Chapter Thirty-Six

Laurie, Cheri, and Hank returned to the house later that morning with large smiles and loud voices, excitedly talking over the defeat Hank had once again faced at the grocery store. Full of chocolate and sweet victory, Cheri felt pretty good, the shopping trip was successful and she and Laurie has been talking up a storm finding that they really did have things in common; the only thing that loomed over Cheri now was the sadness of having to say goodbye to Laurie and he rest of the family at the end of the week. Two days. It hardly seemed like enough. Why hadn't she noticed sooner how her and Keith's situation could have been solved almost like one, two, three? Then she could have spent more time with Laurie. More time with everybody! Well, maybe it wasn't as easy as one, two, three, but why couldn't she have felt this free the day they arrived instead of indifferent and weepy?

Cheri knew she had done a lot of growing in the past few days. Sometimes all it took was leaving something behind you, and she had certainly left a lot of bad feelings behind. It felt good to finally move on. Now she just had to get over the regret of not having moved on earlier.

"I think the best part was that look on your Dad's face when he saw us waiting for him," Laurie laughed, pausing at the front door as Cheri opened it for her.

Cheri smiled, nodding her head in agreement, "Yeah, that part's always pretty priceless."

"In my defense, I had to go searching for all the spices," Cheri's father argued.

"Sure… but we also had more items on our list."

Cheri stepped off to the side allowing her father inside with his bags enjoying the playful banter. It really had been quite the competition. Though they had finished first, Laurie and she hadn't waited long before Hank had shown up. It had been a close call.

"Let's drop these things off in the kitchen and then we can head upstairs," Laurie said as she entered the house.

"Sure." Cheri nodded, watching as Laurie headed farther down the hall. She was about to follow en suite when she paused abruptly at the door noting the faint sound of a guitar coming from the barn. Wait. Was that… music?

"Cheri? You coming?" Laurie paused halfway down the hall and turned, looking back to her friend.

Yes, it was definitely music, guitar music, and it was coming from the barn. Cheri knew instantly who it was and she knew right then that she needed to do something before her fragile mood shifted on her again. "Laurie? Could you take my bag to the kitchen? There's something I just remembered I've got to do."

Laurie seemed a bit confused, but graciously complied approaching the Reyes girl and holding out her other arm. "O-Okay. See you in a few?"

Cheri smiled and handed her grocery sack off to Laurie. "Definitely. You promised to show me how to knit, and I wouldn't miss it. I'll be right back." Cheri waited until Laurie disappeared into the kitchen and then hurried out the front door, heading straight towards the barn as fast as she could run. As she drew nearer, she slowed her pace, noticing that singing accompanied the guitar and that the words to the song were very familiar.

"I'll never, never, never get over you. Tried so hard, but I just can't do it…"

Cheri slipped quietly into the barn, shutting the door behind her. Keith! She knew it was him when she had first heard the guitar and she also knew that the lyrics he was singing were her own. The funny thing was, somehow neither fact seemed to bother her. Actually, she was excited! He sounded so good! Very good! And since she wrote those words and he wrote that music… that was their song!

"Baby you're aware no one else could really care, the way I do…"

She followed the music over to the hayloft and quickly climbed the ladder. She couldn't believe her luck when she saw Keith sitting up there, guitar in hand, song on tongue, and his back to her. Lovely! She decided just to wait a while and listen and pulled herself into the hay, watching as he strummed and sang, waiting for him to finish the song. When he finally had, Cheri clapped. She just couldn't resist. Besides, it was fun startling him a bit, too.

Keith whirled around. "Cheri!" He seemed alarmed. "W-When did you get back."

"Just now." She grinned and crawled nearer to him, noticing that he had one of her notebooks open in front of him. She had been right, and she was so… happy? "What are you up to?"

He quickly pushed the notebook from view. "Just… singing. Writing some music."

"With my words?"

"Maybe?"

Cheri wondered if he had even noticed her smile. "It sounded groovy. What else have you got?"

He didn't seem to know how to proceed. Cheri figured he was waiting for her to just lash out at him. "Just… that one."

"It sounded amazing."

"These words are pretty amazing. All of these notebooks aren't half bad. I had kind of forgotten about all we had written."

Cheri sat beside him and dug into the box, wondering then how she could have thrown out all of her 'Keith-things': her records, her pictures, her notebooks. They were good memories. Memories of things that seemed kind of childish now, but still very wonderful. "I know. That's why I kept them." She took out another book and flipped it open. "Remember the one we wrote about that horse we both wanted?"

"Pony of Mine? Yeah, what a memory. Wish I could say the same for the song."

