After Breaking Up with Ex

2: “I hope we can be like this forever.”

The theft situation was solved successfully eventually right after the nursing student who got her stethoscope stolen called her friend like what Winter suggested. It turned out that it was the friend who stole her stethoscope since she desperately needed one in order to not fail their subject. The other nursing student, who was accused of stealing, was thankful to Winter since she was bad at defending anything and anyone including herself. Of course, Winter got to be showered with compliments and she truly loved it.

Situations like that was basically one of the reasons why Winter wanted to take psychology as a course in college in the first place as she loved receiving compliments about how amazing she was. One of the reasons why she fell in love with Claire was because she received at least ten compliments a day from her, after all.

Since Winter deserved it, she got to have a free cheese corndog and a free bottle of chocolate milk from the nursing student that got her name cleared. The nursing students left right after the situation as the three of them relaxed in the corn dog store in front of their university while being filled with satisfaction by the deliciousness of corn dogs.

“I was almost surprised to see you just casually joining their argument earlier,” Tina said as she took another big bite on her cheesy corn dog.

“She just did that, knowing that she’ll get compliments in the end for solving their problem,” Hana simply said.

“She called me cool. Compliments are fun,” Winter chuckled. She felt her phone vibrate from the pocket of her jeans as she fished it out, making the smile on her face grow broader when she saw the name of the caller. “Ah, life is amazing.”

“Hey, baby,” Just by seeing how Winter’s eyes lit up, Tina and Hana already knew who was the person that called.

“Hi, babe! What’s up? By the way, exams are over and I’m currently eating corn dogs with the girls after more than a week of not eating,” Winter cheerfully spoke as she put her corn dog down on the plate to start twirling her scarlet red hair, which was a habit of hers whenever she talks to someone on the phone.

“Congrats! All of you definitely deserve more than one corn dog for your hard work,” Claire said from the other line and Winter could sense the smile on her face as she spoke, which made her smile even wider. “With that, I have a present for you.”

“Really? What is it? Did you finally find me a real unicorn?” the red-haired woman joked as she bit her bottom lip.

“Sadly, no. But I’m confident to say that I got you something better than that.”

Hana raised an eyebrow when the red-haired woman suddenly turned to look at them with a surprised look on her face though she and Tina knew that that face meant that she was getting some good news and that Winter was doing that to them to make them envious. Knowing that Claire was most likely telling her about their anniversary plans, Tina and Hana just rolled their eyes before returning their attention to the tasty corn dogs that they were having.

“What is it?” Winter said, biting her bottom lip as she prepared herself for whatever her girlfriend was going to say.

“You’ll know if you head over to the front gate of your university right now,” Claire replied as a chuckle followed after. “Love you. Bye.”

Hana and Tina jolted in their seats in surprise when their friend abruptly stood up after putting her phone down from her ear. They stared at her in utter confusion as she had both nervousness and excitement written on her face while getting her backpack hurriedly.

“Hey, where are you going?! You haven’t even finished your corn dog!” Hana yelled when their red-haired friend dashed out of the store.

“You can have it!” Without throwing one last glance, Winter yelled back before disappearing.

Tina and Hana’s eyes simultaneously turned to the half-eaten corn dog and later turned to look at each other as well while each of their hand slowly moved up to the air in a clenched fist.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

A groan left Hana’s lips in regret when she lost the match because of her choice of paper as Tina happily took Winter’s corn dog to eat it.

Meanwhile, Winter did not want to waste a second to head to the front gate of the university after hearing what her girlfriend said from the call earlier. Since the corn dog store was right in front of the huge university, what she only had to do was to cross the street to get to the front gate. She was only a few meters away when she stopped on her tracks as her eyes widened in surprise at what she was currently seeing.

“C-Claire?”

On the side of the front gate stood a tall woman with long jet-black hair and a pair of dark blue eyes that resembled the deepest part of the ocean. It was the person that Winter wanted to see and be with the most. When the woman noticed her presence, she slid her phone back in her jacket as she flashed a bright smile when their eyes met, making the red-haired woman be unable to stop herself from running toward her in high speed.

“Hey, my adorable apple,” Claire chuckled as she caressed the shorter woman’s red hair while they hugged. “Happy anniversary.”

“When did you come here?” Winter asked with her face buried on the crook of her neck as she tightened her hug.

“Our classes happened to end at 12, so I decided to go here to spend our anniversary together,” Claire was about to let go from their hug when the latter tightened their hug even more. “Aw. You missed me that much?”

