The last one in the story...

I hope you guys like it.

CHAPTER 20: LIGHTS WILL GUIDE YOU HOME AND IGNITE YOUR BONES

'So, how's Rick?' Kate looked up away from her book to Lanie and grinned.

'He's fine, we're – we're okay.' She knew Lanie was just fishing for some information about their relationship status and that's why she asked Kate about Rick. But she didn't mind, really.

'I'm glad to hear that. Do you know when's he coming back to Berkeley?'

'No, nothing solid,' Kate sighed and marked the page in the book with a tea spoon she used for ice cream earlier.

'Oh. But, he is coming back, right?'

'Oh yeah. He is. May just take a few more months, but he's coming back,' Kate told her, already impatient for the day to come.

'Well at least there's that,' Lanie said.

They were both resting in Kate's backyard, talking and laughing or just sitting quietly. It was the day before the last day of summer, and both were more than happy to spend it with their best friend. Seeing as it was school the day after tomorrow, they agreed to do nothing but relax and have fun. Then, after dinner, the whole gang was going out to the seaside and spending the night there.

Kate missed Rick, missed him next to her while chatting with their friends, missed him next to her in Remy's, missed him next to her on her bed. But she at least knew that he was coming back, so it wasn't as tough as it used to be.

Just then, Kate's phone rang and she picked it up immediately, knowing it was Rick who was calling her.

'Hi,' she greeted warmly and heard him laugh on the other side.

'Hello to you too, beautiful.'

'How are you?' she asked, eager for him to tell her about his day, about what he had been doing in New York.

'I'm great, actually. You?'

'Me too.'

'Hey, I was wondering, are you still going to that party at the seaside tonight?'

'Yeah, we are. Why?'

'Just asking, so I know if I can call or not.'

'You can always call, Rick. You know that,' she replied seriously and he chuckled.

'I know. But I won't bother you tonight, you should hang out with others, have a good time. Just try not to do anything stupid, 'kay?' Kate laughed and watched Lanie smirk next to her.

'Oh please, Richard. You know I'm a good girl.' She thought she heard him whisper 'oh God' and then he exhaled shakily and she let the laughter out again.

'You're so easy,' she said breathlessly and he sighed.

'It's just what you do to me, baby. Just what you do to me.'

'So, are you going out tonight, too?'

'Yeah, we'll probably hit the party around here somewhere, too.'

'Oh. You will?'

'Yeah. Is that – is that okay with you, or – '

'Yeah, yeah. It's – it's fine, don't worry, just…'

'Just what? I won't get drunk, Kate.'

'I know, not that.'

'I won't cheat on you either.'

'But you're so cute, every girl wants you, Rick,' Kate said desperately, half-joking, half-serious.

'But I only want you.'

'I know,' she smirked and thought of all the girls who envy her.

'So, now that we've cleared that up, when are you guys leaving for the party?'

'We're going to Remy's at seven and then we'll go down to the beach. Probably around eight, something like that.'

'Okay, then I'll give you a call at six? So if we don't hear each other tonight anymore, that I'll at least get to hear your voice.'

'Sure, honey-bear.'

'What did you just call me?'

'Honey-bear.'

'Oh, you're doomed.' Just then Kate's mom called out for Kate and Lanie to come eat some lunch and Kate grinned as she stood up.

'I love you too, sweetie, gotta go, bye-bye!' she said and then hung up on him.

Rick laughed as he found out that she hung up before he could say goodbye too, but then a slow smirk spread across his face, because there was a catch in all this.

He wasn't in New York anymore.

He was already back in Berkeley and he was going to surprise Kate tonight.

He couldn't wait to see her.

She was just putting on her jeans when her phone rang. It was Lanie.

'Yeah?' she answered breathily.

'Where are you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!'

'I know, I know, I'm sorry. I got...distracted,' she explained and bit her lip, thinking of Rick's voice in her ear and a shiver that shook her when he read the first sentence from his book to her.

'I believe that, now get down here, we're waiting for you.'

'Be there in three!'

She hung up and shrugged her jacket on, then hurried down the stairs and out of the house.

This was going to be an interesting night. She felt that in her bones.

'Hey, Kate!' Kate turned around quickly upon recognizing the voice and gasped when she saw who it was.

'Oh my God!' She lifted up her hands toward his cheeks and leaned in closer.

'You cut your hair!' she exclaimed and he chuckled, then shrugged.

'Yeah.' Then she stopped examining his appearance and hugged him tightly.

'It's so, so good to see you again. I can't wait to tell you everything.'

'It's good to see you too, Kate. And I have a lot to tell you, too.' She stepped back from him then and punched him in the arm with a fist.

'Ow! What was that for!?' he pouted, rubbing his forearm with a hand.

'That was for not telling me you were coming here.'

'But you had to have suspected at least a little bit, haven't you?'

