Chapter One Hundred and One

Chapter One Hundred and One
Ezra 

I reach for Alana the second I wake, but she isn’t here. Where is she? I sigh and sit up, pulling myself together before I climb out of bed. I put on a pair of joggers and searched for her. It doesn’t take long for me to find her in the kitchen. She’s dancing around to some music in a pair of my boxers and one of my tees as she cooks breakfast. 

I stand at the top of the stairs and watch her. I chuckle at her dance moves. I have no idea what she is doing, but it is cute to watch. She doesn’t seem to know I am watching her. I quietly make my way to the kitchen, so she doesn’t see me, not yet.. I sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her. 

“Boo.” I laugh in her ear. 

“Good morning, my love,” she chirps. Alana flings herself around to face me. She smiles brightly and presses a soft kiss to my lips. Our lips part, but she keeps her arms around my neck. 

I stroke the hair away from her eyes. “You seem in a good mood this morning, bright eyes.” 

“I am trying to be, if I don’t, then I will get upset since I know the time to leave is soon,” she whispers, trying to disguise the sadness in her tone. 

“Yes, good idea. We can pretend to be fine and enjoy our last day together,” I say softly and hug her to my chest. I don’t want to show my sadness, it will make Alana sadder. She sighs and nods her head against my chest. I kiss the top of her head and hug her tighter. 

Alana glances up at me. “I hope you are hungry. I have made pancakes, too many probably.” She laughs. 

“I am sure we will manage to eat most of them,” I reply. Alana pecks my lips before she pulls away to check breakfast. 

A familiar tune comes through the speaker. It’s Lifehouse “You and Me” one song I haven’t heard in a while. It’s a song I used to love and one I didn’t think Alana would know since she is younger than me. It is such a beautiful song. I smile as I listen to it, then have an idea. I come up beside Alana and turn the stove off. 

“Ezra, what are you doing? Do you want to eat half cooked pancakes?” She laughs. 

“No. I want you to dance with me.” 

Alana turns to face me. “Here, in the kitchen?”

“Yes. I love this song. I didn’t realize you knew it, but I assume it is on your playlist?” 

“It is. I love it too. I only discovered it accidentally a few months ago, and now I always listen to it. It makes me think of you and me.” She smiles. 

“Now you mention it, it does.” 

I pull her to me. She slips her arms around my neck, and I rest mine on her hips. She moves to lay her head against me, and we sway along to the music. I close my eyes and sigh to myself. I wish we had more time together to make more memories like this one. It is perfect. I can pretend we are the only two in the world and forget about everyone and everything else. I hold her tight to me and sing the lyrics gently in her ear.

Alana lifts her head, and her eyes meet mine. “I think it should be our song because we don’t have one.” 

“No, we don’t. And yes, it should be. It will be our song we dance to on our wedding day when it comes.” I grin. 

Alana caresses my cheek with the pad of her thumb. “I would like that, my love.” 

I gently kiss her forehead. “Me too, bright eyes.” 

Alana closes her eyes, and a smile grows on her lips. I bring her back against my chest, and she buries her face in it. We fall silent as we dance for the rest of the song. I don’t want the song to end. I hum along to the tune, and Alana does the same. When the song comes to an end, we don’t part; neither of us wants to move. 

Alana’s voice breaks the silence. “I should finish breakfast.” 

“Yes. Can I help?” 

“No, I got it. You can sit somewhere and look pretty,” she teases. 

I chuckle and shake my head. Alana pulls away from me and returns to the stove. I hop up on the counter next to her and smile while I watch her as she cooks. I didn’t think I could love Alana any more than I already do, but I swear I fall in love with her more every single day. I don’t care if it is cheesy or cliché, it is the truth, and I am not afraid to admit it.

“You are staring and distracting me.” 

“How am I distracting you? I am not doing or saying anything,” I protest. 

Her attention diverts to me, and she points to me. “You just being here is distracting enough.” 

“Can’t you handle all my sexiness being so close?” I smirk. 

Alana rolls her eyes at me and shakes her head. “Arrogant much?” 

“I prefer to call it confident.” 

“Of course you do. Now please, sit somewhere else, or we will be eating burnt pancakes, which I’m sure won’t taste great.” 

“Fine! I know when I am not wanted.” I pout and jump off the counter. 

I walk by her towards the table, and as I do, Alana swats my ass with the spatula. 

“Kinky.” I chuckle.

