. she hadn't really been sleeping, rather just lying in bed, hugging her knees to her chest as she thought of neil. her eyes were stained with tears. she couldn't sleep, so she let the sound of the snow and rain mixture against her window soothe her. she gazed over, and saw neil, shaking. his eyes were teary. she quickly got up and let him in.

"neil!" she exclaimed, quietly closing the window behind him. he shook the rain off.

"hi." he quietly said. amélie wanted to burst into a fit of rage, she was so worried about neil she wanted to call him out for it, but she didn't. she couldn't imagine what he was going through.

"where have you been? where did you go? i've called you, almost a million times."

"sorry." neil said. his eyes were puffy and read. amé got back into her cozy bed. she watched him stand awkwardly by her window.

"it's okay, don't apologize." she reassured him calmly. "just, please tell me what's going on, because i've been worried sick." she patted the spot beside her.

neil hesitantly sat down. "my dad was at my play."

"oh."

"he got upset with me, and decided to withdrawal me out of welton.." he trailed off. he was trying so hard to not cry. "and send me to military school."

"it was just a threat, right?" amé asked. she didn't want to lose him.

he shook his head. "i-i was so upset." he began, but had to stop because snot ran down his face from crying too hard. "i took my dad's shot gun out of his study, and.."

"i'm so sorry." amélie whispered. she took his head into her lap, and repeatedly stroked his hair. she could feel tears falling down her face as well.

"i found your note, in my pocket. it stopped me."

"i love you so much." amé whispered, continuing to run her hands through his hair.

"i realized, as long as i can see you, it won't be that bad, right?" he smiled through tears.

amélie shook her head, and pressed it to joel's chest. "i don't want you to go."

"i love you too." he whispered, returning the feelings she'd poured out in his note. "i've never had anyone care about me this much. i've never felt like this."

"you make me a better version of myself." amélie pulled herself away from his chest and looked him in the eyes.

"i think the same." neil smiled, dabbing at her tears. "but, every version of you amazing."

"stop." amé blushed, wiping the tears off his face as well. she cuddled up to him, and pulled the comforter over them.

"i was thinking, if we had kids, what would their names be?" neil asked, making her crack up.

"slow down." she stopped him, shaking her head with a smile. "let's discuss our house, and french beach house first."

for once, everything felt okay, when it was in fact not. neil's life was falling apart, but at least he was here, in the bed of the girl he loved, planning out their future together.

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neil had to quickly slip out of amélie's house in the morning, as to not wake up her dad. he didn't want to go home, but he knew he'd have to eventually.

when he got home, the house was silent. his mom suddenly appeared, her lips pressed thin like paper. "where's dad?"

"neil... come and sit with me." she said quietly, leading him over to the couch.

"okay.."

"me and your father are splitting up." she said. mascara was crusted around her eyes. she was clearly upset. "honey, please don't think this is your fault. me and him have been having some problems between us two. the way he treated you last night was my last straw. we're moving in with my parents, and your grandpa is going to help me by chipping in some money so you can continue at welton."

neil couldn't utter a word. he could feel tears coming up again, but couldn't figure out if they were out of joy, or sadness. "thank you, mom." he whispered, hugging her tightly.

"i want you to know, no matter what you want to pursue in life, i will accept it. if you want to become an actor, i will be at every show." his mom said, placing a kiss on his cheek. his eyes began leaking tears.

"i love you."

"it'll be hard, but we'll manage. i love you too, hun." his mom whispered, patting neil's head.

after he calmed down, he called amélie as soon as he could. he wanted to hear her voice, and let her bathe in the excitement with him.

"hey." he said as soon as he heard the phone click.

"hi! how are you?" amélie grinned. she had changed her tone once she figured out who was calling. she was glad he was alive.

"i don't know how to tell you this, but i'm staying." neil quietly said, hiding a smile. he didn't want to seem too excited about it.

"what? how'd you convince your dad?" she asked, the tone in her voice made him so happy.

"my parents are splitting up. my mom said they'd been having problems and this was the last straw."

"i'm so happy." she smiled. she wasn't sure what she'd do without him there.

"i don't know how i feel. about my parents, i mean." he quietly said. amélie didn't know what to say. she'd grown up without her mom, so she didn't experience her parents actually splitting.

"i'm sorry. it's really hard to take in, i bet."

"yeah.." neil trailed off. he didn't want to talk about it anymore, even though he had brought it up. "you should stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault."

"sorry!" she laughed.

"there you go again."

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i hope you guys liked how i ended this! i didn't want neil to die 🥲 it was a bit short and i'm sorry for that i didn't know how to add to it... 4 (?) chapters left + an epilogue !!! trying to finish as quick as i can. tysm for 3k reads!!! i am so thankful for everyone reads this 😭