★ kee speaks finale chapter :D if you can't scan the playlist above, search "suguwuus ^^" or "take my place" on spotify

Connor Stoll was in love, and very much so.

Maybe it was her smile, or her laugh, or her words, or maybe it was just her.

No, that was a little too basic. It was her soul. That was the best way he could put it, for he thought it would take him too long to list down all of the reasons why he loved Y/N.

For now, he would take his time and stare at her, stare like he had all the time in the world. Y/N was beautiful. She stuck the upper half of her body out of the car window, with one arm outstretched toward the darkness surrounding the highway. Her e/c eyes gleamed as she laughed, overloaded with joy.

Travis had told him before that there were at least 7 other people in the world that looked exactly like each other. If he ever met any that looked like Y/N, he was sure none of them would be able to make him feel the same.

They were the only ones on the highway, with the occasional late-night taxi or cargo truck, but neither of them were afraid of getting lost or hurt. They had each other, with the stars watching over them.

Not one worry crossed their mind, it was almost like they escaped to another world. Maybe that was the effect of sneaking out and driving to the highway in the middle of the night. It was an ethereal emotion that had not been put into words yet.

Connor wished the steering wheel his fingers were wrapped around was Y/N's hands. He wished the space between his arms was her. He wished the road he kept his eyes on was her face. He was too impatient, all the time, every day. But at the same time, he wanted to make her happy. So he had to wait.

Y/N sat back down in her seat, grinning. "This is...the best thing we've ever done, Con," she said breathlessly before planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Glad you like it," Connor replied, glancing at her flushed face. Gods, how he wished he could kiss her on the lips right now. Just to show her how much he loved her. A gesture that didn't require words. Just this once. And all the other times he would need to do it.

"Look, the moon is huge tonight." He raised a hand off the wheel for a moment to point at the glowing white figure in the sky, bowing down his head for a second.

"Woah." Y/N rested a hand on his arm while she leaned forward to check the moon out too. This time, it was the moonlight that illuminated her features, not the yellow streetlamps. The change of tint was new and made Connor gnaw on his bottom lip to hold back a smile.

"Do you think it's gonna rain?" she asked, voice overlapping with the sound of tires on the road. "It smells like it will."

"Will you want to go home if it does?" Connor asked, eyeing the clouds behind them.

Y/N didn't even hesitate to say, "I'll go anywhere you want tonight as long as you'll stay with me and I'll stay with you."

"Of course, princess."

Y/N scrunched up her nose at the nickname. Her expression melted into shock, though, as water droplets started pattering on the roof of the car and onto the palm of her hand.

Connor laughed at her surprise. "Quicker than you thought it would come?"

"Uh huh." She wiped her hand on her clothes and gazed at Connor as he kept driving. Of course, she was in love with him as much as he loved her, but he didn't know that. Not yet, anyway.

It was so comforting to be around him, the mere thought of Connor was enough to bring her mind peace. It was almost too good to be true.

She loved falling asleep in his arms then waking up with his chin resting on her head. She loved cupping his face in her hands and telling him her thoughts. She loved the jokes he made, the perpetual smirk on his face, the way he never failed to make her smile, the way he'd just breathe. She loved him.

They took each other's breath away, and only The Fates knew if both of them were fully aware of it.

Connor slowed down the car and closed the windows. He took everything he didn't need out of his pockets and put them in the backseat. Once the car had been put to park and the sound of the rain became louder than it was before, he exited the car and stood in the empty part of the road that branched off.

Y/N tilted her head to the side, wondering what he was doing. He knocked on her window, drops of water already on the tips of his eyelashes.

"Join me, princess?" He asked, voice muffled.

"Yeah." Y/N smiled softly and opened the door, stepping out into the night. It was cold and wet and noisy, and she shivered.

"It's okay, I got you," Connor reassured, nudging the door closed with his foot and wrapping his arms around Y/N, his Y/N. Finally, after a long drive, he got to hug her and the warmth made him sigh in relief.

Y/N sighed as well. After being enveloped in rushing wind for so long she longed to be hugged too.

Then, Connor had almost lost his balance and swayed, so Y/N caught him and soon, their footsteps painted the ground with patterns and Y/N was spinning under a street lamp. They didn't need music, just the thrill of dancing in the rain was enough.

She laughed lightly, taking note of how Connor stared at her. "What?"

"Nothing," he yelled over the rain, walking over to her and pulling her close. "It's just," he glanced at her lips— "I love you a lot."

Y/N put a hand on the back of his neck, stood on her toes and kissed him for a long time. "I love you too."

Then, the feeling disappeared. Connor was dry. Sound was being drained from his ears and his feet were bare. His head pounded from the sudden noise that was drilled into his body.

"Connor, wake up, nerd. We're gonna be late for a counselor's meeting."

"Who said I was a nerd—?" Connor said in a strained voice, sitting up. Something fell off his chest, but he cared too little about it.

It was a dream. A dream too vivid. He didn't know how to drive, he didn't personally know anyone named Y/N. He wasn't on a highway with a girl, he was in Cabin 11 if Camp Half-Blood, with sunlight streaming through the window and door and onto his brother. It still took him a moment to process it.

"I did, I say you're a nerd. Ever since you started reading that book," Travis said, nodding at the object that fell off of Connor's chest. "I can't believe you finished it last night. And in just two weeks! I though you were dyslexic. I thought we were dyslexic," Travis continued dramatically.

The object was a book.

Oh.

Suddenly Connor cared too much.

"Go ahead without me." He hastily picked it up, carefully flipped to the last page and found the green paint stain he had accidentally left the previous night after finishing the book. He read the last line over and over again, hoping for...what, closure? A hidden message?

Connor thought it was pathetic. He had fallen in love with someone who didn't exist. Someone who only lived in the ink, in the printed words of the book. He never got a clear image of what she looked like until his dream. He wanted to see her again, but with a huff he realized reality meant he couldn't.

After all, Y/N L/N was only made up by someone's imagination, and she was just a book character Connor Stoll fell in love with. The tables had really turned.