I REALLY hope we're still on good terms after you read this. Here's chapter six.

SIX WEEKS LATER

Cindy's POV

"I'm sure you did fine."

"Maybe. I don't know. But I swear that professor has it in for me." I explained to Jimmy over the phone.

"Isn't she the one that's pregnant?"

"Yeah, which is the reason for all this. She couldn't wait until the semester ended to go on maternity leave so she had to go and give us the final before anyone else did."

"Well, wouldn't you have rather taken it before finals week starts so you're not overwhelmed by all the other ones?" He replied, once again being the logical one.

"I guess, yeah." I sighed as I unlocked the door to my room and walked in. "So, what are you doing?" I shifted the attention off me and asked as I sat on my bed and removed my shoes.

"Just here studying for this physics final."

"Sounds like a load of fun." I knew he could hear the sarcasm.

"I don't think it'll be too difficult. I've always been pretty good at this." I smiled over how modest he sounded.

"Oh, that reminds me: what date are you flying home? Libby's trying to set something so we can all go to lunch together." With winter break coming up soon, I was finally going to get to see Jimmy. It surprised me, although it shouldn't have, that we have been unable to organize a visit with us being relatively close. So it was funny how after all these months, the next time I would see him would be back in Retroville anyway. I was also, of course, excited about going home to see my parents.

"Yeah, about that…." I heard him mumble.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, per se…. I just… have to tell you something."

"Okay," I started off cautiously as I laid down on my bed. "What's up?" He let out a sigh that I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to hear and began.

"Do you remember that internship I was telling you about? With NASA?"

"The one you said you had zero chance of getting because they only accept upperclassmen?" I replied as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Yeah. Well, I got it."

My mouth dropped, truly surprised.

"Are you serious? Oh my God, Jimmy! That's amazing!" I squealed into the phone. "I am so proud of you."

"Yeah." He spoke blandly, noticeably not nearly as excited as I was.

"What is it? Isn't this what you wanted?" I asked, unable to understand his tone.

"Cindy, I'm not going back to Retroville over the break."

If I wasn't already expecting and paying attention for an answer, I would have asked him to repeat it, due to how quickly he spoke.

"Wh-wait, what do you mean? I thought that was a summer internship." Jimmy hasn't told me too much about the NASA internship although I do know it would be for six weeks over the summer of next year. As of now, I didn't have any long-term summer plans except for going home. Before finding out about the internship, I was hoping Jimmy was going to join me. But it's clearly an opportunity he cannot pass up and I'm not going to be the crazy girlfriend standing in his way. Considering I had already gone through these past few months without seeing him, I thought I could easily handle six weeks while he's in Florida.

So why's he's saying he's not coming back home for the holiday break is something I really don't understand.

"The summer one is the one everyone applies for," he began. "Since it's more intensive and harder to get into, I thought I'd still have a slim but bigger chance if I went for the winter one, so I did. And I got in."

I couldn't say anything. I don't know if he thought that was out of shock or because I was waiting for him to continue.

"I'll be leaving for Florida the day after the semester ends and coming back to school two days before it starts. I don't know when you're going to start but if you'll be in school by then maybe I can land in New York instead and see you for a-."

"How long have you known?"

"Err, what?"

"How long have you known you've had the internship?" I repeated surprisingly patiently. "You didn't just find out about it right before I called you so how long have you known?"

He took a noticeable pause, then spoke again.

"Two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" I yelled.

"Yes, but-."

"You've known this whole time and you didn't say anything? You're going to be leaving in less time than the amount of time you've had to tell me about it," Nine days to be exact, "and this is how casually you bring it up?!"

"I was going to tell you as soon as I found out, but I couldn't find the right way."

"And when were you going to tell me if I hadn't brought up going home?" When I thought back to it, he wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't asked what day he was flying back to Texas.

"I-I don't know."

"Oh, okay so I was just supposed to be sitting in my living room, wondering where you are, until you send me the photos of you at South Beach?"

"Cape Canaveral and South Beach are three hours from each other so I don't think-."

"Are you kidding me right now?" The question wasn't just because he was pointing out how far the two places were.

It was quiet on both ends. At least until my sobs escaped.

"You realize I haven't seen you in over three months, right? The majority of our time being together has consisted of us being apart. Did that even occur to you?"

"Cindy, you know that it has. I'm not doing this to hurt you. But this chance may never come again."

Ignoring him, I continued.

"So that means I'm not going to see you until what? Next summer? Is that what you're saying?" It'd be a wonder if he could understand what I was saying with how much I was crying through the phone.

"Yeah, I suppose that's it."

His response did nothing to stop the tears and I know he could hear them.

"How could you do this?" I asked.

"I still might be able to see you for a -."

"No, I mean how," I reached for the box of tissues I kept on my desk and pulled one out, "how could you doubt yourself? You've gotten awards recognizing your intelligence. You're practically a frigging celebrity in the scientific community. I don't get why you thought you wouldn't be smart enough for a damn NASA internship and played it safe instead."

