Amber bit her lip and then held up a single sheet of paper from the stack in her lap. I recognized the cardinal red logo on the letterhead.

She smiled at me despite the moisture in her eyes and said, "I got it.

I got into Stanford Medical School."

Ny first instinct was elation. My eyes danced up and a grin spread across my face as happiness for Amber leapt into my heart. My girlfriend was going to be a doctor, just like she'd always dreamed.

True, she'd already been accepted to our University's graduate medical program, but Stanford had been that golden fantasy that never seemed quite possible.

Even when it came time for her to fill out applications, she almost wasn't even going to apply. It was just such a Longshot given her good, but not great, GPA and test scores.

I was ready to thrust my arms into the air in celebration and wrap her up in a happy hug. But my arms suddenly went dead as my brain caught up to the real world implications.

Stanford Medical School was pretty far away from here.

Amber's eyes leaped up with mine and she was ready to jump into my hug as I made those first reactive moves. But when she saw my hesitation, her face fell as she watched the implications she'd already thought through finally register to me.

No discussion was needed. We both already knew.

"You're going, aren't you?" I asked quietly, dreading the inevitability of her answer.

"Yes." Her shoulders sagged as she looked into my eyes and saw the truth, her own hopes fading away.

“You're not coming with me, are you?"

"I..." My mind was reeling. I hadn't been expecting a life-changing decision like this. "I want to..."

"But..." she questioned, a plea in her eyes.

“California? Wow... I, uh..." I thought of the little restaurants I knew nearby. I thought of my Little makeout places. I thought of everything familiar.

I thought of my family. True, it wasn't like I was joined at the hip to my parents, but Danielle was here, and Cherys. Kevin, Jen, all my other friends. My job was here. True, it'd only been a year, but I loved my job, I loved my company, and I really liked my coworkers. I was doing well, getting good reviews, and I could see myself even retiring with the company. This was home.

As much as I wanted to cast all aside for romantic love, it wasn't practical. This was HOME.

The only thing for me at Stanford would be Amber.

It was a POWERFUL allure. But the fact was, I was a year removed from college. We were young... was I ready to settle down? I felt like getting married would be an easier decision than picking up my Life and moving just for her. We'd been together for almost two and a half years and I was madly in love with her. But deep down I knew it wasn't enough.

I was scared. I wanted to be with Amber... but I didn't want to move.

As I looked at her, she read it in my eyes and I read it in hers. She wanted to go. Could I really try to talk her out of it? Were we really about to break up?

I closed my eyes, my eyelids pushing out a rolling tear from the moisture that had already begun to buildup over my irises. Amber's hand went up to catch my tear and I grabbed her wrist, holding her palm to my cheek as I blinked my eyes open and looked deep into hers. The sky blue irises were as beautiful as a morning sky. And I would miss them.

"Congratulations," I managed to croak, before I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. Then with more force and honest sincerity, I said again, "Congratulations."

She managed a smile before she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.