(The pandemic does not exist in this story)
There Was Sun -Nothing But Thieves
Running Up That Hill - Placebo
Good Days - SZA
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May 2020
But to be frank, and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
"Eva come on! Can you to help me with this?" Tre groans from the doorway, carrying a large cardboard box in his arms with Kitchen written in sharpie on one of the sides.
I look up from my spot on the bed and smile at my struggling, flustered boyfriend. "You said I had ten more minutes to read before we had to finish loading up."
I close the book in my hands and watch as Tre gently sets down the big box down in the doorway to the bedroom and huffs out a sigh.
"It's been fifteen minutes babe," he says, walking around the bed to where I'm sitting cross legged on the bare mattress.
"Oh." I shrug and grin sheepishly, turning my body more towards him. He knows me well enough to know that I will always take any free time I possibly can to read my books.
He grabs the book from my lap and tosses it to the side, smiling once he sees the cover of the book. He runs his hands down my bare arms, triggering goosebumps, and once he gets to my hands, our fingers interlock together.
"With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls,
For stony limits cannot hold love out," Tre quotes from Act 2 scene 2.
I smile adoringly at him. "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite," I quote another passage from the same scene.
Tre bends his head down and presses his lips against mine in a chaste kiss. "How many times are you going to re-read Romeo and Juliet?" He asks once we pull apart, resting his forehead against mine.
"Until I figure out a way they both could have survived," I reply sarcastically, pressing my mouth up against his again, one kiss just not being enough for me.
A hums reverberates in his throat and he softly laughs after our lips separate. "Good luck with that one. Maybe they should have taken some notes from us."
I bend my head back and release a loud laugh. "Maybe they should have." I bite my lip and squeeze his hands.
"We really should finish getting all of the boxes loaded into the truck. We have a long drive ahead and I'd like to try to avoid as much traffic as we can."
"Okay," I nod and he pulls me up from the bed. I grab the book that lays at the corner of the mattress and then do another glance around the bare, empty bedroom.
The past few days were spent packing up everything into boxes that I wanted to keep and donating what I didn't want anymore. Tre helped me sort through my things and for the past few days we've had a lot of late nights packing and then falling into bed at 3am exhausted. Tre and I shared this apartment for my final year in Detroit. Granted, he doesn't stay here a lot of the time because he's traveling around the country working at different jobsites. The apartment mainly consists of my stuff, with only minimal things from him. He didn't keep a lot here besides what's really important and essential to him, like his notebooks filled with his writings. It's been nice though having a place to call our own, even if it is just me here most of the time. Since my first three years were spent with Sam and Reina, I was happy to have a place more to myself since my work schedule at the hospital was always unpredicatable and I'd come home at ungodly hours sometimes.
Tre is taking his two week vacation time off from work now so he can help pack up our things before we travel up to New York to get me settled into my new apartment.
Three months ago, I got my acceptance letter into Columbia University for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Columbia was in my top three medical schools I wanted to apply to and it was in New York City. I also had gotten acceptance letters into University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. But even though those were also very prestigious medical schools that students would do anything to get into, New York was where my heart wanted to go. It felt like the perfect fit for me. I finally get to live some of the city life like I've always wanted. New York City will be a huge transition and adjustment, but I'm ready for this new chapter in my life.
So much is vastly changing. My graduation ceremony was three days ago on Sunday afternoon. I can't believe how fast the past four years went by. I remember being an excited freshman ready to take on a new chapter in adulthood. Now I'm a graduate with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a minor in Psychology. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with multiple chords and a sash from Delta Epsilon Mu, the pre-health fraternity I joined at the end of my sophomore year.
Graduating is bittersweet for me. I ended up gaining new experiences and meeting new people. I worked as a paid intern at the general hospital and got so much eye-opening experience that I already know what kind of doctor I want to be. I also fell in love with photography and it's become my favorite past time when I'm not working or doing homework. My friendship with Sam and Reina grew even stronger and we consider each other like sisters. We all kept each other sane and we made so many memories while living together for two years. College was so much fun. I'm sad that this part of my life is over, but I'm so excited to move forward onto bigger and better things.
