It was still dark when I woke up.  Despite his careful movements, Harry had woken me up as he attempted to untangle himself from me.  Currently, he was working on releasing his leg that had somehow become trapped between mine.

“Harrrryyy,” I grumbled, nuzzling my face into his chest, which was still thankfully close.  “Don’t go.”  I knew he had to leave, of course.  What with getting busted only last night, he couldn’t very well get caught sneaking over to sleep at my house.  I knew that, but that didn’t stop me from hating it. 

“Shhh, I’m sorry, love.  I have to,” he whispered, his voice sounding twice as deep as it usually did in the early morning.  

“No,” I said stubbornly, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him to me as he gave up attempting to separate us.  His long arms wound around my torso to hug me back. 

“I don’t want to,” he mumbled into my hair.  My face pressed into his neck, where I let my lips place a tiny kiss on his skin.  My eyes were closed, hoping that maybe if I refused to wake up he’d give in and stay, even though I knew he couldn’t. 

“So stay,” I coaxed.

“I can’t, love.”

I sighed heavily, knowing he was right. 

“I wish you could.”

“So do I.  Someday, babe.”

“Someday, what?” I asked, perking my head out of his warm neck, suddenly intrigued. 

“Someday we won’t have to sneak around to sleep together.  We’ll just have our own place and no one will care,” he replied, a soft smile forming on his lips.  He was looking at me, but his eyes seemed distant, as if he was happily picturing the future where that could be a possibility.  “And then I’ll stay.”

“You really mean that?” I asked hopefully.  That sounded absolutely perfect to me, and I wanted it right now, despite it not being a current possibility.

“Mmhmm,” he hummed quietly, kissing my forehead.  “We’re closer, at least.  We graduate in a month after all.”

A sudden jolt of panic flooded through me.  It was something I had refused to even think about up until now: the looming threat of colleges and the high chance we would not go to the same one.  I didn’t even want to think about it, much less discuss it so early in the morning when all I wanted to do was snuggle into his chest. 

“Yeah…” I said quietly, hoping he wouldn’t press on the subject.  I needed time to think about how I would handle it if we didn’t end up going to the same place.  Without a doubt, I knew we would stay together, it would just be so incredibly hard if we were at different schools.  A chill ran through me that I tried to suppress, but failed to stop the tiny shudder that came along with it.

Harry wasn’t fooled by my attempts at being discreet, because he felt the shiver that ran through my body and noticed my evasive tone.  He squeezed his arms around me, sliding his palms up my back before looking me in the eye, much more present now than he had been a second ago.

“What’s that about?” he asked quietly, peering at me.

“Ah we don’t have to talk about it now,” I replied, still fairly certain I was not ready to have this conversation. 

“Babe, what is it? Just tell me,” he coaxed.

“It’s just… what are we going to do next year? What if we don’t go to the same school? How are we gonna deal with that? ‘Cause I can already tell you now it’s going to kill me to be away from you.  Like I can’t even fall asleep anymore without you here and you live three houses away,” I gushed, clearly needing to talk about it even more than I realized.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay. Calm down,” he said softly, smiling gently as he leaned forward to kiss the corner of my mouth.  “One thing at a time, yeah?”

I took a deep breath and tried to relax, focusing on his warmth pressing in on various parts of my body and the steady beat of his heart I could feel under his ribs. 

“Yeah, you’re right.  One at a time.”

“Harry I don’t think I can be away from you,” I said honestly, voicing my most prevalent worry first.  “Like I can’t physically stand to be apart.”

Concern etched across his features as he ran his hand up my back soothingly. 

“I’ve thought about that, too,” he said quietly.  “I really don’t think I can, either.  I mean look at us… can’t even fall asleep properly anymore.”

“I’m serious, Harry.  It will absolutely kill me to be away from you for so long.  I need you,” I whispered as a tightness crept into my throat, threatening to choke me into crying. 

“I know you are, baby.  And you know I need you, so that doesn’t leave us many options, does it?” he said, asking himself as much as me. 

“I just want to be wherever you are,” I admitted, hugging him to me tightly as if afraid he would get up right this moment and disappear forever. 

He kissed the top of my head gently as he continued the soothing motions of his hands.  “I know, love, I know.”

I stayed silent as I sniffed gently, forcing the tears that were still threatening to disappear. 

“You know I have to be where you are, don’t you, love?” he asked gently.  “Like I have to, not would like to or want to, have to.”

I smiled gently; I was familiar with the feeling. 

“Yes, Harry babe, I know.  I feel it, too.” I answered quietly.  I knew what he was saying was true, but that didn’t change the fact that it would save us from going to different schools. 

He nodded slowly. “So.  Have you thought about where you want to go?”

I bit my lip, frowning slightly.  “Kind of.  I dunno, not really.  I always figured I’d go to the state university ‘cause that’s just what I’ve grown up expecting to do.”  My heart beat nervously in my chest as I watched him listen.  “What about you?”

