Summary: The night before she leaves for college, Vanessa (ILITW MC) and Connor talk about the future of their relationship.
Author’s note: This was written for Round 54 of #ChoicesCreates: Important Questions/Weddings
It was Vanessa’s last night in Westchester before leaving for college. After he got off work, Connor had taken her out to eat, and then had driven them to a private spot. As he turned off the ignition, she unbuckled her seat belt. She leaned closer, then stopped as she noticed the troubled expression on his face.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked him.
“Well, you’re leaving tomorrow. It’s going to be hard not having you around any more.” He looked at her sadly.
“I know you’ll miss me. I’ll miss you too.” She reached out to comfort him, but he pulled away. Her eyes widened in shock. What was going on with him?
Connor took a deep breath. “You’re going to be meeting new people, and making new friends. I don’t want to hold you back.”
Tears welled up in Vanessa’s eyes. She couldn’t believe he was saying this to her. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“Maybe that would be best,” he said quietly.
Vanessa felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart. “What the hell? I thought you loved me.”
“I do love you, Vanessa.” He looked to her, and she could see the pain in his eyes.
“Then why? I don’t understand.” She felt a tear run down her cheek.
“Because things will change,” he explained. “None of my friends are still with the people they were dating in high school. My friend Joe and his girlfriend were really serious, but she met someone else after she left for college. You’ll meet lots of other guys. Do you really want to be tied down to me?”
“I love you. You’re the only one I want to be with. And I won’t be that far away. I can come home on the weekends.” She wiped her eyes as the tears continued to fall.
Connor lowered his head. “You’ll have more fun on campus. There’s not much to do here, and there are so many bad memories. You don’t really want to come back here every weekend, do you?”
Vanessa reached for his hand. “Connor, I love you. I don’t want to be with anyone else. We’ve been through so much together. And yes, I do want to come back to see you. What makes you so sure I’ll have more fun on campus? I don’t know anyone there. I don’t make friends easily. Before I started hanging out with Stacy and the others again, I didn’t have any real friends.”
“It’s just that…” Connor looked up, and their eyes met. “When I graduated, I couldn’t wait to get out of here. I guess I thought you might feel that way.”
“Well, I don’t.” She smiled slightly. “So, where do we stand now? Do you still want to break up with me?”
He shook his head. “Of course not.”
“Good.” She leaned in and kissed him. “And I don’t have to come back every weekend. I hope you’ll come see me too.”
Connor grinned. “Definitely.”
“But we can still have a good time here.” Vanessa pushed her seat all the way back, then reached out to Connor and pulled him to her.