"Straightner?" Alyssa asked.

"Check," I replied.

"Curling iron?"

"Check."

"Suitcase with shoes?"

"You packed a suitcase with just shoes?" Chase scoffed from the couch.

"Not just mine. Sophia's, too. And your guys'," Alyssa replied.

"You took my shoes without asking?" Chase asked.

"Stop being annoying," I said to him. He smirked at me and then went back to the soccer match he was watching.

"Where was I?" Alyssa asked. "Oh, yeah. Suitcase with shoes?" she asked.

"Check," I answered.

"Make-up bag? Bathroom necessities?" she listed.

"Check and check," I replied.

"Dictionaries of all the languages in Europe?" Eli asked.

"We don't need them. We have Chase, remember? Stupid is a universal language and he's fluent," I replied, snickering. He chucked a pillow at my head and I laughed, throwing my hands up to block it.

"I can't believe our flight to Portugal is tomorrow," Alyssa said, scanning over the many bags that were in mine and Brooke's apartment. We decided to keep everything in one place, because for the past few days, since Brooke was hospitalized, we all ended up staying together instead of going back to our separate apartments.

In total, we had eight bags. Our limit was ten, but didn't want to be bogged down by too many suitcases to keep track of. Eight bags was manageable. Although, Alyssa thought otherwise. But Alyssa was a packrat.

"I still think we should take another suitcase. What about all of our gifts?" Alyssa said, tapping her finger uncertainly on her chin.

"We'll buy a suitcase from Europe if we need it. I'm pretty sure we'll be disposing of a lot of things while we're there, anyway," Derek said.

"Out with the old, in with the new," Chase added. Alyssa still didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything else.

"Are you guys done yet? We have to go see Brooke before visiting hours are over. And if we stay too late again, I'm pretty sure the hospital will ban us," Eli said.

He was probably right about this. For the past few days, we had spent almost all day at the hospital with Brooke, to give her company before we left. We stayed until the nurses had to keep coming into the room and tell us to leave. And even then we wouldn't leave. Needless to say, we were getting on the hospital staff's nerves.

"Yeah, we're done," I said, standing up and brushing off my jeans.

"Finally," Chase mumbled, turning the television off. Derek stood and grabbed his keys and we followed him out of the apartment.

"Can I drive?" Alyssa asked Derek, falling in step with him as we walked into the parking lot outside our apartment complex.

"Umm, can you drive a stick?" Derek replied in an incredibly condescending voice.

"Yes. I can," Alyssa said defiantly.

"No you can't. You don't even know what a stick is," Derek said. Alyssa shoved his arm.

"I do, too! My dad has one," she said.

"Obviously," Chase mumbled.

It took us a few seconds to understand the underlying meaning. When we got it, we started pushing Chase around. He laughed.

"That is so disgusting," Alyssa grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"I thought it was clever," Eli said.

"You guys are gross," I said, chuckling.

"So immature," Alyssa said.

"Even if you do know how to drive a stick shift, I'm not letting you touch my baby," Derek said.

"I don't understand why guys are so protective of their cars," Alyssa said. Eli opened the passenger side door and we pushed the seat forward. Alyssa, Chase and I piled into the back and Eli took the front, shutting the door behind him.

"It's kind of like how girls are so obsessive over shoes," Chase said.

"That's so sexist," I said. "I'm not obsessed with shoes," I added.

"Says the girl that bought a pair of $200 boots," Chase scoffed.

"They were on sale!" I exclaimed.

"For $200? When do you even wear them?" Derek asked, putting the car into drive.

"In the winter," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting. "And shut up, Chase! You can't even talk. Mr. Everything-I-Wear-Is-Name-Brand," I said, shoving his arm.

"No, but Chase is a natural douchebag. We can't blame him for dressing the way he does," Eli said.

"Thanks a lot, man," Chase grumbled. Eli laughed.

"I actually like the way Chase dresses," Alyssa said.

"Thank you! Someone that appreciates looking good," Chase exclaimed.

