Long Distance

This is a story for those in or getting into long distance relationships. They are tough and certainly not for everyone.

The screen lit up and her phone buzzed "I'm thinking of you babe, enjoy the day" read the text. It was early in the morning, not past 7, and she frowned when she saw the clock but the message made her smile. She rolled to the edge of her bed and looked at the phone again. Quickly she typed out "I miss you" but erased it before sending and just sent "have a great day". She did miss him…. Just it was hard to think about… and Charlie had been at the party last night. Alex would be heart broken if he found out she was still hanging out with Charlie. Her thoughts were muddled and she felt a little disoriented but she forced herself awake and got dressed.

She looked out the window and saw it was snowing. It was only November but this far north she supposed that was normal. Perhaps she'd dress in the jacket Alex bought her, but then she saw the grey coat she'd worn last night hanging on the chair. She put that on and left Alex's coat in the closet.

As she worked her way to the residence dinning hall her friend Amy caught up to her.  "Hey, I saw you and Charlie talking last night, what's up with you guys?"

She thought about his curly blonde hair and his dark green eyes as she said "nothing, we're just friends."

"I think he wants to be more than your friend." She said as they entered the hall.


While she ate she thought about the previous night, She remembered how he'd flirted with her and called her pretty the night they'd met during a frosh week party. She'd turned him down then but told him he'd see her again. It was university after all and Alex… He was so far away. They barely talked, her and Alex, they'd known each other for so long though.  Maybe Charlie would be a welcome change she'd only ever seriously been with Alex and this was University.

At the end of her psych class her phone buzzed. It was a text from Alex "hey baby, I know you were out with the girls last night but I thought maybe we could talk tonight". But she'd been out at the party with Charlie last night; she'd lied to him about that. Somewhere deep inside a piece of her broke and fell away into a nothingness that seemed to slowly be spreading through her.  She didn't respond to his message.

When dinner rolled around she saw Charlie sitting with the other guys. She wanted to go over to him but something made her stop. It took her a second to see it, but a girl was sitting in Charlie's lap. It felt like a scalpel had just cut more of her away and sent it into that empty pit her stomach was fast becoming. She quietly put her tray on a nearby table and then walked all alone back to her dorm room.

She hadn't felt it but when she got to her room she saw her phone had a missed alert message. It was a text from Alex.  "Hey baby, things are tough without you here all the time, I worry when I shouldn't, but I know we can make this work. I love you"

When she read it she sank to her knees and sobbed. She remembered how Alex had brought her a rose whenever he visited; she remembered how much she'd wanted him that first time. She remembered why she didn't just leave him when she went to university.  It took some time but when the tears stopped she flipped open her phone and sent Alex a message. It read, "On even the hardest days, when we're so far away, you make me remember it's you I love, and it's you who will always be there for me to set me back on my feet when I stumble."