cafuné (v.)

running your fingers through your lover's hair

* * *

(8 weeks after graduation)

THE day before Eli left for college, it was revealed that he hadn't started packing—at all. The only things he had ready were the empty suitcases on his bedroom floor. He was lucky I decided to drop by and check on him.

"Eli, seriously?" I groaned when I walked into his bedroom. He was sitting on his floor in front of the suitcases, surrounded by haphazard piles of wrinkled clothes. "What have you been doing these past few weeks? I thought you said you were packing."

He looked up and grinned at me, "I've been spending time with you."

I sighed and took a seat next to him. "Where's your list?"

"List?"

"Yeah, the list of things you're going to pack..."

"It's up here," he sheepishly admitted, tapping his head.

"You seriously left all of your packing until thirteen hours before you're leaving? You're not coming back to Haven Beach until Thanksgiving. That's almost four months from now."

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Many times. I love you, too... So, what's first?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "You tell me, master packer."

I gave him an unimpressed look. "Eli."

"Right. Well, I was trying to put my shirts in, but they don't fit." He motioned to the crumpled piles of clothes surrounding him. "There's too much, and I don't know what to do."

"You are such a guy," I snorted. "You have to fold the shirts, not just shove them in and hope for the best."

"Can you fold it for me?" he asked, innocently batting his eyelashes at me. "Pwease?"

Throwing a balled-up shirt at him, I stuck my tongue out. "I'm not your maid. Do it yourself."

"But I don't know how to," he pouted. "Can you do it?"

"You're turning nineteen in two weeks, and you still don't know how to fold your clothes?"

He slowly nodded his head with a guilty half-smile on his face.

"Who folds your clothes for you?"

"My mom?"

"Lemme guess, she does your laundry too?"

His face turned bright red, telling me that I was correct.

"Aww, Baby Ewi is going off into the real world," I cooed, mussing his hair. "Between you and Ben, your dorm is going to be a pigsty."

"Well, it's a good thing that pigs are cute. Right?"

"Yep," I sighed. "It's a good thing you're cute." I grabbed a shirt and gave him a quick demonstration of how to properly fold shirts. My three years of working at a clothing boutique in Chicago finally paid off. "Do you think you can handle folding the rest? Or is that too much for your tiny athlete brain?"

"I think so."

"Good. I'll start making a packing list."

* * *

"Well, I think that's it," Eli said two hours later, glancing around his near-bare bedroom. "Unless you think there's more?"

"Nope," I yawned, plopping backward onto his bed.

As I landed, it finally hit me: Eli was leaving for college tomorrow. He'd be a two-hour drive away for the next month, and I wouldn't be able to see him at all. An entire month without cuddles, kisses, or jokes from my favorite person would be unbearable.

The bed dipped, and Eli moved my head into his lap. "What's wrong?"

"I wish you weren't leaving tomorrow. I'm gonna be so lonely without you."

"It's just a month," Eli responded as he curled a strand of my hair around his finger. "You'll survive."

"Barely."

"Me too," Eli whispered, a sad smile on his face.

I gazed up at him with glossy eyes. "You need to text and call every single day. If I can't visit you, I'd better get frequent updates. And if you ignore me, I'll find some way to hunt you down."

"Yes ma'am," he nodded. "Expect texts every single hour. The same thing goes for you. "

"The whole no visiting rule during training is so stupid," I huffed, trying to distract myself from my sadness.

"I'm sorry," he frowned.

"It's not your fault. I just don't understand why you're gonna be on lockdown for the next month."

"Coach wants us to be completely focused. He said no visitors, and I don't want to go behind his back and get kicked off the team."

"Ugh, damn you for being a rule follower."

"Don't worry. The second the semester starts, the rules will relax, and you'll be able to come over as much as you'd like. Revere is just three bus stops away from Copley. You'll be around so much, it will be like you go to Revere, too."

"You won't get shit on for having a girlfriend from the enemy school?"

"They can suck it. A school rivalry is temporary, but Elotte is forever. Nothing comes before my future wife—my Earth."

"Future wife?" I gasped playfully, looking straight into his twinkling eyes. "When did we change our status?"

"We've been over this, Charlotte Elizabeth Cameron," he sassed. "You're my future wife and baby momma... Oh, that reminds me, I have a present for you. You're gonna love it."

