They Never Said It Would Be Easy

Summer 2015

Well I thought we would have the whole summer to make up for our lost time during the school year, but that wasn't the case. It turned out that Colin needed to stay up at Berkeley to take a few summer classes, so my summer was going to involve lots of time with the girls and my family. I wasn't complaining, I loved spending time with all of them, I just really missed Colin and distance was a bit harder than I expected. I wanted more time with him but I needed to be patient. Once we graduated, we would have all of the time in the world.

Although Colin was at school, I did plan to spend at least some time with him. Natalie, Aria, Casey, and I planned a trip to San Francisco for a weekend and Colin said that he would gather some of his friends from school to meet us out there. We all chipped in for an Airbnb and planned for a weekend getaway.

The girls and I got on a plane and made our way towards San Francisco while Colin and his friends took public transportation from Berkeley to the city. Apparently Colin was now an expert in the area of public transportation, so he helped us get from the airport to our Airbnb. When we arrived, the boys were already in the house. I recognized that two of his friends were Adam, his roommate, and Connor, from the water polo team. The other friend introduced himself as Brandon, another one of Colin's teammates. We all picked our rooms with Aria, Natalie, and Casey sharing a room, Colin's three friends sharing a room, and Colin and I sharing a room. We had barely been intimate over the past year because of the distance, so we were ready to make up for it on this trip.

"Alright Colin, since you're the city expert now, what should we do first?" Aria asked.

"Well, there will still be daylight for at least a few more hours, so we can head down to Fisherman's Wharf and do a bit of shopping and then grab dinner? Is everyone cool with that?"

Everyone agreed so we called a ride and headed over. We went through every single shop and then sat down for a nice seafood dinner.

"This place is pretty cool! What's next?" Natalie asked.

"We could go back to the house, relax for a bit, and then go out to a few bars? See what the nightlife is all about?" Adam suggested.

"I'm definitely down for that," Connor, Colin, and Adam all agreed.

"Girls, are you cool with that?" Colin asked.

I looked over to Casey real quick, unsure if she was ready to go out and become a part of the party scene again. She gave me a quick nod, letting me know that she was ready.

"Yeah let's do it!" Aria exclaimed.

As we were getting ready for the night, I secretly pulled Casey aside to make sure she was okay.

"Are you sure that you're okay to go out? We can always stay back and watch a movie," I offered.

"It's okay G. I'm ready. I've spent enough time inside thinking about everything that happened. I just want to forget about it, move on, and have fun with my friends in the city. Plus, one of Colin's friends is pretty cute. I can't pass up the chance to see what he's all about," Casey smirked.

She seemed ready to get back out there, in the sense of going out to party and moving on from Brett. Still, I was going to keep my eye on her, just in case she changed her mind.

Our little group bounced from bar to bar, having the time of our lives. Everyone got along extremely well, some a little too well. Adam was definitely interested in Aria, but she was all about Dan from Colorado, especially after seeing the way he helped Casey during that night. Natalie and Brandon seemed to get along really well, both of them going on about how much they really liked the people they were dating back at school. They seemed pretty tipsy, but they were all about giving each other advice on each other's relationships and it was nice to see a platonic relationship forming between the two of them. As for Casey and Connor, things were going really well to my surprise. I sort of expected Casey to go on about Brett once she had a few drinks in her. I didn't think that she had gotten over him yet, but that didn't seem to be the case. And if I wanted her to move on with anyone, it would be Connor. When I met him during the fall last year, he seemed to be a genuine guy and that was something Casey definitely needed.

After another hour passed, we were all ready to head back. It was past 2 in the morning and we all had a long day. When we got back to the house, Aria, Adam, Natalie, and Brandon stayed up a bit longer, just talking and hanging out before bed. I went into the kitchen to grab some water to try to sober up before bed and found Casey and Connor. They seemed to be engaged in flirty conversation and they both seemed to be interested in one another. I was happy for her. She had been in a bad relationship for so long and I was hoping that if anything came of this, that she would finally be with a good guy. I left the kitchen and headed upstairs to meet Colin in our room.

"Come lay down with me, G," Colin said, patting the spot on the bed next to him.

"Give me one sec, I need to change into my pajamas."

"I mean, you don't really need to," he responded with a smirk on his face.

I got undressed and laid with him in bed. One thing lead to another and we were finally able to make up for all that lost time during the school year. I loved him, so so much and I could not wait to be with him, like this, all the time once we graduated. One more year of distance would be difficult, but it would all be worth it, having Colin by my side.

The next day, we spent the whole afternoon in union square, shopping, eating, and brewery hopping. We were still exhausted from the night before, so we stayed in that night, just chit chatting and discussing the next time we would all be together again.

The next morning, the boys went back to Berkeley and the girls flew home to Orange County. Aria, Casey, Natalie, and I spent the rest of the summer hanging out with each other, at the beach, shopping, and at each other's houses for our beloved girls nights. We planned a UCLA trip for the fall, all of the girls visiting me and Colin coming down, maybe bringing Connor along if things went well between him and Casey. Although we were all so far apart, our bond wasn't diminishing in the slightest. If anything, it was growing stronger and I couldn't wait to see what the future would hold for us.