I felt like I was floating through a dream world, in the knowledge that Lily loved me, but pinching wouldn't cause me to wake up.
This wasn't a dream.
Lily really did love me, and I knew that I loved her back.
Did it feel crazy to me that we had only barely known each other several months back? Yes.
I felt as though I had known her for a lifetime at this point.
Although our relationship was moving so quickly, it also felt so right. I knew that you couldn't put a time frame on love. I just hoped that Lily's would last a long time.
I couldn't help but smile as my eyes drifted towards the flowers that she had gifted me. They now sat perfectly in a vase positioned on one of my window sills.
I really wanted to see her, but she had gone home to visit Lina and her father for a short while.
After getting ready for the day, I wandered myself out into the hall to find Ulric stood there. He was probably on the search for Winona or Xena. The three of them had been playing video games together recently after realising they had that in common.
I thought it would be a cool idea if they all banded together and made their own gaming society, but I already knew that our schedules were all fiercely occupied already.
"Happy birthday, Ulric!" I told him.
It was certain a great day for it. The weather was warming up, and the sun was out, creating a glorious glow down upon our university.
"Hey Selina! Thank you," he told me, with a kindhearted smile apparent on his face.
"Of course! What are you going to get up to?" I asked him.
"Well, I'm probably going to go and watch a movie with Zara," he told me, "But then I'll be back for cake and drinks?"
"Sounds good!" I told him, with a lilt to my voice.
"I'll see you around, Selina," he stated, and headed off.
Yasmin soon wandered out of her room with a grin on her face.
"You look happy," I said.
She nodded in concurrence.
"I am happy. I just finished my extended project!" Yasmin informed me. Over the past few weeks, she had busily been working away on an extended project on performance arts, particularly musicals.
"That's amazing, Yas!" I replied.
She smiled my way with excitement.
"Thank you, Selina. I really did try my best. So, do you know when we can expect Lily to get back?" she inquired.
"I'm not so sure yet, but I'm hoping I'll see her soon," I stated then.
She nodded understandingly, as she seemed to think things over for a moment.
"How are things going with her, by the way?" she asked me.
"Well..." I trailed off.
Yasmin looked as though she was deliberating on whether to ask me any more questions, but then she moved decisively forward in speaking again.
"Something seriously happened didn't it?" she asked me.
"Well, you know we kissed. A few days back, though, Lily told me she loved me," I said.
Yasmin's bright eyes enlarged a little in her surprise.
"She did?"
"Yes, she did," I stated.
"And what did you say?" she asked me.
"I said it back," I replied, feeling the corner of my lip twitch up naturally, as I thought of her.
Yasmin squealed in slight excitement, as she wandered forward to wrap her arms around me.
"That's adorable, Selina! I'm so happy for you," she told me.
I was happy, too.
I just wished that Lily was around so that I could share this happiness with her.
"You two should go on a date. There's this restaurant nearby that is amazing, Lance and I went there the other day and it was so cute. They do the best pasta and wine, I promise you. It sort of got dramatic, though, this guy proposed while we were eating dinner to his boyfriend. That was so sweet, too," Yasmin told me.
"That sounds adorable," I thought aloud.
"Right? Anyway, I wanted to let you know that my parents are going to be out of my house for a few days. They're going on a trip with my sister and her fiance. As my house will be free, I was wondering whether if you're free you would maybe want to visit for a short while. I know your house isn't far from mine. So, that's why I asked," she added.
"Wait. What happpened to the other house. The country side one?" I asked her.
"Oh right. That's my grandparents' house- we just visit a lot of the time," Yasmin informed me.
I nodded.
"It must be nice to live in the country," I said.
She smiled.
"It is...the WiFi is terrible though," she joked, "Anyway, I better get going for now, Selina, but I'm glad that Lily likes you. I admire you a lot, and she certainly deserves better after all that she's been through."
"I'm just happy to be able to be there for her," I said.
"I'll see you soon," Yasmin said, with kindness in her gaze.
"See you then," I replied, and my eyes followed her as she left the halls again.
"Good morning Selina!" X said as they left their room, startling me.
"Xena! Hi," I smiled.
"Sorry, did I scare you? I suppose I do have a habit of sneaking up on people at times," they said.
I gave a subtle shake of my head at that.
"You're all good," I informed them.
"Good! Now, I've got to get going soon as I have a play reading session with the theatre group," Xena informed me.
"I hope it goes well!"
They just expressed their thankfulness for that.
I made the most out of the time that I got with my friends recently, as I was aware that they had all been incredibly busy.
Xena had increased their unique points as they had recently dyed their pixie cut a bright magenta shade. It really did suit them, though, and stood out well against their hazel eyes.
"Thank you, Selina. You always know what to say," Xena said, and then moved forward so that they could wrap their arms around me.
I hugged them back for a moment, until they drew away.
"This weekend myself and Winona decided that we want to look at some student houses, by the way. You should come along with us," they said.
"I'd like that," I replied.
"Awesome! Okay, then, Selina. I'll see you later," X said.
"You too," I replied.
Xena strolled out of the halls, and I soon followed suit, smiling up at the sky that was clearing up ahead.
It was still pretty cold, but the environment had become much more vibrant, as flowers began to grow.
I could see the yellow flower buds peering through the grass, as I took a walk around the university grounds.
It was nice to just have the opportunity to walk around the place for a while. I hadn't had some me time for some time, but all the same, that hadn't been a bad thing. I had really loved all the time that I had gotten to spend with the others.
I soon decided to make my way toward the library, as that would be a good place for me to crack on with some writing.
