Moving day was crazy.

I thought I'd been organised in the days leading up to this one, but I soon realised true organisation was a myth. No matter how many things I crossed off my list, there were always more to add—a pattern that resulted in my entire room being covered in post-it notes of dozens of things I absolutely must not forget.

Inevitably, I'd forget something. The compromise was just making sure that something wasn't deadly important.

We planned to be on the road in a matter of hours, but I still had a million things to do. Then the text came through, and I had one more.

You need to get your butt down to the arcade before you leave, Erin said. Greg says he needs your office key back.

Crap—I'd forgotten about that. My last hours of work had been spent taking him painstakingly through all the books, which had required a whole lot of patience, but not once had I thought about the office key tucked into my back pocket.

So, with only hours left in Walden, I had no choice but to abandon Mum amidst the huge task of loading boxes into the car. I was kind of afraid she might kill me when I broke the news, but she took it surprisingly well—that or the fact I told her while already heading down the drive, meaning that by the time it sunk in, we were already separated by a safe distance and I was well on my way.

The walk had its merits; it was at least a welcome break from hours spent inside packing over the last few days. It was also my final chance to trace the steps down to the arcade. There'd be no more of this: staring out across the beach, feeling the sea breeze on my face, my hair whipping around me. Once I got in the car, this would all be far behind.

When I stepped inside the arcade, I noticed the place was unusually quiet. Around midday, the place often started to fill out with kids bored of the beach and equipped with parents' pocket change, but today most of the machines sat idle. One lap around the place and I couldn't see Greg, so assuming he was in the office, I headed for the back.

Inside, I didn't find Greg, but I certainly found something else.

"Surprise!"

Two figures stood before me—one was unmistakably Owen, but the other I could barely see behind a huge bouquet of flowers. But the purple ponytail kind of gave her away.

Erin came for me at once, barrelling forward and thrusting the flowers at me with such force I almost stumbled. A second later, and there was a card in my other hand.

"I can't believe you were going to head off without saying a proper goodbye," she told me, once I'd adjusted the flowers in my arm to allow me to see over the top of them. "You're despicable."

"I didn't want to make it a big thing," I protested, though juggling the flowers, it was obvious I hadn't succeeded. "You guys really didn't have to do this."

"Of course we did," Owen chipped in. "We couldn't let you go without a send-off."

"Exactly. What kind of friends would we be then?"

There was something different about Erin. It'd occurred to me when she first yelled, yet I wasn't able to put my finger on it. When she spoke then, however, I caught sight of the silver glint in her tongue—and realised what the difference was.

"Hey," I said, "you got a piercing."

"I did." For good measure, she stuck out her tongue, letting us both admire the silver ball stuck through the middle of it. "Hurt like a bitch, but I finally worked up the courage to do it. You inspired me, Sydney. I figured if you could be brave, so could I."

She nodded toward the stud in my nose, but I did wonder whether it meant something a little more.

"As the only one without a piece of metal through my skin, I'm starting to feel a little left out here," Owen said, looking between the pair of us. "Maybe I should get one too?"

"Tongue and nose are already taken," Erin told him. "If you want one, you have to get something else. Here's a question: how attached are you to your nipples?"

I burst out laughing, which only intensified once I caught sight of his horrified expression. "I take it back! I'm very attached. In fact, I'm perfectly happy being the odd one out."

Erin grinned mischievously. "Thought you might say that."

He held up his hands. "I'm a wuss, but I can live with it."

"So, this new job," Erin said, turning her attention back to me. "Tell all. I mean, I know you told me before, but it all sounded very technical and the details may have gone out of my head. So tell again."

"It's nothing too glamorous," I told her. "Just a last-minute position on an accountancy grad scheme. I only really ended up with it because their original candidate dropped out, but I guess I've got to be thankful they did. It's an ideal way in for where I want to be in a few years."

"Fuck the original candidate," she said, and I couldn't help but laugh at the bluntness. It was one of the things I'd miss most about her, once Walden was long gone behind me. "You're going to be miles better."

I exchanged an amused glance with Owen. "We'll see."

"Of course you are." Her sweeping statement was full of utter conviction. "You're Sydney. Greg's guardian angel, really. Who else could've sorted through all this crap and actually made sense of his accounts? You deserve a medal."

"I was just doing him a favour," I said, though I was more flattered than I let on. "That's all."

"Promise me you're going to drop some of that modesty," she told me, pointing an accusing finger. "In London, that attitude won't get you anywhere. You've got to know how awesome you are, and tell everybody who'll listen."

"She's right, you know." A glance to my side, and I noticed the look Owen was giving me. "You're going to smash it, obviously."

I could feel my face reddening, caught off guard by the sudden bombardment with encouragement. There weren't many people in the world rooting for me as strongly as these two were, and I was beginning to realise not to take it for granted. People like that didn't come around every day—when they did, you had to cling on tightly.

In terms of the conversation, though, Erin and her whirlwind brain were already moving on. "What's the new flat like? I expect an invite ASAP, you know. I haven't been to London in forever."

"It's nice, actually," I said, recalling the little place I'd peered around with Mum just a few weeks ago. "A lot smaller than Owen's place, but I guess that's the London housing market for you. It's cosy—I think it'll feel really homely once all my stuff's inside. It was a great find."

"You managed to find a place on your own?" Owen asked, surprised.

"Not quite," I said. "A two-bed, so I've got a flatmate."

I could practically see Erin's ears prick up; her next question was instantaneous. "Boy or girl?"

"Boy," I said warily. "Does it matter?"

From the look on her face, I guessed it did. "What's his name?" she asked. "What's he like? Have you met him yet?"

