Tessa's room was littered with clothes and shoes and accessories and bags with suitcases lying open on the floor and the girl standing in the middle of it all, confused with tears welling in her eyes. She choked on her sobs and hastily wiped at her cheeks before running out of the room and found Daniel in the lounge, fixing things around him.

"Hey, what's the matter?" He asked in confusion to see her tears. "Bambi, what's wrong?" He spoke gently and pulled her to him as she sniffled into his chest and clutched onto his clothes as if though afraid he would disappear.

"Make it stop," She cried. "Make it stop,"

"What? Make what stop?"

"It's all too fast! It's all happening too fast! One minute I was just joining a high school for the first time in my life and the next thing I know I am standing in the middle of a messed up room and packing for college! It's too fast! It's too fast!"

"Aw, sweetheart," Daniel stroked her back and sat down on the sofa, settling her on his lap and looking up at the despondency on her face. Her bloodshot and puffy eyes, with her blotchy cheeks, and droopy lips, and he was tempted to kiss the frown away. "Okay, now tell me, what's wrong?"

"I...I was packing for going and everything is a mess and I was reading up on the university and the courses and the syllabus and it's all so much! It suddenly hit me that I am leaving and moving on to the next phase in life and it's so scary! Will I get along with my roommate? Will I manage my classes? Will I get along with people? And who is going to be my Daniel once you're here and I am all the way in New York? I mean it's a 3-hour drive!"

"Okay, breathe," He murmured, nuzzling into her neck as she hiccupped and wiped at her tears. "Take a deep breath for me, Bambi,"

Her inhale came in stuttering halts before she hiccupped it out, trying it again once Daniel urged her to continue until her breathing came out stable.

"You're scared, and that's okay," He told her gently, caressing her arm as she rubbed at her eyes petulantly. "But, baby, you need to realize that in order to beat fear, you need to stop running away from what scares you and instead run away from what makes you comfortable and into the very thing that makes you tremble," He informed her, smiling at the confused expression she gave him.

"Look, let me put it this way. The day before you started high school, you were very much like this: agitated, on edge, and a nervous wreck, and you were terrified, right? Now once you took a deep breath and told yourself everything would be alright, you ended up learning so much and making so many friends. I mean, you met Jeremy there, and he's so invested in you and your progress, he's your best friend and won't be leaving you alone anytime soon. You can always expect to have him around, especially since he is going to Queens College which is literally a 20-minute drive from you. Jeremy can be your Daniel in Boston when I'm unavailable. And Bambi, you can call me whenever you need and 98% of the time, I will pick up. What's a 3-hour drive, huh? If you need me, I'll be there for you, you can count on that,"

"But..." She trailed quietly. "All that mess in my room?"

Daniel laughed at her words, hugging her close to him and leaning back on the couch with her head nuzzled beneath his chin, both of them quiet for a minute.

"Tell you what, I'll help you pack," She got up from his chest to look at him, their noses almost touching. "But in the morning, it's already 12,"

"What about all the mess then? Where will I sleep?"

"When have you ever hesitated to sleep in my room, huh, Bambi?" He brushed his nose to hers as she looked taken aback by the action, but chuckled when he smiled at her.

"Okay, fine," She got up from his lap and he let her leave, instantly feeling the lack of her warmth. "I'm getting changed then,"

"Alright," He nodded and watched her go into her room before he sighed and got up from his place, making his way to his own bedroom and pulling off the t-shirt and sweatpants he had on. Settling on top of the covers in his shorts. He lay with his arms folded behind his head and stared up at the ceiling in silence.

He heard the bedroom door open and close before Tessa came to lay down beside him in pastel yellow shorts and a striped yellow and white tank top, resting her head beneath his chin and listening to his heart beating.

"I'm leaving in three days," She murmured dejectedly, rubbing small circles on his chest. "What would you do once I'm gone?"

"Be sad about you leaving, then eventual get used to the fact that I won't have you greeting me every time I wake up or come home from work, and then continue on with my life," He shrugged and ran his fingertips up and down her arm.

"Why is it that..." Tessa stopped with the circling and started drumming her fingers instead. "You never got a girlfriend in the last one and a half year we've been together?"

"Because I had you," He told her quietly. "I never felt anything to be missing from my life as long as you were around," He sighed and turned so that he was lying on his side, an arm lazily draped over her waist as she looked up at him.

"Do you love me, Daniel?"

"Yes, I do," He nodded without a second's hesitation. "I love you, Tessa Forbes,"

"Love you, too," She giggled and cuddled into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulled herself closer to him, closing her eyes to fall asleep.

"But not in the way I love you," He murmured into her hair, placing a kiss at the top of her head before settling down to sleep.

Daniel and Tessa woke up early the next day and packed away the things she needed into her suitcases and put away the things she wouldn't be taking with herself. They went shopping to get some last minute things before boxing her other things.

And as the day drew nearer, Daniel grew quieter, and Tessa's nervousness grew as the days pass, and finally, it was time for her to leave. She would have flown, but Daniel suggested that he drive her instead and help her get settled.