I shot straight up, almost bumping our heads together. "You're not proposing, right? Please don't propose. You hear me?"

He flicked my nose. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking, stupid. The answer better be no."

A shit-eating grin took over his face, "You know me well enough to know I won't be doing it in private. I'll find some way to embarrass the fuck out of you. It'll be so public, you won't be able to say no."

I looked into his mischievous eyes with a matching grin. "What if I want to embarrass the fuck out of you? I could reject you in front of all those people. Now that would be funny."

"Then I'd make a scene," he retorted. "I'd start crying and make you out to be a cold-hearted bitch who broke my heart. There'd be no sympathy for you."

"You wouldn't dare," I gasped in mock horror.

"Try me." He darted his tongue and left a slobbery trail of saliva on my cheek.

"Did you just lick me?" I snorted.

"Yes. Yes, I did. Do you have a problem with it?"

"You are the weirdest person I've ever met."

"No."

"Yes. You're such a goof, but it's adorable. There's no one else I'd rather have embarrass and insult me."

"I'm happy to be of service. I haven't been charging, but I know a few ways you can repay me," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Later, horny boy. What happened to my present for putting up with you?"

"Right. Your present. Lemme get it," Eli said as he got up and rummaged through the depths of his closet. When he returned, an object was launched at me.

I instinctively shielded my face as something soft hit my stomach. I looked down and saw a throw pillow on my lap. But wasn't just any throw pillow--it was a light green throw pillow with Eli's smiling face printed front and center.

"Wow! This is..."

"The best gift ever," he finished. "I know."

I shrugged. "I was going to say ugly, but that works, I guess."

"Ungrateful bitch."

"I'm kidding. It's adorable. You're adorable."

"Just so you know, if it's not front and center on your bed, I'm going to be mad. Very mad."

"I can't wait to sleep next to it every night for the next three weeks," I said, hugging it close to my chest.

"Only three weeks?"

"You really think Aubrey's going to let me display it? She already told me that any decor that's not green, brown, or white is not allowed in our room. We have an aesthetic to maintain."

"Well, you're lucky that I settled for a pillow. I wanted to get you a cardboard cutout, but Grandpa Ethan talked me out of it."

"Why am I not surprised?" I chuckled. "Still, Aubrey already bought our bedding. This shade of green doesn't match at all."

"Ethan got Aubrey a blue one with his face on it. There's no need to worry about Aubrey's crazy rules."

"You really do think of everything," I mused.

"You can call me a genius, it's okay," he replied. "So where's my present?"

"On your dresser."

I watched as he unwrapped the dog tag chain necklace I got him. A few months ago, he lost the chain he usually wore during football games and practices. Eli rarely complained about anything, but he complained to me about losing his necklace. I knew it had to be important, so I custom-ordered one with engravings.

"So you can always have a piece of me with you, even then I'm not physically there," I explained. "A little reminder that I'll always be cheering you on and watching, no matter how far apart we are. I got myself a matching tag for my lanyard."

"My new good luck charm. I love it." He ran his thumb over the Earth and Moon etched into the metal. He flipped it over and asked, "What's this? 'If found, please call Charlotte Hanson.' Am I your dog now? I don't know if I should be offended."

"Don't be. If you and Ben ever get too shit-faced to remember your names, you'll always be able to reach me. It also shows that you belong to me—nobody else."

Eli tackled me to the bed and pressed all of his weight on top of me. "And you belong to me."

"You pinky promise?" I asked, staring into the depths of his eyes.

"I pinky promise."

* * *

A/N: Well, this was it. The last bonus chapter in BOHB. For what feels like the millionth time, thanks so much to everyone who has been on this journey with me! I love you guys so much!

I'm going to disappear for a few weeks on a family vacation (I won't have any cell service), but I promise I'll be back in mid-August 2021!

More info on a sequel to BOHB will be shared in the form of another update to this book when I'm back. I'll explain in depth in a few weeks, but I'll tell everyone now that I have another book coming out on Wattpad before the sequel comes. It's called 'I Capital L Love You.' It's a novella that's completely unrelated to BOHB. Any guesses as to what it's about?

I look forward to reading your comments! See you guys soon!

    - Gemma 💚