Jace
As I woke up, the first thing I noticed were the suitcases standing by my desk and I immediately felt lighter. I was leaving today.

I stretched as I stood up from my bed and scratched my stomach. I picked up a shirt from the floor and threw it on and made my way downstairs for breakfast.

Diane had so gracefully made me a hearty breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast, waffles, coffee and even orange juice. Her goodbye gift to me she said.

"Where's my mom?" I asked as I munched on a piece of toast.

"She left early this morning" she said, a hint of sadness and pity in her voice.

I knew we weren't talking and all but she didn't even have the decency to be here when I was leaving.

I lost my appetite after that and thanking Diane for the food, I went back to my room.

By then, it was eight and my flight was by eleven. Logan was picking me up by nine so we could hang out for a bit before he dropped me off at the airport.

I took my sweet time showering and getting ready since it was the last time I'll be doing so here.

I dresses in black sweatpants and a grey cashmere sweater. Comfy enough for the long flight and warm enough for the weather in London.

I was going through my list in my head in case I forgot anything when Logan arrived.

"Dude" he drawled, walking into my room. "I can't believe you're leaving today."

"Yeah, me too man" I said, hugging him.

We let go and he flopped down on my bed with a sigh. "Is that all you're taking?"

"Yeah, why? Is it too much?" I asked, glancing at my suitcases. One big, one small and a little duffel bag.

"Too much?" he snorted. "Emma and Mia had more stuff for a few days at the beach."

We immediately fell into an awkward silence at the memory. Sighing I pushed myself away from the wall I was leaning on. I grab my Timberland boots off the floor and plopping down on my bed, I put them on.

"Yeah, but they're girls" I scoffed and he laughed.

"Yeah. But that's still too little stuff dude" he said, eyes twinkling.

Awkward moment over.

"I'm not gonna take my whole wardrobe with me to London" I roll my eyes. "I'll go shopping for new clothes."

"Dude, you can't go shopping without me" he says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"And why is that?"

"You have horrible taste in fashion, that's why."

I pick up a book from my desk and throw it at him. He dodges it, laughing.

"Too slow, bro."

I stand up with a sigh and grab my suitcase. "Let's go."

As soon as we get downstairs I hear the front door open and my mom walks into the house.

"Hi, Logan. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good, Mrs Williams" he smiles. "And you look great, by the way."

"Thank you. And your parents?"

"Oh they are fantastic. Actually they wanted me to tell you--"

I clear my throat loudly and he gives me a pointed look.

"Jace" she says. "Can I talk to you please?"

I stare at her blankly and she glances at Logan. "In private."

"I'll take these to the car" he takes the other suitcase from me but leaves me with the duffel bag and walks past my mom.

She gestures for me to follow her to her study and I do. Once inside, she shuts the door and walks over to her desk.

I sit on the couch by the wall and wait for her to speak. She picks up a picture frame from her desk and smiles fondly at it. I can't see the picture but I know its the picture of me and my dad.

After a few moments of her smiling at the picture I break the silence. "You wanted to talk.."

She sets the picture down but still keeps her back to me. "Do you remember what happened that day?

"What day?"

"The day he died" she said quietly and I almost laughed.

I couldn't forget if I tried.

I had started nodding when it hit me her back was still turned to me. "Yeah. I asked him why you canceled on me and he said you weren't feeling well but I knew he was lying."

"Oh Gary" she sighed. "Always trying to make things right with everyone."

"That day I asked him why you didn't like me. Do you know what he said?"

She turned around slowly and I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"He told me that you loved me even if you didn't show it much. He told me never to doubt your love for me, mom. But I did mom. Hell, I still do. It's hard believe someone loves you when they act like they don't give two shits about you."

"Jace" she breathes, her eyes watering.

"Look, I'm not ready to have that entire conversation all over again so.." I stood up, signifying the end of our "talk".

"Jace. I know that up until today, I haven't been able to make you smile the way your dad used to. If anything I've only caused you pain and anger. And I'm sorry."

I sighed as she walked towards me and sat on the couch pulling me down with her.

"The only person who made you smile like you used to I hated. Do you know why?"

"Because you thought you were better than her?" I said in a duh tone.

"No, baby. I didn't hate her because I thought I was better than her. I hated her because she was better than me."

"What? I don't understand.

"I have never seen you as happy as you were the months after Emma came into your life. And it hurt. It hurt a lot because that's when it hit me that I had failed."