“Of course, I did. I miss you every second,” the red-haired woman spoke in a small voice as it seemed that she turns into a baby whenever she is in the arms of the love of her life.

It was like an instinct that Winter had as she woke up earlier in the morning with a good mood because of the date as if she had expected an amazing surprise to come—for Claire to actually come to her to celebrate their fourth anniversary together. Tina and Hana did not have to ask why when they got a message from Winter about her not being able to go to the movies with them today as they already knew that she would be celebrating with her girlfriend.

Since Claire was a third-year architecture student, she was always busier than Winter though that did not stop them from keeping their communication ongoing for their relationship to continue growing strong. Though it was difficult to keep their relationship for four years as they had to be used to not being able to meet often because of the long distance between their homes and universities, Claire and Winter did not care about the distance that was getting in the way of their relationship with the power of their true love for each other.

***

The cold breeze made contact with their skin as the moment became even better when the sunlight disappeared because of the sun setting. The sound of waves was like music in their ears—almost like music to slow dance to with the love of one’s life. Most of the people were starting to prepare to leave while the others were starting to set up a campfire as the side of the ocean became clear and perfect to have walks on with one’s special someone.

“I love this. I hope we can be like this forever,” Winter sighed as she turned to look at the sun that was descending below the horizon.

“I hope for that too,” Claire said as she brought her girlfriend’s hand up to plant a soft kiss on it.

Winter was never a fan of beaches since she hated staying under the sunlight and having sand casually enter her shoes whether she likes it or not that she does not even go to the beach with her family during summer. But if it was with Claire, then Winter was willing to spend a day with no complaints to clean her shoes filled with sand.

Hours went on as the both of them genuinely enjoyed every second spent together, not only to celebrate the fourth year of being together but also to make up for the days when they were only able to interact through text messages, voice calls, and video calls. As if they do not talk every day, Claire and Winter talked about how their life had been including the smallest details like when Claire set a new record in a mobile game. It did not matter whether the topic that they were talking about did not make any sense as they still enjoyed every conversation they shared.

When the sky was filled with blackness and the sun was no longer in sight, the couple decided to leave the beach and have a romantic dinner in a restaurant that they had never been to together. None of them were rich enough to have their own car, so they were stuck in commuting; though it was not a bad thing since it was fun to do it together. After almost having a road trip around, they finally decided to eat in a restaurant that was recently opened. It turned out to be a restaurant with traditional vibes.

Not wanting to end the day so fast, Claire and Winter decided to watch an underrated local band gig that they happened to pass by after eating in the restaurant. The venue was indoors though it was not that big; it was spacious enough for less than 100 people. The venue was crowded that they could smell a mixture of perfumes and sweat, which made Claire pull Winter closer to her protectively.

“Have you ever been to a local band gig?” Claire asked as they waited for the band to get ready.

“Nope. I’m glad to have you with me on my first time,” Winter giggled as she leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Have you been to one?”

“Yup. A friend of a friend is in a band and I was invited to their gig once,” the taller woman said as she slowly moved their bodies sideway like they were slowly dancing with no music.

“Aw. So, I’m not the person you’re with on your first time,” The red-haired woman pouted, making the latter chuckle and lean in to give her a peck on the lips.

“Is that enough to make it up to you?” Claire whispered as she moved her hand to caress her cheek.

“No. I need a hundred—no, a million more kisses,” Winter flashed a playful smile.

“All right.”

Just when they were about to lean in to kiss again, the vocalist of the band spoke through the microphone as he introduced his band, making them move away to watch the performance. After all, they were there to watch the band and not to make out.

The colorful lights in the room turned dim as the vocalist started to sing a romantic ballad song with his sweet voice that made the couple engrossed to the song like it was a song made for them. Winter could not help but smile widely while listening to the vocalist sing as she leaned her head on the taller woman’s shoulder while they slowly swayed from side to side along the rhythm of the song.

When the band entered the bridge of the song, Claire gently moved to face her girlfriend as she cupped her face and flashed a sincere smile while staring at each other’s dark orbs. Just by looking at her beautiful bright face, Claire swore to love Winter for the rest of her life.

Before she leaned in to capture her lips, Claire whispered with pure sincerity, “I love you.”

It was a moment that the both of them wished to stay in forever, not until the day came that the three words that meant a lot to Winter got replaced with three different words that completely shattered her heart into pieces.