"Why am I even here? I'm not even going." Jennifer groaned, throwing her head back, wincing when she hit it a little too hard on the head rest.
"Jennifer you have to come to prom!" Ally protested from the backseat, Eliza quickly agreeing from beside her.
"I'll be there." Alex shrugged, taking her hand off the gear shift to give Jennifer's leg a reassuring squeeze.
Prom was this coming weekend and the girls needed to pick up their dresses that they had picked out (well apart from Jennifer who kept on insisting she wasn't going) Alex was driving again so she had offered to take the girls, trying to convince her girlfriend go as well since the redhead had been invited by the school to attend.
"I'm not going without a date, that's lame. It's not like I can have you as my date." The short brunette motioned to her girlfriend dramatically.
"I'm still going to be there though." Alex reminded her, laughing at the over dramatic teenager. "Just go with your friends." She shrugged.
"They're couples!" Jennifer protested. Dylan, of course, asked Ally to be his date and Tyler had asked Eliza even though it wasn't her prom, she was his plus one.
"It's your senior prom Jennifer, you have to go." Alex said and the brunette groaned loudly.
"I'm going to be the only one there without a date." Jennifer whined and Alex rolled her eyes.
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Alex dropped the girls off after they had got their dresses (and managed to get Jennifer to get one too) before she headed to Nathan's music store.
"Hey, Alex." The blonde greeted with a smile as the redhead entered the shop.
"Hey." Alex approached the counter that Nathan was standing behind with a smirk on her face. "I need a favour."
"Yeah?" He furrowed his brow.
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"You look beautiful, girls." Caitlin complimented as she took a photo of the three girls stood together in their prom dresses, looking absolutely gorgeous.
John was trying his best not to well up at the sight of his daughter and step daughter looking so grown up and mature.
"Alright boys, get in here." Caitlin glanced at Dylan and Tyler who stood up and joined their dates in the photo which made Jennifer's smile fade away.
"Can we at least wait on Alex?" Jennifer asked. Although the redhead wasn't riding to prom with them (that would have been a little weird for the rest of the school when they arrived) she was still going to come over first.
Speak of the devil, the doorbell suddenly rang and Jennifer was there as quick as her high heels could carry her. "Hey- oh wow..." The teenager trailed off as she took in the sight of her girlfriend, feeling her mouth go dry as she did so. "You're so..."
"You too." Alex winked as her girlfriend struggled to find a word. She stepped inside, pulling the brunette closer to her by the waist, connecting their lips.
"I'm so gonna fuck you tonight." Jennifer whispered with a smirk against her girlfriend's lips.
"Jennifer, who is it?" John called from the living room.
Jennifer slid her hand into Alex's, leading the woman through to the other room. The redhead still limped a little from her leg but other than that she was doing great. "It's my date, but not my date." She chuckled and Alex smiled before she pulled her phone out.
"I've got something to show you." The redhead grinned and Jennifer stepped closer, looking at Alex's phone as the woman scrolled through her pictures. "Here's Tom and I from our senior prom." The older woman handed the brunette the phone who just stared at it wide eyed.
"Dude, are you sure you're not still eighteen? I swear to god, there is not a six-year age difference between those photos and now." Jennifer asked incredulously and Alex blushed.
Sometimes when she was with Jennifer, she did feel eighteen again, the girl kept her young that's for sure.
"Yep, I was right, you are a goddess. It all makes sense now." Jennifer said like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Alex blushed even more.
"Girls, let's get a picture of the two of you." Caitlin said to Jennifer and Alex, the two nodded and Jennifer put Alex's phone on the couch.
They did a few different poses, a couple of them were silly ones that they actually couldn't keep a straight face for.
"Gotta kiss on the last one." Ally laughed from the side.
Although kissing Alex in front of her dad still felt a little strange to Jennifer, she didn't let it get to her because it didn't seem to bother him now.
The couple faced each other, Jennifer holding Alex's waist while the redhead placed her hands softly on her girlfriend's face before they kissed for the photo.