"I mean, would it kill guys to wear something besides sweatpants and t-shirts?" she continued.

"Hey, we dress for comfort, not to show off," Derek said.

"Well, when you look as good as me, you kind of have to show off," Chase said. I pinched his arm and he let out a yelp.

"I think we should start a douchebag jar. Everytime Chase says something about himself, he has to put money in the jar," I suggested.

"That thing would be loaded all the time, then," Derek said.

"You guys are all jealous," Chase said.

"You keep telling yourself that, man," Eli said.

Chase rolled his eyes and leaned back in the seat. Derek turned the radio on, and after flipping through all of the stations and deciding we didn't like any of the pop crap that was on the radio, Eli pulled his phone out and Derek connected it.

"What are we in the mood to listen to?" Eli asked, scrolling through his collection of music.

"One Direction!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness, yes!" I agreed.

"What was that? Weezer? Ok. Good choice," Eli replied. Alyssa and I rolled our eyes as the music filled the car.

♫"The moon was shining on the lake tonight. The Slayer t-shirt fit the scene just right. Smeared mascara, I looked into your eyes. I saw a light." ♫

We pulled up in the hospital parking lot about fifteen minutes later. We piled out of the car and made our way inside.

"Oh, great. It's you again," the front desk worked said when we walked in.

"Hi!" Alyssa said cheerfully, despite the woman's obvious sour mood.

"How you doin', Olivia," Chase said, flashing the worker a smirk. The woman raised a heavily stenciled eyebrow.

"Uhh...we'll just...be...going now," Chase said. And then we walked very quickly to the elevators, laughing and making fun of Chase for his failed attempt at flirting with the woman.

"I swear, she's probably lesbian or something. No woman has never ever not been turned on by my charm," Chase said as we walked into Brooke's room. She looked up from the magazine she was reading. Her hair was French braided to the side and she had some lipgloss on. It looked like she had finally gotten out of bed today.

"What are you guys talking about?" Brooke asked as we pulled over chairs to sit by her.

"Chase tried to flirt with Olivia," I said.

"Again," Derek added.

"You're such an ass, Chase," Brooke said.

"Whatever. Haters. All of you," Chase said, leaning back in his chair and stretching.

"So, are you guys all packed?" Brooke asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Alyssa managed to stuff her whole closet into four of our eight suitcases," Derek replied.

"Oh, shut up. Exaggerate much?" Alyssa retorted, rolling her eyes.

"It's true, though. I'm pretty sure half the things we're bringing is your stuff," Eli said.

"You guys are going to be gone for three months. Lay off her," Brooke defended. Alyssa shot her a smile and then stuck her tongue out at the boys. 

"When do you get to go home?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Brooke replied.

"You're going to your dad's, right?" Chase asked. She nodded, looking glum.

"Hey, at least he's better than your mom," Eli said.

"But not by much," Brooke said darkly.

"How about we drop you off before we leave?" I suggested.

"Isn't the flight at, like, 6 in the morning?" she asked.

"What's your point?" I replied.

"You'll have to get here at like 4 to take me to my dad's condo, if you want to make your flight on time. I don't think he'd appreciate it if you guys brought me over that early," she said.

"Is he coming to pick you up?" Alyssa asked.

"He's sending the driver," she answered.

"That asshole," Chase hissed.

"It's all right. It's expected, right?" Brooke said.

"No, not in this situation. He should come pick you up himself," Eli said.

"We're talking about my dad here. Big-shot business man? No way in hell he'd come personally to pick his only daughter--only hospitalized daughter--up from the hospital. He probably has a meeting scheduled," she said, letting out a hollow laugh.

I felt terrible for Brooke. Her family situation was terrible. From a drunk, aspiring actress of a mother to a egoistic businessman of a father, it was no wonder Brooke had resorted to drinking.

That's what had caused the hepatitis. Her excessive drinking. The doctor told us. He said that apparently she had started when she was in high school and it gradually got worse. Although she wasn't considered an alcoholic like her mother--because she could exercise restrain--the amount of alcohol she did consume was enough to damage her already weak liver.