She doesn’t even say a word. Instead, she laughs at me. 

I sit down at the table and behave myself. Alana has it all set up for breakfast. She comes to join me a few minutes later. She sets a plate down, and I can’t help but laugh at the number of pancakes on it, and some aren’t even the right shape. 

Alana’s eyes shoot daggers at me. “Don’t laugh at me, asshole, or you will not be eating.” 

“Aww, I am sorry, bright eyes. I am sure they are delicious,” I reply sweetly. 

She flips me off, takes a couple of pancakes from the middle, and places them on her plate. I do the same. I drown them in syrup and top them with some strawberries. 

“Do you want some more pancakes to go with that syrup?” she snickers. 

I always use too much. I flash a dorky smile at her, cut a bit off, and shove everything into my mouth. 

Alana shakes her head and starts on her stack. I am in one of my moods today, which makes me want to annoy her just because I can. She will pretend to be pissed at me, but she loves it, really. 

“What do you want to do today?” she questions between bites. 

“Get naked with you,” I smirk. 

Alana raises her brow at me. “All day? You don’t want to go out?” 

“Nope. I would rather stay here and be with you, bright eyes. We don’t need to be naked all day, but for some of the day.” 

“Stay in our little bubble?” 

“Yes. I don’t want to share you with the world, not when you have to leave later.” 

If we head out, we’d need to be careful not to be seen. Alana would be on edge in case we get caught and end up stressed. I’d rather we entertain ourselves here, where we can be together without worrying about anything else. 

“Okay, we can stay in.” She smiles. 

“Angel, if you want to go out, we can.” I don’t want her to think she needs to hide. If she wants to go out, I am sure I can think of something.  

“No, honestly, I don’t mind staying in. It’s always a yes when I get you to myself.”

Alana smiles sweetly at me, and we get back to our breakfast. I’m trying not to think about her leaving later. I can’t deal with it. It hurts too much, and it will feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest again when she leaves. I draw in a breath, hold it for a moment, and then release it. I repeat it a couple of times. I need to keep it together. 


Alana and I are in bed, naked, after making love. I have her on my chest, holding her tightly, because she needs to leave soon. 

“I still need to pack,” she whispers and nuzzles my neck. 

“Ten more minutes. I wish you would let me come to the airport with you, Alana,” I whisper. 

“It will be too hard, Ezra. It killed me the last time I went to the airport with you in Scotland. I can’t put myself through it again. You also need to go home.” She whimpers. 

I hate how she doesn’t want me to take her to the airport, but I also understand where she is coming from. Walking away from her the last time was one of the hardest things I have done in my life. 

“I know. . .” Sadness is evident in my tone. I hear Alana sob and feel her tears drip onto my skin. I close my eyes and try to keep my emotions in check. I can’t handle the sound of her crying. 

“Alana, please, don’t cry,” I beg, stroking her hair. 

“I-I-I’m sorry. I can’t help it.” Alana suddenly pulls away, climbs out of bed and rushes to the bathroom. Fuck! I quickly go after her, but when I try to open the bathroom door, it is locked. 

I knock on it, frantic to get to her and soothe her pain. “Alana, unlock the door, please, bright eyes.” 

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this, saying goodbye to you, Ezra.” She sobs from behind the door. 

I slide down the door and sit on the floor. “Then stay. Stay here with me.” 

I hear her on the other side of the door, and I believe she has done the same as me, sitting on the floor, resting against the door. 
“You know I can’t.” 

“Alana, I know it is difficult, but I beg you, please don’t give up on us.” My words come out shaky because the idea of not having her in my life terrifies me. 

“I won’t. I promise.” 

“Will you come out of the bathroom, angel?” I ask softly. 

I hear her move around, and I quickly get to my feet as the door unlocks. Alana steps out, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes and cheeks are red and puffy from crying. I quickly pull her to my chest and hug her for dear life. 

“We will be okay, Alana. I swear.” 

“I hope so, love,” she says the words so quietly. I loosen my hold on her and place my finger under her chin to tip her head back so she will look up at me. 

“We will be! Please don’t ever doubt what we have, or my love for you,” I state firmly. 

Alana nods and manages a small smile. I wipe her tears away and kiss her softly. 

“We got this, sweetheart. I promise.” I smile and boop her nose. 

She snickers and wriggles her nose at me. “Yes,” she answers confidently. 

I know I have said and thought this a million times before, but I will do whatever it takes to make us work and finally be together, without any more separation.