The graduation ceremony ended up being extremely long and I was exhausted before they even got to my name. But once they announced, "Evangeline Rose West, Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Summa Cum Laude," I was overcome with so much joy and relief. I could not stop smiling and tears filled my eyes as I walked across the stage and received my degree. I could hear Sam, Reina and Cooper cheering along with their families. I also heard very loud whistles and claps, which I knew had came from Tre. His smile was huge once I saw him outside the building after the ceremony ended. He immediately took me into his arms and lifted me up off the ground, spinning me around while I buried my face in his neck.
"I'm so proud of you baby," he said after he set me back down on my feet and kissed me deeply.
He wiped a lone tear away that had escaped my eye and I still couldn't stop grinning. "I can't believe it's over," I said as I looked around at the students of my graduating class who are either taking family pictures or saying their goodbyes.
"Now this is the beginning of your new chapter," Tre told me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I draped my arms around him, my hands clasping at the back of his neck. I brought my face closer to his and gave him a soft peck on his lips. "I'm glad you're here with me."
His hands squeezed my waist and he smiled. "I said you'll always have me. There's no where else I'd rather be."
Tre was the only person I had brought to the ceremony. He was the person I wanted there the most. It didn't make me sad either that I didn't have anybody else to bring to come see me walk across the stage. I hadn't spoken to Johnathan and Sylvia since the last time we argued in my dorm four years ago. I thought about letting them know that I was graduating, but then I thought about how they hadn't made any effort to try to contact or reconcile with me. There were never any calls or texts, nothing that would make me think that they actually still cared or thought about me.
That was the one thing that I had still struggled with in my life. How my biological parents completely ignored me and shut me out after torturing me my entire life. It wasn't that I even wanted to speak to them, but throughout my therapy sessions, I realized that I was still struggling with this issue because I didn't have any closure from them. There was a small part of me that just wanted to see if they had any ounce of care towards their daughter. So last December, I called them on Christmas Eve. I wanted to throw up and my hand was shaking while holding the phone up to my ear. Tre was sitting right next to me on our couch, running a hand gently down my back as I waited for them to pick up. The call was put straight to voice mail. I tried to keep my voice steady as I left a short voice mail.
Hi, it's Eva. I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and I've been thinking about you recently. I'd really like you to call me back when you get a chance please. I hope you're having a happy holidays. Bye.
Complete radio silence. I never got a call back. I waited for days to hear from them and they never called. I tried to ignore the sting I felt from their resentment, but it did hurt me. I had remedied everything else in my life and gotten myself to a better place, I just wanted to have closure with them. The silence on their end was loud enough for me to understand that they were still the same selfish, coldhearted people they always were. Even though I had changed and matured through the years, they hadn't changed at all. I never want to be around people that are so toxic and unwilling to change. I lived most of my life trapped in that kind of prison and I will never go back to it.
That was the last straw that had barely been holding on. Once their call didn't come, I deleted their number and rid myself of any way to contact them. I didn't dwell much on the initial sting they made by their silence. They weren't worth it after all of the pain I went through with them. I moved forward and didn't think of them anymore. I had gotten the answers I wanted.
Tre had been supportive in my decision to try to contact them and he understood why I felt hurt when I didn't receive a call back, even though we both knew that it was already a lost cause to try. He was really pissed at them, surprisingly much more than I was, and he was supportive when I decided to move on from the situation without another thought. In his words, "Fuck them. They don't deserve to have you in their life."
So when it actually came to the graduation ceremony, it was a no-brainer that I would not be inviting them. It was my day that I had worked my ass off for the past four years to get there, nothing was going to ruin it for me. I wanted to end my college life on a happy, positive note, and that's exactly what it was. I wanted to be surrounded by the people that truly mattered to me.
