"Where should I put my mugs?"

I turned to find Everett entering the kitchen, a box labelled 'kitchen' on his hip. I smiled coyly at him, watching as he placed the box on the counter and pulled out his 'I heart Sydney' mugs.

"Right in the front," I replied.

He hummed. "I don't know. Maybe I should hide them in the back with the rest of your 'I heart NYC' mugs."

"Oh, come on. These are classics." I leaned past him, taking the mugs from his hands and placing them gingerly into the kitchen cabinet, right in the front beside my cat shaped mugs. "Look at that. Perfect."

"I don't know. I'm not really 'hearting' Sydney right now."

"Hey!" I spun to him. "Where's your Australian pride? You're a student here, now. This is official. Soon, you'll have to get a citizenship and everything."

He grinned, stepping towards me, and wrapping a hand around my waist. He pulled me closer until our chests were touching, and he looked down over me.

"What? Are you going to help me get my green card?"

"Is that a proposal, Ev?"

"Is that a yes, Isla?"

My lips twitched. I couldn't help myself. I leaned up, pressing a hard kiss against his mouth. He smiled into the kiss, his grip around my waist tightening as he held me against him. His hand slid beneath my jumper, sliding over my bare skin. His mouth opened, his tongue sliding into mine, and I—

"Gross."

We pulled apart, turning to find River walking into the room. He wrinkled his nose at us, gagging. Everett snorted, pulling me closer as his eyes settled on River. I clicked my tongue, pushing him away. I was not about to make out with Everett in front of our landlord.

"Keep that up and I'm going to have to charge you rent, Everett," River chided. "You and any little babies you produce along the way."

"River!" My face turned hot, and I stepped around the kitchen counter. If I didn't put some distance between myself and Everett now, River might be right about us producing little babies anytime now.

After over a year of long distance, this whole in person relationship thing was new to the both of us. Sometimes I just found my hands drifting towards Everett, like my skin had a magnetic reaction to being near him—like my body was only just learning that it could touch him at any time now.

And sometimes, I'd look up to find Everett's eyes already on me. To find him watching me, in the most mundane of moments, his fingertips angled towards me, catching any brush of skin he could manage.

I was glad I wasn't alone in feeling that way.

The weirdest part of it all was that now I could steal a hoodie whenever I wanted. Now, I could wander the hallways and I'd find Everett right there, in the flesh. Sometimes I still found myself reaching for my phone, ready to call him and tell him about my day before remembering I didn't need to do that. Not anymore.

"What?" River smiled his usual teasing smirk. "I'm only speaking the truth."

He paused to drop the box he'd been carrying onto the kitchen counter beside the rest of Everett's kitchen items. The items inside clattered as they hit the marble countertop, but River didn't care. He turned to face us, his hands on his hips.

"We need to set some ground rules," River began.

Everett paused his cup stacking to turn towards him. He nodded, suddenly growing serious. "Yeah, no. Of course. I'll keep things clean, put things back where they belong. No unexpected visitors, no parties, no—"

"No sex in the kitchen," River continued.

My hand flew to my mouth. "River!"

Everett froze, stunned for a moment, before his lips twitched teasingly and he lifted a brow. "Even if I really want to?"

"Everett!" I scolded.

"On top of that, no sex on the couch, in the hot tub, in my room, in the shared bathroom—"

"Where are we supposed to be having sex then?"

"Why are we pretending this is a totally normal conversation to be having?" I interjected, bewildered. "River, we've got it, okay?"

His face twisted and he seemed unsure. "Really?"

"Really!"

"So, just to be clear, the boundaries of having sex include—"

"Everett!" I shouted, interrupting his train of thought. "We are not discussing me and Everett's... physical relationship here, okay?"

River smiled. "We can take it to the living room if you'd like—"

I cut him off with a glare. "You know what I mean."

He shared a look with Everett, both of them fighting teasing grins. I only rolled my eyes, moving towards the next box to start to unpack.

"I have no idea how I'm going to survive in this apartment with the two of you," I muttered.

Everett appeared behind me, his arm snaking around my waist as his other hand moved to take a water bottle out of my hand.

"Get used to it," he said, lifting a brow at me, "because it's going to be for the next two years."

"Or so," River added, "you know, what with the marks you lot have been bringing in lately."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Tell me again, what did you get for your Financial Management course?"

"Hey, I passed!"

"By half a mark!"

"That's still a pass!"

"Barely!"

"Point is," he said, flipping the box in front of him open, "I don't have to repeat. So, let's keep that up and we won't have to be stuck with each other for longer than necessary."

"He says that like he's not letting us live here for free," Everett murmured in my ear.

I giggled, elbowing him gently in the ribs, and he laughed, his grip on me tightening. I leaned back against him, savouring that feeling of just Everett. Here and with me. Laughing in a kitchen like a month ago we weren't video calling between meals just to get a word in.

Across from us, River gagged, dropping his box. "You guys are disgusting. You can unpack by yourselves."

And with that last word, he turned, leaving the kitchen directly out the front door.

