It was late and Liz really needed to get some sleep before heading back to Steph's apartment to pack, so Jay just wrapped Liz up in his arms and snuggled her while they chatted quietly.
"Jay...this has been so wonderful..." Liz stated apprehensively.
"I know, baby, I know," Jay replied.
"What I meant was...what's going to happen to us when I have to return to school? I mean...four more months is a long time for us to be apart again, ya know?" Liz asked.
"I promise you, sweetie, I won't let us slip apart again. We're going to talk constantly on the phone and through email. I'll come down and visit you. You can come here and visit me. You've got spring break coming up, and then you'll be graduating from that high school of yours in May, and then you can come back here and stay with me for the summer. I won't let anything happen to us. You have my word." Jay reassured her, stroking her hair.
Liz's eyes gazed lazily into Jay's, she nodded contentedly, and then drifted off to sleep.
*in the morning*
Liz woke up and noticed that Jay was still in a deep sleep, even if it was 11:30 A.M. Rather than wake him, Liz quietly slipped out of his arms to gather her things from his apartment into a neat pile on the chair beside the bed. Then Liz stroked Jay's hair and whispered gently in his ear "I have to go pack my stuff at Steph's, babe...I need to catch my train..."
Jay's eyes opened and he gave Liz a quick kiss. As she began to pull away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down on the bed and began to tickle her. Liz shrieked with laughter. "I love you" he said with each tickle. Finally he settled down and just wrapped his fingers in her hair and gave her a long, serious kiss and a tight hug goodbye.
"I'll call you tonight to make sure you got back home okay, darling. And then I'll email you later, because it's been a long time since I've sent you a sweet, loving email telling you how wonderful you are to me. I love you, don't you ever forget that." he said as Liz left the apartment.
Liz returned to Steph's apartment for the first time in a few days and began to collect her things and pack them into her luggage.
"You're back! I figured you'd never wake up, seeing as you guys were up all night getting busy..." Steph teased.
Liz tossed a slipper at Steph.