After a couple of minutes of me and Tre standing outside the building, Reina and Sam eventually came over to us with their families. I finally let out my tears once I hugged them both. Hugging them while dressed in our black caps and gowns just made it all set in for me. It was real. We had made it to the end. It wasn't an easy journey, but we finally achieved the end goal. I got so overwhelmed with my emotions and I hugged the girls so tight, not even caring how much I was crying then.
"We finally made it bitches!" Sam said once we all pulled away, wiping a few tears of her own.
"Hell yes we made it!" Reina shouted raising her arm up and I laughed, wiping my eyes.
"I'm so glad I met you guys," I told them, sniffling. "My life would not be the same without you two in it."
"Stop it Eva, you're gonna make me cry again," Sam lightly pushed my shoulder and I chuckled, looking over at Tre who was watching us with a smile on his face.
"When did you say you were leaving for Chicago?" I asked Reina as Cooper walked over in his cap and gown and greeted us all.
"Coop and I are leaving in two days to move our stuff into the apartment," she replied, after kissing his cheek.
"Tre and I are leaving Wednesday. We're still packing up everything in the apartment."
"I'll be in New York by this Friday," Sam reminded me and Reina playfully pouted.
"I can't believe you guys are going to be in New York City and we'll be all the way in Chicago."
Her and Cooper are moving back to Chicago and working as R.N's for the Northwestern General Hospital. They both loved their city too much to lever eave it for good.
"That's why you have to come and visit us," I told her and she nodded.
"Oh we'll definitely be visiting you guys a lot."
I turned and smiled at Sam as I thought about what the upcoming week would bring. Sam and I are both moving to New York City. Sam always said that she wanted to live in NYC because of the massive art scene there, so last month when she accepted a job as an artist for a relatively new studio gallery, we knew that our journey together was not yet over. She would be staying in a small studio apartment that's only 20 minutes away from the apartment I will live in near Columbia's campus.
"Meet you in the big apple babe," Sam winked at me and I smirked back.
It's funny just how life has been falling into place. I got accepted to Columbia and then Sam got her job offer. Reina and Cooper will only be one flight away and Tre, well Tre will be right there with us as we all move on to our new chapters.
After we all took the graduation pictures together and then went out to a big dinner with their families, our little friend group decided to get together one last time before we went our separate ways. We went to Reina and Coop's apartment and spent the evening talking and reminiscing on our college years. With drinks in our hands and music playing, we laughed and cried at all of the good memories we had. As we sat around their living room, I looked at my small group of friends and felt so much joy and love. It's amazing just how much your friends truly become your family. No matter what happened in life, we would always have this little family between us and nothing could ever tear us apart.
"Here's to making new memories in our future," Reina toasted, holding up her wine glass.
"To the fun times and many more to come." Cooper followed suit and raised his beer bottle.
"To my family, who I will always love forever," I said raising my glass, swallowing down the lump that wanted to form in my throat.
"To Trell." Sam raised her glass and I felt my eyes get misty.
After our dinner earlier, we had gone to the cemetery together to say hi to Trell. We all knew that he was looking down from the clouds being so proud of us for graduating. Through the last three years, he was always here with us in spirit and we never forgot about him.
"To everyone and everything we love that has helped us all get to this moment," Tre said from beside me, lifting his glass that was filled with water.
Cheers. We all clinked our glasses together and took a drink.
"Get ready world, we're coming for you full force." Reina said after she downed her wine in three gulps and we all smiled at her antics.
I looked up at Tre and smiled at him. He leaned over and gave me a soft kiss.
"I love you," I whispered to him after our lips parted, starting to feel the effects of my alcohol consumption.
"I love you too, angel" he whispered back and I leaned my head on his shoulder, my body warming from the way my nickname sounded coming from his lips.
We both sat and watched our three friends excitingly talk about what we can do when we are all eventually in NYC together. There was so much happiness in the room, I couldn't help but smile as I looked at the people who completely changed my life. I never thought that this would be how things turned out, but I wouldn't change it for the entire world.
