Notes:

Additional Cast:

Nolan Gross as Benjamin Gerrard Ford

Keiynan Lonsdale as Vincent Brown

Grey Damon as Ashton Sanders

Valorie Curry as Anna Matthews

Elizabeth Lail as Andrea McKay

Holland Roden as Chloe Rivers

Sophie's POV

That's it, year 1 is officially over! I can't believe it... it's been the best year of my school life so far, and I have to thank certain people for that. My Robin, of course, this year wouldn't be the same without her, and I don't just mean her as my girlfriend. Even as a friend, she made my days better, funnier, more meaningful.

Joss, for sure, is another person. Our living together proved to be even funnier than expected and not at all tricky. Sure we had bad moments, but how can you hold a cringe when Joss is the person pissing you off? This year I also learnt just how much he cares for me. I always knew that we have each other's backs, but my coming out to him cemented our ties. He is my brother, even if we don't share the same blood.

Vanessa... my sweet and cute Vanessa. I really care about her, and I already consider her my best friend, after Joss of course. I was such a fool all these years, keeping my distance... imagine how we would be now, if we were high school friends. My high school years would for sure be better with her. But I am not sad... there is still time, we have 3 years left to be like sisters, for her to be like my Joss... my Vanessa. That sounds nice, right? I know Vanessa is closer to Alice, due to the same living situation and the hours that they spent together, but I know Nessa sees me as a good friend, plus now that it is summer, we can hang out every day in our home town! We can go to the movies and the mall, and the beach together! I can't wait to go home!

Alice made this year much more interested. We bonded over family stuff, jogging, and my Joss...our should I say, our Joss. Yeah, she is making him happy, and I am happy for them. We are gonna bond more with each other during summer, I am sure of this.

And then there's Nathan. I never thought I would hang out with a Nathan, to be honest, but here I am, having coffee with him, conversations over history books and our siblings. Nathan, although a man of few words, is very talented in what he does, and I really see him as a basketball star in the future. He is a good friend, to Ro and me and the others of course, and a great addition to our group.

We do make a weird group. I wonder if we look funny to the outsiders sometimes.

All and all I had a good year, with its ups and downs, sure, but I was happy most of the time, so it was a success.

And now I am gonna have an even better summer. Ro and I are leaving in 3 days for our trip, thus the packing right now. I promised dad I would bring him souvenirs from the trip and I also promised Ben that Ro and I would take him in a road trip for his 18th birthday. I know it's way too far in the future, but I had no choice. He was sad I will be late for summer, so my heart made me promise, and Ro of course, who was just as moved by Ben's sad voice over the phone. We pinky promised and a Ford and a Summers always keep their promises.

Speaking of the Ford family, I haven't spoken to mom yet, but last night, dad told me that she is happy I am going on a trip and that she is expecting me home for the 4th of July, so I must have returned till them. The fourth of July is a family day, and everyone will be there. I wonder if I can invite Ro for this. It would be a great opportunity for her to meet my family, and for me to officially come out to the rest members. Dad asked me not to tell Julie or the others, till mom is ok with it, so I kept it a secret, but now that mom is accepting it on her owns terms, I could tell them.

Thinking of mom, dad said that they both deposited money on my account for my trip, even though I already had more than enough money for that, so I think I should try and call mom to thank her, like I thanked dad.

I sit on the edge of my bed and grab my phone. I find her contact and hopefully press CALL. If she doesn't answer, I will text her, but there's nothing wrong with trying at least.

The phone rings one, twice, three times, and I am about to hang up, because I don't want to interrupt her working, but suddenly the ringing stops.

"Mom!" I say surprised that she picked up. Oh my god!

"Soso?" Ben? Ben is the one on the other line.

"Hey, Benjie, how are you? Why do you have mom's phone?" I ask him, confused.

"I am playing, mad birds Soso." I smile. Mom gives him her phone so that he can play after dinner.

"Oh, yeah? Where is mom?" I ask him next.

"She is with daddy, in his study room." Oh, well, it is pretty late for them to work, at this hour, and together... usually only one of them uses it, while the other takes the kitchen table. I am about to ask him if he could go to the room and give the phone to mom, but he speaks again, whispering though.

"They speak loudly, Soso."  What? I frown at that.

"What do you mean, Benjie?" I ask sweetly, as I feel my stomach clench.

"They speak really loud, while I am playing the game. Mommy is mad." Why is she mad? Why is she yelling?

"Do you know why she is mad, Benjie?" My hand starts trembling.

