"I'm at your place." Danny's voice was too smooth as he tried to mask the coarseness of his mood.

It should only take a minute to get to my house from Sarah's, but I took the long way to buy myself a few minutes and one last look at the neighborhood before leaving for college the next day.

Danny's feet swirled in the pool as a cigarette dangled from his slender fingers. His shoulders sagged, making his thin torso even more deflated. His pale skin seemed to have grown more sallow over the past few weeks. I announced myself by dropping my keys on the patio table, causing his face to snap up to find me, but his expression was still blank. He stared back down at his feet in the water and took another slow drag before he poked the butt into a water bottle and heaved himself up.

The path to each other was always there; it was inevitable. Everyone had always known, even when we all wanted to deny it, but it hadn't been easy. I always felt like I was clinging to dry sand. The harder I clutched it, the faster it slipped through my fingers. Danny was still struggling with the idea of the distance; he wasn't sleeping. He never drifted off before me anymore and was always awake ahead of me. We agreed we'd spend the last night in our own beds, but now I was second-guessing myself. I wanted one last night in his arms, knowing he was safe.

When he turned to look at me again, his eyes matched mine, mournful. We both fought so hard for things to be simple and easy. There were quiet echoes in my mind: murmurs late at night, laughs shared in the sun, our bodies knotted into each other.

He moved close. "Ask me today," his voice was low and hoarse.

"Danny, how are you?"

The entire world shifted around me as he wrapped me to his chest and rested his head on mine. Two puzzle pieces that always fit. He picked me up, but not gently. Instead, he slung me over his boney shoulder. A bubble of laughter slipped from my lips, and I immediately felt evil. He tossed me on the couch and gazed down at me, a starved gape. My body was scorching me from the inside out. I squirmed as the desire continued to engulf me.

He leaned in, pushing me back on the couch. "I'm in love with you; forever."

I wrapped my arms around his neck, needing him to kiss me. I always needed it. The world changed that day in the park when he chose me. Nothing was ever the same, and nothing would ever be the same. It was always us.

"Emma, how are you?"

He was close, I just needed to push forward, and the burning would stop, but instead, I pushed his hair from his eyes. The scruff of his chin tickled my hand as I brushed over his face.

"Danny, I'm in love with you; forever."

For a split second, I thought he would run again, but then a laugh erupted from his chest, spreading a smile across his face. His arms gave out, sending him crashing into me. He let all his weight fall on me, and I accepted it. I was bracing for it. I knew we avoided too many things, but I couldn't pull myself from his embrace.

Even when we pulled ourselves apart, we distracted ourselves from what was to come with packing up my car, working in solemn silence.

"Stay here tonight." I clung to Danny in the doorway.

"Em, we talked about this. I'll see you at brunch tomorrow." Even as he spoke, I could hear the reluctance in his voice.

"And then you'll visit next weekend," I spoke as much to myself as to him.

"You'll be sick of me; you'll see me so much," he bowed his head to kiss my forehead.

The gesture caused tears to pool in my eyes.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," he soothed.

"I know. I just already miss you." I attempted a weak smile.

"I love you," he murmured as he pulled me to his chest for a tight hug.

"I love you too," I managed, while barely stifling my sobbing.

I ate breakfast with my parents on my last morning in Maine, but I only picked at the fruit salad as they talked around me. This breakfast was not the goodbye I was stuck in. I smiled as they told me how proud they were and how much fun college would be. The words weren't sinking in. I was ready to be at Nana's, being pulled there by need. My stomach couldn't process the bits of fruit and coffee; it churned for banana pancakes and my last few moments with Danny.

My mind wandered to Danny tumbling over the last few weeks. His eyes were no longer the ocean blue but were instead back to grey and dull. The few pounds he lost showed in his face's sharp features, as did the sleepless nights that left painful-looking bruises beneath his eyes. When I would ask him how he was, Danny would always tell me how in love with me he was, but he also admitted that the loneliness was already creeping into his mind. I felt it, too, the hollow in our final few nights together. For a moment, I even considered transferring to a local school, but Danny would never let me transfer for him.

I would see him in less than a week; I reminded myself. He was going to come up and meet my roommate, spend the night. It would be fine; I told myself as my car door slammed behind me.