I glanced at Tre, who was taking another sip from his water glass, and felt immensely proud of what we've became together and as individuals.
Tre doesn't drink anymore. He hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since 2017. He didn't want to rely on drinking to solve or numb his problems, so he decided to stop before he got too deep. He also didn't smoke anymore. Once he started going to therapy and getting his life in order, he didn't want to take anything that would inhibit him from getting better. He wanted nothing in his way and he was tired of relying on substances to make him feel or not feel.
After that day we both were in the cemetery together after being broken up for 15 months, our lives changed. We both realized that we were still in love with each other and we would never love anybody else as much as we did for one another. We wanted to try again, this time the right way. I don't think it was a coincidence that we both happened to go to the cemetery that day at the exact same time. Something in the universe was already written and we were both meant to be there.
Once we started dating again, it felt like we were picking up right where we left off. Only now we were more mature and knew how to avoid our previous mistakes. It had felt like we were really a partnership. We were our own individuals and we came together as a supportive unit. We were on the same page, being open and honest with each other about everything. We knew what we wanted,what we needed and communicated them properly.
There was so much growth between us, it was almost surreal just how far we had come. I was so proud of him and he was of me. I think I fell even more in love with him when I finally saw the person I always knew he was deep down. Underneath all of that darkness and pain was a good man. A true adonis in every form. I fell so hard for him, I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving him. He was the missing piece to my life, he completed my puzzle. And it was us together against the world, the way it should always be.
Once Tre and I left Reina and Coop's apartment after midnight, Tre drove us back home. I was feeling tipsy, but I wasn't drunk. Since Tre doesn't drink anymore, I never drink much either. Even though he always tells me that I can have drinks, I still don't have much. I am extremely proud of his choice of staying sober that I want to show my endless support for him, which means not drinking too. Which I don't mind, I have never been that big into drinking a lot anyways. I think life is better not having anything inebreating you from being in the moment.
During the car ride home, I kept looking over at Tre, staring intensely at the man who makes my body light up and my mind go blank. He glanced at me multiple times, catching my stare that I didn't even bother trying to hide. He didn't say anything, but the corners of his mouth turned up, signalling he knew what was starting to form between us. As our hands were interlocked and resting on my thigh, he rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand like he usually does when we hold hands. Feeling his touch always makes my skin tingle.
When we walked up hand-in-hand to our apartment and got inside, Tre pushed me against the closed door, kissing me deeply and making my head spin. One of his hands cupped my cheek and the other went to my waist, pinning me against him as his mouth made love to mine. A moan vibrated from my throat and I brought my hands up to his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly and trying to pull him closer to me than he already was. I let out a soft wimper as Tre's lips moved down my neck, licking and lightly sucking at the skin. His hands ventured under my thighs and picked me up, my legs wrapping around his waist. I put my hands on the nape of his neck as our lips collided more feverishly like we couldn't get enough of each other. He walked us back to our bedroom, setting me down and pushing me back onto the bed.
He ripped his shirt over his head and then crawled on top of me, his hands moving up my body. I was already breathless when my shirt came off and when our bare chests pressed together, I could swear he could feel how fast my heart was beating against his. Feeling Tre's bare skin on mine is like an electrifying sensation. It's addicting, like I never want to stop feeling his warmth that makes me feel at home. Tre makes me feel home. He is my home.
As the rest of our clothes came off and our kisses became deeper, I felt like I was on fire. My body ached for his touch and my skin burned as he left his love imprints all over me. The feeling of his lips lingered as he made sure to leave no part of my body untouched. I let out a slew of moans and gripped the back of his hair as he brought his head down between my opened thighs.
Whenever Tre touches me, it always feels like he is worshipping my body. My body is a temple and he is the king who praises it.
He's a mixture of rough and soft, knowing the perfect way to combine them together to make me feel everything.