"They speak loud a lot lately, and daddy leaves afterwards, but comes back before I go to bed. Mommy won't talk to him. I heard them talk about you Soso... did you do something? You are not bad." About me? About...

I swallow hard at his question. I think I feel numb; my mind is numb, my... this can't be happening... no... he promised things were ok, he promised me that she loves me. He promised me that she would understand...

"Soso, I am sad. I don't like it when they yell. I wish you were here." He says next and if my heart wasn't broken before, it is now.

"Don't worry Benjie, things will be ok, I promise. Don't be sad, please. I will always protect you, alright? I love you, little devil." I try to make him feel better.

"I love you too Soso, now I will go back to my game. Goodnight." he says in his tiny sweet voice.

"Ok, monster, goodnight, can you please not tell mom I called?" he says he won't and after another goodnight, I hung up.

I replay what Ben said in my head not being able to move, or say anything, so I stay silent, focused on the wall in front of me, as I process, things.

My dad lied to me... he told me he would fix this... he made me hope that things were more than good... he did it to protect me... because mom is not ok with this. Mom is not changing her mind; she still thinks I am a kid that knows nothing about love and how I feel. Mom is mad; mom was never going to call me back.

Which explains all the times she never answered... all the times dad told me not to call her. She hates me, doesn't she? How could I be so naïve? How did I not read between the lines? All the times dad was quick to answer about mom, his worried ton, his easy acceptance of this road trip, hoping to gain time, more time for my mom to come around.

How could I have been so stupid? So easy to believe everyone else when they reassured me that things are ok... silly Sophie... don't you know never to trust others?

Apart from stupid and hurt, I feel also ashamed. Ashamed of how self-centered and egocentric I have been. How I was spending my time with Ro and the others, carefree and reassured, when my dad was fighting with my mom, when Ben was there to hear it, when my brother was sad and upset, while I was laughing and enjoying being loved. Plainly, it feels like I am slowly ruining my family so that I can be with Ro, my pretty Ro that loves me more than anything.

I have never been a sentimental person in my life, because reason is safer, and at this time my mind can't help but do the math. Three people unhappy and broken so that two can be content and in love. And at times like this, reason is trying to come on top, but my heart is just as strong, just as determent, leaving me at crossroads.

And just like that, I know what I have to do. It's the only thing that makes sense really. The only thing that will fix this. After all, I made a promise... and a Ford always keeps their promises.

I promised to love, protect and to never leave. So this is what I would do. Even if it changes all. I only hope she will understand. That they will understand that they will forgive me, because she simply won't.

I won't deserve to be forgiven... not by her.

Vanessa's POV

"Hell yeah! Our summer has just begun!" Vincent yells in excitement the moment he gets out of the classroom.

"Shh! There are still people in there, trying to focus. Our classmates." I scold him giggling.

"I don't necessarily care about that. We are free, Vanessa! We are free!" He goes on with the celebrating without lowering his voice at all. I don't scold him again, there's no point really. "Let's go grab a coffee and meet with the gang. They're already at Central."

"Okay, lead the way Mr Summer 2017." And so he does, jumping around instead of walking like normal people do. Vincent is pretty excited about summer. He and Andrea have planned joined vacations to Hawaii. Vincent has some relatives there and they are going to spend a couple weeks at their house. Andrea is over the moon about it. She has been searching for bikinis online between supposed studying breaks and sending them over to us in the paper's chat. I stayed offline during the whole exams period and within the five minutes I waited for Vincent to end with our last exam, my phone got on fire with all those notifications. I am happy for Andrea though. And Vincent. They are the paper's favorite couple.

Vincent and I walk to Central, since as its name indicates, it's the central cafeteria on campus. The weather is a little hot today but not too much. The moment we get inside, the air conditioning provides us the desirable coolness. The coffee shop is almost full and quite noisy, with groups of friends who are studying, pretending to be studying or saying their summer farewells. We spot Ashton, Anna and Andrea sitting at a table close to the cashier, where I also spot Chloe, delivering order after order. All these customers must have driven her crazy, I don't think I could handle the pressure. Because after the early zombie walkers or hangover frat boys, the toughest customers are the coffee junkies on a hot day. I have experienced that myself, all three times that I volunteered to get mine and Alice's coffees. We didn't exclusively prepare for exams together this semester but she found the balance between studying with me, Nina and Joseph. Well, I can't know if she and Joseph spent their time exclusively studying. Joseph's internship is only days away and they had to take advantage of their current privilege of being in the same city. Anyway, I think they'll manage, they both have things to do during summer until they enjoy their little getaway too. They have plans for the end of August and I predict next year in college is going to find them more in love than ever! Ahh, they are seriously cute in the most unexpected way! Who would have thought!

