*Susan’s POV (Morning, Sunday the 14th)

I wake up to my alarm in my dorm. I turn it off and look at the time. It’s 11:00am so Liam and I will be having our Valentine’s Skype date in one hour! I quickly get up to get ready. He’s only gonna see the top half of me so I’ll be wearing a cute shirt…and sweatpants. I gotta be comfortable, right?

I put on my shirt before I go down to the cafeteria to get my breakfast to eat with Liam. We planned to eat the same thing so that it’s like we’re eating at the same place, so we’re both having pancakes with sausage and orange juice; me for breakfast and him for dinner. He said it was okay because he loved having breakfast for dinner.

I get to the cafeteria, get my food, and go back to the room. By the time I get back it’s 11:30 and Hannah is just waking up. “Good morning, Han.” I cheer as I go to my laptop. “Morning! Excited for your date?” she says sitting up. “Definitely. You?” There’s no answer so I look over and she’s on her phone.

“Yeah, I’m just really confused about the text Harry sent me.” “What’s it say?” I ask going over to her. “For a surprise, go to your mailbox. There should be a package for you. Bring it to your room and don’t open it until instructed to do so. See you soon for our date. :) I love you, blondie. <3” she reads.

“Sounds intriguing…I’d go check your mail if I were you.” I say going back to the computer to log into Skype. There’s a pause before she says “I will! Have fun with Liam. I’m going to the mail room and then to the lounge for my date.” She puts on her Tangled shirt and takes her makeup bag before heading out the door.

“Have fun with Harry. Let me know what happens!” I say turning around. “Aaaand she’s gone.” I decide to go ahead and put on my make up and do my hair. I never wear my hair curled but I decide to this time to see what Liam thinks. I’m satisfied with how I look and a few minutes later I hear the Skype tone.

I quickly answer it and I see Liam in front of me wearing a formal white collared shirt and a bowtie. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Liam says. “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart!” I say. “Babe, you look adorable!” he says. “Me? You’re so cute with your bowtie. Did you make your dinner?” I ask. He holds up his plate saying “Yep, did you get your breakfast?”

“Yep all set.” I say holding up my plate. We dig in and share our meal together. We catch up on school and stuff. I tell him about my dance groups and how much fun they are and he tells me he’s been taking voice lessons and singing at little pubs for fun. “Do you think you’ll wanna be a singer someday?” I ask.

“Maybe…if not, I always have that airplane thing with my dad.” he says. For a minute we just look at each other. “I really wish you were here. Or that I was there. This long distance relationship thing really isn’t easy.” he confesses. “I know it’s difficult, sweetie. But it’s worth it because we’re in love.” I say smiling at him. “Yeah we sure are.” he says smiling back.
“Do you think you might be able to come visit again in a month or two?” I ask hopeful.

“I don’t know, love. That ticket was pretty expensive. I had to beg my parents for weeks before they finally gave in and bought it for me.” he says. “I’ve gotten tips at the pubs from performing but it would take me forever to earn money from that.”

“Well, me getting money to fly to England is out of the question. I have to save all of mine for college because AMDA is really pricy.” I admit. Damn are we stuck? “So what are we gonna do? I mean we have to be able to see each other again one day.” Liam says. “I guess we’ll have to wait until the time comes for one of us to have the money. And until then, we’ll have our love to carry us through.” I say smiling and making a hand heart.

“Yeah…You know what, I think I hear my mum calling me. …Well I know it’s early, but I guess I should get going. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” he asks. “Okay…talk soon. I love you!” “Love ya too, bye.” Liam says before he logs off.

I look at the time: it’s barely 3:00. Well that didn’t last as long as I thought it would. I don’t know what to do. I cleared my whole Sunday for this. Hannah is still on her date with Harry so I can’t hang with her. I guess I can call some dancer friends. I dial one of their numbers and get voicemail. I do the same with a few others and none of them answer. They’re probably all out with their boyfriends.

I don’t bother calling Em or Kenz because I know they’ll be doing stuff with Zayn and Niall. I try Sammie seeing as she’s the only single one, but even she doesn’t answer. I guess I can do that homework I’ve been putting off all weekend. There aren’t any other options really.

…Who am I kidding? I can’t concentrate on work. I love Liam so much and I wanna see him again. The fact that it could end up being months, maybe even a year until we reunite again sucks. I suppose I knew we’d have this kind of relationship once I left Paris. I mean I knew we wouldn’t be getting together once a month when we live across the world from each other.

