Hey all,

Well, this is the final chapter of Teenage Wasteland. But don't panic! There is a sequal! 'Teenage Wasteland: The College Years' will be up ASAP!

You guys are awesome. Seriously. It wouldn't have gotten this far without your awesome reviews!

So, enjoy.

xoxElle

Home

Five days after Kate had left hospital, she and Ari sat in his car driving back to Washington D.C., their things packed and in the back, minus Kate's maternity clothes which she had given to charity.

It had been hard for Kate to say goodbye to April and Cameron, she was so thankful to them for letting them stay throughout everything. Ari stayed quiet most of the time and said very swift goodbyes before retreating to his car.

Over the past five days the two teenagers had many, many long talks about everything that had happened over the past 10 months, starting from her father, to Joel, to the party, to what was going to happen when they got back to Washington.

They decided that breaking up was for the best, that staying together would be too hard on both of them even though they still loved each other to an extent. Ari was going to go back to his father's house and deal with the consequences of leaving while Kate was going to move to Indiana with her brother and his fiancé, knowing she would never go back to her own father's.

Kate had been asleep for most of the drive back to Washington, leaving Ari to his thoughts as he drove through the small towns that laid between the cities.

Many hours later Kate was woken by Ari's voice in her ear and a hand gently shaking her shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly and saw Ari kneeling in the open doorway of the car. She looked around with a confused look on her face, although when she realized where they were a smile graced her lips.

"The lake" She said quietly, a small smile on her face.

Ari stood up as Kate un-buckled her seat belt and nodded. "Yes, I thought you would like to come here before we returned to the city"

Kate smiled softly at him and closed the car door, walking towards the water and leaving Ari starring after her.

She walked until she was standing less than a foot from the water, smiling sadly as she looked down at her feet. She felt Ari move up to stand next to her, his hands clasped behind his back in his usual fashion.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after a while, the sun starting to set behind the trees.

Kate shrugged. "I'm not sure" She said, taking a deep breath and looking sideways at him, her hair falling over her shoulder. "It feels like something's missing"

Ari nodded and turned to her, the 17 year old not really sure what to say next. He watched her as she look down again and her shoulders fell forward, one of her hands going up to wipe a tear off her cheek. Ari reached over and pulled her to him, her forehead pressing into the crook of his neck as his arms surrounded her.

Ten minutes later Ari moved his head so his lips were next to Kate's ear. "Would you like to leave yet?" He murmured.

Kate turned her head so her head was pressed against his cheek. "Not yet" She said, pulling back with a sad smile. "I don't think I'm ready to go back yet"

Ari nodded and ran a hand down her back. "Where would you like me to take you when we leave?" He asked, gently pulling her down to sit with him on the grass, her back against his chest.

"Tony's" She said quietly, a smile gracing her face. "Hard to believe that I miss him, I mean, he is DiNozzo after all"

Ari smirked and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box and handed it to her, letting his arm fall back so it was helping him sit straight. Kate leaned forward with the small box in her hands, crossing her legs Indian style as she slowly opened it.

Inside was a silver necklace, a small locket sitting against the velvet with a small cross engraved in the centre, the cross looking like the one she already wore.

"Open it" Ari murmured into her hair as he leaned forward to watch over her shoulder.

Kate glanced over her shoulder briefly at him before turning back, taking the locket out of the case and opening it.

Inside on the right was a small picture of Joel that Ari had taken the day he was born, the small boy's face was relaxed with sleep. On the left, Joel's name was engraved with his date of birth in small numbers beneath it.

She clutched the necklace in her hand and turned to Ari. "Thank you" She whispered.

Ari shrugged one of his shoulders. "This way, he will be close to you"

Kate starred at her hand quietly before looking back at him. He took the necklace from her small hands and motioned for her to turn around. He was about to put the necklace around her neck when she stopped him and reached behind to take her other necklace off before putting it safely into her pocket.

He moved her hair over the front of her shoulder before putting the necklace around her, the locket resting coldly against her chest before he clasped it together at the back. When she turned around she gave him a small smile.

She leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips to his, as she did one of his hands came up to tangle in her hair. She moved closer to him, her arms going around his torso as the kiss deepened. Both felt the sadness and love as they moved even closer, and both knew this kiss was their goodbye.

They broke apart from each other and Kate stood, offering her hand to help him stand.

"I think we should go now" She said as Ari stood, his hands going down to brush the dirt off his legs as he nodded. As Kate began to walk to the car, Ari grabbed her elbow and turned her around to face him.

He kissed her forehead and murmured "Happy Birthday" into her hair.

Tony DiNozzo was pissed. He had been back from Israel for a day, and was still as mad as ever at Ziva. He had tried to call her to see exactly what had happened while he was still in Israel, but she had said the same thing. 'Go home'.

Tony groaned and kicked his dresser, running a hand through his hair as he tried to calm down. He sighed and turned around to go to his bed, but stopped in his tracks.

Kate Todd was sitting on his bed with a sheepish smile on her face. "Who pissed you off DiNozzo?"

Tony starred at her for a few moments, not entirely believing she was there, instead an hallucination of his angered brain. When he was sure his mind wasn't going crazy on him, he took two strides forward and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the bed and almost off her feet.

"Tony, I need to breathe" She said, poking him in the stomach so he would let go. When he finally did let go, he glared at her.

"Where the hell have you been Katie? You could've been dead for all I knew" He said, crossing his arms.

Kate stepped back from him and sat on the bed again. "Miami...Staying with my sister"

"What about Ari?" Tony asked. He was pretty sure that if he ever saw the guy who took his best friend away again, he would probably kill him.

"He was with me...But we decided to break up, so we came back" She said frowning, her hands clasped together in her lap.

Tony moved to sit next to her, placing his hand over hers. "Why'd you leave?"

Kate swallowed and looked away, she could never tell him the real reason, knowing that he would probably never speak to her again. Plus, he would murder Ari. "My father" She said quietly, that was partly true, but he didn't need to know the rest. "I couldn't be there anymore"

"After you left he came here" Tony said with a shrug. "He demanded to know where you were...He was pretty drunk and I called the cops. He was in jail overnight"

Kate just nodded and put her head on Tony's shoulder, his arm going up to wrap around her.

"Your hair's longer" He commented a few minutes later. She let out a laugh and sat up straight.

"I'm going to Indiana in a few days...My brother said I could live with him for a while" She said.

"You could stay here" Tony offered. "My Dad wouldn't care"

Kate smiled, but shook her head. "I'm too close to my Dad here" She said. "I can't"

Tony nodded and put his arms back around her, standing and lifting her whilst hugging. Kate was laughing as Tony lifted her and moved towards the window.

"Jesus Katie, you've gotten heavy" Tony said as he put her down. She glared at him and gave him a good elbow in the stomach, making him double over slightly. Well, it's true, Kate thought as she looked down briefly at the slightly baggy shirt she was wearing, covering the fact that her stomach showed proof that something had been in there for nine months.

The two climbed out the window and laid down on the roof, looking up at the sky as it began to get dark. Tony stuck his arm out so Kate could rest her head on it.

"I missed you" He said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Kate smiled.

"It's weird DiNozzo, but I actually missed you too" She said with a smirk. Tony laughed and jostled his arm, making Kate's head almost hit the roof.

The two stayed silent for a few minutes before Tony murmured "Happy birthday Katie"

There's the end. Well, not really the end. Look out for 'Teenage Wasteland: The College Years' being uploaded in the next few weeks!

Please review.

xoxElle