Back to our meeting at Central now, we approach our friends' table and as Ashton notices us first, he stands up smiling.

"Hi." I greet him first smiling and put a curl behind my ear. I momentarily wonder if I look presentable enough, since I didn't think of checking myself before coming here. I guess Vincent would have mentioned something, so I push the thought away and smile brighter.

"Hello Vanessa." Ashton whispers to my ear while his hand lands on my waist, directing me to his chair to sit on. He marches two tables left from us and grabs an empty chair. I sit down and smile at the gesture. It was really thoughtful.

"Hi girls! Are you done studying?" I greet each of them with a quick hug.

"Can you ever be done with studying?" Anna groans loudly, always truthful to her drama self. I am going to miss these people over summer! I've made friends in class but it's different with the guys from the paper. We've all clicked really well! And by all I mean yes, all in general, but in particular Ashton, Vincent, Anna, Andrea and I. I really have so much fun whenever we hang out.

"Will you ever stop complaining?" Vincent's first tease of the day towards Anna is a fact. Let's start counting.

"Will you ever stop breathing?" Of course Anna fires back at him. Ashton gets back to our table and places his new chair besides his old one, where I am seated now.

"Oh, Anna, come on! Give him a break!" Andrea chuckles as she stands up to offer her seat to Vincent and then sits on his lap. He thanks her with a peck on the lips while Anna shamelessly confesses she is never technically going to let him live in peace. Ashton shakes his head chortling at the all time classic now show of these two and leans closer to me.

"How are you? I haven't really seen you in what feels like ages." He tells me in a lower tone so I am the only one who can hear him. His fingers almost touch my skin as he gently pushes a curl behind my ear. Woah, I should have checked my appearance before getting here.

"Um... weren't we all together at the library just a week ago?" I ask trying to remember the exact date.

"Yes, and Anna and Vincent were fighting like cats and dogs just like now." He tells me smirking and I laugh as our friends and their yelling are the background of our conversation once again. "What do I have to do to be alone with you?"

"Wha-what?" His words burn my cheeks right away and bring my clumsiness to the spotlight. I can't really control my hands when they messily spill all three coffees from the table. "Oh my God! I am so sorry! Guys! I am sorry, I didn't-"

"It's okay, Vanessa! We've already drunk the most of it." Andrea attempts to sugarcoat this for me but oh boy, what a mess!

"Do you have crabs in your hands, cupid? What did you say to her this time, boss?" Anna raises both of her eyebrows up right away.

"Mind your own business, Anna. I'll let Chloe know so she can send someone to take care of this." Ashton is about to get up but I grab his wrist and beat him at it.

"This is my fault. I can be so careless, I mean, I obviously am careless, look at this mess!" I move my hands nervously in the air, mentioning the tragedy that is my making. At least now, there's nothing left to ruin. "I am on it, I'll clean this up! And I am going to get us coffees! I-"

"Hey, relax. It's not that big of a deal. I am coming with you." Is this a good idea? He interwines our fingers together and leads the way to the cashier, gaining a silly shout from Anna. I think I heard Vincent's voice too. Anyway!

I always mess up big time at moments like this! Like seriously, I gotta do something about this. I stay silent as we get in line. Ashton usually goes directly at Chloe since they know each other, but now he doesn't. I find it a bit odd but he can't do that all the time, Chloe might get in trouble. I stay silent and keep my gaze busy with anything that can catch my attention; the nail polish of the girl's toes in front of us, the café's announcement for the new summer beverages, the clock on the wall on our left.

"Vanessa?"

"Yes?" I still keep the same tactic; avoiding to look at Ashton at all costs.

"What are your plans for the summer?"

Phew! That I can talk about! My muscles relax at once and I begin to share my summer schedule.

