TEN: goodbyes
los angeles, 1990's
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ROSY WAS NEVER GOOD AT GOODBYES which is why she dreaded waking up in nate's bed with his body pressed protectively against hers as he clung onto her with a grip so tight she thought she was going to explode. she didn't mind it though. she knew this was the last time he was ever gonna hold her like this again so it helped her cope.
after nate awoke the morning was quiet. no one spoke much or did anything much. they both just stayed staring at the wall holding each other's hand. each mentally going over what they were going to say to each other when the hour hand of the clock struck 11.
it seemed the two were counting down the seconds when nate's mother would yell for him to come downstairs so she could take him to the airport. but when that time came, the two completely forgot what they were going to say to one another as they locked eyes.
tears blurred their vision as the two past lovers held onto each other. no one daring to speak, afraid to break the beautiful silence. they wanted this to be memorial since it was gonna be their last time together again for possibly ever. when the two finally dared to pull apart and stare at each other is when the tears came.
even though the boy had done her wrong and the girl had probably done him wrong multiple times too, when they stared at each other all they saw were their good memories together and because of that a warm smile made its way onto both of their faces. rosy placed her hand in his as he pressed a small kiss against her forehead.
"you know i love you right?" rosy asked him making him nod his head as his smile grew even larger. "i just w-wanted you to make sure you knew that." she said as he pulled her into his chest again when the tears started cascading down her cheeks.
"i love you too baby." he whispered into her ear, making sure she could hear him. when nate's mother called for him again the two knew their time was coming to a short end so nate quickly pulled out of her grasp.
"i have something for you." he said in a rushed tone as he made his way over to his desk to open his drawer. "if when i'm gone you want anything in here that's left behind, feel free to take it. or if you ever wanna crash here, it's yours." he admitted before he returned with a vanilla folder.
he opened it and watched as the girl's eyes lit up as happy tears rolled down her cheeks. "i toke these of you. remember the first time i ever watched you skate? they're some from then and some from the most recent times." he said as he handed her the folder full of pictures of the girl skating which made her smile.
"you sure you don't want it?" she asked as she looked through every photo with a smile plastered on her face. "nah they're yours. plus i made copy's anyways." he admitted shrugging, making her giggle. she tore her eyes away from the pictures to the scrawny boy who stood a few feet away from her, with a smile still on his face despite the tears that rolled down his cheeks.
rosy placed the stack of photos on the bed as she slowly approached the boy. the two met eyes as rosy placed both of her hands on either sides of his cheeks and pulled him closer to her. their lips collided against each other, making them both grip onto one another, afraid to let go.
this kiss was different though, different than any kiss she had shared with fourthgrade. with fourthgrade their was happiness and the desire to never let go, meanwhile, with nate their was a familiar bitter aching known as a goodbye.
they kissed each other rougher until nate's mother called for the final time which made them hesitantly pull apart.
when they pulled apart rosy's eyes were still shut as tears spewed out of her eyes. "i love you." she said earning an, "i love you too." from nate. the two hugged each other once more before they pulled apart for the last time.
rosy collected her photos from the bed as nate made his way to his bedroom door. she began making her way out his window, not wanting to go downstairs and interrupt his mother's last moments with him.
"you're still gonna come and visit me right? i'll always be at the shop if you need me." she said from outside his window as she peered into his empty room. "you'll be the first person i come see adriana." he said making her smile. tears brimmed her eyes when he said her name, knowing it was most likely the last time he would say it for a very long time.
"call me whenever you want or whenever you need something. okay?" nate said making rosy nod her head, "okay." she said.
the two locked eyes once more and sent each other one last smile before nate hesitantly placed his hand on the door knob. he could feel rosy's eyes on him as he opened the door.
the two both knew if they looked at each other again they would both lose it right there so nate walked out into the hallway and closed the door shut behind him, with hesitation coursing through his veins.
rosy didn't leave the small roof for a few minutes after that. she heard his mother cry happy tears before eventually she heard the front door of the house shut.
nate and his mother piled into the car and began driving off as nate watched rosy from the window as she did the same. rosy had a small smile on her face, knowing the boy would be okay. once the car was out of sight she made her way off the roof before getting one last look at nate's empty room where a framed picture of the two kissing hung proudly on the wall.
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-roseissues