Page 106 of When Ellie Falls in Love

“We can do long distance, right? I mean we have phones. We can talk all the time. And it’s not like you’renevercoming back, right? Like you’ll be home on breaks, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I will.” Sadie grimaced. “As long as I don’t have practice.”

“Okay, well,” the wheels seemed to be turning rapidly in Ellie’s mind. “If you can’t come here, I can go there. Right? They make planes.”

“Planes are expensive, and you’ll have school, too.”

“I know, but,” Ellie sighed, and Sadie could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. “I’ll do whatever it takes to see you. I love you, Sadie.”

“I love you, too, Ellie.”

Pulling Ellie into a hug, Sadie held onto her until she felt both of them were okay with letting go. She gently brushed Ellie’s hair out of her face and behind her ear before kissing her. Sadie needed Ellie to know she loved her. Needed her to know that her going away wasn’t going to change things between them.

“Sadie?”

“Hmm?”

“I need to say one more thing.”

Sadie’s heart felt as if it fell to the floor as she nodded and waited for Ellie to continue.

“I want you to promise me one thing.”

“Of course. Anything.”

“Okay,” Ellie took a deep breath. “I need you to promise me that if at any point in this relationship you need a break for whatever reason, we talk about it, okay?”

“I won’t need a break.”

“Sadie,” Ellie’s voice was gentle as she spoke, “we’re eighteen. I just want to be realistic about things.”

Sadie’s brow furrowed in confusion as panic settled into the pit of her stomach.

“Realistic?” Sadie stood, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at Ellie. “What does that mean? Are you already planning on us breaking up?”

Ellie stood as well. “Sadie, no, come on. Where is this coming from? We were just talking about how I’d come and visit you and…”

“And now you’re basically saying that we’re eighteen so we shouldn’t commit to anything long-term.”

“Ineversaid that! I was just saying we need open lines of communication to…”

“Oh, stop sounding like you’re just repeating what your moms have told you.” Sadie took a few steps away from Ellie before turning back around to face her. She knew she was overreacting, but couldn’t get her mind to settle down. “I don’t want this to end, but how can we go on if you’re thinking about us breaking up?”

“Sadie.” Ellie closed the space between them but stopped just short of hugging her. “I’m not thinking about that. Believe me. All I was saying was long distance can be hard and we need to always be open and honest with each other. That’s it.”

Angrily, Sadie wiped a tear from her eyes. “That’s it?”

“I promise.” Gently, Ellie took Sadie’s hand and squeezed it. “I love you, Sadie Baxter. And there is no one else I’d be willing to have a long-distance relationship with other than you.”

Reluctantly, Sadie smiled and laughed as she pulled Ellie into a hug. “You’re such a dork.”

“It’s why you love me.”

“Yeah,” Sadie giggled as she kissed her, “it is.”

“So, are we okay?”

Sadie nodded. “Yeah. Sorry for freaking out.”

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