Once I arrived, I was grateful for the fact that it was a much warmer environment.
I sat down on my chair, and placed my backpack down next to me, and then got started on typing away at the keyboard.
Half an hour passed before I had company, and when I did I was joined by one of my best friends, Winona.
"Hey," she said, as she took the seat beside me, "Do you need any help with that?"
Winona was always relatively observant when it came to my work. She wanted to help out in any way that she could, if it was possible, and I had always respected that about her, because although she was so busy a lot of the time, she also tried to make time for others, when she could.
"I'm just about done for the day, but thank you, Win," I told her.
"Of course," she said, "Want to go and get a coffee with me?"
I gave a nod of my head, and the two of us soon wandered towards the library cafe in order to purchase some cappuccinos.
"I needed to talk to you about something," Winona said then.
"You did?" I asked her.
"What's going on with Lily and you?" she wondered.
I probably should have known that would be a popular subject of conversation recently.
"We kissed...you know, I said I loved her, the usual," I said.
"Hold on, my friend. That's not what I refer to as 'the usual'. You told her you loved her?" Winona asked.
"Well, yeah, but only because she told me she loved me first. I don't know if I would have had the courage to otherwise, but I really do love her a whole lot, Winona," I said quietly, so that passers by wouldn't try to intercept our conversation.
Winona's blue eyes brightened, a little, at that.
"Well, I have to say that I'm happy for you, Selina. You two are pretty great together, from what I've seen so far, anyway. Hey! If we all live together next year, that'll be amazing, right?" she asked.
"I think so," I said, feeling my mouth edge up a little, at the corners.
Lance soon approached us with his own sandwich and pot of fruit- grapes, melons and berries.
"Hey Lance," Winona and I said concurrently.
"Hi you two," he replied, "So, Selina, are you and Lily girlfriends yet?" he inquired, then. He had a library book with him, so I figured that he had been doing a little reading before wandering over to us.
I wanted to read more, too, and made a mental note to myself to get some done soon.
"Not yet," I said.
"You will be soon, though, right?" he asked.
In truth, I hadn't really thought all that much about it. I didn't really think that Lily and I even really needed to label what we had between us, but that we could when the time was right to do so.
"You two would be really good together. One of you just needs to bite the bullet, per say, and ask the other out," he stated.
It always meant a lot to get a sibling's approval, and I was glad that Lance had said so.
Maybe he had a good point, but I was also incredibly anxious when it came to things like this.
All the same, though, hadn't I learnt to be brave and go for what I wanted from Lily?
Maybe it was time to do just that.
"I'll tell you a secret, Selina, she's probably waiting for you to bring it up," he stated, and then winked at me before walking away, ruffling his blonde hair as he went.
Although the university was pretty sizable, it was always nice to run into my friends, especially when they gave me supportive advice.
Lance was right, of course, but I still felt nervous.
"Hey," Zara said, then, as she came to sit beside me.
"Hey, Zara. So, Selina, I'm going to go and study for a bit, but I'll see you soon, alright?" Winona said.
"See you later," Zara and I said simultaneously.
Soon enough, Winona waved to the both of us, as she wandered out of the library cafe.
I then turned to Zara, who had an inquisitive expression upon her face.
"What's up, Cooper?" she asked me, as the corner of her mouth twitched up a little.
"I'm debating something," I said.
"Care to share?" she asked.
"I really want to be with Lily," I said quietly, causing Zara's eyes to widen slightly.
"Then I say you go for it, Selina. You have to be confident in yourself, just like me, alright? You just have to walk in there and tell Lily how you really feel," she stated.
"You make that sound a lot easier," I said.
She just met me with a sympathetic expression, before sticking her tongue out at me, causing me to release a soft laugh.
"Just do it," she said, as kindness filled her eyes, and then she stood up and nodded ahead, to where Lily was approaching me, "Good luck."
Zara wandered off after bidding a quick farewell to Lily, and then Lily came to sit next to me, as I finished off my cappuccino.
Lily then suggested we take a walk outside, and so we wandered back into the fresh air, but the sky was beginning to set, turning a perfect pink colour.
"We have a problem," she told me, then.
"We do?" I asked her.
"We do...my dad wants to move away, Selina. He wants to move further north which means that I would have to be transferred to another university," she stated.
I felt my heart snap in half like a poorly produced plastic plate. I know, weird simile, but my heart was aching.
"I'll do whatever I can to make sure I can stay with you," she said confidently.
"Lily, your dad doesn't own your life. Lance lives down here most of the time, correct?" I asked her.
"Yes," she agreed, "So, what you're suggesting is..."
"You could just move in with me for now," I whispered.
I mean, I would have to figure things out with my parents, but after the summer had ended the both of us would be back in university accommodation anyway, and then we could figure out what we were going to do next from there.
"I really do adore you, you know that?" she asked me, then.
"I know. Right back at you, Lily," I replied.
Lily took a deep breath, managing to appear a little more peaceful.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something important," she said, then.
I looked towards her with immediate interest.
Lily reached out to entwine my fingers with her.
"Selina, I am so grateful for meeting you. Every day you make me slightly happier than the last, and I never want to let that go. I know that I can be hard to predict and indecisive at times, but if there's one matter that I have made up my mind on, then it is you. I want to be with you, Selina. Will you be my girlfriend?" she asked me.
I felt as though my heart had been repaired in a mere matter of moments.
"I would love to be your girlfriend, Lily. Yes," I said.
She grinned at that, and then threw her arms around me, so that I was back in her warm embrace.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you," I whispered back, as her fingers smoothly travelled through my hair.