"I'm sorry Jace. All those years I wasn't there for you. All your football games I missed. All the times I had a driver drop you off and pick you up from school. All the times we never hung out. All the PTA meetings I missed. All the cookies I didn't bake for the fair" she smiles and I laugh.

"I am so sorry, Jace" she says and tear slips down her cheek.

I pull her into a hug and she cries softly into my shoulder. I rub her back softly until she stops and let's go.

"It's okay, mom. It doesn't matter anymore, anyways."

She smiles at me and places a hand on my cheek. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too" I say.

How weird that what I wished for for a long time finally happened today. When I'm moving to another continent.

***
Almost an hour later I'm in a diner not too far from the airport with Logan. He wanted to have breakfast but didn't want "airport food". Picky fool.

"It's all set. Fully furnished too" I say showing him pictures of my new apartment..

"Nice, man" he whistles. "But why two bedrooms?"

"I don't know" I shrug. "Just in case I guess."

"Of course it does man. I gotta know if you're gonna replace me or not" he says and I laugh.

"Yeah, I'll sooner sell my kidney" I chuckle and Logan's face lights up.

"Aww, you love me man" he cooes and I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever you say."

He stands up and crosses the table to my seat and I watch him cautiously.

"What are you doing man?" I ask and watch in horror as he gets down on one knee. "Get up."

"Jace Williams Archibald" he says loudly attracting the stares of everyone in the diner. "Will you do me the pleasure of marrying me and making me the happiest man on earth?"

That isn't even my middle name.

I glance around the restaurant and most of them have adoring looks on their faces while some others have the look of pure disgust.

Homophobic idiots.

I turn to glare at Logan and nearly punch the happy, lovestruck look of his face. What did I do to deserve this?

"Logan" I say through clenched teeth. "Stand up before we both regret this."

His smile drops and he stands up slowly. Looking around the restaurant he smiles at the diners, "Don't mind my friend here. He can't appreciate a little joke."

Laughter rings out through the diner and Logan sits down across from me again with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Ready to go?"

Oh, if looks could kill.

***
Nearly half an hour later, Logan and I are approaching the departure lounge of the airport and my ears are about to fall off.

He had been ranting on for since we got to the airport about London culture and I had been nodding absentmindedly when suddenly I see a girl with her back turned to me and my heart skips.

"Emma?" I whisper and Logan stops ranting to stare at me worriedly.

"Hey, you okay?"

The girl turns to face me and I'm immediately disappointed to find out it's not her.

"Yeah" I sigh. "I'm fine."

We continue until we get the escalator going upstairs to the departure lounge.

"Okay you gotta stop here" I turn to him and he gives me a look.

"I know how airports work" he scoffs with an eye roll.

I mimic his actions which causes a laugh from him. "So.."

"Don't miss me too much" he chuckles lamely. "And don't do what I wouldn't do."

"Yeah, like I would ever want to do the stupid things you do."

He doesn't reply with the usual snarky comeback or a punch to the arm. He just chuckles lightly. "I'm going to miss you so much, dickhead."

"Yeah, me too, asshole" I say and hug him.

He let's go and I grab my suitcases and walk towards the escalator. Before getting on it, I turn to Logan and wink.

"See you later, alligator."

*In that SpongeBob dude's voice* A few minutes later

I walk onto the airplane with the other passengers and make my way the the first class section. An air hostess takes my bag and leads me to my seat. I thank her with a smile and she smiles back and walks away.

I sit down with a sigh and look out the window at the airport where Logan should be leaving by now.

I quickly pull out my phone and send him a quick message.

Me* Oh, and to answer your question earlier in the diner, yes, I'll marry you

The air hostess approached me and told me to switch off my phone and fasten my seatbelts before heading off the next passenger.

Before I could switch off my phone his response came in.

Logan* Always knew you loved me secretly.

Me* Yeah but you proposed ;)

Logan* Oh, you smug bastard

I laughed and quickly switched off my phone, slipping it into my pocket.

As the plane began to take off, I nestled into my seat and drifted off to thoughts my future in London.

Emma
"There's something you should know before you leave, Emma."

My hand froze on the the doorknob and I stood with my back to her as I tried to contain my tears.

"He chose you."

"What?" I choked.

"He said no matter how many times you hurt him, he would always choose you. Over me."

And that was all it took for all of my resolve to break. I turned to her as a sob escaped my lips and my hands flew to my mouth.

Kate pulled me into a hug and all my resolve broke as I held onto her and cried like I just had my heart ripped out of my chest. Again.

That was over a month ago. After that day I didn't cry again. Okay that's a lie.