"That's the last of it," Tessa slammed the trunk close as Daniel stood leaning against the car, looking out at her friends who came to see her off and a few of his colleagues from work whom she knew and was friends with. All of Daniel's family had skyped her and given her college pointers, telling her how they all were living close to her now so she could come over any time she wanted and that she was always welcome.

"Have a safe trip, teddy," Bruce, Natalie, Valarie, and Clint hugged her farewell, coming in for a group hug and telling her how much they'd miss her.

"See you in New York," Jeremy winked and pulled her into his side as she chuckled at him. "You'll be showing me around, promise?"

"I promise," She laughed at him, kissing his cheek as he grinned.

She hugged the police officers, thanking them all for everything and told them to take care of Daniel as they grinned and nodded.

"Bye, guys," She waved at them before settling in the passenger seat, Daniel giving them a two-fingered solute before getting behind the wheel.

They started the drive off in silence, both of them realizing that this was it. She was off to university now, and due to that realization, Tessa forced herself to stay awake and talk to Daniel throughout the drive. They both shared old memories and laughed at jokes, before finally talking about their favorite memory together.

"My favorite memory..." Tessa trailed. "When you and I finally got to understand each other and could read the other like no other," She smiled as Daniel chuckled.

"What about you?"

"The day we went to the petting zoo," He taught for a second before remembering the day he realized he was in love with her. "You had been pretty down after the hearing and I took you to the petting zoo and you had this...huge and gorgeous smile which just...took my breath away,"

"I remember," She nodded in enthusiasm. "The bunnies and goats,"

"Yeah,"

They talked throughout the time they stopped for lunch but then fell silent when Daniel informed her they had arrived in Boston.

"Welcome to Boston, Tessa," He sighed, squeezing the steering wheel as they neared their destination.

Pratt institution was a gorgeous evergreen campus with trees everywhere and students moving into their dorms with their friends and parents supporting them.

"I'll go find out where my room is and then we can move things," Tessa looked back at Daniel who nodded and watched her head towards the dorm building. She returned a couple of minutes later with a key in her hand and made her way to him, grabbing hold of one of her suitcases as he picked up the other.

They spent the rest of the evening unpacking and setting up her room before finally she was satisfied with how things looked. They had moved her clothes into the wardrobe, set up her bed and added a few personalized touches, making it look inhabited and homely while the other half of the room was empty and devoid of anything, her roommate not arriving until after a week.

"What's your roommate going to be like?" Daniel asked her as he settled on the vacant bed, a heavy weight settling on his chest to see everything settled and Tessa ready to stay.

"Philippine, I think," She rubbed at her head. "Yeah, she's a Philippine girl,"

"Let's hope she's good company,"

"Yeah," Tessa nodded, swallowing the ever-growing lump in her throat. "Dinner? You want to go grab some dinner?"

"Sure," He nodded even though his stomach was too twisted for him to even think about eating, but he agreed given how Tessa wanted to eat.

They went to a nearby burger king and ordered food before settling at a table in the corner, both of them trying to get the food down but failing and instead opted to get it packed before he went and dropped her back to her dorm.

"You won't stay?" Tessa swallowed, the tears welling in her eyes as the fear and anxiety hit her with full force. "Just for tonight?"

"I'm sorry, Bambi," He choked out a laugh, pulling her into him for a long hug. "No outsiders allowed,"

"Where will you go?" She sniffled into his chest, clutching onto his jacket.

"I'm going to spend the night at a motel and then leave first thing in the morning, so I won't be able to meet you when I leave,"

A silent whimper escaped her and she held onto him tighter, Daniel hugging back just as firmly and inhaling deeply.

"I have a gift for you," He sniffled, pulling back with a smile and taking out a small box from his pocket and offering it to her. "So that you don't forget me,"

Tessa chuckled before opening it, gasping at the contents inside. It was a gold charm bracelet with different charms hanging from it: a teddy bear, a deer, a star, and an infinity sign, along with a lighthouse and anchor, even a home, and a heart.

"Thank you," She grinned broadly, reaching her arms up to hug him close as he leaned down to be at her height. "I love it,"

"I'm glad you like it," He kissed her cheek, both of them pulling away since it was time for him to leave.

In the morning, Daniel found himself having hardly slept the night and sent Tessa a message when he was leaving back for Baltimore. The drive was a very difficult one for him emotionally and had him stopping every once in a while to get his bearing together, constantly telling himself that she was alright and that she could now take care of herself and didn't need him anymore.

But the worst was when he entered his apartment. 

It was empty and devoid of life and he found himself asking how he lived without her before.

Sniffling and wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he opened Tessa's bedroom door, his heart sinking to see it devoid of any personalized belonging, but halted when he saw brown stuffed teddy bear sitting on her empty bed.

Walking inside, he was momentarily hit by her perfume as he swallowed the lump growing in his throat and sat down on the edge of the bed, picking up the teddy bear against the headrest.

"For my dear, Casanova," The card read. "Hope you liked stuffed toys since it was small and cuddly like me,"

Daniel chuckled and wiped the tears before they could fall and hugged it close to him, reveling in the way it smelt like her.