AN: Short and sweet update. Yay for writing at 2:00 AM because your cat somehow managed to take up enough space on your bed to actually kick you out? I'm gonna go with yes.

This is just a bit of cutesy fluff. Nothing major. Next one probably will be something major, though. Guess we'll just see.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the graduating class of 2009!"

The new graduates stood and threw their caps high in the air, whooping in celebration of their newfound freedom from high school. I stood and clapped with the hundreds of other people in lawn chairs littering what used to be the school's practice field. It had recently been turned into a temporary graduating ceremony grounds for the event.

My dad applauded to my left, and to my right JD and Izzy even whistled. Further down the row, I spotted JD's parents. I'd never seen her father look so close to tears. I wasn't really surprised, though.

After all, what parent isn't emotional when their child graduates?

It took a lot of effort, and I'm pretty sure more than a few feet were stepped on, but we finally managed to meet up with Jack. He greeted us with a huge grin.

"Graduated with Honors," he said proudly, waving the diploma around like the world's flimsiest baton. His mother threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She wasn't crying, didn't even look close to tears, but there was no mistaking the look of fierce pride on her face. His face clapped him on his shoulder.

"I'm real proud of you, son," he said, beaming. "I always knew you could do it."

"Well, I couldn't afford to slack off. After all, you need to be top-notch to be accepted into Medical School." He winked at his father. "I'm sure it was the same for you, dad." His answer was interrupted by JD taking her turn for a hug and squeezing her much larger brother harder than it seemed physically possible.

"I can't believe you didn't fail!" she exclaimed, laughing. "I take back all the Meathead jokes I ever made about you, Jack."

"Liar." Jack grinned. He picked her up and spun her around once before setting her down.

Then his eyes turned to me. I smiled a bit awkwardly, and offered a lame congratulations. I couldn't say everything I wanted to say here. Not in front of my father and his parents, though I did notice three pairs of expectant eyes on me, as if they expected me to jump into his arms right then.

Jack thankfully took the hint and left it alone for the moment. He knew I would congratulate him properly when we were alone.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" JD said loudly. "Let's go get celebratory ice cream at that new place that opened up downtown! I hear they have the best flavors; I've been dying to try them! Can't we, daddy, please?" She turned her bright, hopeful eyes on her father and he sighed. It was too easy for his daughter to manipulate him.

"Fine, fine," he agreed. "Jack, why don't you meet us down there in your car; you don't want to leave it here all alone."

"Great! And Sammy will go along to keep you company!" JD pushed me toward her older brother, an action which earned her a very annoyed glare. Inside, though, I was elated. This would give me some time to have Jack to myself for a while tonight, and nobody would think anything of it. We were friends, after all; what was so suspicious of me riding in his car?

We piled into our rides and I tried my hardest not to look too excited. When we pulled out of the parking lot, I finally relaxed and grinned over at him.

"Really, congratulations," I said. "It must be exciting to finally get out of high school."

"Yeah, I guess." Jack shrugged. "It's really overrated, though; I don't feel any different."

"Well, you'll still have school," I pointed out. "Regular college, then Medical School, right?"

"That's the plan." He smiled. "I've already got a few colleges I'm looking into, and now that I have the diploma I'll be sending out applications." Jack suddenly frowned. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. See, with an Honors Diploma, and with my GPA being so high, I could probably get into a really good school. I've been looking into this one that I really want to go to; it has a great Medical program, a spacious campus, nice dorms. Only... it's three states away."

I felt my heart thud painfully in my chest, but ignored it as I fought to keep my smile. "That's great," I said. "I mean, if you really want to go there... I know they'll accept you. They have to; you're too good to pass up."

"What about the distance?" he asked, his eyes flicking toward me briefly before once again focusing on the road.

"We can talk on the phone and e-mail," I reasoned. "So it's long distance, that doesn't mean we have to give up on our relationship." The words sounded hollow even to me. Long distance relationships were poison to most couples. And Jack was going off to college. More than likely, he was going to meet some girl that would make him forget all about me. Someone who was going to make him remember that he was straight, not gay. What would I do then? Could I handle that? Maybe it would be less painful just to break up now.

"Sammy?" Jack's larger fingers entwined with mine. "What's wrong? You don't look so good."

I blinked, trying to hold back the tears. "It's just... I'm going to miss you when you leave," I said. Jack veered off the road and for a moment I panicked until I realized he was just pulling over. When the car stopped, he pulled me into a fierce embrace.

"I can go somewhere closer," he said. "If it's going to bother you that much, I'd rather stay around here and keep an eye on you." I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was him making sacrifices just because I was getting a little emotional.

"If you really want to go there, then go. I don't want to be the one that holds you back from your dreams." I felt the tears coming and buried my face in his shirt in an attempt to hide them. "I'll never forgive myself if you stick around just for my sake."

"You know, I probably wouldn't forgive myself if I did that either." He chuckled, a low rumbling sound, and released me to look at my face. "But, you know, you don't have to worry or even miss me. I'll call all the time, and tell you every detail about college life. Everything will be okay."

"How do you know that?" I asked. I didn't mean to; the question slipped out. He smiled and wiped the tears from around my eyes with his thumb.

"Because I love you, you silly dork." He leaned forward to kiss me briefly. "And we're going to make this summer amazing, got that? I'm going to take your virginity, Sam Dorian." With that, he returned his attention to the road and started driving again. I was stunned. This felt like a monumental moment, but my brain couldn't seem to catch up. I felt like I should say something, but my voice was frozen in my throat. What exactly had just happened?

Though I was confused about the events that transpired, I trusted what Jack told me. We could make it work; it would take a little effort, sure, but we could do it.

I laid my head lightly on his shoulder as he drove. "I love you, too," I mumbled. I wasn't entirely sure if he'd heard me or not, but I supposed it didn't matter. I'd say it louder later.