the recovery project [2]

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aidan

he shakes his head. "wait."

everett has begun to unbutton his shirt as they press against each other, the countertop digging into aidan's back.

everett's hands slip away, concerned plastered on his face. "you okay?"

"just... i don't know how else to say it, but," aidan takes a deep breath and decides to just be blunt, because that's the only thing he can do. "i got chosen to study abroad in florence, italy for a semester."

"what?" everett's mouth hangs open, pain noticeably washing over his face. "that's... great. that's great."

"you can be honest with me," aidan pleads, hands squeezing everett's. "i wasn't exactly planning to get chosen this semester, but..."

"you said you wouldn't lose me..."

"and i won't," he promises. "it's just first semester, and i'll be back before christmas, so i won't be gone too long—"

everett shoves his hands in his pockets and shakes his head. "that isn't what i meant. you'll get bored of me, or i'll get bored of you, and we'll have different time zones and we'll never talk to each other—"

"do you love me?" aidan asks. he needs to hear it, he needs to make sure that this hasn't been a delusion.

"yes," everett whispers. "i love you so much."

"then we can make it work. i can can skype you after your classes and i'll text you and try to send you things, and we will work this out, because i love you more than anything, and i'm not ready to give you up."

everett chews on his lip. "we have less than a month."

aidan grins and finishes unbuttoning his shirt. "then let's make it count."