Page 49 of Eleanor & Grey
* * *
When morning came and it was time for our goodbyes, I wasn’t ready for him to go. Truth was, I’d never be ready to say goodbye to him.
He held me in his arms, and I held him back. “Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for everything,” he replied before whispering against my ear. “You have her smile. Did you know that? You have your mom’s smile.”
That made me hold him even tighter.
“What now?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” I didn’t have a clue what happened next.
“We’ll keep in touch, yeah? With email? Or you can call me? Or anything...”
“Of course, but also, I want you to live up college.”
“And you live up your life down here too.”
“We’ll check in,” I swore. “On the good days and the bad.”
“Always. Especially on the bad. When the hard things happen, we lean on each other. OK?”
“Pinky promise?” I held out my hand.
He linked his pinky with mine. “Pinky promise.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and swayed. “I don’t know how to say goodbye to you, Ellie. I don’t know how to let you go.”
“No need to let go. I’m always here.”
He moved in closer and enveloped his arms around me.I fell into him the same way I always did—effortlessly. Our foreheads touched, and we took our breaths together. In that moment, our timing was right. He was there, and I was there, and we were one.
“I love you, Ellie,” he whispered as his lips hovered ever so close to mine. “I know it’s bad timing, and I know I probably shouldn’t say it, but I love you. I love everything about you, even the parts you think are too sad to be loved. I think those parts are the most beautiful. I think all the parts of you are perfect, and I just wanted you to know that you are the first person I’ve ever loved, and it’s easy to do it. It’s so easy to love you.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I smiled because I knew. “I love you too, Greyson. Every single part of you.”
How could I not? He was him, and I was me, and we were us.
“Ellie?”
“Yes, Grey?”
“Would it make it harder to walk away if I kissed you?” he asked.
“Yes.” I moved in closer, so close that his lips were millimeters from mine, so close that his breaths out became my breaths in. We were so close that my mind had already decided it was going to be the best goodbye kiss of my life. “But do it anyway.”
And then he did.
19Greyson
FROM: [email protected]
DATE: September24, 8:54 PM
SUBJECT: College
Hey Ellie,