'Mmm, maybe,' she replied, then grinned, all of her pearly whites showing.

'So...'

'So you're back.'

'I am,' he quipped and raised an eyebrow. She laughed and then cleared her throat.

'Well you could tell me all about your trip, Josh.' Josh smirked and then opened his mouth to say something, but he apparently noticed something over her shoulder, because he gave her a cheshire grin, winked and with a last quick hug wandered off in the opposite direction, yelling 'Talk to you later, bye!'. And so she furrowed her brows and watched him walk away. Josh and her had really grown close throughout the school year and he left for Europe in the summer and she'd missed him and she really wanted to spend some time with him, but he just left her alone?

She heard loud cheers and laughs being exchanged behind her back and she turned around to see what had caused the crowd tobe so loud.

And then she almost had a heart attack.

There, standing amidst all of her – their – friends, was Richard Alexander Rodgers, in a green button-down and blue pants, currently shaking hands with a guy named Jackson. His eyes flickered towards to where she was standing and back at Jackson and then back at her again. She saw the moment he noticed her, his mouth falling open, his posture changing all the sudden. He let go of Jackson and everyone quieted down, waiting anxiously for what was going to happen next. Everyone knew what the two of them had to cope with, the distance, all those miles, and apparently everyone also wanted to see the reunion.

She couldn't believe her own eyes. It was really him, it was Rick. She got him back and why wasn't she moving yet?

So she sprinted towards him and he stepped forwards, out of the crowd and their bodies collided, arms swung around necks and torsos and buried into masses of hair. Eyes closed, mouth strained to keep the tortured sobs in, muscles wound up so tight they were having trouble breathing, but they were together again. After 10 months, they could finally touch each other, listen to each other's heartbeats.

As the blood rushed back from their hearts and into their brain, they faintly registered the crowd clapping at the pair and a few suspiciously glassy eyes.

Then they pulled apart.

Only to the extent so that their lips could meet, teeth clashing together in a frenzied hurry to be as close as possible, tongues curling, their entire bodies vibrating with barely restrained energy.

Kate pulled away first, eager to see him, to see his face and all of him.

'It's really you,' she panted, her breath rushing to his mouth, and he nodded, licked his lips and leaned in to kiss her again, this time slow and deliberate and tender. It made her cry.

Rick broke the kiss, holding back his own tears as he noticed a few of Kate's travelling down her cheeks. He stroked her jaw with his fingers and gently wiped away the salty liquid with his thumbs, making her shudder. Kate's teeth dug into her bottom lip as she attempted a watery smile and Rick gave her one of his own charming ones and leaned forward to capture her lips again.

'Hi, beautiful,' he breathed across her lips as he let her go and she chuckled, opened her eyes to gaze at him. He was beautiful, too. Rather dashing in his outfit and also a new haircut. Whew. He must had gotten that done after their last Skype session 3 days ago.

'Hey yourself,' she replied, brushed her thumb over the swell of his lips, her eyes flickering all over his face, trying to memorize its shape again. She hadn't forgotten, of course, but the memory of it was already cloudy in her mind and now that she had the opportunity to touch him again, she wanted to use it as much as possible.

'How are you?' he asked, his eyes twinkling in the dusk. She wrapped her arm around his neck, the other pressed against his sternum, and touched her smile to his.

'Are you kidding me, I'm perfect, how could I not be?' she told him, her words murmured into his mouth and he grinned, smoothed his hands down her back and up under her (one of his actually) cardigan.

'I don't know. Nice surprise?' She shivered as his breath hit the shell of her ear as he whispered the words and he let out a choked laughter, kissed the spot beneath the line where hair met skin.

'Yes. Very nice,' she purred, one of her hands waving into his hair, tugging until his face came back in front of hers and then her mouth was on his again, eager and hot and unrelenting.

Before they could completely forget they were in public and get bored of keeping it PG, they were pulled apart by their friends.

'Damn guys, you'll have all the time for yourselves later,' Javi teased and slapped Rick on the back as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Kate and Rick were now standing a few feet apart and even that was too much of a distance for Kate and as she tried to jump him again, she felt herself being pulled back by Lanie.

'Girl, leave him some alone time with the boys. You can do whatever you want to him later.'

'But Lanie, he – '

'I know he just got back and I know you want to be with him right now, but you're not the only one here who's missed him.' Kate looked after where Rick had disappeared into the crowd and then sighed heavily.

'I know, I realize that. It's just that, we've been apart for so long, Lanie. You've no idea how hard that is.'

'I don't. That's why I'm the one who's keeping you sane and telling you to go talk to Josh. You know you would eventually look for him anyways, Rick or no Rick. He's got stuff to tell you and you got stuff to tell him.'

'Lanie, I don't think – '

'Girl. Now. Go!' Kate exhaled, and with a last look towards the crowd gathered around her boyfriend, shuffled off to find Josh.

