"You got it, babe," Ross says as we begin our walk to our biology exam. "You're absolutely fine, we studied. You have a B in the class too."
I shrug. "I'm stressed," I pout as our hands swing between us.
"It's our last final. As soon as this exam is over then you're stress free with school for a bit," he squeezes my hand.
I nod. "Yeah," I whisper softly.
I give him a small smile as we continue walking to the class. I know I won't be stressed with school, but my days with Ross living here is limited. His last final is today then he has graduation and he moves. I see the building that we have our exam in approaching.
With a quick movement, I pull my hand from Ross' and step in front of him, wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my head into his chest. His arms slowly go around me.
"You alright?" He asks, his arms tightening around me, leaning his head down onto mine.
I nod into his chest. "Yeah, I just really needed this," I say.
Ross' hand goes under my chin, lifting it up so I look at him. "You'll do fine, baby, I promise." He leans down and kisses me softly. If only he knew that it's rooted further than just school work. I kiss him back then he pulls away, checking his watch. "We have three minutes to get to class. You ready or want to stay here for another minute?"
I shake my head, pulling my arms off of him. "No, we can go." He smiles down at me and grabs my hand again to continue our walk.
We run up the stairs to the third floor, my legs burning as we have fifteen seconds to get to class before my professor shuts the door. As Ross sprints inside, I'm close behind just as my professor is approaching the door.
"Lynch, Atkins... very close this time," my professor says as he passes us to the door.
Ross turns to look at me over his shoulder, rolling his eyes then walking to our seats. "You'll do fine, don't overthink or second guess yourself. If I'm done first, I'll wait for you in the hallway," he whispers to me.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to your last day of Biology 121. You will have one and a half hours to complete this exam. It contains 50 multiple choice, 10 fill in the blank and 5 short answers. Good luck, no talking and eyes on your own paper," my professor says, beginning to walk down and hand out the papers.
Once the professor puts down our papers and continues walking, Ross leans over and squeezes my hand, giving me another smile then beginning his exam.
It took Ross 40 minutes to complete the exam. As he went to put the exam up on the table, he mouthed 'don't rush' then dragged his fingertips across the bottom of my back as he walked past me. I turn my attention back and went to the next question.
'What are gametes?' It asks. I almost giggle out loud remembering Ross' dirty comment from a few days ago as I circle the answer.
I finished the exam twenty minutes later. "Thank you, Miss Atkins. Enjoy your summer," my professor says.
I smile. "You too, thanks," and continue out the door to officially finish my junior year.
Ross lifts his head up as soon as the door opens. "Hi, bubs," he says as I walk over to him. "How'd you think you did?" He questions as he stands up.
I shrug. "I think I did pretty well. I had a great teacher," I smile. Ross winks in response. "Yeah, Mr. Ludwig was pretty great."
He laughs. "Okay, Atkins."
"How'd you think you did?" I ask as we begin the walk to the car.
"I'm pretty sure I did great," he cockily replies. "Holy shit, I graduate in two days."
I glance up to look at him. "You're still walking right?" I ask.
"I don't want to," he whines as usual. "I was only going to do it for my mom, but I'll do it because I know you want me to."
I smile and grab his hand. "I want to see you walk. I know your dad and siblings would too. Even your mom."
"Yeah, yeah. I already said I was going to do it. You don't need to continue trying to convince me."
I laugh causing him to give me a look. "You don't have to walk if you don't want to. No need to get an attitude," I reach out and pinch his side causing him to push me gently away from him.
Ross unlocks his car and we both climb inside. "I need to pack. Wanna help?" He asks.
I nod. "Yeah, of course," I reply.
He smiles and leans over, kissing me gently. "I'll buy you food as a reward," he says then kisses me again.
"Deal," I say with a smile.
As he pulls out of the parking lot, I look out of the window. The dust is starting to settle and reality is starting to kick in that he's actually moving. That this time next week, I can't call him to come over.
I chew the inside of my lip and keep my attention fully on the scenery outside of my window to prevent any crying. I'm trying my absolute best to not cry because I don't want him to feel guilty although it hurts really bad.
His hand is placed on my thigh causing me to jump. "What are you thinking about?" He asks.
I inhale deeply. "I, um, about the biology exam. Sorry."
Ross' thumb moves gently across my thigh. "Don't stress, baby. It's already over."
I nod. "You're right," I reply, my hand going on top of his.
I lean down and put my head against his arm. "You sure you're okay, babe?" He asks.
"Yeah," I whisper softly.
As he pulls to a light, Ross leans down and kisses the top of my head. I stay like this the entire drive back to his apartment. He opens the door and my heart immediately sinks as I look at some boxes being piled up.
He continues walking inside and throws his key on the counter, dropping his backpack to the floor. I put my backpack on the floor next to his and follow him into the living room.