"Fuck," I moaned when he had put his hand around my throat, his fingers pressed right underneath my jawline where I felt a lightheaded weightlessness.
We were on a euphoric high, high off each other. Watching him above me and thrusting inside me, I almost felt like I was hallucinating, overwhelmed with his aura that was combining with mine. It was intense, feeling connected to him and soul baring, blazing like we just caused a wildfire.
The entire bedroom was burning up, flames danced around us as we showed our love to each other. The bed was untouched by the flames, staying inflammable as we succumbed to the fever of our desires.
I dug my nails into his back and bit the bottom of his lip as his hips collided rapidly with my mine. We couldn't get enough. His fingers gripped and squeezed at my waist, bringing me closer to him and flipping our position around.
"I love you," I whispered to him as he laid on his back, watching me roll my hips on top of him in a steady rhythm.
He sat up and ran his hands down my spine, stopping when he got to my lower back. He held me against him as my hips rolled against his, making us both lose our breaths.
"I love you forever, my angel," he replied, breathing unsteadily. He gripped my hair in his hands and pulled, forcing my neck back and softly biting down onto the exposed skin. Our moans mixed together in our own kind of melody, music to our ears as we both rose up to the fiery heavens.
We took and replenished, draining the other's love until we could feel our hearts beating in synchronization. I gripped Tre's shoulders as my legs started to shake, moaning his name as I came undone in his arms, him following right after me. Our foreheads pressed together as we both breathed heavily, trembling from the lingering aftermath of euphoria.
I looked into his eyes, his pupils dilated and swirling with pleasure. My heart was bursting with how much I love this man who keeps me safe and sane. He owns my heart and I own the key to his. I grew up wondering if soul mates were real. Meeting Tre, I already knew that answer.
Our souls are intertwined and made up of the same matter. Tre's always been tied to me with an invisible string that keeps us together even when we're apart.
"Will you help me with this heavy box and then we'll get the last two?" Tre asks when we walk out of the bedroom.
"Yeah."
We both take a side of the big kitchen box and walk out of the apartment to the small haul trailer that's attached to the back of my white SUV. In the fall of 2018, I finally saved up enough money to buy my first car. It was a proud moment for me. I was happy to have something of mine that I actually own and has my name on it.
The haul trailer is almost filled with all of the boxes and furniture, but we're able to get the last three boxes and our mattress to fit in. When Tre closes and locks the door, he turns to me and smiles.
"Let's take our last look."
I nod and grab his outstretched hand. We walk back to the apartment and do a final look through to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. It's weird walking through the bare rooms that we lived in for a year together. There were so many memories made here, like all of the late nights Tre and I laid awake in bed talking about books and mythology. Or when we danced in the kitchen during our making of brownies at 2am. This was the start of our new journey together and now it's over. We're ending the chapter to start another oneâa better one.
I grab my purse, water bottle, and notebook folder that were sitting on the kitchen counter. I make sure I have everything and then turn to Tre, who was looking at the living room where we spent a lot of nights sitting on the couch with the lights off and looking at the stars out the window.
"You ready?" He asks, walking towards me.
I nod. "Yeah, I'm ready."
He kisses me one last time before we leave, shutting the door to our finished life here.
We get in the car and I sigh as Tre drives us out of Detroit. I watch the buildings pass by and get smaller as we leave the place where our story started together. This was where our love began. A piece of our hearts will always be in Detroit, but it's not where our home is. I look over at Tre and smile internally at how he focuses on driving. No matter where we travel to together, we'll always already be home.
I adjust to get comfortable in my seat for the 9.5 hours that Tre and I are taking turns driving. We listen to our music playlists over the Bluetooth as the city behind us gets smaller and the interstate grows longer. I bring my book from out of my purse and open the frayed pages that have gotten their use the two years I've had this book. I've read Romeo and Juliet five times since I found this book at an eclectic bookstore. Tre always teased me about re-reading it, but when I told him why I love the play so much, he understood why I wanted to keep re-reading it. One time, I did get him to read it with me so we could talk about the parallels between our story and theirs. We spent a whole night just talking about that and how crazy it is that our relationship is like Romeo and Juliet personified. But we are the one's getting our true happy ending.