I just hoped that we would see each other every few months, but even that seems impossible now. However, no matter how hard things get, our bond is strong enough that we can get through anything. When you’re in love anything is possible. I lie down on my bunk while thinking about all this.

I don’t know how long I’m lying here but eventually Hannah comes in with her box. “Hey, Susan. Did you just get done with your date too?” She says setting her box down. “No, it actually got done at…what time is it?” I ask. “A little after 6:00. Why?”

“Then our date ended three hours ago.” I say sadly. “What? It only lasted three hours?...why?” she asks sitting at the foot of the bed.

“He said his mom was calling and he had to go. And we ended the date talking about long distance and how we probably won’t get to reunite again for who knows how long. Neither one of us has the money.” I say sitting up. “I’m sorry, Susan. I know how much you love each other. It was so obvious at Sam’s Christmas party.” she chuckles a little.

I smile remembering that night. It was magical. Liam got along so well with everyone and he was by my side the whole time. Unfortunately he had to get on a plane at the end of the night, but our goodbye was long and sweet. We kissed under the mistletoe and at the airport.

I watched his plane fly away and it broke my heart to leave him again. And now I don’t know when we’ll meet again. “I know…I just don’t know what to do. How do you and Harry handle this? You talk to him even less than I talk to Li.” She scoots closer to me.

“It’s not easy at all, believe me. But I think what makes us power through is that when we do talk to each other, we make it really fun and upbeat. We play silly games and talk about our day and it’s comfortable. Even though it doesn’t happen often, that what makes it so special; we cherish it more, I suppose.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” I say looking over at the box on the floor. “Is that the box Harry’s package came in?” I ask. “Yeah it is. I’ll tell you all about it over some dinner. We gotta get out of here and get you pepped up!” she says pulling me up off the bed. She throws me a pair of my black leggings and my boots and says “Change into this. We are going to have fun tonight.”

She changes into leggings and her boots. “Let’s go!” I wonder where we’re going. There’s no parties going on tonight because all the couples are doing their own thing and the single people are having girls nights and getting wasted in their dorms.

So we just end up going to the café on campus…but still we’re technically out of the dorms. We get salads and frappuccinos and sit at a little table. We’re two out of very few people here right now which isn’t surprising. She tells me about her date with Harry and then we sit in silence for awhile drinking our beverages and just looking around. There isn’t really much to talk about since we see each other every day.

Then Hannah asks “What do you think Emily and Mac are doing right now with the boys?” “Well it’s only afternoon in LA so they’re probably out somewhere doing who knows what.” I say. “What I’m really wondering is what Sammie is up to. I tried calling her earlier but no answer.”

“Perhaps Louis took her on a Valentine’s Day date.” Hannah winks. “C’mon, they are not secretly in love! Will you get off that?” She’s convinced that no matter how much the two deny it, Sammie and Louis have feelings for each other. “I will not. They would be cute! And their couple name would be adorable.”

Oh my goodness, she never stops. “Samouis…nah that’s stupid…” she gasps really big before she says “I’ve got it!! Loummie!!! How adorable is that?!?!” Okay someone has had too much caffeine.

“I’m cutting you off. Let’s go back to the room.” I say taking her frappe away from her. She wants it back so badly, she chases me all the way back to the dorm for it. It’s when we get through the door that I finally give it back to her.

“You are an evil woman.” she says. “You love me, shut up.” She laughs and we change into our pajamas. “Well what do you think Sam is doing if she isn’t with Lou?” she asks. “I don’t know…maybe she is with him but not on a date! They’re probably just hanging out at their apartment.”

“Yeah, hanging out…” she says. “Shut up, Han!” I say and can’t help but laugh. “I swear, caffeine does something to you.” It’s still only about 8:00 so we decide to watch a movie all cozy and warm in the lounge with a bowl of microwave popcorn and some blankets. We choose an old favorite: Mean Girls. We quote practically the whole movie. You can’t deny, it’s super quotable.

After the movie we go back to our room to go to bed. “Thanks for an awesome night, Han. You’re the best.” I say hugging her. “No problem, you’re the best and I hate seeing you upset.” I turn off the light and plug in my phone. “Good night, Susan. Love you.” Hannah says before getting into bed. “Good night, Hannah. Love you too.”

I get under the covers and try my best to make myself fall asleep. I don’t have to try too hard tonight, thankfully. Today might not have been what I wanted it to be with Liam and who knows when I’ll see him again, but as always my best friend and sister was here to lift my spirits. We will see each other someday and until then I have my friends and school to keep me occupied.

Notes