I was terrified he was going to say something prestigious like Yale or Harvard; he certainly had the brain to go there, and would surely be successful, but a selfish part of me hoped he had no aspirations of going to the Ivy League because there was no way I could follow.  He was already way too good for me, and him attending an Ivy League school full of other competent students would pretty much put the nail in the coffin of our relationship. 

I was so lost in my head thinking of the horrible possibilities that I didn’t notice him grinning widely at me.

“Are you serious?” he asked slowly.

“Yeah, that’s probably where I’ll go, why?” I responded, heart speeding up even more at his reaction, desperate to know what he would say. 

“’Cause that’s where I’m going.” He beamed at me in the dim room, face positively glowing in happiness.  My stomach flipped in my torso and my heart fluttered.

“No you’re not,” I said in disbelief, gaping at him. 

“I am,” he nodded again, dimples pushing into his cheeks.  “I was going to tell you later because I just found out but… I got a massive scholarship and can’t really pass it up.  Plus it’s a really good school from what I hear!” he said excitedly, lighting up as he discussed his future education and reminding me of the dorky boy that lurked beneath the surface of the boy I had completely fallen in love with.  I stared at him in shock, unable to grasp the ecstatic feelings flowing through me as they erased my worries about potentially being separated. 

“Baby, we’re going to college together,” he prodded happily, grinning widely at me as he waited patiently for my brain to catch up and allow me to speak.  My mouth opened to attempt to reply but ended up hanging open as I thought of the thousands of possibilities that now lay out ahead of us now that I knew we’d most likely be at the same school.

“Oh my god, Harry.  We’re going to college together!” I squeaked, finally regaining my ability to form words.  “Oh my god!”

My lips stretched into a wide smile, matching his own as he cupped my cheek in his hand and pulled me closer to press a kiss into my mouth.   He was smiling into the kiss, his lips pulling tight as he attempted to contain his excitement. 

“It’s going to be so amazing, Joey,” he whispered, stroking his thumb across my cheek as he held my gaze, white teeth flashing as he smiled. 

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?!” I chided, beyond giddy at his announcement as I playfully slapped his chest.  He caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my palm before speaking.

“I wanted to hear where you wanted to go first so you wouldn’t just say whatever I said,” he explained.  He was probably right to do so because there is a strong chance I would have done just that if he had spoken first.

“Well it wouldn’t have mattered ‘cause it’s the same place, dumby,” I teased, smiling widely as he played with my fingers.

“But I didn’t know that yet, dumby,” he returned, repeating my childish insult.  “I’m so excited, love.  There isn’t anyone else I’d rather start this with.”

I beamed happily at him and wound my arms around his neck again, pulling him so he settled on top of me the way I loved. The weight of his body was so comforting to me, and it made me feel safe.

“Me too, babe.  It’s going to be amazing,” I agreed happily.  He ducked his head down to kiss me, letting his lips mold perfectly around mine as he lingered for a bit before pulling back. 

“I love you,” he said quietly, resting his forehead on mine. 

“I love you back,” I replied, lifting my head to kiss him once more.  He grinned.

“Now that we’ve got our futures settled,” he started with a chuckle.  “I really do have to go or my mom is gonna kill me.”

I sighed heavily, much more willing to let him leave now that I knew we would be in the same place in a six months time. 

“Okay fine,” I conceded.  “Want me to walk you out?”

He shook his head.  “No baby, you just stay in bed.”

I nodded, happy I wouldn’t have to get out of bed and loose the residual heat that would be left behind from his body, the only thing I’d be able to cling to in attempt to fall back asleep without him.  His thumb ran slowly across my lower lip as he gazed at me contently. 

“Bye, love,” he said quietly.

“I’ll see you later?”

“Of course,” he grinned. 

“Good,” I smiled.  “Bye, Harry.”

“Bye, Joey,” he answered before kissing my lips one last time.  He gently removed himself from on top of me, quickly replacing the covers after climbing out of the bed, leaving me alone and instantly colder.  He grabbed his clothes off the floor and pulled them on, covering his beautiful body in preparation for his walk home.  Once he was dressed, he crossed the room and leaned down over my bed, running his hand along my cheek and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“Bye, for real now,” he said, giving me a glowing smile.

I giggled.  “See you soon, Harry.”

He grinned, wiggling his fingers at me as he crossed the room and slipped silently out my door, flashing his beautiful teeth as he closed it.  I sighed, sad to be alone but more than happy at how our conversation had gone.  With a peaceful mind and an overflowing heart, I closed my eyes to attempt to drift back to sleep, thoughts of Harry and his lingering heat the only thing making it possible. 

Sorry guys, I know it's a bit short but it's really late and I wanted to get this posted before I went to bed! Also, I've posted Chapter 2 of 'Resolution' so I'd really, really appreciate it if you could give it a read and vote/comment if you like it!! I should warn you, though: it's very mature so only read if you're okay with that. Love you all :) xx