Our Love Story: Part 16

Preface: If you’ve missed any of the “chapters” of our love story so far, go back & get caught up before continuing below!
Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4 — Part 5 — Part 6 — Part 7 — Part 8 — Part 9 — Part 10 — Part 11 — Part 12 — Part 13 — Part 14 — Part 15

I woke up Monday morning, back in Caleb & Steph’s apartment. The four of us had driven back to Valley Forge Christian College the night before, grabbed some late night snacks, and settled into Caleb & Steph’s apartment living room to watch a movie. Why we decided to pop in a movie after the whirlwind of a weekend we’d had, driving all over the state of Pennsylvania, performing multiple concerts, and hardly sleeping, I can’t tell you. In fact, I can’t even tell you what movie we watched – that’s how quickly I fell asleep.

I woke up to Caleb & Steph making coffee & getting ready for their Monday. Being a married couple but still attending college classes, meant that their days were full to the very brim. Both were taking their final semesters of college – so not only did they have classes & homework to keep up with, but they also both worked part-time jobs. Life for this sweet couple, whom I had gotten to know really well over the last few days, was busy.

I chatted with them as they bustled around their tiny apartment. They both teased me about my relationship with “Smokey”, but then, before they both left for the day, things got a bit more serious.

“You should know, you make Derrick a very happy bear.”

I smiled.

“After all that he’s told us about you, we weren’t worried to meet you at all, but now that we’ve officially met & spent the last few days together, we can officially say, that we love you & we heartily approve.”

I felt like they had just pumped me full of helium & I was going to float up into the clouds.

“We can’t wait to see you again and,” they looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear, “We can’t wait for your wedding!”

With that, we giggled (well, Steph & I did), we exchanged hugs, and the Tripps were off.

I cleaned up my space on the couch as best as I could, took a quick shower, and right on time, Derrick showed up at their apartment door to pick me up for our last few hours together.

We grabbed breakfast & since my train home was scheduled to leave late that morning, Derrick skipped his morning classes and instead, he took me to Valley Forge.

The grounds of Valley Forge were much larger than I’d anticipated. It was a chilly, cloudy, grey day, but we walked along the trails, peeked into the building set up on the property that replicated what things would have been like when George Washington was alive, and basically savored every single moment that we had together.

“You know, we’ve been together since Thursday, but things have been so crazy, I feel like this is the first time we’ve actually been together.”

I nodded in agreement & commiserated, “Where did the last few days go? And how is it over already?”

We ran back through the weekend, talking about Derrick’s Senior Recital, about the 2 concerts I’d accompanied him for, and about all the fun we’d had along our way.

“You know, I hate playing ‘piano’ on keyboards,” I admitted to Derrick.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know they have their place & their usefulness, but I really hate everything about them. They’re shakey, they never have a full set of keys, and they’re hard to hear!”

Derrick smiled, “I guess you’ve never played on a really good keyboard.”

“Oh, I have!” I assured him. “I’ve played on ones with weighted keys – it’s still just not the same.”

“Well, thanks for dealing with it & accompanying me on the keyboard Saturday night.”

I laughed, “I honestly have no idea what I was playing.”

He looked at me quizzically, “What do you mean?”

I threw my hands up in the air, “I couldn’t even hear myself! I have no idea if I was playing the right notes or the wrong ones. I was basically playing like a deaf person, going solely off of the feel of the keys & muscle memory.”

He smiled, “You did just fine.” He paused, “I really really appreciate your help playing for me. I seriously don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been able to accompany me for those 2 concerts.”

I poked at him, “Oh, I’m sure you could have found someone to help you out! You have a full music department at your school.”

He shook his head, “You have no idea how hard it is to find other students who are willing to help out. I’m still working on my demo CD – another big senior project that I have to finish – and it’s like pulling teeth to find someone willing to simply sit down & help me record a few songs!”

He was frustrated. I knew this last semester of college was really tough – he had a lot of big requirements that needed to be fulfilled in order to graduate and here we were, creeping toward the middle of November.

He sighed, “It’s fine. I’m just so glad that my Senior Recital and those 2 concerts are behind me. Now I can concentrate on getting my demo CD done, writing the last of my big papers, and studying for the last few tests I have.” He turned to me, “So, seriously, when I say ‘thank you’ for helping me, I really mean it! Those things finally being accomplished takes a huge load off of my shoulders.”

We hiked back up to his Jeep & he since it was chilly, he suggested we stop somewhere on the way to the train station to get something hot to drink. We still had a little bit of time to kill before I needed to be at the train station, so Derrick took me to Starbucks.

I had only been to Starbucks once before. I didn’t drink coffee, so there was no reason for me to visit a coffee shop. As we pulled up & went in, I confessed to Derrick that I had absolutely no idea what to order, since I’d only been to Starbucks once before in my entire life.

“It’s okay, I don’t drink coffee either. But they have a killer apple cider drink that I just love.”

“That sounds really good – I’ll take whatever you’re having.”

He ordered two grande apple ciders and we went upstairs into the loft area to sit down. The sun was beginning to peek out, but our spirits were definitely more along the lines of the grey morning we’d had.

“So, what’s next?” Derrick asked.

“What do you mean?”

“When are we going to see each other again?”

I shrugged, “Does tomorrow work for you?”

He smiled, “I wish. Do you think we could spend Christmas together?”

Christmas. It seemed so far away. “That would be nice. Are Paul & Naomi coming up to your parent’s house for Christmas?”

“I don’t know, I’d have to find out.”

We sipped our ciders & I put my head on his shoulder. “I wish I didn’t have to leave already.”

“Me too.” We sat in silence for a minute and then, “Hey! You could just ‘miss’ the train! I’m sure you could get your ticket transferred to Thursday when the train goes back to Latrobe – want to do that?” He had a sly smile on his face as he presented this idea.

I smiled back, “I wish! But I have college classes tomorrow & so do you. I’m already on the schedule to work at KFC and you have a lot of homework to catch up on.” I shook my head, “It would be fun, but you know it wouldn’t really work out.”

“I know. It was just an option.”

We drank the rest of our ciders, holding hands & wishing to extend out our time together as much as possible. But before we knew it, it was time to head over to the train station.

Derrick walked me up onto the platform and we watched the train pull in. I felt like my heart was breaking. This ‘saying goodbye’ business was getting harder and harder every time we did it. We hugged and up into the train I went. The train was fuller than it had been when I got on it just a few days prior, but I managed to find a window seat overlooking the platform. I waved at Derrick out the window & like that, our whirlwind weekend was over & we were back to counting down the days until we’d see each other again.

..Part 17 coming soon!