Cheeky ➻ Louis Partridge

29 | Goodbye, Darling

Y/N

_

"WELL WHAT do you know?" Caleb said, holding out his arms towards me, "James Bond is leaving London."

The busy sounds of the airport almost drowned my friend out, but I made sure to hang onto his every word. As I brought him in for a hug, I patted his back in subtle assurance that I was going to be okay.

He, Sadie, and Louis had hopped in a Taxi to accompany me to the airport, but that just made it harder to leave them. I wished they could get on the plane with me.

"I was never really good at that spy stuff," I laughed, pulling away reluctantly, "but I suppose going home is my final mission."

Caleb smiled, "hurry back soon, will you?"

"Next summer."

"That's still too far away," Sadie sighed, running past Caleb and into my arms, "I don't want you to leave me!"

"I don't want to leave you either," I mumbled, squeezing her into a hug, "but I promise I'll call whenever I can."

"You better...or else!"

"Is that a threat?"

"Yes," she said, sliding away, "it is."

I laughed, my fingers grazing against the top of my suitcase handle in woe. I felt like just moments ago I was in the theater, and yet here I was, about to get on a plane. A plane back home.

Well, I had to say goodbye to someone first.

"Hey," I smiled, turning to the boy next to me, "you okay?"

Louis had been silent the entire time, just watching me with a sad look on his face. I couldn't tell if he was trying to cherish every moment left, or if he was trying his best not to think about where I was going next.

He held my hand the entire car ride because he said he didn't want to forget how it felt.

"No," he said, exhaling a puff of air, "I'm not going to lie to you."

I tilted my head, "I'll call you as soon as I land."

"Can you call me on the plane?"

"Louis, no," I laughed softly, "it's not allowed."

There was a moment of silence, where the boy glanced at my two friends standing beside us. They were staring at us blatantly, but seemed to get the message that we wanted a few minutes of space.

A few minutes were all we had, anyways.

Once my two roommates had scrambled off into the airport, Louis let out a choke. And then he started to cry.

He was holding it in this whole time. That must have been why he wasn't speaking.

"Hey, hey, hey," I whispered, pulling him into a hug, "it's alright, Louis, I promise."

He let out another choke, his voice cracking, "I'm just going to miss you so much."

"I know... I know."

"Just so freaking much."

"Remember what you said?" I reassured, kissing the top of his head gently, "when you miss me, just remember I'm on the other side of the phone, wishing you were next to me."

He let out an inaudible mumbled, squeezing me so tight I thought I'd pop. That made me squeeze back harder.

"I'm so glad I took the train that day," I smiled, "and I'm so glad you did too."

He nuzzled his head into my shoulder, the dampness of his tears rubbing into the fabric of my shirt, "I'm going to take the train everyday now."

"Why?"

"Just so I can hope I'll run into you again."

I laughed, reluctantly pulling away to see his face. His eyes were slightly red and puffy, a result of the tears streaming slowly down his face, but he still looked cute as ever. 

I pouted, "you know I won't be there, sadly."

"I know."

"Until next summer."

Before he had a chance to respond, my phone started to buzz, the timer I had set for myself ringing out into the terminal. Glazing at the digital clock, I realized my flight was due to leave in half an hour. 

I had to go.

Giving Louis a disappointed look, I laced my fingers into his and pulled him into our last kiss. The last kiss for a while, that is. 

"I should go," I sighed, pulling away to get my suitcase, "my parents are waiting for me back home."

He gave me a nod, watching me as I arranged my things to leave. He was silent again, his finger wiping off the wetness around his eyes, but he still kept a smile on his face. As I began to turn around, I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"One last thing," he said, a glint in his eyes, "there's something that came to my mind when we were dancing last night."

I raised a brow, "what?"

Pulling me closer, he leaned forward so his mouth was level with the side of my head. I could feel his breath on my skin.

"Everyone says Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story of all time," he whispered into my ear, a smile on his face, "but I think that's ours."

I blushed, tempted to cover my face in bashfulness. Even as I was about to leave, he never missed an opportunity to send a flirtatious comment my way. I'd miss that.

"I love you," I said, my hand grazing against his cheek.

He crinkled his eyes happily, "I love you too."

Kicking my suitcase onto it's wheels, I clicked my heels together in the effort to stay just a second longer. No luck. Time was still moving.

"Goodbye, darling," I whispered back, "thank you for everything."

As I grabbed my suitcase and began to walk into the terminal, I looked back one last time to see his face in person again. To see his wavy brown hair, his hazel eyes, and the winning smile on his face. He blew me a kiss, his arm outstretched towards me.

"Goodbye, darling," he called out.