"Just once, when I went to look at the flat," I told her. Even without saying anything, I could tell she was silently pressing for more. "His name's Aidan. He seemed nice enough, but we did only talk for about ten minutes..."

"But he chose you, right?" she cut in. "He lives in this flat already, there were other people interested, and he chose you to move into the bedroom next door?"

"Um..." The speed at which she was talking, together with the way her eyes were fixed on me, was kind of freaking me out. "I guess so."

A smirk was growing on her face: one I wasn't sure I liked the look of. There was something ticking over in that head of hers, and I was scared to ask what. To her side, Owen's gaze drifted between the two of us, a little dazed by the whole exchange.

"You're gonna do just fine," she said amusedly. "Keep me updated."

"Look, whatever you're insinuating is not going to happen," I told her. "He's my flatmate. We're both there to go to work, make awkward small talk, and try not to get crippled by the housing market. It doesn't mean sharing anything more than an address."

"Yet," she murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. "Like I said, keep me updated."

There was really no point arguing; I could already see that mischievous glint in her eye, and it'd take more than weak protests to shift that. Not that I had the opportunity, anyway, because that was the moment that I heard the office door open behind me—and I turned around to be faced with Greg.

"Erin," he warned, but the stern tone didn't really hold up when faced with all three of us, especially with me hidden behind a bouquet of flowers bigger than my head. "The prize counter's looking a little deserted. Might you be forgetting something?"

"Ugh, it's like you're my boss or something," she joked, rolling her eyes. "I was saying goodbye to Sydney."

"I'm sure Sydney also doesn't want my prize counter to be robbed blind," he said good-naturedly.

"Yeah, get back to work, slacker," I joked.

Erin stuck out her tongue—probably to show off the piercing one last time—before backing out of the door. "See you, Syd. Come back and visit!"

Then, she was gone. Greg exchanged amused glances with the two of us. "Sorry to interrupt your goodbye, Sydney. I guess I should also say thank you one more time for all your help this summer," he said to me. "And good luck with the move."

I nodded my thanks, and then Greg was gone too, leaving just Owen and I alone in the office. The silence seemed so much more noticeable now, without Erin's loud voice and huge personality. Even the two of us combined couldn't fill the gap left behind.

"She's a character, isn't she?" Owen said after a couple of seconds, a smile curling his lip.

"Yeah, you could say that." I smiled, too. "She's a lot to handle, but I'm really going to miss her."

There was a pause: a moment of comfortable silence, perhaps more comfortable than at any other point this summer. Then, Owen turned to me. "I'm really happy for you, you know," he said, with sincerity I couldn't doubt. "The job, the new place... it all sounds great. Like the perfect next step for you."

He didn't have to say it. Somebody else in his position probably wouldn't have—in fact, that somebody else probably wouldn't have even been here in the first place. If we hadn't spoken again after that evening in his bedroom, it would've been understandable. The misunderstanding got awkward, and he could've just left it there.

But he didn't.

In a completely Owen-like manner, he'd refused to let it be the end of us. The first time he reached out, I'd wanted to recoil; it was easier to act like the whole thing never happened if I never saw him again. It took me far too long to psyche myself up to see him again. But when it happened, it wasn't so bad. The next time was even better. And before I knew it, we were slipping back into something resembling what we had before: easy, comfortable friendship.

I was going away again, but this time, I wouldn't leave it behind.

"Thank you," I said, and genuinely meant it. "I think I need the fresh start."

"I'm going to have to side with Erin on the whole visiting thing, though. I know London's all shiny and exciting, but you can't forget about Walden."

"Trust me, as much as I've sometimes wanted to, I can never forget this place."

"You're a home bird, really," he said. "You just don't want anyone to know about it."

I laughed and shook my head, but there was perhaps more truth in it than I wanted to admit. Walden would always hold a place in my heart, and I couldn't carve that out of me.

In my pocket, I felt a vibration—my phone. Glancing at the screen, I noticed the text from Mum. "I should probably head back," I told him. "The car's all packed, and we should be getting on the road."

We both paused, not sure what was coming—but then Owen opened his arms and made the decision for us. "Come here," he said gently, and I set the flowers down and moved in to wrap mine around him too. Pressed against his chest, his voice felt closer than ever. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I breathed. "You, too. You know, with everything."

And that was it. With no more words left to say, the time had come to leave—the office, the arcade, the town itself. Not for the first time, I was turning my back on Walden. But as I headed out of the building, feeling the wooden boards of the pier creak beneath my feet and the sea air ruffle through my hair, I knew something had shifted. This summer—the summer I'd been dreading—had changed me, and for the better.

As it turned out, the solution wasn't always to run away.

Sometimes, the most important journey to make was the one back home.

-------------------

And... that's it! Another story completed -- this one short, but still one to add to the list! Though it's been my return to YA fiction between Human Error book 1 and 2, it's come with its own differences. The first time I've written about older characters (20+ years old), with their own experience of life and sex and relationships. The first time my male MC has been in a steady, stable relationship that didn't need to be broken up. And the first time I've tackled the theme of life after graduation, when not everything is as you planned.

It's also the first time I actually finished a short story in a reasonable amount of time (throwback to Room Service and The Baby Project, which both involved major writer's blocks that made me want to throw my laptop at a brick wall). AND the first time I've had to balance writing with a full time job, which is set to be my indefinite future, so it's nice to know that's possible too.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been part of this journey -- or who has enjoyed binge-reading the story in its completed form.

My next project is the highly anticipated sequel to Human Error, so if you're a fan of that, stay tuned, because there are big things on the way... ;)

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