*Three months later*

Belly's POV

"Taylor, stop!" I shrieked at my seriously-deranged-soon-to-be-decapitated best friend. She gave me a smirk before pushing her straw into her milk and taking a long pull. I sighed in relief at the realization that she didn't intend to hit me with anymore spitballs—at least for now. I picked up my slice of pizza and was about to take a bit when I noticed her staring at me intently. "What? Do I have a spitball stuck in my hair or something?" I asked, running my fingers through it just to be safe. She tipped her lips up in a small smile while she shook her head no. "Then what is with the intense look on your face?"

"You're happy with Conrad, right?" she blurted, which made me drop my pizza back onto my tray. "I mean, you love him and he loves you back equally?" She looked so anxious to hear my answer, and I couldn't understand it.

"Yes. I love him and he loves me back. Why? What's this about, Taylor?"

"I just…" she trailed off as she bit her bottom lip and looked down at the cafeteria table. I saw her take a deep breath before she looked back up at me and continued, "I'm just worried about you. I'm happy you're finally with him, I am. You've been in love with him forever, and I'm so glad he loves you back." She reached over and squeezed my hand, and I noticed her eyes looked pained. "But he's so much older. Well, not that much older, but you know what I mean. We may be seniors this year, but he'll be a senior in college next year. I just worry that you're committing yourself to this relationship more than he is. I mean, he'll be getting a job and settling down somewhere while you're just getting into the groove of college. How will that work? I know you love him, but college is meant to be a time where you find yourself and explore the world and make mistakes. How will you do that with Conrad? How will your relationship work when you'll be in two completely different worlds?"

I gave a small smile at the worry in her face and squeezed her hand back. "We haven't talked about all of that yet, Taylor. We're still trying to navigate being apart from one another so soon after we started our relationship. But if there's one thing these past six months have taught me, it's that Conrad's it for me. That may sound silly since we're so young," I gave a small shrug, "but I think that's something I've known since I was little. If Conrad and I can handle being on two different continents for a year, we can handle being in two different spheres for a while. But we're always in the same world, Taylor. He practically is my world. Being in different stages of our lives won't change that." I smiled reassuringly at her, and some of the worry in her face disappeared.

I knew she really trusted my words ten minutes later when another spitball hit me square in the face.

*Two months later*

Conrad's POV

Four months left, the thought left my mind as soon as my alarm clock went off and small smile played on my lips. I stayed in bed a few more minutes, thinking of Belly's smile and laugh and the way her voice seemed to curl around me every time she told me she loves me. I sighed and slipped out of bed. This was going to be the longest four months of my life.