The teenager hated the fact that she couldn't experience her senior prom with the love of her life. Sometimes she genuinely wished she was born five years earlier.
The doorbell rang once again and Jennifer furrowed her brow, widening her eyes when everyone else in the room just smirked. "Okay, what's going on?" She asked slowly, turning to Alex, who was smirking too.
"Why don't you see who's at the door?" John asked, chewing his bottom lips.
"Oh my god, you guys are so weird." Jennifer muttered as she walked out into the hallway before opening the front door. The brunette was shocked to see Nathan standing there with his stupid smile on his face, not only that, he was dressed in a tuxedo. "Nathan? What are you doing here?" She asked, a little dumbfounded.
"I'm here to be your date for prom." He grinned, running a hand over his short hair. "Alex asked me to." He added.
Jennifer didn't know what to say, she just stood there with her mouth hanging open.
"I'll take that as a yes." He stepped forward as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a white corsage. The blonde gently took her hand and slipped it onto her wrist.
"I-I don't know what to say." Jennifer shook her head, still in shock. "Nathan... you'd really do this for me?"
"Of course." Nathan nodded, stepping inside before closing the door. "Well, I wouldn't have thought of it if it weren't for your girlfriend."
"Alex! Come here for a second!" Jennifer called.
"Yeah?" The redhead exited the living room with a huge grin plastered across her face.
"What's all this?" Jennifer asked softly.
"I knew how torn up you were about not having a date so I got you one. I wanted it to be a guy because I didn't want you going with another girl when I'm literally in the same room." Alex laughed and Jennifer shook her head with a chuckle. "And Nathan was the first guy that came into my head."
"And I immediately agreed. You're like a little sister to me, Jen. I want you to have fun on your prom night." Nathan added.
"I love you guys." Was all Jennifer could muster, pulling the two in for a group hug.
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"Can I ask you something?" Nathan said into Jennifer's ear as they danced close to some slow song that was playing.
"Yeah." Jennifer replied, resting her head on Nathan's shoulder as they slowly swayed to the music.
"You're going to LA after graduation, right? Is Alex going with you?" Nathan wondered curiously.
"No." Jennifer immediately replied, lifting her head up as she caught sight of Alex across the room, talking to Caitlin. "I think we're doing the long-distance thing, I dunno." She mumbled with a shrug.
"That didn't sound very convincing. What's wrong?" Nathan asked in concern.
"It's just every time I've brought up the topic in the last few weeks she's just shot it down and changed the subject." Jennifer said in frustration. "I'm leaving a few days after graduation and I still don't know what's going to happen because she doesn't want to talk about it."
"Maybe she's still trying to figure it out?" Nathan suggested. "She probably feels like most of the responsibility is on her shoulders." He shrugged.
"But why?"
"Maybe it's because she's the older one in the relationship? Maybe she feels like she should be the one to take control of the situation."
Jennifer took a minute to think about what Nathan was saying. She didn't want Alex to feel like she couldn't come talk to her, but she didn't want to pressure her either.
"Just give her some time."
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Jennifer took Nathan's advice but she didn't expect Alex to wait all the way up to the day after graduation AKA the day before Jennifer had to leave.
"Jennifer, we need to talk." Alex sighed, grabbing Jennifer's hands as they sat together on the couch.
Jennifer didn't say anything as she searched her girlfriend's eyes. She was just hoping this was going to be Alex explaining how their long distance was gonna work.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately." The redhead stared at their hands and took a deep breath. "I think..." She looked up and saw the way Jennifer's face fell. "Baby, listen to me when I say this."
"No, Alex. Don't do this..." Jennifer whispered, shaking her head as she tried to fight the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I think we should take a break while you're at college, that's all." Alex said softly, wiping a stray tear that had managed to roll down Jennifer's cheek. "I don't want you to worry about me all the way back here."
"But I want to worry about you." The teenager said in a small voice.
