He folds Ally's clothes and organizes them into piles like she asked him to, but he is not happy about it.
"Austin, would you please stop pouting?" Ally asks for the fifth time as she continues to pack one of her suitcases.
"No," he replies.
"You need to get over this. It's happening whether you want it to or not."
"I don't want you to leave!" he exclaims, throwing the shirt he was holding down on the bed.
The brunette sighs. "I know you don't," she says. "But that doesn't mean you can throw a temper tantrum about it."
"I'm not throwing a tantrum," he says, crossing his arms.
"You need to accept that I have to leave and try to enjoy the little time we have left together," Ally tells him. Then she looks at Coco, who's been attempting to unpack her suitcase, and hooks her finger under the end of his tail. He curls his tail around her finger and she lifts him up by his tail, holding him at her eye level. "And so do you," she tells the monkey.
Coco stares at her, reaching his arm out and grabbing her nose. She sighs and pulls his hand away before setting him on her shoulder.
"We're just gonna miss you," Austin tells her.
"I'm gonna miss you too. But no matter how much we're gonna miss each other, I still have to leave tomorrow."
Ally continues packing her suitcase, so Coco hops down from her shoulder and starts pulling out as much as he can. But she gives him a hard look and he stops, taking a few sheepish steps away from the suitcase.
"We'll stay in touch, right?" Austin asks her, resuming his task of folding her clothes. "We aren't gonna grow apart, are we?"
"Don't worry about it, Austin. We're gonna be fine."
"And you're not gonna ditch me for some hot jock back home, are you?"
She rolls her eyes. "I like surfers. No jocks, no rich kids, no smart kids. Just surfers."
"Wait, I'm smart – "
"Agree to disagree."
Austin sighs, not in the mood for teasing. "I'm serious, Ally."
"So am I. I like you, okay? Only you."
"What if you meet someone else?"
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Austin purses his lips, focusing his attention on folding her clothes. He hears Ally sigh softly beside him, and then she rests her hand on his arm and kisses his cheek. He glances over at her.
"Why don't we take a break from packing?" she suggests.
He nods, and Ally picks up Coco to stop him from pulling out any more of her clothes before leading Austin downstairs. Coco leaps from Ally's hand onto her shoulder, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"Where are we going?" Austin asks her when she opens the front door and steps outside.
"Wanna walk along the beach?" Ally suggests.
He nods and takes the hand she holds out to him, following her outside and shutting the door behind him.
"Sorry for being so immature about all this," Austin mutters after a while, looking over at her.
She meets his eyes. "It's okay. I'm gonna miss you a lot."
He nods. "I'm gonna miss you a lot too."
She swings their arms gently, looking down at the sand for a while before speaking again. "I have a surprise for you."
He watches her as she lifts her gaze to his again.
"What is it?" he asks.
"I wasn't gonna tell you until it got closer, but…I talked to my dad, and he thought it might be fun if you and your parents came out to Miami to stay with us for a couple of weeks over winter break."
Austin smiles. "Really?"
She nods, smiling too. "The three of them have become pretty good friends, you know. So what do you think?"
"I think getting to spend two whole weeks with you in December is enough to get me through these next few months without you."
She grins and stops walking to kiss him. He smiles and responds immediately, resting his hands on her waist.
"Feel a little better now?" she asks him when they pull away.
He nods, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna miss you any less, though."
"I know. But at least you know we're gonna be together again soon. Something to look forward to."
He nods, lifting Coco off Ally's shoulder so he can drape his arm around her. Coco climbs onto Austin's shoulder instead.
"I'm glad you and Coco finally get along," Austin notes as they continue walking.
"I tolerate him," she says, clearly being too stubborn to admit she likes him.
"Good enough for me," Austin replies. "I'm glad you tolerate me, too."
"You're a little more difficult to deal with," she tells him.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Mmhm. But I'm just too tired to fight with you anymore. A whole summer of it was just too draining."
"Makes sense," Austin plays along with a nod.
"You know, you never told me if you regained your position as Frog King," Ally says, looking over at him with a small smile on her face.
He chuckles. "I did, once I explained to them that we were together."
"That's good."
He nods. "They said they wanna make you Frog Queen since you look so much like them, so I have to be King again."
"Ha-ha," Ally says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"It's true," Austin laughs. "They told me."
"Well, what else did they tell you about me?"
"They said you were the prettiest frog they had ever seen."
"How nice of them."
"Mmhm," he says with a nod. "But that just means the slimiest, so…"
"Oh – whatever, Charming," she says, sounding annoyed by endeared by him.
"I'm just repeating what they said," Austin says innocently.
"Do I wanna know what you said back?"
"I told them that they better keep their distance because I'm your boyfriend. And I said that you're the prettiest frog I've ever seen, too."
"Wow, thanks so much," she says sarcastically.
"I live to make you feel special, sweetheart," he teases.
She makes a face at him and he smiles, kissing the top of her head.
He realizes that for a few beautiful minutes, he actually forgot that she was leaving tomorrow.
