When I pulled into the lot behind Sprinklez Julian's car was there. He showed up, as promised. There was an excited fluttering in my chest as I knocked in the back door. The door opened and Julian stood there, squinting against the sun.

At the same time I said hi, he asked, "What happened last night?"

I blinked, confused. "What?"

He glanced back into the shop, then stepped out keeping the door from closing with his hand. His chocolate brown eyes had an intense look in them.

"Last night," he repeated. "After you walked away, I didn't know what that meant."

I guess I did leave the moment pretty vague. After he confided in me, I kind of got ahead of myself. I spent the night thinking we were back on the same page while he was apparently trying to figure out what chapter we were in.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked, peering up at him. "About wanting to call me your girlfriend?"

He answered that by using his free arm to pull me in closer. The move took me by surprise and I let out a childish giggle when we came face to face, the tips of our noses brushing. "I meant it."

My face split with a wide grin. "Then I'm yours."

He closed the space between our lips, sending an electric charge throughout my whole body. My arms wrapped around his waist, his hand caressed my cheek. I'd been craving this moment for days.

Julian pulled away just far enough to say, "We should get to work."

"Yes, we should," I uttered in between kisses. Neither of us making a move to actually go inside, wanting to relish in the moment.

The moment, however, was ruined when Tim told us to get behind the counter.

+ + +

"Am I going to have to start making a reservation for our booth?" Kells asked as I handed her a scoop of pistachio ice cream in a waffle cone.

Honestly, she might have to. Sprinklez was becoming a regular stop for the kids from the middle school around the corner. The twelve year old's were worse than the toddlers when it came to making messes. I lost count of the amount of food fights we had to stop.

"Remember when we used to have this place to ourselves?" I reminisced, resting my chin in my palm.

Julian rejoined me behind the counter after he finished wiping down a table, another group of kids immediately taking it over. "You know this is your fault, right?" He said, leaning against the counter.

I stood up straight, shooting him a look. "How is it my fault?"

"You put Sprinklez back on the map when you took over Tim's show."

"You were a part of that too," I pointed out.

He shook his head, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I was just there for moral support. That was all you."

I opened my mouth to tell him he was wrong when a flash went off, momentarily ruining my vision. "What the hell," I groaned, blinking until I could see Kells grinning face clearly. "Why are taking pictures of us?'

"You two are so cute," she cooed at us, like we were puppies or something.

It had been a week since Julian and I made things official and I still wasn't used to Kells supporting my relationship. I definitely wasn't used to her acting like a paparazzi. Which was something she had been doing a lot of lately.

Julian didn't say anything, but I'm sure I saw him smile at that before busying himself with refilling the cones.

I bit back my own smile as I turned to Kells. "What is wrong with you?" I questioned. "You've been acting weird for the past couple of days."

"I'm not being weird," she defended. "I'm just trying to persevere the memory of our last summer together before we go out into the real world." She frowned. "We'll all be off at college in three weeks."

Three weeks. How was that all we had left of the summer? I snuck a glance at Julian and, judging from his distance stare and the frown on his lips, I figured he's we're thinking the same thing. In three weeks we'll be at different schools, living separate lives without an ice cream shop to keep us together.

Now I understood why Kells wanted to persevere these last moments. Everything was about to change.

+ + +

The next morning I woke up to a text from Julian.

What are you doing today?

Since it was Saturday I planned on catching up on the sleep I had missed out out due to the construction going on in the baby's room, which was right next to mine. Also, my mom had been driving me crazy with all of the last minute preparations for the baby shower happening tomorrow. The newest member of our family would be here in less than three months and they still weren't ready.

But at the rate the summer was flying by I wanted to spend every moment I could with Julian. Soon we'd be so busy with school, who knew when we get time together again?

Nothing. Why? I replied back.

How do you feel about a road trip?

My curiosity was like a shot of caffeine. Fully awake now, I let him know I was game before going to my closet to find something to wear.

An hour later Julian messaged to let me know he was outside, like I instructed him too. I wasn't hiding him from my parents anymore, they knew about us. It's just that if my mom caught me leaving she'd add another item to her never ending list of party errands and Julian's surprise road trip would turn into a scavenger hunt for pink and blue baby items.

I snuck out through the kitchen while my mom was ordering Jaiden and my dad to move to the coffee to left, then to the right, then back to left. Nova immediately ran up to me when I was outside, her favorite toy hanging from her mouth. I promised her we'd play later and gave her quick scratch behind the ear before running to Julian's car.

He gave me a questioning look as I slid into the passenger seat.

When he didn't make a move to leave I said, "Unless you want to spend the next few hours going to every store in the area looking for tiny plastic baby bottles, I suggest you drive." That got the car moving.

After missing our usual turn offs on the freeway that separated our neighborhoods, I finally decided to ask him where we were going. A mischievous smirk slid across his face and I knew he wasn't giving up anything.

"I hate surprises," I mumbled, pouting like a child.

He chuckled, looking at me from the side. "Well, since you hate surprises I guess you don't want what's in the glove box."

"What's in the glove box?" My hands were already moving towards it. He nodded for me to open it.

Inside was a brown paper bag. I pulled it on to my lap, glancing over at Julian before looking inside. His eyes were focused on the road, but I could see the grin on his face. I reached into the bag and pulled out a small plush chocolate ice cream cone. There was also a sunflower and a marshmallow, all with the same smiley face drawn on them.

"I saw them at the dollar store," he said, his eyes flicking briefly to me before turning back to the road. "Now that I think about it, it's probably really stupid."

"It's not," I told him, smiling down at the items.

To anyone else these might have been random toys, but to me they were more. They were little stuffed reminders of all the best things that's happened this summer. My chest filled with warmth at the thought of him carefully selecting each of them. It was clear that this summer meant as much to him as it did to me.

"I like them," I told him, honestly, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

He looked over at me when I leaned back in my seat. I couldn't pinpoint the emotion in his eyes, but it had me blushing from head to toe.

Our destination didn't even matter to me anymore. As long as I was with him I was perfectly content.

//

Hi! Hello! This update took o long bc I had to work out the ending.

(which is happening soon!!)

ANYWHO, where do you think Julian is taking her?

Do you think they'll survive a long distance relationship??

Do you think Kemy appreciates you reading, commenting & voting??? 

(she does)