"What's in the bag, Tink?" Ronan asked curiously as we sped along the freeway toward the airport.

Shit.

The scarves, which I'd meant to give the boys last night, were in the bag. With all the mess with Matty, I'd completely forgotten, and I'd been carrying the bag around all morning. It was now leaning against my legs. Great.

"Oh, you guys, I'm so sorry, I wanted to give you little goodbye gifts last night, but with all the kerfuffle with Matty I completely forgot—"

"The what?" Teddy said with a laugh.

"Kerfuffle?" I repeated. "What? That's a totally legit word, I'll have you know."

"Yeah, from, like, 1952," he gasped, laughing.

"Fuck you, Theodore Shelley," I said.

"Oooohh, you've awakened the mouth," said Gethin. "Better be careful."

"Anyway, Tink, keep going, tell us what's in the bag, petal, never mind him," Ronan said soothingly.

"Yes, so, I wanted to give you guys something, and I meant to do it last night, but I totally forgot, so now I have to do it in the car, and you have no place to pack them, so it's going to be a total pain in the ass, and I'm sorry," I said.

I pulled them out, one at a time, explaining as I did so about how I'd chosen the yarn to match their eyes. "So, this one, Geth, is for you," and I handed him the green one. "Matty, this is for you," as I gave him the blue. "Teddy, this is yours," as I handed him the powder gray. "And Ronan, the chocolate with the golden threads is yours."

"Wow, are these Merino wool?" Gethin asked.

"Very good, Geth," I responded, impressed.

"My father's a sheep farmer, I know my woolens," he answered with a modest smile. "But you shouldn't have, they must have cost a mint."

As the boys examined the scarves and felt and tried them on, I showed them the little pockets I'd added on the ends. "See, on either end, I added these little sleeves, with these little knobs that look like buttons, they hardly show, but if you needed to, the sleeves are the right size to hold a mic pack, and there are openings on the other side like button holes to hold the knobs. That will hold the mic packs in." I was pleased with my little embellishment.

"Hold on," Matty was holding his scarf and looking at me. "Are you saying you made these scarves?"

"Well, yeah." I'd assumed they knew that.

They all stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

"You made these? Like with needles and all?" Gethin asked.

"Yes, with needles and all," I laughed.

"You know how to crochet," Teddy stated.

"Well, this is knitting, but yes, I do know how to crochet, too," I said.

"When did you do this?" Matty asked.

"While you guys were rehearsing at the Tokyo Dome," I answered.

"So I'm left with one question, a question I've asked you before, and I'm sure I'll ask you again," Teddy said with a smile.

I looked at him inquiringly.

"Is there anything you can't do, you fucking amazing girl?" He smiled with admiration.

They all crowded onto one seat, with me sitting on top of them, and we got the security guy in the front seat to take a picture of us, with the boys all wearing their scarves, which were casual enough to look fine with their T-shirts and jeans. Apparently, all four planned to wear them home. I was touched.

I started to cry as soon as we got out of the car at Narita airport. Companionably, Ronan joined me, so I wasn't bawling all alone, which was lovely of him. I didn't want the fans taking pictures of me crying, but I couldn't help it. I tried to keep it under control until we got past the security checkpoints, but I'm sure a few girls got some photos of the boys comforting their interpreter with the leaky eyes.

We were whisked through VIP security, then I prepared to say good bye to the boys. At least I'd be seeing Teddy in a few days, but who knew when I'd be seeing the others? We posed for one last picture together, in front of the duty free store of all places, then I hugged each boy violently, crying freely. Of course, they were crying pretty hard, too, so we kind of blended, but still.

When I got to Teddy, he hugged me and asked, laughing, "What are you saying good bye to me for? I'm going with you, you little idiot!"

"What?" I looked at him in confusion. "I'm going to LA today."

"Yeah?" He looked at me. "So am I."

"You are? I didn't know that!" I gasped. "I thought I was going to LA and you guys were going to London?"

"Those lot are going to London," Teddy said with a jerk of his head. "I'm going with you to LA, and we're going to London together on Wednesday."

"Oh, I'm so glad," I said, trying to hide just how happy I was. I didn't want the other boys to feel bad, but I was actually overjoyed.

The boys' flight to London left before our flight to LA, so we walked them to their gate, and said goodbye again, with more tears. I finally just turned into Teddy's shoulder so I wouldn't have to watch them enter the covered walkway that led to the plane. He held me with one arm as he waved with the other.

"Come on, then, let's get to our gate," he said, patting my shoulder.

I nodded and we left. Before we'd gotten twenty yards, my phone lit up with a text from Ronan. It was a selfie of the three of them smiling, though you could see he still had tears in his eyes.

"Look at the three of them, with drinks already, Jesus!" said Teddy with a smile.

"You going to miss traveling with them?" I asked.

"No, I'd rather be traveling with you," he said with a sideways smile that melted my insides. He nudged my shoulder. I nudged his shoulder back.

