Chapter 14

14

18 years old - Nick

I can't say I'm surprised that she got accepted into her first choice. Lily is as ambitious as they come and always achieves what she sets out to do. I am fucking proud of her. I have been ever since she convinced our first grade teacher to let us sit next to each other in class because, according to Lily's argument, we were the best of friends and she would be marrying me in a pink castle one day. Mrs. Montgomery was so impressed by her request and how she articulated herself that she let us sit together the whole school year. The whole fucking year. I just wish she chose to do something else this time—anything other than study in Europe. I can't tell her that, though. I don't want to get in her way.

I know it's selfish of me to want her to stay here and wait for RadTech to get back to us. She has wanted this for a really long time. To study abroad. To get away from Astrid. She is fucking passionate about her escape plan and I am fucking passionate about her. I have been, also for a really long time, which is why I have made a plan of my own.

What my dad said was right; Lily is set to finish college debt-free. She can jet off to Paris without a single worry about how she will pay for her tuition. I don't have it like that. I need student loans, but I'm not one to give up so easily. I've spent the last week researching about this day and night and finally found the perfect solution. I can do the first year of my degree here, then transfer to wherever Lily is.

If she really is going to France, surprisingly, tuition fees for degree programs taught in French at public universities are affordable. In comparison to private universities in America, it's even cheaper to study there. I can use the year that I have here to go to a language school and prepare myself. If I get accepted into RadTech, I can even live at home and commute to class. I'll be able to save more that way. The plan is not perfect, but it's a start. I refuse to let us fizzle out again.

The sound of Lily's bedroom door opening pulls me out of my own thoughts. I came in here to shower and get ready for the drive, but have spent the entire time sitting on her bed thinking about college instead. Fuck, this is all I've been thinking about since the letters started coming in. What will happen to us once she moves away?

She doesn't see me, so I stay seated on her bed and silently watch her. Knowing full well that we are running late if we want to beat traffic, Lily hastily unties her bikini strings and pulls down her bikini bottoms, revealing her fully naked body for me to see. Looking at her wet, dark brown locks cascading down and sticking to her chest, I feel my cock hardening between my thighs. She picks up the two-piece and throws them in the laundry basket next to her closet.

My reflection in the giant mirror on top of her bathroom sink gives me away and her cheeks redden at the sight of me. "What are you doing, Nick?" she asks in surprise. She lets out a chuckle and shakes her head once she realizes what I was up to before she caught me, stroking my dick at the sight of her.

"Come help me out."

"We have to go soon and I still need to shower," she tells me, but I see the hunger in her and the need to connect. It has been a while. Her mother has been keeping a tight leash on her and since Astrid has been home a lot these past few weeks, sneaking into Lily's room or making her come to my place has been difficult.

Lily is looking at how my hand goes up and down, her gaze following my every movement. I continue to jerk myself off, knowing she will come over eventually. And she does. She walks toward the edge of the bed where I am sitting and kneels between my legs. She gently takes my hand off my throbbing cock and puts it in her mouth, coating my shaft with her spit, then sucking while twirling her tongue around it. One of her hands caresses my thigh, heightening the pleasure that's starting to build up inside of me.

"I love it when you do that, babe," I tell her, my voice husky and breathless.

She starts to go faster when I let out a groan, eager to please me and ready to take me over the edge. I roughly grab her damp hair and play with it. She doesn't wince in pain. She doesn't go slower either when I start fucking her mouth, instead she picks up the intensity. My balls tighten when I feel her lips forming into a smile with my dick inside. "Lily, fuck, I'm close." I warn her before pulling my cock out and squirting my cum all over her tits.

"Now you really need that shower," I tell her jokingly.

"No shit, I got cum in my hair." The smile on her face is so sweet, it almost makes me forget that she will leave soon.

Lily walks toward the bathroom and goes inside the shower. She is lathering herself with soap when I come behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. I say nothing to her and she says nothing to me as she washes her body, but I hope she understands what I'm trying to say at this moment with this gesture. I'll miss you, Lil. I'm proud of you. Stay with me.

She's not even gone yet and I already fucking miss her. I don't know when this distance between us started, but if sex is the only way to make it disappear, then I'm savoring this for as long as I can. I used to be able to say anything to her, but conveying my feelings about what my life will look like after high school is like a late-stage Jenga game. But that's what everyone wants to talk about these days. Nick, where are you going after this? Yo, Nick, I heard your girlfriend is going to study overseas. Nick, you need to make a decision on where to go. Nick, you can't just follow her around, you need your own goals.

I rest my head on her neck and tighten my hold on her waist. Her body feels so soft and slippery, and before I can stop myself, I already feel my cock hardening again. My palms travel from her waist up to her breasts and my hands slowly knead them. She leans her head back and moans my name as I play with her nipples.

"You have to stop, Nick," she whispers. "Bryce and his idiot friend are in his room next door."

"Then be quiet."

I make Lily lean against the wall with my right hand next to her head, somewhat pinning her. The warm water spraying from the shower head pours down on us. Her hooded eyes under her wet eyelashes look up at me. I need you with me, Lily. I slide my left hand slowly down and my fingers start caressing her clit, resulting in Lily panting into my mouth while she slides her tongue inside it.

Lily's hand touches my hardened dick, and I push it away. "Let me do this for you, Lil," I whisper to her. This is about her. About how I feel about her. I draw circles with my finger on her clit while we kiss, our mouths swallowing the moans that come out of her. You need to enjoy this while it lasts, Nick.

She breaks the kiss to lean her forehead against my chest. "You make me feel so good," she murmurs, her words bouncing off my skin. She always does this. She always hides herself when she's about to climax, like having an orgasm is a cardinal sin. She shouldn't be ashamed. She looks fucking beautiful.

"I love you," I say. Don't leave me here.

"I love you more," she whispers to me.

With my left hand still massaging her clit, I lift her chin with my right one, forcing her to look up at me. Her cheeks redden when our gazes meet and she tries to look away, but I don't let her. I don't know how many more times I'm going to get to see her like this before she moves.

"Just relax, babe," I tell her. "Just relax and don't think about things." Either way, Lily no longer has time to do anything else but that. Her body starts to stiffen, and her whimpers get louder as I whisper the words to her.

I stop pleasuring her when her moans turn into heavy breathing. Her body finally slumps, and we hug under the stream of water with my chin resting on her soaked hair. We stay in the same position we were before, accompanied by the all too familiar silence that has been more present in our lives lately.