Just When We Learned How To Live

Adam

While Matt sits on my over sized suitcase, and I'm supposed to be zipping it, I recall last night..

"Candle lit dinner? Walk by the beach? Now what, are you going to have your way with me, mister romance?" Walking along the dark moonlit beach isn't exactly my idea of romance. I'm too afraid of crabs and fishies to actually relax.

"Why, of course." Matt chuckles, probably able to hear the note of anxiety in my voice. Grabbing my hand, he leads me closer to the shore. The wet sand leaves imprints of our footsteps as gentle but freezing water glides over my toes. I squeak at the goosebumps forming along my arms.

Leaning in for what seems like an innocent kiss, Matt suddenly drags me down into the wet sand, fucking up my clothes. "Matt!" I cry out, annoyed. "That hurt-" His mouth quickly cuts me off in a slow, agonizing kiss. His tongue darts between my lips, and I'm too dazed for a few moments before realizing that I'm just laying beneath him, barley breathing.

Grabbing the front of his shirt, I rip open the buttons all at once as Matt smothers my neck in kisses. The moan building up in my throat is barely audible over the crashing of waves, the call of the seagulls from above.

Suddenly, a freak wave splashes over us, and we're sputtering water. I look him in the eyes, noticing the seaweed or kelp or something on his cheek. Picking it off, I say, "Your place or mine?"

"Adam, zip it!!" I look down and see that he's trying to keep in a pair of my skinny jeans. I zip it and he jumps off, wrapping me in a hug. "You always have too much stuff!"

I laugh. I'd already sent most of my things to the college, but I still had to have some stuff with me, so I have this giant suitcase to take on the plane. I sigh. "Where is everyone? They promised to say goodbye!" Matt giggles and I know something is up.

"What is it?" I ask, threatening him by grabbing the collar of his shirt, which is my shirt, really. I'm taking half of his clothes and he already has most of mine. Living together has been the most amazing thing ever. And now I have to leave.

"N-Nothing! Let's just get to the airport, come on!" I let out a sigh of slight frustration. As soon as we pull up, I know something is gonna happen. Those doofuses wanted to surprise me, yet they left their cars just SITTING OUTSIDE. I swear, my friends can be so dense. Still, I'm excited and nervous that this will be the last time I see them in a long ass freaking time.

Matt carries my bag for me and we step inside. I'm immediately rushed by my friends, who are stumbling over each other, trying to hug me first. Laughing, I look at each of them, trying to memorize their faces. Rayy and Jonas are here, who look like they're fighting again. I can tell because when they try to ignore each other, they look like they're about to faint without the other one holding him up.

Jake and Lisbeth are here also, beaming. Jake is holding Roarke, who's fighting to get out of his arms. "Adam! I wanna see Adam, mommy!" Jake sighs and lets him go, and a moment later I'm holding the precious five year old. Kissing him on the forehead, he holds out his hands and presents a melted Hershey mini bar.

I laugh and take it from him. "For moi?" I ask, teasingly.

He nods."Yup! It's your going away present. When are you coming back, Adam?"

I shrug, "Soon, Archie, soon." Lisbeth glares at me. Giggling, I mouth, 'sorry'. She doesn't want him to have that nickname, and he's been demanding that they call him that.

Finally I spot Gus and Hannah. I set down Roarke and hold them both in a hug. "I'm gonna miss you, guys." They both squeeze me a little too hard. "Gahh, you're killing me!" I look Hannah in the eyes. She hasn't really been the same bubbly girl since she saw her brother die. I have to admit, it's still creepy how everyone is kind of intermingled in that nightmare, but I try not to dwell on it too much.

Gus pulls me into an even bigger hug. "Love ya, dude." He winks and tries to purr. We all laugh like crazy and people in the airport look at us funny.

I pull away and look at Matt, who looks like he's trying hard not to cry. I pull his hands and wrap them around me. "I love you, Matt." I whisper, kissing his neck.

I can feel tears running down his face and the shudders coming from his body. "I love you, too."

A loud announcement over the PA speakers makes us jump. "PLANE 856 BOARDING, GATES CLOSE IN 3 MINUTES." I grab Matt in a kiss, wanting to desperately stay with him. His hands claw at my shirt, and finally we let go. I wave bye to everyone, and people are crying, but for some reason I just can't.

I watch as Matt stands there, waving. "I love you, Matthew Dakota Wilkens!" I scream through the airport, causing people to look at me with disgust, but I don't care.

He looks embarrassed for a moment but screams back, "I love you, too, Adam Alfonso Johnson!" Yeah, that's my middle name. Get over it, people!

Finally I'm through the gate and after all the security procedures, I'm on the plane. Sitting down, I look out the small window. The giant windows in the airport show Matt and all my friends waving goodbye. I blow a kiss and a couple of minutes later, the plane is rolling down the track.

As it really hits me that this is it, I'm wracked with silent sobs. A lady sits down next to me. "Are you alright?" She asks.

I nod, "I'm fine." We're off in the air and after awhile I fall asleep.

When a flight attendant wakes me up gently, she says, "We're landing in Burbank, California in five minutes time, sir." I nod and murmur a thank you. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I look out the window. I can't believe it. I'll finally be able to visit Los Angeles, Santa Monica, all that jazz!

When the plane lands I find my bag and call a taxi. The driver has a bad Texan accent and dark sunglasses. "Where to, sir?"

I look out the window and excitedly say, "The University of Redlands,"