better not be." She gives my hand a squeeze before resting her head on my shoulder. "Your family is awesome, by the way."

I can't help but smile. "You think so?"

"Absolutely. Oh, my god, Evangeline is hilarious. While you were washing dishes, she told me how you asked her, the six-year-old, for fashion advice before our first date," Zayna says with a chuckle.

"That I did," I admit, remembering the light blue dress shirt Vange selected. "Hey, did she tell you that she thought you were an alien?"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, when I told her your name was Zayna, she asked if you were an alien."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That you seemed like it sometimes," I respond, wincing as she smacks my thigh.

"You're an ass," she retorts.

I shrug my shoulders. "Maybe, but you love me."

"More than anything," she murmurs, her golden eyes gazing up at me.

I kiss her forehead as we pass the black and red UIC sign. I pull into the guest parking lot, cut the engine, and then quickly get out of the car so I can open her door for her.

"You brought me to your old college campus?" She shoots me a quizzical look as we stroll past the library.

"This is just a pit stop, but yes," I reply. "So... I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I probably should have brought this up weeks ago, but...." My voice trails off while I try to piece together the right words.

What I want to tell her is that I'm returning to school in the fall. I took a semester off after Rae died because... well, because I had to. Because returning to school and pretending that life was normal and nothing had changed wasn't an option. I needed the time away to figure some stuff out, to figure myself out.

And with Zayna's unwavering support, I finally did.

"What's going on, babe?" She stops walking and cups my cheek in her hand, forcing me to look at her.

"I signed up for classes in September," I blurt out, ripping off the metaphorical band-aid. "It won't affect us that much, baby, I promise. I'm returning as a commuter, so I won't be living on-campus, and I already talked to Poppy, who told me she would work around my class sched—"

"Bowie, stop," she interjects. The vibrant smile on her face washes all my fears away. "I'm happy for you. You're not meant to work at Poppy's forever."

"Thanks, baby. I wouldn't have survived the past few months without you," I reply, bringing my lips to her forehead.

"One question, though: there's no way you're going back as a marketing major, right?" she asks, her fiery eyes glowing with curiosity. "Like, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad major, but—"