'Kate! I'm here!' She turned around and gave Josh a wide smile.

'Hey! What are you guys doing?'

'Well, we were just about to sit down in front of the fire and roast some marshmallows. Wanna join us?'

'Sure,' she answered enthusiastically and sat down on the blanket next to Josh.

'So, tell me all about your summer,' she probed, making Josh chuckle. He cleared his throat and lifted his hands.

'Well, here's how it is. While I was in Paris, Madison cheated on me.'

'Oh God, Josh. I didn't know, I'm so sorry.'

'No, no. It's fine, actually. Things were heading down the bumpy road the last few weeks anyways. I got mad, of course. But I told her we were through.'

'How did you find out she cheated on you?'

'She uhm... Do you know Tony Koseski?'

'The guy who transffered here last year?'

'Yeah.'

'I do. Did she cheat on you with him!?'

'No, he told me that she cheated on me with Jake, my best friend.'

'Jake Trager?'

'Yeah. So I talked to Jake and he told me he was wasted that night and he doesn't remember a thing and then I didn't even care anymore, told him he was a shitty friend. A few weeks ago, while I was still getting over being cheated on, we were in Ireland and I met a girl there.'

'Oooh, a girl!' Josh laughed and nodded.

'Yes, Kate. Her name is Cinty and she's so beautiful. I don't even know how exactly it happened, but I fell for her. Like, a lot. So we spent an amazing week together, but then I had to go.'

'Oh, the distance,' Kate said sadly and Josh nudged her shoulder.

'Hey, don't worry. We're making it work. And besides, I'm visiting her for Christmas and she's coming here for spring break, so we'll work it out.'

'I really hope you will.'

'Speaking of distance... Where's your boyfriend?'

'He's... here somewhere. Not entirely sure where, though.'

'Are you guys okay?'

'We're more than okay, actually. We're great, but it would be even better if he was with me right now.'

'Go find him.'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course, he's your boyfriend. You've just spent 10 months apart. You should be all over him right now.'

'Oh I will be, don't worry.' Josh laughed as she winked at him and then she stood up, ruffling Josh's hair as she took a step back.

'Thanks, Josh! We'll talk more tomorrow, 'kay?'

'Sure, have fun!'

And off she went, searching for her long-lost boyfriend.

She found him talking to Kevin and Jenny, his hands making all these gestures and his eyes sparkling. He looked wonderful and happy and she bit her lip, realizing he was actually here, his solid form eager for her touch. And she wanted so badly to have some kind of a physical contact with him. Right now, otherwise she would explode.

So she walked closer and zeroed in on him from behind, her arms wrapping around his waist, her nose and eyes peeking over his shoulder up at him. He smiled warmly at her, leaned down to kiss her until they heard their friends clear their throats and they pulled apart, smiling like idiots.

'Excuse me, Kevin and Jenny. But I think I'll steal him away for a bit, okay?'

'Sure, no problem,' Kevin said mockingly and led Jenny back to the group of people gathered near the main bonfire.

Rick turned around and immediately kissed his girlfriend, tongues smashing together, hands roaming. He lifted her up by her thighs and walked to a more secluded area of the beach, grabbing a blanket from its spot on the ground where no one was currently sitting, putting Kate down on the ground. He arranged the blanket and sat on it, tapped the space next to him for her to join him. She grinned, biting her lip to hold back her smile, but failed, and snuggled in close to his body. He pulled her back against his chest and circled her torso with his arms, their legs entwining. Her head fell back on his shoulder, her eyes closing on instinct. She remembered how it was when they used to sit like this before he went away and how many times she wished she had his warmth near her to stop the coldness of her body in the winter. And she had missed him so much.

'Penny for your thoughts?' he murmured into her hair, his lips pressed against her temple.

'How about a kiss instead?' she replied and opened her eyes, saw him watching her with wide, fascinated eyes.

'Okay. I can go with a kiss,' he said and then kissed her gently, languidly, one of his hands landing on her cheek, the tips of his fingers just barely brushing her hair.

'Yeah, a kiss from you is better than any money,' he said when they pulled apart and she giggled into his shoulder, pressed a kiss to his neck.

'Ditto, big guy.'

'Speaking of big guys, have you talked to Josh yet?' Her head snapped up and she looked at him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes when she saw his head was ducked and that he was picking at loose strings on her cardigan.

'Yes, I have. Why?'

'No reason,' he said and shrugged, eyes still not looking at her, but she caught his chin with her hand and turned his face towards her. She could detect a hint of jealousy in his irises, dark with green little monsters.

'Are you jealous?' she asked him, leveling him with an intense look. He tried to look away but she didn't let him, instead raised her eyebrows in the repeat of her question.

