And then it’s over, just like that.

At the police station, there are a million questions, and then even one of the junior Deans of the college asking me over and over if I want to press charges.

What? No.

No, I just want them to let me go and let me get back to the man that I lo-

It’s that thought that eventually has me breaking down into tears, because right then I know it’s true, and I know it’s been true.

I love him, and I’m getting that now that the whole thing is blowing up in my face.

The police and the Dean want me to sign this absurd statement about Liam pressuring me and being “professionally irresponsible”, but I refuse, again and again. Eventually, they try and call my parents, which is mortifying, until I hear my dad threatening a lawsuit over the phone if they don’t let me walk out of there right then.

They let me go five minutes later, and I collapse into Ally’s waiting arms as the tears finally come.

* * *

Originally, after that horrible night, the school had wanted to kick me out after I refused to sign anything, until my parents showed up the next day with a lawyer and litigation paperwork. When I’d gone to meet them outside my dorm when they arrived, I’d held my breath, feeling my cheeks burn and waiting for the “this was so irresponsible” talk.

But it never came, because as it turns out, my parents were actually really cool about it. My mom hugged me and stroked my back when I started to cry, telling me it was going to be okay. And my dad just wanted to make sure Liam hadn’t hurt me, and once he saw how opposite the situation was, I think he knew.

I think they both could see it on my face that this wasn’t some sordid affair, or a mistake, or some sort of experimentation.

It was real, right there on my face, and they knew it.

And here we are a week later, and it’s like the sun’s gone away.

A week later, and everything’s changed. Liam’s gone, and I’ve been told part of his pending charges from the college involve him not being in contact with me; phones, email, all of it. Plus he’s been barred from campus. And that’s the worst part, not knowing where he is or what’s going on.

I should feel scandalized - and believe me, there’s plenty of scandal surrounding it - just from walking around campus, but I just don’t care.

Because I just want him. The looks, the arched eyebrows, the whispers - none of it matters, because I know how I feel. And I know what happened between Liam and I might be frowned upon, but it wasn’t wrong. I know that now. It’s something people might not understand, but that doesn’t make it bad.

I’m in class - his class - but of course, it’s not Liam up a the podium anymore. Susan, the department head has taken over Liam’s lectures, and so it’s her up there now, talking about who knows what. Because I can’t focus, especially here in this room that reminds me of him. I’m no longer sitting front and center like I did before, because, well, I just can’t.

Susan is mid-sentence when the door to the lecture hall suddenly slams open, and my heart jumps right up into my throat.

It’s Liam. Here, standing right there and looking right at me.

Susan whirls as he storms in and starts to shake her head and wag her finger. “Oh no, Mr. Martin! You are not supposed to-”

“Uh-huh,” he growls dismissively, moving right past her and never taking his deep dark eyes off of me.

There’s a titter through the crowd of assembled students, but I barely even hear them over the roar of my pulse in my ears.

He’s here, he came back.

He came back for me.

“Mr. Martin!” Susan’s voice is shrill as she scowls at him with her hands on her hips. “I suggest you leave immediately!”

He stops at the front of the class, looking up at the theater seating to where I’m sitting towards the back of the room.

“Mr. Mar-”

“Oh, shut it,” he says, shushing Susan. He winks as he looks up at me, and I’m standing before I can stop myself, totally ignoring the whispers and the shocked gasps around me as I do.

“Ellie Thompson?” Liam’s eyes blaze as he starts to climb the stairs to where I am, his eyes never leaving mine. There’s a gasp from the crowd, but I’m not even seeing them as I push past people in my row and start to move down the stairs towards him.

“Mr. Martin!” Susan shrieks from behind him. “Miss Thompson, sit down!”

But her words wash right over me, and the room almost fades away in slow motion as I’m suddenly crashing into his arms. He’s kissing me, and I’m crying as I throw my arms around him and kiss him back.

He pulls back, those dark, brooding eyes looking right into me. “I love you,” he says, his voice even. “I love you, Ellie, and I’m never going to stop loving you.”

And right then, nothing else matters. Right then, the final piece clicks into place, and despite the whispers and the giggles and the pointed fingers, it’s perfect.

“I love you too,” I whisper into his lips before moaning as he kisses me again.

“You know,” I say, grinning as I pull back. “I’m pretty sure you’re barred from campus.”

“Oh, I’m positive I am.”

I giggle, biting my lip and slowly shaking my head as I stare up at him, right there on the lecture hall steps. “So what are you doing here?”

I shriek as he picks me up suddenly in his arms and whirls us around to the the gasps and cat calls of the crowd as he starts to carry me down the stairs. “Sweeping you of your feet and stealing you away from here,” he says.

“Sounds perfect to me.”