I tried calling him but he never answered. The first five times I tried calling him and I heard his voice telling me to leave a message, I cried. Then I stopped calling him.

"You done?" My mom asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked up at her standing in my doorway with Emily and shook my head. "Just one box left."

My mom glanced at Emily and she groaned, walking into my room. She grumbled as she picked up the cardboard box containing my belongings and walking out of the room.

My mom crossed the room and sits beside me, facing me and she takes my hand.

"This is it, huh?" She smiles, although her eyes are tearing up.

"This is it."

"My baby" she brushed my hair back with shaky hands. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Me too, mom."

A tear slips down her cheek and she quickly wipes it and smiles.

"Come on, mom. It's just college. I'm not dying. Yet."

Her smile falls and I laugh. "I'm kidding!"

"Promise me you'll call me everyday."

"Mom?! Everyday? You know I'm going to have a life right?"

The two of us laugh and then fall into a comfortable silence. That is until my dad yells for us to come downstairs.

My mom laughs standing up and she gestures for me to follow.

"I'll be down in a minute" I say and she leaves me in my room.

I sit in silence for a while, my eyes roaming my almost bare room. I take out my phone and click on my contacts. I find Jace's number and my finger hovers over my phone as I ponder my decision.

The screen blurs for a bit as tears cloud my vision. I look up and shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. I open my eyes and turn my attention back to my phone.

I click on the red button and Jace's number is immediately deleted from my phone.

I stand up, feeling strangely calm, and make my way downstairs where my family is waiting for me.

"There she is" my dad announces as soon as I walk into the living room.

I narrow my eyes at them when I notice the wrapped boxes sitting on the coffee table and my family obviously trying to 'act natural'.

"What is going on? And who's presents are those?"

"They're yours" Emily says and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Is it my birthday? Did Christmas come early?" I ask as I sit beside my dad.

"They are your college gifts" my mom said. "We all got you a "going to college" gift."

"Is that even a thing?" I ask and Emily laughs. "But there are four presents."

"Yeah, grandma sent you one" my dad answered and I nodded.

"You guys didn't have to do this" I look around at my family.

"Of course not. But we love you that much" my sister said. "Now open them."

I picked up the smallest box and shake it a bit earning a laugh from my family.

I tore open the wrapping paper to reveal the latest iPhone.

"Oh my God."

"No way" my sister snatches the box out of hand. "That's not fair" she gives my dad a pointed look.

"I didn't know what to get you. Hope you like it" my dad says smugly.

"Like it's possible to not like an iPhone" Emily scoffs.

"I love it" I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him. "Thank you."

"I'm happy you like it" he said.

My dad and I are on good terms now but I get the feeling he was still trying to apologize for everything.

"You didn't have to do this" I whisper.

"I know. I wanted to" he said, pulling back and holding my face in his hands. "I love you."

"Love you too."

I smile at him and pick up the next box. It's a lot bigger than the first one but not really heavy.

"That's from me" my mom pipes up.

I tear the wrapping paper and grin at my mom. "Really?"

"College can be stressful and I don't want you to lose your glow. Take care of yourself."

"Can't lose what you don't have" Emily mumbled and I threw a cushion on her.

I examine the Bath and Body Works kit in my lap and it has like medium sized bottles of a hand lotion, face scrub, body oil, bath oil, body lotion, lip scrub etc.

"Thanks mom" I drop the kit back on the coffee table and pick up the next gift.

Unlike the others it's a pretty red bag. I pull out a black velvet box and drop the bag on the floor.

I open it and my breath catches in my throat. "Oh my God..."

"That's from your grandma" my dad whispers beside me.

I stare at the necklace with an emerald encrusted flower pendant and the ring with the same design as the pendant.

"Where.. Where did she get the money to buy this? It must have been expensive."

"She didn't" my mom said and I turned to her. "She's had it for a really long time. My dad gave I to her for their anniversary a long time ago."

I continued to gape at the ring until my dad spoke up. "Do you need help with the necklace?"

I nodded and he raised it from the box slowly. I swept my hair to the side as he carefully laid it on my neck and clasped it. It felt cool to the touch and I fingered the pendant lightly.

"Oh honey, it looks amazing" my mom gushed.

I smiled at her and picked up the ring. I slip it onto my finger and it felt so right. Although I thought it would be a bit big it looked perfect.

After a few moments of me admiring the ring on my hand, Emily coughs loudly and I face her.

"If you don't mind, you still haven't opened my gift" she raises an eyebrows and gestures at the last gift on the table.

"But you already gave me that really cute water bottle last week."

