From me to you

Chapter 10

We walk in and Olivia beelines to her brother with open arms and teary eyes, I linger behind staying next to mum, trying to give them space because we are all so sad they're leaving, like heartbroken.

His voice travels over sounding light and careful as he hugs her to him tight, "It's okay, don't cry, I'm two hours away, I'll come over to your place every chance I get." She nods moving back, she wipes the tears off his shirt sniffing, and he smiles down at her, "Sorry, I got your shirt wet." He cups her cheek mumbling something in Italian to her and she nods pressing a kiss to his cheeks. 

I shuffle on my feet awkwardly, I don't have any family members graduating today, and I'm one of the few people here for a friend, mum nudges me "Go, say hi to your friends, I'll be alright here." I nod but don't move, it seems more real, I mean I know they were going to go their separate ways at some point but it feels much more real now and that scares me, but like the absolute angel he is, he keeps a calm composure as he smiles beckoning for me to walk over, "Come here you." 

I hesitate before I'm shoved forward lightly by my mum, but I still take very slow steps. She's ahead of me, she makes her way to him, patting his back and saying congratulations before going to find the parental unit of the party. 

I stand a few feet away from him, eyes glued to the ground and he bends at the waist, smiling as his eyes dance over my face, I play with my fingers trying to avoid eye contact, and he chuckles, "What? Not happy to see me?" My lips twitch up and I reach up to cradle his face in my hands, pressing a kiss to his cheeks, "Of course, I'm happy to see you, but I'll miss you." He keeps a soft smile playing on his lips, his eyes rake over my face once more before he sighs, placing a hand over one of mine, "I'll miss you too, mama, come here." 

He tugs me to him as he straightens, my head resting just below his chest, and I wrap my hands around his waist as he squeezes my shoulder lightly pulling me back, pressing a kiss to each cheek, my eyes water as I fight the urge to cry, "Where's mine?" I turn to the voice, Logan's voice but I see Matthew, Logan, and Max and I can't stop the tears, they're really leaving, they're all leaving. 

"Aw, darling." 

"Don't cry, Daniels."

"Aw J." 

Their responses come together and I'm enveloped between all four boys but all I need is Olivia, she squeezes her way in also a sobbing mess, we catch each other's eye trying to laugh but failing, the boys are silent and just let us cry for a while. 

I'm going to miss them so much, after a minute we pull apart Olivia and I wipe our eyes, "Good thing I didn't wear makeup right?" She chuckles sounding choked, blinking away more tears, "God, I hate crying but I'm going to miss you guys." 

Max grabs my hand and tugs it slightly motioning for us to go to the side with his head, I excuse myself as he leads us to a corner, we decided to stay just friends which was easier said than done because it took some time for Matthew to get used to him being around, "Hey, you okay?" I nod brushing his hair back, "Okay good 'cause I need to say this now before you find out somewhere else." I frown, looking at him in confusion, he's always so elusive, "What?" He sighs, taking a deep breath he rushes out his words, "I got a job." I smile shoving his chest lightly, the coy bastard, and he was so worried he wouldn't find anything with his degree, "That's great, but you look like you're about to shit yourself." His smile dwindles, and he takes a small step back, "Well that's because I am." My smile drops, "What? Why?" He stares at the floor for a bit before whispering, "It's in Castlewellan, I leave tomorrow." 

The blood drains from my face, nothing could've prepared me for that, not a thing, I stand there frozen, comprehending what he said, my blood runs cold and I can't do anything but blink at him, after a minute he looks worried, he steps forward resting a hand on my shoulder, "J? Jackie?" His worried voice breaks through my confused haze, and I stare at him furious that he'd keep this from me, "Why didn't you tell me? That's like a huge deal."