Midnight Study Sessions (TeacherxStudent) [Under Editing]

57 ~ If I Stay

Hi everyone! As you may or may not know, I am Canadian and this story is set in Ontario, Canada. I just wanted to bring some attention to the tragedy in Nova Scotia, Canada. The worst mass killing in Canadian history where 22 innocent people were killed due to nothing but violence. As if COVID wasn't bad enough for us all. I'm praying for all the victims and their families. I'm truly sorry.

Okay so this is the second last chapter. A little heads up, I will be editing my other chapters and republishing them so if you see a bunch of updates it's probably that. 

Dedicated to @tweety312054 thank you for commenting

Without further delay, let's get into the story. EXTRA LOOOOOOOOOONG chapter ahead

Song: Palace by Sam Smith

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Two Months Ago

E l i j a h    sat in his empty house that he'd spent his entire grad school years at. Now everything was gone. All that was left among these blank white walls was the ghost of her...

He saw her everywhere. At the entrance the first day she ever came here, soaking wet from the rain, shivering.

In the kitchen in the morning wearing his old jersey.

On the couch where she'd pretended to fall asleep and he carried her to his room more than once.

He saw her in his room. His mattress stripped bare. But he could still remember the feeling of the sheets across his skin, the smell of her hair, the taste of her skin, her thighs around his waist, nails dragging across his back, the sweet sound of his name between her lips as she moaned.

Lana was etched in the walls, under his skin, between each fiber of his being.

Leaving this place felt like he was leaving her. Forever.

Leaving here was supposed to be a good thing. It meant a new chapter. He'd been here pratically since he was born as his mother paraded him around campus. The auditorium where she lectured her students and he watched hoping to be her one day.

It meant finally leaving Frederick and Olivia. Never having to hear the dreaded sound of Olivia's heels clicking against the floor and hopefully forgetting every time he saw them in his office with her skirt rolled up.

It meant freedom.

"Elijah" Cindy called, carrying the final box downstairs.

"I know everything's kinda shitty right now" she started, clearly picking up the distress in his face "but you're graduating in a few days, E"

"You did it" she said with a grin, hoping he'd share even just an ounce of her joy.

I did it. He repeated it over and over in his head so that maybe he could convince himself he wasn't a complete fuck up.

He hoped it would give him the strength to start over.

~

The first day Elijah returned home, Aline could not be happier. And Elijah could not be more broken. He didn't unpack. He couldn't even remember if he had eaten or slept. 

On the third day he watched his mother's favourtie movie about a man who loved a woman so much he left everything behind to be with her. Elijah wondered if love like that could truly exist. Aline fell asleep on the couch, carrying her frail body to her room downstairs, he tucked her in and slept beside her.