Hey, last chapter! This is basically nothing but tying up loose ends and more fluff, so if you can't be bothered then it's not that important to the plot so don't worry. Super enjoyed writing this story, and thanks so much for reading!

- s.i

18: The End

Will

We'd barely got away from the airport before Jessamine leaned forward over me and flicked the radio on. She switched the channel away from Jem's classical music stations to some slightly lame pop channel - that had music I was ashamed to say I knew.

Cecily was recounting to Tessa in a loud voice about how long it had taken to find her, and Tessa's hand was still tight in mine.

I got Sophie to admit that Gideon had asked her out, and then we all teased Sophie until she - queen of sensible - turned red. Tessa wanted to know every detail of the conversation they'd had, much to Sophie's humiliation.

Luckily for Sophie, she could distract us by turning all the attention to Cecily and Gabriel instead. But Cecily just laughed.

"Hey," I said to her quietly, "I'm sorry for being a first-class prat. I'm - I'm really glad you're happy."

She rolled her eyes, grinning and nudging me in the ribs. "You don't have to apologise, dummy. Though you are a first-class prat. And trust me, Gabriel's not that bad."

"Huh." I said. "Well, if he so much as looks at you wrong, you know I'll be happy to defend your honour."

"More than happy, I imagine." Tessa said drily, and I grinned in defeat.

And soon we were all talking over each other and laughing and singing along to the sappy songs on the radio. Jem rolled the windows down, and our voices were whipped away in the breeze. And even though it was well into the morning none of us were the least bit tired.

When we got home, my mother was waiting for us, looking worn out but relieved. "Upstairs, quickly!" she ordered. "Out of the cold! There's hot chocolate on the stove, and blankets on the table - oh, Tessa, dear, are you okay?"

Tessa nodded, smiling. "I am now. Is it alright if I stay over tonight?"

"But of course!" My mother hugged her. "You're allowed to stay as long as you want, dear. And no one's allowed to leave tonight, it's too late. You hear that, Sophie, Jem, Jessamine?"

Upstairs, Cecily dug out jumpers and we passed around blankets and steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Tessa had tea - apparently she still didn't like chocolate even in liquid form. Poor, poor girl.

She sat next to me so her shoulder was bumping into mine, and she was wearing one of my jumpers, and when she smiled at me I almost dropped my hot chocolate.

Then I slid my arm around her, and she leant into me like it was the easiest thing in the world.

After a while we all moved to the living room and piled ourselves up with cushions and blankets and we talked for ages even in the darkness.

Jem passed out on the couch, and Jessamine stole everyone's pillows and fell asleep on top of them all. Sophie and Cecily covered themselves with blankets and made suggestive faces between Tessa and me before they fell asleep.

And finally, it was just Tessa and me. After all, we were used to staying awake well into the night. Except this time, I didn't need to call her, or wait with her in an airport. This time, we were both lying opposite each other, talking softly until the words dried up in our mouths.

And then, when we were too tired to talk, Tessa moved over next to me and I put an arm around her and she buried her face in my shoulder.

"We should sleep." she murmured.

"Okay." I shifted so my cheek was in her hair. "Goodnight, Tessa Gray."

And I slept better than I had in months.

3 Years Later

Tessa

New York City.

We'd all been talking about this trip for ages, a summer break for all of us - and now we were finally here and stepping out of the airport into the sunshine.

Sophie was immediately snapping pictures; the airport behind us, Jessamine posing with her sunnies on (she'd bought them for fashion purposes more than anything else), Jem and Cecily doing peace signs, Will and I swinging our hands high in the air like preschoolers.

We hailed an airport cab big enough to squeeze in all of us plus our avalanche of luggage. Driving through the city was like suddenly remembering a dream from last night, distantly familiar.

The last three years had been… amazing. Hard, at first, but getting better every day.

We'd all finished our final school year, and Sophie and Cecily indeed bought a tiny apartment with me. It was small but perfect, and we'd stayed up many late nights doing movie marathons and even just talking.

Jessamine refused to share an apartment, but somehow she was over at our place all the time anyway, dragging us out shopping and insulting our wardrobes. Which none of us minded.

And Nate - I'd hoped, for longer than I'd like to admit, for him to call me. Or write to me, or something. But as the weeks flipped by and I didn't hear from him, I lost hope. It was hard, and I still missed him sometimes. But it was better now.

He'd called me only a few weeks ago, after three years. I'd missed the call, but listened to his message. Tessa, I'm so sorry for everything I did to you, can we start over…

I hadn't called back. Maybe I would, someday, maybe when I got back to London. But I knew that I didn't need to, and my friends would be behind me no matter what decision I made.

And as for Will, like me he was healing every day. Things were better, easier, brighter. And we'd stayed together the whole way.

I wasn't just reading about the perfect life in novels now, I was living it.

Once we'd all checked into a hotel and dumped our suitcases, we all met up on the street again, breathing in the sun and the traffic.

"Where do we go now?" Cecily asked.

I looked over at Will, he was already smiling back at me.

"Everywhere." I said.

aaaaaand... that's a wrap! Thanks so much for reading, and please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the story! Constructive feedback appreciated as always, but of course if you want to tell me I'm awesome how can I say no? (kidding, kidding!)

Signing out, but will be back soon with a new story I'm working on (can't say too much...)!

-s.i