"I know. My love for you is amazing. Now" she stands up and picks up the wrapped box handing it to me. "Open it."

"Okay, mom" I say as she goes back to sit down. I unwrap the wrapping paper to find a sequined rainbow coloured journal.

"Where did you get this?" I say and she grins. The colours change as I run my hands over the sequins.

"I ordered it online."

"You guys are spoiling me" I say to my family as my eyes begin to water.

"Benefits of having a rich sister" she shrugs and I choke out a laugh.

"Don't cry, Emma" my dad says and rubs my back.

"It's just too much and I.." my voice breaks as a tear drops on my cheek." I really love you guys and I'm really going to miss you."

My dad pulls me into a hug and the next thing I know I'm being hugged by my whole family.

"I'm going to miss you too, Emma" my sister says. "You're leaving me with this two geezers."

That earns a gasp from my mom and my dad arguing that he's really young and in his "prime". Yeah, right.

A few minutes later, we're all piled around my car in the driveway saying our final goodbyes. All my presents were piled into my bag, of course with the exception of the necklace and ring, and placed in the front seat along with my purse.

After hugging everyone for the umpteenth time I finally got into my car. I glanced at Logan's house and smiled. He left for New York a few days ago. We were talking once and he casually mentioned that Jace was settled in London. Good for him.

I turned to my family piled around my window and smiled. "I'm gonna stop by grandma's before I go."

"She said you would" my dad grinned and I laughed.

"Okay, I have to go now" I said, turning on the car as my family stepped back.

"I love you guys so much. I'll call you when I get there."

They waved a final time before I reversed out of the driveway. "Bye!"

"Bye!" They waved as I drove off.

A few minutes later, I pulled up in front of my grandma's house. I grinned as I climbed out of the car to find her rocking on her front porch.

"I knew you'd stop by before going" she said as I walked up to the house.

"Yeah, I heard. And why are you outside all alone?"

"I'm waiting for my friend, Anne-marie to arrive so we can go to the old people's home for Tango Thursday."

I laughed as I sped up the steps and straight into her arms. "Thank you, grandma. I love it."

"You're welcome dear" she pulled back and examined the necklace with a smile. "It looks perfect on you."

"I know. It's really beautiful" I sighed as I stood up straight.

"Do you wanna go in or..."

I shook my head and smiled. "No, I'll be on my way soon anyways."

"Aw, look at you. All grown up and ready for college" she cooed. "And how is that handsome boyfriend of yours? Jace?"

"Oh, he's fine. We broke up actually" I said and she looked genuinely surprised.

"Why? You loved each other right? He had a good heart and you don't find a man like him easily."

"Well, he was going to London and I didn't think long distance would work so.." I shrugged.

"But you didn't even try" she said and I felt my chest tighten at her words.

Well, it's too late for that now.

"Oh well" she sighed and stood up. "Before you go, I packed up some snacks for you to take on your way."

"Of course you did, grandma" I grinned as I followed her inside her house.

On her counter was a little cooler already filled with sandwiches and cookies. She opened the fridge and pulled out three cans of Coke and handed them to me which I dropped in the cooler.

I then followed her back outside to the front porch. "Okay dear, now be careful alright. Take care of yourself."

"Alright. You too, okay? I love you" I hugged her.

"Love you too, dear" she smiled and patted my cheek. "Now get going."

I smiled at her one last time the went down the steps and back to my car.

By the time I drove off, she was rocking on her porch again, waiting for Anne-Marie to arrive.

Okay, final final chapter done. I feel great. I can finally say that I have a completed book. There might be some extra chapters but I'm not promising anything. I honestly don't know what to say so I just send you guys lots of love.

Will there be a sequel? I don't know. Maybe. Truth be told, this book was supposed to end like any other but I realised it was getting too long and the ending now was supposed to be the middle of the book and then they meet again as adults. I wasn't sure if I wanted it as one book or divided into two books. Eventually when I just decided to go with my initial promise of not writing a boy+girl=happy ending. I'm really proud of what I've done and I hope you're happy with it too. And if you're not, just know that somewhere in Jace and Emma's future, they probably have like three kids together.

I'll be taking on a new challenge, Science-fiction. My other book, The Girl From The Stars, which was previously on hold so I could focus on this book will now continue. Well, it's more like starting over because the book itself has been taken down now. I plan on not publishing it until it's done but knowing the type of person I am I doubt I'll be able to do that.

Thank you all for sticking with my rubbish writing until now and I love you all loads. And now, for the last time....

Bye my loves.