Long-distance relationships are not so easy to handle after all.

It had been exactly seven months since Kian had last seen or touched Enzo. No matter how often they face timed or chatted through text messages, seeing his music videos and touching him over the screen did little to ease the ache in his heart.

Though his life had become a blur of academic classes and work at the cafe, he still needed to spend some time with his boyfriend, hold him, kiss him or at least watch him in person. None of that was happening for another two months.

After two months, Enzo's music band would return to LA, and Kian had been saving up for a killer vacation with his Rockstar boyfriend. Enzo didn't know it yet, but that's what surprises are for. Kian wanted to blow his mind away, and maybe, a weekend on a tropical island would certainly do that to Enzo.

***

Kian: The long hair looks sexy on you.

Enzo: You like it, Kiki? I was planning to cut...

Kian: No, leave them long. I want to dive my fingers through them while I take my pending dose of kisses from you.

Kian responded even before Enzo could finish typing.

Enzo: I miss you, Kiki.

Kian: More than you could ever imagine.

***

Some days were just a never-ending song of longing. His eyes remained glued to the phone, his heart whining for relief as he waited for Enzo's texts the whole day until he finally slept. His messages remained unanswered, and his phone calls were unreceived.

Those were the bad days of their love story. Kian endured it anyway. Love is not always a happy song, or is it? When it burns, it turns your resolve into ashes.

But Enzo never let him burn for long. His blanket of love always wrapped around Kian in time to save him.

***

Kian: Good luck with the France concert. You're going to kill it.

Enzo: I'm going to Facetime you after. Wouldn't you like to see me all sweaty and worked up?

Kian: I would love that. So, does that mean we're going to be sexting tonight?

Enzo: Hell yes, we are.

***

Enzo: How did the Physics papers go? Did you survive it?

Kian: Not as good as I expected, but I survived it. I'm not failing it.

Enzo: Damn, not. You're one fucking intelligent nerd. My nerd, might I add.

Kian: Only yours.

***

Kian: Can't believe you talked to my mom about us but also so proud of you for accepting our relationship so openly. It's like the best birthday gift ever. Also, I got the smart watch you ordered for me. Must say you went a little too far with 'spoiling your boyfriend thing'. I prefer you instead, by the way. Missing you.

***

Enzo: God, Kiki. Are you trying to kill me? I know I commented "Mine" on your post, which was a total possessive asshole move, but you looked too handsome in that suit. I'm so proud you got the internship job. Just try not to let your teammates call you 'Love' when you're fucking taken. You're mine to call 'Love', Kiki.

Kian: Aww, are you jealous, Enz?

Enzo: Hell, I am.

***

Kian: Watching Garret play drums was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Binge watching the backstage bloopers you sent last night. Seems like you're enjoying your tour in France the most. Still waiting on the striptease video which you promised me.

***

Enzo: I take it you were busy studying for your finals. All the best, Kiki. I know you're going to pass with whooping grades.

Kian: I'm counting on days, Enz. In a few weeks, you're coming back to LA, and I swear, I won't hold back on anything once I have you in my hold.

Enzo: Shit! Are you trying to give me a hardon when I've to be on stage in another thirty seconds, Kiki?

Kian: Maybe.

Enzo: God, I'm dying to be with you, Kiki. One month, three weeks, two days and seventeen hours, that's how far we are from each other now.

***

When Kian first saw the post, he didn't believe it. But then Audrey burst into his room, holding out the same post he had been trying to erase from his brain.

Kian lost it then, letting Audrey wrap her arms around him as he shed the silent tears. There were only a few people for whom Kian could cry, his mum, dad, Enzo, and Audrey. And at that moment, the reason for his heartburn was his boyfriend, Enzo.

While scrolling through his feed, he came across a post by one of the guys from Enzo's band, posting a picture of Enzo with a red-haired girl. The girl he identified as a lead singer from a famous Indie girl's band. Kian unhinged by the post or the fact that the girl was sitting on Enzo's lap, but what caused the storm was that they were captioned as Fan's Newest Obsession, #Enzarina (a ship for Enzo and Zarina) #lovebirds.

And Kian knew it would be hard to watch Enzo with someone else, but he didn't expect his heart to be shattered over it. It was too painful.

They weren't talking every day since Enzo's schedule got a lot more intense than before, and Kian had to focus on his finals. They weren't even texting at the same time.

But, God, Kian didn't for once think Enzo would stray this soon. It hurt him. It angered him.

And angry Kian was reckless. Angry Kian did things that he wouldn't otherwise dream of. Angry Kian deactivated all his socials and stopped responding to Enzo's calls and messages. It was cruel and heart breaking, but he couldn't erase the images of another girl sitting on his boyfriend's lap. If that wasn't enough, then the flirtatious smile on Enzo's face certainly made him wreak havoc.

The following morning his phone on the nightstand vibrated multiple times in an hour, and Kian didn't receive it. He wasn't asleep, though. He was staring at the screen as it went off with Enzo's call. Fifteen missed calls and twenty messages, all answered.

Was this happening? The first big hiccup in their relationship, and Kian already felt as if it was a big black cloud over their forever.

Were they ever going to make it through the storm? Could he ever get over the fact that Enzo was never going to be entirely like him in their relationship? Invested and never settling for anything but a true passion.

He tossed his phone inside the drawer and closed it. When his heart did a weird painful thud inside his chest, he pulled the blanket over his head and let out a soul-shattering scream.

Only his cry was as silent as the phone inside his drawer.

***

When Enzo got drunk, he made slurred calls to Kian. But most of the time, they were in a timeline when he was either in class or working at Brew Story. And they would always end up in his voice messages.

It had been one month since they last talked or face-timed each other. Probably, a little numb now, but Kian still felt the burn in his chest whenever he listened to one of those voice messages.

"God, Kiki. Please don't be this cruel to me." There was a sharp intake of breath from the other side. "I don't know how to fix whatever went down with us, but I want you to let me try. Let us try to fix our forever together. You've to believe me when I say this- Nothing makes sense without you, Kiki."

Immediately after that, Kian clicked the next one.

"I'm still counting on the days till we meet again." There's a long pause, where Kian could hear the loud music in the background and the harsh breathing of his boyfriend(he can't stop addressing him that). "Tell me you haven't stopped counting. Tell me I'm not the only one looking forward to being with you. Tell me we're meeting again. Goddamnit, Kiki. Just tell me something, anything. But don't cut me out like this. It hurts too much."

Kian let it stay unanswered yet again.

This part of the story came as a surprise even for him. 

***

Author's Note: We're getting to the end guys. I know at this point you must hate me but believe me, love isn't that simple and relationships certainly aren't. We've an official epilogue to go. 

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