"Have you heard from your mom yet?" Derek asked. Brooke shook her head.

"For all I know, she's probably off chasing after some minor actor, hoping to get a chance in the spotlight," Brooke said. "I haven't spoken to her since Christmas last year when she drunk dialed me and told me how much she missed me," she said.

"I really wish you could come with us," Alyssa pouted. We all shot her a look, silencing her. Brooke seemed more down than usual. Bringing up the fact that she couldn't come along with us on the trip would just make her mood worse.

"Did you guys make sure to pack a laptop?" she asked.

"We've got my iPad," Derek said.

"I'm bringing my Mac," Eli added.

"Good. Make sure you Skype me as soon as you get to Lisbon," she said.

"We will," I promised.

"God, I'm going to miss you all so much," she said, her voice cracking slightly.

We looked at each other in alarm. It was a rare instance that Brooke ever showed signs of weakness. She was always the brave one, the one who was so good at holding in and controlling her emotions. She was the most put-together person I knew and seeing her becoming vulnerable made something within me twist in pain.

"We'll be back before you know it," Eli said.

"And who knows? Maybe they'll find a match really soon. And then you can join us," Alyssa added in a hopeful voice. We all fell into silence, then, thinking of how incredibly fortunate we would be if that happened.

"You guys should probably go. It's almost 6 and Betty's probably getting ready to barge in here and grab you all by your ears," Brooke said.

"These people seriously need to relax. I mean, it's not like we're doing anything," Chase said.

"Says the guy that tried to take the patients' food from the mini fridge outside," Derek said.

"I just wanted a mini soda can! I'd never seen one before!" Chase exclaimed. We all laughed.

After a few moments, we fell back into silence, neither of us wanting to be the first to stand up. Because to stand up meant to be the first to say good-bye to Brooke and I didn't think that any of us were ready for that.

We heard the door open and a very impatient looking Nurse Betty walked in.

"It's 6:01. You all know the rules," she said, tapping her watch.

"Yeah, yeah. We know. Give us another minute," Chase said. She sent him a glare before swiftly turning on her heel and walking out.

Now, we stood.

"Ok...well..." Eli began awkwardly.

None of us knew how to say goodbye.

Whenever the semester ended and we would go home for vacation, we never said goodbye to each other. We'd always see each other off in high spirits, saying that we'd see each other later or see each other soon. And we did. Even during our vacations, we would visit each other at our homes. Sometimes we'd go on trips together with each other's families and sometimes we just went to hang out for a few days. So now that we had to actually say goodbye, we didn't know how.

"Just...don't forget to call me," Brooke said in a quiet voice.

"We won't," Derek said.

"And take loads of pictures and make tons of videos," she continued.

"We will," Eli said.

"And..." she trailed off, looking out the window before looking back at us with her wide, hazel eyes. "Don't forget me," she said. With that, we all grouped around her, hugging each other and her.

"You're going to get better, Brookie. I know it," Alyssa said.

"Just hang in there," Eli added.

"And don't you think for a second that we would forget you," I said. She smiled sadly at us.

"Go, now. Before Betty comes back," she said. We made our way to the door and then turned, unsure of how to say it. But Brooke knew and she smiled. "I'll see you soon," she said. We let out the breaths that we were holding.

"Soon," I repeated.

And then, with one last fleeting glance at our best friend, we walked out the door, the anticipation of the trip in front of us and the regret of having to leave Brooke behind looming over our heads.

_______________________________________________________________________

A/N: And the adventure begins next chapter!

Sorry for the late update. Summer classes suck because they stuff 16 weeks worth of material into 16 days. I've been busy trying to keep up.

If you would like more frequent updates, I'd appreciate it if you voted. The more votes I get, the faster I'll update. I was disappointed with the amount that I got on the last part, so now I'm setting a goal. I'm not going to update again until I receive at least 15 votes. It's all up to you guys, now.

XOXO