"We were barely touching!" Everett exclaimed, releasing me, and throwing his hands up.

I laughed, turning to face him. "He's just jealous that you're here, and Connor's three hours away working his little butt off."

"Remind me again why Connor can't just move in too? I mean, River's already got two strays."

"Connor loves his job," I replied, shrugging. "I'm sure one day he will but for now, it's a three hour drive each way. Speaking of which, did you notice River grab his keys before he left?"

"No way."

I nodded, my smile growing. "Yes way. That's at least six hours of freedom in this apartment."

I slid out from behind the kitchen counter, trailing to the front door where I secured the lock and bolted the deadlock, just in case.

"So," I said, leaning against the wall. "What should we do first?"

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

We sat in the hot tub, letting the bubbles massage our backs after a long day of unpacking.

Really, we'd only spent about an hour unpacking—Everett was a light traveller, after all—but we'd done... other strenuous activities in the past few hours so the hot water and bubbles were a welcome comfort.

Everett threw an arm around me, and I allowed myself to lean into his bare chest, my body relaxing with a heavy sigh.

"This is amazing," I said, my voice almost drowned out completely by the bubbles.

"It really is."

I tilted my face up to find him already looking at me, his eyes soft, his lips slanting in a quiet smile. We watched each other for a moment. And then, his hands were sliding over my bare waist, slipping through the water, fingers sliding beneath the strap of my bikini.

I shivered, drifting closer to him until I was straddling his hips. His fingers moved to massage my back, his wide palms laying flat against my skin. He leaned close, pressing a slow kiss to my lips.

"I still can't believe I get to hold you like this," he murmured. His hands moved higher to my shoulders, then back down to the small of my back, like trying to relearn the map of my skin. "It's like I'm dreaming."

"Would you like me to pinch you?"

He smirked at me. "Is that an offer?"

I rolled my eyes before kissing him back. Once. Twice. I pulled away to take in his face, his darkened eyes and blood red lips. His freckles were long gone now, and I lifted a finger to brush over his face where they used to live. His hair—it was darker. Longer. This was what American Everett looked like. New York Everett.

Shellside Bay Everett was all golden skin, brown freckles, streaks of sunlight through his hair, curled from the salt of the ocean.

Sydney Everett—what would that look like, I wondered. Would we walk around campus together? Sneak into each other's lectures? Maybe we could take a class or two together. Would we meet up for lunch dates and study dates, and go on coffee dates in the city? I couldn't imagine it. Soon, I wouldn't have to imagine it.

My hand trailed over his cheek, across his jaw, and down his bare collarbone. I let my fingers dawdle, drifting over the jutting bone there, lifting to his Adam's apple. He swallowed as my fingers touched his throat and my eyes flittered to his.

He watched me carefully, his breathing quick, like mine. I moved my hand down to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Fast. He smiled, his hand covering mine, like he knew what I was feeling for.

"I will never get used to you," he said, as if explaining his quickened pulse. I leaned in, my lips hovering over his, and his hands fell to my hips, tightening there.

"Promise?" I muttered.

"Of course," he whispered. "Isla."

I grinned. "Everett."

"I missed you."

"How much?"

His fingers squeezed the skin at my hips, and he shifted a miniscule closer. He pressed a kiss to my lips, hard, as if accepting my challenge—as if to say this much. His tongue slid over mine and I lifted my arms, wrapping them around his neck, holding him against me.

When we parted, Everett moved downwards, his lips grazing over the skin of my jaw and across my throat.

"Don't leave me again," I muttered when he reached the spot beneath my ear. I felt his teeth scrape against my skin, his lips stretching in a smile.

"Is that another proposal, Isla Monroe?" he spoke against my skin.

I laughed, rolling my eyes. Of course, he had to take this moment and make a joke out of it. It was one of the reasons I loved him.

"If it has to be," I replied. He tilted his head, meeting my eye. "If that's what it takes to keep you with me. I'd move to New York for you."

"You don't have to," Everett said. "I'm here for good. Whether you like it or not. Although, I really hope you like it."

I grinned. "I love it."

"Good." He kissed me again. "Now, remind me, did River include the hot tub in his list of banned zones?"

"Hmm." I pretended to think. "I can't seem to remember."

"And how much time do we have left?"

"At least three hours."

Everett smiled. "Perfect."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and lead my lips to his. The bubbles of the hot tub broke against our skin. It wasn't quite the sea foam of Shellside Bay, but it'd do for now.

At the very least, Everett was here now. And this time, he wasn't leaving.

THE END

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you all so much for reading!

Honestly, I was expecting like 10 people to read this sequel, but instead I've been getting so many kind comments and messages each update and you all honestly mean the world to me! I felt so down about my writing in this story, but your comments kept me going and now we've reached the end eeeeek I love you all!!

I have an Epilogue planned but I haven't started writing it yet, so stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I'm going to start posting my new story Bruised as I write so I hope to see you in that story soon!

Thank you all again for reading and I hope you enjoyed Summer Forever! I definitely enjoyed writing about Everett and Isla (and the whole gang) once again!

Love from Shellside Bay :)