I set the book aside and open my notebook folder that is my most prized possession. Not because of what it is, but because of what it contains. I sift through the pieces of paper until I find what I want. I gently take out the small notebook piece of paper that's in Tre's handwriting.
This is the first letter he wrote for me.
Once Tre graduated, he had started his new civil engineering job. After two months of staying in the Detroit field office to learn the ropes of the job, he started his required traveling. He was first going to be gone for three weeks in London. I was sad that he would be leaving, but I was also excited for him. I was proud that to see him starting what he's always wanted to achieve.
When he was gone and we figured out how to navigate the time differences, we got into a routine of talking on the phone once a day through face time and sending a few texts throughout our day if we had time. Our phone conversations were what we both looked forward to the most out of our days. It was hard to be away from each other, even though it was only for a few weeks. But we made it work.
Two weeks into him being away in London, I received a large envelope in the mail. My heart stopped once I saw Tre's name on the front and the London address. I quickly opened the envelope and found a piece of folded up notebook paper and three small Polaroid pictures. One picture was of the London Eye ferris wheel, another one was of the Globe Shakespeare theatre, and the last was of him with the London skyline in the background. I opened the notebook paper where the lines were filled with his sweet words. I cried as I read his letter and once I was finished reading, I immediately called him. Right when he saw my tears, he asked if I had gotten his letter. I couldn't speak so I nodded and tried to wipe my tears away. I missed him so much and it made my soul blaze for how thoughtful and romantic he is.
That became our normalcy and it made me fall even more in love with him. Anytime Tre would travel for long periods of time, he would send me letters and Polaroids of where we was. Sometimes he'd be gone for a week or two weeks, other times he'd be gone for a month. The longest time he's been away was when he went to Tokyo for seven weeks. It was during February and March of 2019. I had a little over a week off for spring break, so Tre ended up paying for me to fly out to him. I was shocked when he first suggested I come see him in Tokyo, but then I got excited at the thought of experiencing Japan with him. After arguing for a day over me wanting to pay for some of the trip, Tre finally convinced me to let him pay for my flights.
So when spring break came around, I was on the first flight out to Tokyo. The flight was 13.5 hours and I was jet-lagged once the plane touched down at the airport. But when I walked through the terminal and saw Tre standing there at the entrance waiting for me, I smiled wide and ran to him. I dropped my bags and jumped on him, his arms catching me and my legs wrapping around his waist. I let out a squeal and buried my face in his neck, missing how it felt to be in his arms. I got misty eyed as we kissed and expressed how much we love and missed each other.
Being in Tokyo with Tre was surreal. It felt like I was living in a dream I didn't want to wake up from. Whenever we walked around the city and experienced the food and culture, I couldn't believe I was actually here with him. It was the trip of a lifetime and I felt so blessed to be able to experience it. This time really solidified just how strong our relationship was. Despite all of the obstacles, we are getting through them together and making it work. We found what works best for us and we are thriving off of the system we set. We're open, willing, honest, and trying. That's what's makes our relationship flourish and is the reason why we are so deeply in love.
I will never forget our trip to Tokyo nor our first trip together to Paris, which happened that same summer. We walked the streets of Paris and acted like absolute tourists, taking pictures of everything we could and exploring all of the museums. My favorite memory was when we went up in the Eiffel Tower one evening. Tre was standing behind me and had his arms around my waist as we looked out over the city of lights. He then recited a poem he wrote for me a couple days before while I was asleep on the plane.
Consider this a promise to you, a promise that only I will keep. You are the flower that grows inside my heart. Heaven is anywhere you are. Forever and always you will be my angel with rose-colored wings.