"I don't see it as playing it safe, Cindy. I told you, it's highly competitive and-"

"Did Annie put you up to this?" I blurted it out, not really noticing that I said it.

"What does that even mean?" He asked in a very different tone than he was speaking in before.

"It means Miss Goody Two-Shoes over there-." I stopped as suddenly as when I made the first comment about her, knowing I would very likely regret what I would have said.

Jimmy's known since the day we met Annie that my attitude towards her hasn't exactly been the most… pleasant. And while he's right in saying I don't really have a reason to be negative towards her, especially now that he and I are together, it isn't as easy to stop as one would think. I've never said anything nasty about her directly to him either and, despite how heated I am, I wasn't about to start now.

"You and her are close." I began, choosing my words carefully. "Physically, you're closer than we are. So… I don't know. Maybe you spoke to her about this and she gave you some advice or-."

"Annie had nothing to do with this and it really upsets me that you think that. How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends?"

I scoffed in reply, not really knowing what to say, but allowing that to say everything.

"I'm sorry," he spoke, back to his original tone. A part of me felt that he knew that's what he should say as opposed to what he wanted to say.

"So that's it then? It's decided?" I asked instead of acknowledging his apology as I wiped the tears away.

"Yes." He answered reassuringly. "This is really important to me Cindy. You know that."

"Fine." I shuddered out a breath. "I'll just… see you when I see you then."

"Okay." He said it sadly and even though he was trying to offer an alternative before, he knew he wouldn't be able to say much of anything else now. "I lov-."

I hung up before he could finish.

I tossed the phone onto my bed, crossed my arms, and allowed myself to cry, not caring if Sonya came in and saw me.


Jimmy's POV

Being a college student, I was finally eligible to apply for the NASA internship and that was one of the things I was most excited about when I enrolled at MIT.

But I sincerely never thought that I would end up getting it.

NASA has acknowledged me many times throughout the years, but to actually have a chance to work, hands-on, with them, was not something I saw myself doing, especially as an undergraduate.

Of course, I considered the fact that part of the reason I got it was because my name and credentials looked familiar, but with how competitive it was, I didn't mind any factor that could help my chances.

I found out, or more specifically, opened the email about my acceptance, on Cindy's birthday, which is the main and most obvious reason I couldn't tell her right away. It turned out well though, because at least I could take some time to think of how to tell her. A few days would suffice, until she was no longer on her birthday high.

"At least she knows about the internship," I kept telling myself. Her knowing about it took away half the work of explaining and would likely lessen the surprise since our separation would be inevitable anyway. If I had gotten it when originally planned, I would be away from her for six weeks in the summer. By then though, we would have been reunited since the time we both got home from school. So while it would still be a difficult separation, it would be one we were better prepared for.

Ultimately, I found it easier to lie to her about when I got the news and told her I found out two weeks ago instead of one.

Had I said a week ago, she would know that was on her birthday and would, likely, make a bigger fuss about it and sarcastically comment on the timing of when they send out acceptance notifications. I knew the excuse of trying to figure out how to tell her would also make the two-week wait plausible.

However, in an odd and probably sick way, I felt better about it, knowing I didn't keep it from her for as long as I said I did.

I was sure of one thing though: there was no way this conversation would end without her getting mad.

Originally, I applied for the summer session, wanting to set my goals high. And while I could have been accepted anyway, I knew internally there was a greater chance if I went for the session that wasn't as intensive. As it turned out, it worked. It was then that I knew that the only thing harder than waiting for a reply from NASA would be having to tell Cindy about my acceptance.

So I was incredibly relieved when Cindy was the one that brought up going back home for the holidays since it meant I wouldn't have to do it myself.

Apart from anger, I didn't specifically have an idea of what her reaction would be. But I was not anticipating her to ask if Annie had any role in "this", by which I figured she meant my decision to apply for and attend the winter session instead.

Annie didn't even know about my interest in the internship until I told her I was changing my request and going for the winter one, meaning I had already submitted all the proper materials by then anyway. A reason as to why was out of forgetfulness since each one of us had so much going on that I never really got around to mentioning it. But more importantly, I liked that this was something Cindy and I had become invested in together and I wanted to keep it like that.

No matter the distance and difficulties that arise, Cindy is my girlfriend. Annie is, and will always be, just a friend. With those relationships being so important to me, there is a level of respect and boundaries that are in place so that they are both strong and have as little issues as possible, particularly with each other.

Cindy making comments like the ones she made about Annie hurts that.

It's something she has to grow out of and something I hope she is able to think about in the next few weeks.

First, please know that there isn't an exact NASA internship that's being referred to here. I don't even know if there is even such thing as one in general. The idea of one just works really well for the story.

Please let me know what you think because there's a LOT of thoughts you can have with this type of scenario. But still be nice, okay?

Oh, and for the two of you who left a review yesterday, IMBECCABLE timing!