We got to our gate and sat down, prepared to wait, as we had a good two hours before we had to board. Teddy asked if I wanted to wait in the VIP lounge, but I shook my head. No one was bothering us. Amazingly, there seemed to be no one of the right age to recognize Teddy on our flight. We might just make it all the way to Los Angeles without being asked for a single picture.

"Hey! I nearly forgot!" He bent over and unzipped the side pocket of his backpack and took out a white plastic bag. "I meant to give it to you yesterday, but with all the drama with Matty I forgot, I'm sorry." He put the box in my hands. "Happy birthday, my darling Birdie." He kissed my cheek.

I stared at the box in my hands. "Oh no, you didn't! Why?"

"What do you mean?" He looked confused. "It was your birthday; you're my friend. I wanted to get you a present. What's so complicated?"

I lifted up my wrist, showing him my beautiful watch. "What about this? You moved heaven and earth to get this for me just yesterday, remember?"

He smiled at me. "Maybe just heaven, not both," he said, rubbing my neck companionably. "Anyway, that was from all of us. This is from just me. Go on, open it, silly goose," he said as I continued to sit there, holding the box.

I opened the bag and saw the tell-tale robin's egg blue box inside. "Oh no. No. Are you telling me I told you about this during my mysterious drug induced fugue state too?"

He was grinning from ear to ear, dimples making his face almost unbearably adorable. "Are you happy, Birdie?"

All I could do was nod, tears already beginning to spill over.

"Don't start crying yet, you haven't even opened it!" He sat up. "Open it, let's see if you like it."

"Okay, okay." One of my earliest memories of my mother was of her telling me how on my twenty-first birthday she would buy me a special surprise birthday present from Tiffany's. She had described in detail the joy of the special blue box, of opening it to find the surprise inside. Breakfast At Tiffany's had been one of our favorite movies, with many rainy days spent in bed with popcorn watching Audrey Hepburn sing "Moon River" out on her fire escape. It was one of many dreams I had put away upon her death, knowing it would never be realized. And now Teddy had handed it back to me in an airport.

I hugged him, holding the box in one hand. He hugged me back enthusiastically.

I opened the box to reveal a velvet jewel box in the same robin's egg blue. I took it out, and set it on the arm rest between us. I looked at it for a long time.

"Earth to Birdie," Teddy whispered.

"I'm enjoying the moment," I whispered back.

I finally picked it up and flipped up the lid. Inside was a miniature hummingbird, about as big as my thumbnail, hanging from a finely wrought chain. The feathers on the wings and tail, the tiny point of the beak, the detail work was exquisite. Tiny diamonds sparkled in the eye sockets. I removed it from the box and let it hang from my tented fingers. It was surprisingly heavy. And it was silver. How did he know I didn't like gold jewelry, when I didn't wear jewelry of any kind? I gently touched the fine point of the beak.

"Silver is so fragile, I hope the tip doesn't break off," I said softly, my hand closing around it.

"It's pure platinum, it's not going anywhere," he said, his hand closing around mine.

Platinum. No wonder it was so heavy. It must have cost a fortune.

"Did you see the inscription?" he asked.

Where could there be room for an inscription on something so fine? I shook my head.

"Look very carefully at the wings," he instructed.

I looked closely at the wings, using the light on my phone to create extra depth of shadows. "To my Hummingbird, with love" was on one side, "From your Teddy" was on the other, so finely etched that it couldn't be felt by rubbing, and it probably couldn't be seen by anyone with anything other than perfect vision.

I felt the tidal wave coming, and I struggled to get the velvet box put back in the store box in time. I put the Tiffany's box in my duffel bag, and, clutching the necklace tight in my fist, I sat down in Teddy's lap just in time. I wrapped my arms tight around his neck, buried my face in his collarbone area, and let the flood come. It wasn't loud, there was no sobbing or anything, it was just a silent deluge of emotion, mainly of joy, of gratitude, of love, for him, for this person, who kept picking up the pieces of my broken dreams, putting them back together and just handing them to me like it was nothing.

We attracted surprisingly little attention. It was an airport, after all. Everyone was used to people hugging and crying and being emotional. Teddy just held me, rubbing my back, helping me ride out my personal storm. I didn't realize it at first, but I became aware that I was saying "Thank you, thank you," over and over to him.

"Shh, Birdie, shh," he said, as he made small rocking motions. Eventually, my tears subsided, and I was spent, the calm after the storm.

I sat up. I had made a sodden mare's nest of his shoulder. I apologized for it. He looked down, held up a finger, and pulled the scarf over to cover the spot. He smiled at me. "See? Perfectly fine."

"Teddy, I love the necklace. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever owned, I think. I love it more than the watch, even." I smiled at him.

"Turn around," he said, taking the necklace from me. He carefully hooked it, then kissed the back of my neck, turning my insides into a warm, gooey mess.