"Let's do the living room first. If you just pick it up and show me, we can put it into one of three piles: keep, throw out or donate. Sound good?" He asks, his hands on his hips as he looks at me.
I nod. I walk over to his bookcase and pick up a collection of books as he goes to the other side of the room. "What do you want to do about all of your books and textbooks you have here?" I ask.
"Keep all of the books, donate all of the textbooks. I'll give them back to the bookstore or sell online," he shrugs as he begins sorting. We continue this for another fifteen minutes as I start to get too into my head. With music playing, my brain still happens to be elsewhere. "Babe, I said this was to be thrown out," he groans and moves the object further down to another pile.
I glance up at him. "Sorry, must've misheard." I continue going through his books to figure out if they're reading material or old textbooks.
He's moving. He's actually leaving. I'm not sure if it's better that it's sudden so I don't have time to really think about it or if it was dragged out with anticipation for months.
I go to place another object down and he glares over at me. "Are you even listening to me, Hayl?" He snaps and moves it down.
I sigh and lift my hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry, the repetitiveness is getting to me. I need a break," I say then go into the bedroom, closing the door behind me.
I realize we've been at this for two hours as I check my phone. I sit down on the bed and put my head into my hands, groaning softly to myself.
I hear the door open quietly then his feet padding across the floor. Moments later I feel the bed sink in beside me as he sits. His hand goes to my back. "I'm an asshole and shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sorry," Ross says. I nod in response, not moving my hands away. "Are you crying?"
I shake my head. "No," I say quietly into my palms.
"Are you going to cry?" He asks.
"No."
Yes.
Ross' hand go to mine, gently tugging at my fingers then my wrists in attempt to pull them away from my face. "Can I see you then?" He asks.
I drop my arms to my thighs and look over at him, leaning onto my elbows. "I'm fine, I'm just overwhelmed a bit." My phone dings from beside me and I glance over. "Noo," I whine.
"What?" He asks, reaching over to pick up my phone. "I'm looking!" He yells then slides open to go to my app.
My professor has already graded our exams.
I smile at him, "I'm getting yours then."
Ross pulls his phone from his pocket then places it in my lap. As we both go to our school apps, I'm shaking with nerves.
"Holy shit, babe," he says, glancing at the phone then back at me.
I look over at him with wide eyes. "How bad? I'm scared."
"A 96!" Ross yells, tossing my phone behind him. "You did fucking phenomenal."
I smile happily then pull up his grade. I jump onto my feet. "Wow, I did better than a biology major in an intro class," I smirk.
Ross reaches to grab his phone that's in my hand. "What'd I get?"
"I did better," I stick my tongue out at him, being annoying.
He grabs my hips and pulls me forward into him, pulling me into his lap. "Tell me," he whines.
"You got a 92," I say, my hands going into his hair. "So you still did very well."
Ross laughs loudly. "Oh, Mr. Ludwig definitely got our exam scores confused. Let me just send him a quick email," he teases as he grabs for his phone.
"I did better," I tease smugly. Ross takes his phone from my hand and tosses it behind him onto the bed.
"Good job, baby," he says, his hand going to squeeze my cheek. "I know you're going to hate me bringing this back up, but why are your eyes still watery?"
I shake my head. "I don't know," I say quietly.
Ross stares up at me, his hands moving down to wrap loosely around my hips. "I know you're lying to me. You're sad, I know you are."
"You're leaving," I whisper.
He frowns and puts his arms tighter around me. "I know, I suck. I want you to visit me and I'll come visit you. We can talk all the time. We got this, baby, you know we do."
I nod. "I know, it's just really starting to become real," I say with my voice shaking.
I look up and blink several times in effort to stop any tears.
Don't make him feel guilty.
Ross sighs. "You're allowed to cry, stop trying to force yourself not to."
"I'm just really going to miss you," I confess. "And I'm going to miss this. Coming over to your apartment and just messing around at any time of day. I'm going to miss your touch and... everything," I say.
He nods. "I know, babe. I know." I inhale deeply and go to stand up to go into the bathroom. "Stop, don't move, please. I know you're going to hide from me."
"I don't want to make you feel guilty," I admit. My eyes shifting to look into his.
Ross shakes his head. "I am doing this. I'm doing this to you and I deserve to feel guilty. I know it makes you sad, it makes me sad too, so please don't hide from me."
I nod. "I'll try," I whisper. He smiles and leans up, kissing my forehead for a few seconds.
"I love you," he says, kissing my head again.
I tilt my head up. "I love you more," I reply, leaning up to kiss him.
Ross kisses me back and stands up, carrying us further into the bed. He lays down with me on top as he continues to kiss me.
I'm trying to savor all of these amounts as time is fleeting far too quickly.
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a/n : i see the loml (ross) tmrw.. :-)