I was speechless, but when am I not speechless at what comes out of Tre's mouth? I turned slightly to look at him and the golden lights that reflected on his face. He was staring at me intensely, but his eyes were sparkling. Mine were too. I didn't even have to say anything, he knew exactly what I wanted to say to him.
I love you, forever and always.
"Are you reading through my letters?"
I look over at Tre and smile at him. "Yeah I am. You know they're my favorite things."
"I still look at the pictures you sent me," he tells me, putting one of his hands on top of my thigh.
When Tre started sending me his letters, I would email him pictures I had taken with my camera. I'd send him a couple of my favorite ones that I'd take throughout the week and in the email I'd write a little note about the pictures and where I took them. Him sending his letters and me sending emails, it has become a nice balance for us.
"I have all of yours in here." I flip through the organizers of the notebook to where I keep the Polaroids he mailed me. Tre had written on the back of the pictures the date and location, so I have them organized from the most recent to the oldest. I look at them whenever I miss Tre or when I just want to look back at the memories. Every time I look at them, it feels like I'm seeing them again for the first time.
"I think I might print some of yours out and frame them," he says, making me smile.
"Really?"
He nods. "Of course. They're really good pictures, better than what I've taken. I'm kind of jealous, babe."
I laugh and grab ahold of his hand on my thigh, intertwining our fingers. "I feel very flattered that you love my pictures enough to frame them."
"Could put some in the apartment," he suggests and I nod.
"Yeah we can do that. I'd like that."
The apartment I'm living in, Tre will also be staying there when he's not traveling for work. Once I decided on Columbia, Tre had looked into the other offices that his job had around the country and it turned out that there is an office located in New York. Tre transferred to this one so we could be based in NYC while I finish medical school. I told him that he didn't have to move with me if he didn't want to leave, but he was more than happy to officially move out of Detroit. He feels the same way I do about my hometown, there's nothing there for me anymore so there's no reason to stay.
After staying in a place for so long that holds more bad memories than good ones, you want to get out and live with a different kind of scenery. That's New York City for us. Our new life for the next four years.
Throughout the long drive there, me and Tre take turns driving. We stop off a couple of times at the rest stops, but we still make good time. Boredom sets in after 4 hours in the car, so we spend an hour playing the license plate game and I Spy.
"I won and you know it," Tre gloats and I shake my head after we finished playing.
"You did not win, you cheated."
"I did not," he says and I laugh loudly.
"Yes you did Tre! There is no way you saw an orange bush on the side of the interstate."
He so cheated, he just won't admit it. Tre's competitive and doesn't like to lose games. He'll do anything to win, including making up an unreal thing in I Spy.
"There was one, you just didn't see it."
I call bullshit.
"You're a fucking liar," I lightly slap his arm and then sit back in my seat. "And a sore loser."
"You're the sore loser, babe. I won. I don't make the rules."
"I want a rematch," I say and playfully pout.
Tre rolls his eyes and groans. "Fine. Go ahead."
I smile and he shakes at head at me, trying not to smile.
I look out the window. "I spy something blue."
"A blue bush."
"Fuck you Tre."
"Love you too babe."
The rest of the car ride is spent either talking or in silence while one of us rests as the other drives. It's obvious when we get closer to New York because the traffic starts increasing immensely. Soon we are among the hundred of cars heading straight to the city. Seeing the skyline in the distance makes me squeal internally in excitement. The skyscrapers grow bigger and I look out the window at awe of the majestic city.
"Welcome to New York City," Tre says as we finally get off the interstate.
"It looks amazing," I smile.
We head towards Columbia's campus and get away from a lot of the downtown merging traffic. Columbia is only about 15 minutes away from downtown New York City. Which is nice because we're far enough away to not deal with as much of the fast-paced downtown life, but we're close enough to be able to do whatever we want in the city.
We pass by the university campus as we get to the apartment complex in the Upper West Side and I cannot wait to walk on the beautiful campus when classes start next week.
"You excited?" Tre asks me and I grin.
"I'm so excited. I cannot wait."