"How about that one summer when we decided to go all poetic and use big words we didn't even know the meanings of?" She took out another notebook.

"I've been through all of those already. They're just kind of—" he stopped, Cheri guessed that he was watching her as she flipped through another book and then yet another. "Cheri? Are you mad at me?"

"No. Should I be mad?"

"I meddled in your things."

"I know. This isn't the first time."

"And you're not angry?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"Maybe I feel a tad bit embarrassed, but I'm not angry."

"What about last night?"

Cheri shut the notebook she was holding and tossed it back into the box. "Let's not talk about last night." Why would he want to tarnish this moment?

"Cheri, I'm sorry…"

She looked to him and tried to smile encouragingly. "Keith, it's okay. Alright? I'm not mad; I just want to move on. Let's just forget last night and focus on that song you were singing. It was fantastic. You had me falling in love with you all over again." It was a bit of a stretch, even for her, but she was determined not to be indifferent any longer, and besides all that, it was true. He looked great and he sounded even better! If Keith still wanted to be her friend she wanted to accept it while she still could, and now that they only had two days left, she wanted to make the most of it and knew that the only way they could was by both letting go and making some music!

There was a pause, then, "Really?"

Cheri shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"And that's okay?"

She wondered if he was still dwelling on her over-the-top reaction to his music or her under-the-top reaction to his meddling. Was she really falling in love with him all over again? Well, regardless of if she was or not, she was head-over-heels in love with this song he had thrown together and knew any anger would just get in the way of its success. "Keith, we both like music, don't we? You're not the only one." When he didn't reply, she added, "Don't look so shocked. I'm not mad, okay?" She shoved him lightly, playfully. "Just sing, would you?"

A small smile slowly came to his lips. "Okay. Sure. Let's do this."

"And don't stop until I say so." Cheri took a look at her own lyrics, listening as Keith began the song again. She recognized these words. They were the very ones she had written after Keith had left that fateful summer. She had been crying her eyes out over those pages and now she was grinning from ear to ear. That was the magic of music, she decided, it could do miracles.

She waited for Keith to get to the end and then stopped him, having him begin again.

"Did you like it?" he asked after the second repeat.

"It's fantastic!" she said zealously, "But it has the potential to be even better. Have you got a pen?"

They dug in the box and found a Partridge Family Fan Club pen, which Cheri instantly removed the cap from.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Keith asked in alarm as she began attacking her lyrics.

"Just trust me!"

And so he did.

The results were fantastic!

Cheri spent the rest of the day and most of the following hanging out with both Keith and Laurie and doing what she loved best—making music. She was in heaven! She couldn't imagine why she hadn't turned this leaf sooner. It felt so right, so free to be able to just hang out with her friends and not have to worry about frayed feelings getting in the way. What had taken her so long?

The highlight of the last few hours was when the Partridge Family ran through her and Keith's newest composition for the very first time. Cheri felt on top of the world running around correcting a pitch here and there, altering a lyric. She and Keith worked very well together, she found. Once all the drama was laid aside and they could actually work, what they made was pretty spectacular. It was magic.

"You sure I can have all of these?" Keith asked her the final day as she helped the family pack up their bus for their long trip home. She had decided last minute to gift all of the journals to Keith to use from them whatever lyrics he pleased providing, of course, that when he was done, he would send them all back to her in recordings of their lovely music, even if the cuts didn't make the final albums.

"Of course. They'll do you a lot better than they ever did me, collecting dust and all." She handed him the box, watching as the rest of the family assembled to say goodbye to her family: then again, they were really all just an extension of each other, weren't they?

"You're sure?"

"Keith, don't be so worried. Of course I'm sure, and if you're so concerned you can send the journals back when you send the tapes."

She watched as he came down from the bus, the box and every last suitcase finally in place. Watching him come down those steps, she couldn't help but think back two weeks ago when she first saw him head down those steps after years apart. He was handsome for certain, but this time he just seemed even more so.

He gave her a lopsided grin, "I'm gonna miss you, Cheri."

"You too. Even the annoying parts." She couldn't resist tagging on the last part.

"Ha ha."

"Everybody ready to go?" Shirley approached the bus, the other four children in tow.

"Everything's all packed up." Keith nodded, moving aside to let his mother and the rest of his family say their final goodbye to the Reyes girl.

"Goodbye, Cheri. I hope the kids didn't wear you out too much." Shirley gave her a hug, "It was so good to see you."

"You too, Mrs. Partridge."

Chris and Tracy came next.

"You promise to play Castle Sunflower again next time we come visit?" Tracy asked her.

"Sure," Cheri agreed, crouching down to be closer to their eye level. "In the meantime, I'll try hard to think of some new ideas for the plot."