"You're sure you have everything?" Trish asks Ally for the third time as they stand on the dock while Ally's dad hauls all their luggage on the waiting boat.
"Yes," the brunette promises, a small smile on her face.
"You didn't leave anything at the house?" Carrie asks.
"That's exactly what – " Trish starts, but then she decides it isn't worth it and sighs.
"I didn't leave anything at the house," Ally says.
"We're really gonna miss you, Ally," Dez tells her, a frown on his face.
"Stop, you're gonna make me cry!" Ally exclaims, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
Everyone else joins in for a big group hug.
Except Austin.
He stays off to the side, with Coco sitting still as a statue on his shoulder, watching his girlfriend say goodbye to all his friends and trying to process the fact that she's actually leaving in just a few minutes.
"You're positive you didn't leave anything?" Jace asks her.
"I quadruple checked my house, guys," she giggles.
"Alright, well…" Jace looks around at the rest of their friends. "We got you a bit of a going-away present. Just so you don't forget about us."
"And don't worry, we talked to your dad to make sure it was okay before we got it," Dez adds, a smile on his face.
"Aw, you guys didn't have to – " Ally starts.
"But we did," Carrie interrupts with a smile while Trish jogs behind a tree to retrieve her present.
The five of them woke up early this morning to go buy it so they wouldn't raise Ally's suspicions.
Trish walks back over to them, carrying a pink flowery surfboard with a big red bow on it.
Ally's face immediately lights up, and Austin notices her eyes starting to water.
"You guys…" she says, taking the surfboard from Trish. "I…thank you."
She fans her face and tries to blink away the tears. Everyone hugs her again tightly. Austin still stays out of it.
"Now, every time you go surfing back in Miami, you can think of us," Carrie says.
"I'll never be able to go surfing now because I'll just cry and miss you guys," Ally jokes, wiping away a tear that started rolling down her cheek.
Lester walks over and takes the surfboard from Ally to go pack it on the boat. "It's about time to go," he says before walking away.
She nods and looks at the group again.
"Stay in touch," Jace says, hugging her tightly.
"I will," she replies, hugging him back.
"And come back soon," he tells her.
"My dad and I were planning on coming back next summer," she says.
Everyone seems to heave a sigh of relief.
"Good. That's when I'm coming back, too."
"You're leaving?" she asks him.
He nods. "I'm going to college in the states. But we won't think about that now," he says quickly, glancing back at a sad-looking Trish.
Ally nods, too, and hugs him again.
Then Dez walks up and hugs her, lifting her a bit off the ground as he cries into her shoulder. She sniffles and rubs his back wordlessly, and Austin can't help but smile a little.
Carrie manages to pull him off after a few seconds so she can say her own goodbye.
"I'm gonna miss you, Ally," she says, wiping away her tears and trying to control her wavering voice. "Don't forget about me, okay?"
"I could never," Ally replies, hugging her tightly.
And then it's Trish's turn.
"We're not gonna drift apart like we did last time," she states, not even bothering to try to stop her tears.
Ally shakes her head, tears rolling down her cheeks too. "We'll talk like every day."
"I'll miss you."
The two best friends hug each other tightly, and Austin hears sniffles coming from all his crying friends.
He doesn't know how he's managed to stay so calm about this.
Eventually, everyone else joins in for one last group hug, and when they pull away they all say goodbye one more time. Then, they all hesitantly walk away to give Austin and Ally some space. Coco seems to sense that this is an important moment because he climbs down from Austin's shoulder and scurries over to sit on a rock a few yards away.
"You've been oddly quiet all morning," Ally says as she stands in front of him, no longer crying.
He tries to think of everything he wants to say to her before she's gone. But his mind goes blank.
So instead of saying anything, he wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her with everything he has, shutting his eyes tightly to try to push away all his sadness so he can focus on the feeling of her lips on his and memorize it.
She kisses him back with the same amount of urgency, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
He pulls away slowly, his mind flooding with everything he needs her to know.
"I'm sorry for everything I said that hurt you," he says quietly, leaning his forehead against hers and keeping his eyes closed to block any tears from coming. "I don't know if I ever apologized for everything, but I'm sorry. For all of it."
"It's okay," she whispers. "I'm sorry too."
He presses another kiss to her lips and pulls away enough to look at her. "Coco, um…he's really gonna miss you," he says, trying to disconnect himself from his emotions so he can get the words out.
She nods, not seeming to trust herself with words.
"And, um…" He winces when his voice cracks and clenches his jaw, looking away from her and blinking hard, putting all of his willpower into not crying. "I'm…I'm gonna miss you. More than I think you know."
When he looks at her again, her eyes are full of tears and she has a watery smile on her face.
"I'm gonna miss you too." She can hardly get the words out, and he can barely hear her over the waves crashing on the beach by the dock and his heart pounding in his ears.
He wracks his brain for anything else he needs to say to her, and one thought keeps screaming at him over and over again, demanding to make itself heard.
He grabs her hands and looks up at the sky for a second to prevent his tears from falling. He meets her eyes for a second and swallows, quickly looking off to the side and clearing his throat.