We pull into the parking lot of the apartment building and I am excited to see the apartment. Since Tre will be living here as well, we decided to get a two bedroom apartment so we could have more space in case we need it. Which, considering that we both will be paying, it wasn't that much more expensive for the extra room.
"Is it all that you imagined?" Tre asks me once we walk inside the apartment and go through the whole space.
"It's even better," I reply, looking out the large windows in the living room area. We have a great view of the city skyline.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Tre says from behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the side of my neck.
"It's gorgeous," I answer. "Imagine how it looks at night."
I turn around in his arms and I smile up at him. "I'm so happy," I tell him. "I can't even describe it."
"Welcome home, angel," he kisses my forehead and then my lips.
"You are my home," I whisper after our lips part. "No matter what place we're in, I'll always find home with you."
He brings one of his hands up and caresses my cheek. "I'll always come home to you."
"You better or I'll kick your ass," I teasingly remark and he laughs.
"Come on let's get our stuff in and then we can figure out what to do for dinner."
By the time we move in our stuff and the apartment floor is covered with boxes and containers and wrapped furniture, the sun is already setting and casting shadows against the city skyline. We're too tired to unpack most of our things, so we just get out the essential things we need and will save the rest for tomorrow.
I look up a Chinese restaurant that's close by and we order takeout since we feel exhausted from the long day. We take a shower to wash the grime of the day away and get dressed right as our takeout is delivered. We sit on the floor of our living room, with a single lamp on that we placed a couple feet away from where we are, and use one of the cardboard boxes as our dining table.
"You're getting better at using your chopsticks," Tre points out, scooping more fried rice into his mouth.
"Thanks. I've been practicing ever since Tokyo." I was never good at using chopsticks. My friends and Tre tried to show me how but I could never figure it out. When Tre and I went to Japan, I finally learned how to. I wasn't very good then, but I was putting in a good effort that was appreciated. I'm still not the best at it, but each time I'm able to use chopsticks, I find it easier than the previous.
"You know what I was thinking about when we first walked in here?" Tre asks and I stop chewing.
"What?"
"I was thinking of how much I want to see you standing in front of the windows of our future house," he says, putting his chopsticks down.
I also put down my chopsticks. "When does this happen?"
"I don't know," he smiles and shrugs. "I just want that for us."
I return his smile and softly laugh. "One day I'll be walking towards you while wearing a white dress and we'll have our forever together."
"We're already starting it."
He's right. Our forever has been started. It started the moment we got back together.
"To forever, Trevante?" I ask, grabbing his hand.
"Always, Evangeline," he replies, leaning across the box to kiss me.
Our takeout sitting on our makeshift table is forgotten about as I pull Tre closer, laying down with him resting over me. Even though we are exhausted, we have just enough energy to christen our new apartment.
This is the just the beginning for us. We're writing a new chapter and it's one that we've been waiting for. We don't know what's to come. These next four years can bring anything, but for Tre and I, we know that we'll get through it. We always do. Not matter what happens, we'll always be here, ready to take on the storms together.
Laying on the floor with our clothes scattered around us and trying to catch our breaths, I look at Tre and he looks at me. We both stare silently, watching our dreams and future shine in each other's eyes.
He's my fire and I'm his gasoline. We're just meant to be together.
Now we're ready to set ablaze to this new chapter and watch our futures unfold.
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Hello lovelies! I'm so excited to finally get this one out to you. We have one final chapter and then this book will be over :( But I might have some additional plans for the book, so stay tuned.
Most of you wanted to do a Q&A that I talked about in the previous chapter. So put your questions here and I will answer them after the epilogue. The questions can be anything related to myself or this story/characters. Basically, you can ask me anything you want lol and you can also ask me multiple questions if you have them. I am really looking forward to answering them!
Thanks for reading and supporting this story. I'm sad that this is ending, but I am so thankful for all of you and your endless amount of love and support. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy in this new year.
-Bekah