"Can I be the wizard again too?" asked Chris.

"Why not? We're always in need of a wizard at Castle Sunflower."

Tracy smiled. "Thanks, Cheri. You're the best." After a hug, she followed her mother onto the bus, Chris bounding along behind. "Bye!"

Cheri straightened. "See you both later." She couldn't help but admit that she was going to miss both of them a lot and the game too. She couldn't remember the last time she had used so much imagination.

"Sure it wouldn't work?" Danny stopped in front of her then, looking at her expectantly, but also with a certain air of importance that she nearly forgot he was only thirteen. Oh Danny… She knew instantly to what he was referring.

"Why don't you wait a few years and then we'll see?" Cheri said, wanting to lighten the mood. His sense of humor was an odd one at that. How many times would he have to ask her this?

Danny gave her a knowing smile. "You just wait. I'll be twice as dashing as Keith."

"Sure." She hoped she wasn't getting his hopes up too much. Her? Date Danny? It could never happen. She watched somewhat uncomfortably as he disappeared into the bus, a small sense of relief following his departure.

Laurie came next and quickly enveloped her in a tight hug. "Keep up the knitting. I'm sure you'll get it in no time."

"Sure," Cheri promised, "And I'll send you the first thing I make. Thanks Laurie; for everything. My only regret is that we didn't hang out more. You're certainly one of the best!"

Laurie laughed slightly, "Well, let's just say I'll take a rain check. See you next time?"

"Of course." The girls hugged quickly again and Cheri knew she was going to really miss her. She was going to miss all of them. She had found that it was nice to be a part of a group. It was nice to belong.

After Laurie had gone, Cheri took a deep breath, turning to the last of the Partridge clan. That morning she had thought that everyone would be equally hard to say goodbye to—they had all had so many fun times together— but now that it came right down to it, she knew that he would always be the one she would miss most. Brother or not, they had a connection, a special connection that went beyond business partners, fellow musicians, or even friendship. This was going to be hard.

"Well, guess you'd better catch up to the rest of them before they leave you behind," Cheri somehow found her words first.

Keith smiled, "You know what? I almost forgot that you had such a great sense of humor."

She returned the smile and slugged him lightly on the arm, "Well, better get used to it, Keith, 'cause this Cheri is here to stay!"

"I'm glad." His smile faltered slightly, and he seemed a bit sad. She wondered how much of his feelings mirrored her own. Was he going to miss her too?

"Keith! C'mon, let's go!" Danny hollered from the bus window.

Cheri's eyes moved to the redhead and then to her parents before looking back to Keith again. They had an audience; she'd have to be careful. "Hey, it was fun. Writing music, roleplaying with the kids, everything."

"Everything? Even the bad parts?"

"We all have to grow up sometime, Keith. I'm just sorry it took me so long."

She noticed he seemed surprised by her statement and the heaviness in her chest suddenly felt even heavier. Why couldn't they have just one more day? They still had a lot to talk about; at least she did. Her feelings were always a mixed up mess.

"Take care, Cheri."

Cheri was surprised when she suddenly found herself enveloped in a warm hug. She was only stunned for a moment though, as she wrapped her own arms around him, knowing that this is what she had needed all along. "Sure, you do the same, hey?"

His answer came in a form of a whisper in her ear, "Don't let your mom get you down, okay? You're special, Cheri, regardless of anything she might say. I've always known that."

Cheri suddenly felt tears leap into her eyes and she nodded slowly as he let her go, watching as he smiled and headed for the bus.

"I'll expect thirty more notebooks full of words by the time we come back next summer!" He called to her, heading up the steps to the bus only to appear at a window moments later.

"Sure! Whatever you say, Partridge!" She called back, watching as the bus door closed and Shirley started up the engine.

"Bye, everyone!" As the bus pulled away the kids waved from the windows and Cheri found herself waving back, swallowing back any tears that might have fallen. She didn't want her parents to ask. She didn't want her parents to know a thing about what Keith— her brother— had said.

"You're special, Cheri… I've always known that."

Maybe it wasn't 'I love you; and maybe it wasn't a promise, but to Cheri right then, it was enough to keep her going for a while. Keith noticed and Keith cared and maybe he was right, she could withstand all of her mother's bickering and just be the best that she could be. The real her. The Cherish Reyes that had befriended that wonderful family in the first place. After all, there would always be time for romance and kisses and holding hands later.

It was only 365 days.

Author's Note: Thus concludes the final chapter of probably one of the most fun stories I have ever had the opportunity to write.I hope you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for a brand new Partridge Family fan fiction coming soon!