"I…" he starts. But his voice is thick and he can hardly manage any words. He clears his throat again, determined to tell her everything. He looks her in the eyes, and he can tell that she knows what he's going to say, because that's just how she is. And for the first time, he's grateful for how well she can read him.
She squeezes his hands, silently encouraging him to go on.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry," he says quietly, his voice catching at the end as he averts his gaze to the ground.
"It's okay," she tells him, her voice barely above a whisper.
He takes a deep breath and musters all his courage before meeting her eyes again and holding her gaze. "I love you," he tells her, his voice completely steady for the first time all day.
He's shocked at how much better it sounds now than it did when he practiced fifteen times in the mirror before he came.
A few tears roll down her face and she grabs his cheeks, pulling his head down so she can kiss him.
The tears on her eyelashes and the tip of her nose drip onto his cheeks, but he doesn't care. The only thing that matters is this moment. The only thing that matters is her.
He can feel her heartbeat pounding against his chest in sync with his own, and he wraps his arms around her waist again, hoping that maybe if he holds her tight enough he might be able to keep her here, with him.
She pulls away all too soon, but it's worth it when he hears a faint "I love you too," escape her lips.
Austin suddenly feels Coco climbing up his leg and onto his shoulder. The monkey leaps to Ally's shoulder and nuzzles himself in her neck, effectively ruining the moment.
Austin and Ally just laugh and wipe their tears as Ally reaches up to scratch Coco gently.
"Ally, time to go!" Lester calls from the boat.
The two of them look over at him for a second. Austin sees Ally look at him again out of his peripheral, and he takes a deep breath to meet her eyes one last time.
"Winter break," she tells him. "Only like five more months."
He nods, lifting Coco off her shoulder and pressing one more soft kiss to her lips. "I love you," he tells her again.
"I love you, too."
She pulls him in for a tight hug, and then she takes a few steps back, out of his reach. "I'll call you as soon as I get home," she promises.
He nods. "I'll wait by the phone," he attempts to joke.
She shoots him a small smile and seems to have to force herself to start walking down the dock. Coco fidgets on Austin's shoulder, and Austin holds him so he doesn't follow her. He watches her get on the boat.
"Don't forget about us little people, city girl!" he calls after her, trying to hold back his tears again.
She must not hear exactly what he said, because all she does is wave. He waves back to her, until he can't make her out on the boat anymore. Then, he watches the boat as he stands alone on the dock, petting Coco. He doesn't move until the white speck of the boat disappears beyond the morning fog on the ocean.
He puts Coco back on his shoulder and walks back along the beach to the diner, his heart heavier than he thought it'd be.
He's suddenly surrounded by his friends, all patting his back and trying to say anything to make him feel better, and for the first time all summer he feels completely like one of them again.
"You get to see her this winter, don't you?" Jace says. "It'll come before you know it."
"And you guys will probably talk all the time," Dez adds.
"It'll be like she's not even gone," Trish promises.
"Except that you can't hug her or kiss her or anything," Carrie says.
Trish gives her a look, but Austin smiles slightly. "Thanks, guys," he says.
"We ordered you pancakes," Trish tells him as they all walk back to the table the other four were already sitting at.
He nods and sits down, unable to stop himself from being reminded of the day he and Ally got in that stupid little bickering fest over her stealing his food. He starts eating anyway, immediately comforted by his mom's best recipe.
Coco doesn't move on his shoulder, and Austin wonders if the monkey misses Ally even more than he does.
"She told me she loves you, Austin. If that makes you feel any better," Trish says, rubbing his back.
"I know," he says, pushing a bite of pancake around his plate so it collects more syrup. "She told me. After I told her I love her."
"Remember when you hated her?" Carrie asks. "That was dumb."
"Yeah…yeah it was," he says.
He kind of hates himself for wasting so much time hating her that he could've spent being with her this summer. But at the same time, what they have probably wouldn't be as special as it is if he hadn't.
He's just glad she chose to steal his spot on the beach and his friends and everything else he cares about this summer over anyone else's.
Especially his heart. He hopes she keeps that.
And that's the end! A few people have asked me about an epilogue or a sequel, and I'm sorry but I'm not planning on writing one. But I will tell you that they stay together and live happily ever after in Miami after Austin goes to college near Ally in the states when she goes to a super awesome business school. Also she takes over her father's business and she surprises him with a house after they graduate (and in this house Coco has his own cute lil bedroom/playroom). They get married and have cute kids and they vacation with the others on Lost Isle every summer and it's wonderful.
Anyway, I'd really like to thank all of you lovely readers for sticking with me despite my horrible updating schedule. I appreciate every single one of you, whether you've been reading every update since I posted it or you just pulled an all-nighter and read it all in one sitting. Your reviews and follows and favorites are so wonderful and encouraging and you're the reason I keep writing :) Also, special thank you to Lexy for helping me out with this story and listening to my ideas, and thanks again to Normah for making the beautiful cover for this story.
One last thing, don't forget to stay tuned for my next fic! It's gonna be my best one yet!
P.S. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho ;)