"I finished with my exams today but I am staying for a couple days. The girls aren't done with their exams yet and I want to see them before separating our ways for the summer. Robin and Sophie are going on a roadtrip, it's going to be so great! After that, Sophie is coming home in Delaware, so I am looking forward to spend some time with her during the next months, I want to be there for her after everything that happened with her mom, you know, but I think Mrs Ford is about to cut the silent treatment and let her walls down any day now, so I predict Robin is probably going to visit us in Delaware pretty soon! Emma is coming home for at least a month, I've missed her so much! Maybe I'll convince her to stay for good this time around, or maybe not. I don't know, she is really happy abroad and now that she got involved with that non profit organization that helps refugees she's even happier and that fills me with joy too. What else... oh! Summer job! Yes, mr Porter wants me back at the book shop! Have I mentioned I have been working there every summer since I was fifteen? Mr Porter is really sweet and so are his grandchildren! They are younger than me, in 7th grade now, they're twins! Luna and Kevin! They're- oh, hi Chloe! How are you? It's too crowded today, isn't?" I greet her with a wave and breathe in as much oxygen as I can. Sometime during my babbling, I forgot to do the basics. I am really not concentrated today.

"Hi Vanessa! Yeap, it's pretty crowded today! Hopefully this won't last long, summer break has even started for some of them already so they'll get lost." Chloe jokes and fixes her ginger ponytail. "What can I get you?"

"Another three as before, an iced espresso cappuccino with caramel and another iced espresso with no sugar." Ashton passes the order for me.

"I'm on it." Chloe turns the other way to reach the coffee machine.

"Your plans sound nice but don't forget to get some rest and have fun during the summer, okay?" Ashton squeezes my palm slightly. He hasn't let my hand go from the moment we got up.

"Um, sure, yeah. Um.. what are you going to do?" I try to memorize all the coffee flavours from the menu, still keeping myself and eyes occupied.

"For starters leave in about an hour."

"What? You're leaving?" My head turns to face him right away, revealing my immediate pout.

"Yes."

"Today?"

"Yes."

"In an hour?"

"Yes." Ashton repeats again and chortles.

"I didn't know. I-"

"I know, I didn't tell you. My internship starts next week and I gotta go get settled."

"You are going to New York then?" He confirms with a nod. "That's... great." The great word didn't come out as easily as it should have and I don't know why. I guess I thought I'd see Ashton as well these next days and that won't apparently happen.

I can feel his eyes on me and that makes me feel weird. I can only hope for Chloe to be done with our coffees but then again we are talking about five coffees so it will take some time.

"Vanessa." Ashton lets go of my hand and rests his on my shoulder. I slowly move my head to my right to face him. "I am leaving in an hour, I just came by because I wanted to see you." I keep my lips sealed and look into his beautiful green eyes. I think about telling him he didn't have to wait for me, that he should probably hurry up so he won't miss his flight, that he will thrive his internship and win everyone over, at least the ones he didn't win the first time around, which I doubt. Ashton is capable to win everyone over. I don't say anything though and it's weird for me not to talk. "We'll talk during the summer, won't we?" He fixes another curl of mine, placing it away from my face. My hair must be messy for sure.

"Of course!" I exclaim kind of loudly, making some heads turn to look at our direction. Ashton smiles content, looking momentarily at the floor and then back at me. He lowers his head to reach my height and plants a soft kiss on my right cheek. I remain still, with my mouth half open, struggling to find the right words to say. His smile has now reached his eyes and he is the one to speak again.

"Have a wonderful summer, Vanessa." I believe that serves as a goodbye since he walks away, still with that big smile on his face. "Bye Chloe." It's only now that he talked to her that I notice she is done with our coffees. Chloe greets her friend with a wave and mentions to me the four coffees placed on the wooden counter.

"Um... what do I owe you, Chloe?" I search for my wallet inside my bag.

"Ashton paid."

"He paid? When?" I facepalm, angry at myself for not noticing.

"Just some seconds ago. Enjoy your coffees. I gotta serve the next customer." I have also stalled the entire line, it's a miracle nobody shouted at me for the delay of their coffee! I gotta move. God, I can be so embarrassing sometimes!

"Yes, um sorry for... um, thank you, Chloe!" I take all four coffee cups in my embrace, careful not to spill anything again.

"You're welcome. See you around, Vanessa!" Chloe greets me with a grin, gets back to her customers and I get back to our table, where my three remaining friends wait for me.

No one mentions anything about Ashton's absence, I guess they knew he was about to leave. Unexpectedly enough, nobody has teased me about him or found a clever thing to say either, like they usually do. We pass the rest of the time talking about summer plans again, sharing past summer memories and laughing way too hard. There's no doubt I am going to miss them the following months. Somethings tells me I am going to miss Ashton more though.

A/N: Guys! We are literally so close to the end! Only two chapters left! To everyone who has somehow made it this far, thank you so much! We appreciate your support more than you will ever know! Quick question: who has been your favourite secondary character, apart from Alice, Nathan, Joseph, Robin, Vanessa and Sophie?