"I don't want to ruin what we have, long distance relationships never last. You're going off to LA and having some of the best years of your life in college." Alex smiled gently, tilting Jennifer's face up to meet hers.
"How am I supposed to have the best years of my life if I'm not with you? Alex, this, here, has been one of the best years of my life because you were in it." Jennifer explained, her eyes burning with tears.
"I'm not asking you to forget me, Jennifer. I'm just saying that as soon as you start involving yourself in college life, you'll realise that if we were still together, I would've just been holding you back from your full potential." Alex tried to explain but Jennifer just began crying. The redhead sighed, pulling her girlfriend close to her, softly rubbing her back as she tried not to cry herself. "I want you to chase your dream, babe. That's something I never got to do."
"I don't know what I'm going to do without you." Jennifer cried into the older woman's shoulder.
"You're going to achieve your dream and make me proud. Then one day, I'll find a way out to LA and I'll come find you." Alex whispered into Jennifer's ear.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Jennifer trusted Alex, she believed that the redhead would keep her word. It was going to be hard saying goodbye but knowing the redhead would do whatever it takes to come to LA in the future, gave Jennifer some peace of mind.
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Saying goodbye at the airport was one of the hardest things Jennifer and Alex have done in their lives.
"I don't want to go." Jennifer sobbed into Alex's neck.
She was already pretty upset when saying goodbye to her family but when it came to Alex, Jennifer just lost it. Waverly had cried her eyes out at the fact Jennifer was leaving so Alex didn't bring her to the airport because guaranteed it would hurt the brunette even more.
"You have to go." Alex said softly. "You're gonna be fine, I'm gonna be fine, you're gonna have fun and live your life." She reassured, trying not to cry. She had to stay strong for the younger girl. "Hey, look at me." The redhead pulled away slightly so she could hold Jennifer's tearful face in her hands. "I love you so much, never forget that. I'm going to keep my promise so one day we can be together again."
Jennifer nodded weakly.
"I need you to be strong for me okay? I don't want to see you getting on that plane crying." Alex said with a nod, wiping Alex's tears away.
"Jennifer, it's time to go." John said softly as he approached the couple.
The brunette nodded her head before connecting her lips with Alex for the last time.
"I love you." The teenager mumbled against Alex's lips.
"I love you too." The redhead returned, letting go of Jennifer as much as it killed her to do so.
"Here." Jennifer wiped her eyes with one hand while she reached into her back pocket with her other. She pulled out a folded-up piece of paper, handing it to Alex. "Don't open it until I'm gone, okay?"
"Okay." The older woman gave her an understanding nod as Jennifer began to take a few steps backwards.
"Goodbye Alex."
"Goodbye Jennifer." Alex returned quietly as she watched the girl walk away and it felt like her whole world was collapsing around her. She knew this was for the best but it still killed her having to say goodbye to the one girl that had made her feel special in the past year.
As soon as the girl disappeared in the distance, Alex unfolded the paper.
Dear Alex,
I wanted you to read this after I left because I don't think I'd be able to stop crying if you read it in front of me. I just want to thank you for the last ten or so months we've spent together, it's been the best experience of my life. We've been through so much together but all of these ups and downs only seemed to bring us closer. I have to admit that on the first night I met you, there was something inside me that wanted to see you again, even if it didn't happen in the most convenient way, I'm still glad I managed to see you again. It all seems like a blur from then on because our relationship has been a roller coaster ride of emotions that I will never forget. You've helped me so much over our time together and I can't thank you enough for that. We've been apart a couple of times in our relationship but we always fought our way back to be together again, no matter the obstacle. I believe that this time will be just the same, we're going to find a way to be together again, I know we will. Until then though, just know that I love you more than anything and I wish you all the best, just don't forget me, okay?
From the love of your life,
Jennifer.
P.S. I left a memory stick in your apartment with a video of me singing that song I wrote for you when we first got together. Sorry you didn't hear it sooner.
I'll always love you.
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And that's the last chapter for this book, who wants a sequel?