'Of course I am jealous, Kate. How could I not be? You got to spend all the time I was away with him and you became such good friends and... Just to think about you hanging out with him is making my heart hurt,' he confessed finally, the words spilling out of his mouth in a rushed whisper. Her eyes widened at the new-found information and she sighed.

'Rick...' He closed his eyes, let her murmur her name into his cheek over and over again until he calmed down, and the rush of his feelings stopped for a while.

'Rick,' she called out to him again and he snapped back to reality, his eyelids opening on a heavy exhale.

'Yeah. Yeah, I'm here.'

'Listen to me, okay? Josh is a really nice guy, nothing like who he once was. We've gotten pretty close, yeah. But nothing like that. He's just a very good friend and I don't think I could ever see him as something more. Plus, he told me he has a girlfriend from England now and he's doing everything possible to keep her. So there's no need to hurt, Rick. Because you're the only one for me, you've always been and you'll always be,' she told him, her palm curling around his neck to make sure he doesn't break eye contact. When she was certain he had heard her out, she flicked her tongue at the seam of his lips, catching his lower one with her teeth as he parted them.

'Kate,' he sighed around her tongue, catching her hair between his fingers, his nose bumping against hers.

'I want you,' she said suddenly, a hoarse groan into his mouth and he gasped, his eyes opening, his mouth pulling away from hers.

'What?' he asked, incredolous.

'I said I want you,' she repeated, turning in his arms so that she could kneel between his legs, her hands bracketing his face, her almost-red lips shivering with the force of holding back. He shivered too, and it was not because of the cool breeze from the ocean, but the effect of the girl currently licking her lips in front of him, tellin him she... WOW.

'Kate, are you – '

'I'm sure, Rick. I want this.' He still looked at her disbelieveing, his eyes dancing between her two dark-green ones.

'But Kate, you – '

'You're back. And I don't want to waste any more time without you. I need you, Rick.'

'I – I don't know what to say,' he breathed, ran one of his hands through his disheveld hair.

'Say yes? Please. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this.'

'Kate, I don't – '

'10 months, Rick. You can't tell me you haven't thought about this.' He bit his lip and then shook his head.

'No, I can't. I have thought about this. A lot. But I want you to be ready, we're – '

'We've been together for almost a year, Rick. It's time. You know it is.' When he still looked in doubts, she backed away from him and brushed a stranded piece of hair behind her ear.

'Or do you not want me anymore?' she asked him so quietly he almost missed it, but he heard and he wasn't about to say yes to that silly question.

'Of course I do. Only you. God, you know that, Kate. You know what you do to me.'

'So why not, then?' He contemplated it for a moment and then decided to just go with the flow, letting his heart win the war with his mind.

'I never said no, Kate. I never said no,' he said and crawled towards her, bruising her lips with his kiss.

'My parents aren't home,' she said as she unlocked her front door, kicking off her shoes. He followed close behind, his lips attached to her neck, sucking with time of her pulse.

'Great,' he growled into her skin, making her shudder. She turned around quickly, dropping her purse to the floor and instead occupying her hands with his hair. They moved throughout the house to the stairs and then he surprised her when he picked her up, making her shriek.

'Rick!' she laughed into his ear and he let out a throaty chuckle, let her down when he got to her room. She found herself immediately pressed into a wall and fumbled to get the doors to close. His thigh was hot and hard between hers, creating delicious friction, burning her all over. She felt warm for the first time since he had left Berkeley. She was shivering, yes, but cold air was definitely not the reason.

Right then, he pressed a bit more into her and she gasped, her eyes falling shut, her nails clawing throught the material of his shirt.

'Rick,' she breathed, her head lolling to the side as pressed his tongue against the tendons of her neck.

'Kate,' he groaned in return and then swept her up and carried her the short distance to her bed. Once they were down, she felt him slowly unzip her cardigan, shrugging her arms out of the offending piece of clothing. The heat from his hands caressed her through the t-shirt she was wearing and then as she discarded that too, it was only his hands on her bare skin, burning trails of fire wherever he touched. His shirt joined her clothing on the floor after a few agonizingly slow seconds and she touched his abdominal muscles, felt them contract under her fingers, his lower body driving into hers. He growled into her mouth, a feral one, so hot it made her moan and drag her nails across his chest, receiving a shiver from him. She grinned, but it dissipated as soon as it appeared, because the next thing she knew, her pants were already falling to the floor and his hand was in her panties.

So, after she fought to keep silent and pushed his hand away in order to get to his own pants, Rick remembered they actually needed protection for this.

'Kate, do you – ' he asked breathily, his chest heaving above hers.

'Yes, top drawer on the left,' she replied with hungry voice, letting her hands squeeze his biceps as he leaned away to take out the little green package.

'Everything is so green tonight,' he said and it made her laugh, her bare chest brushing his in the soft glow of the light above their heads.

'I'm serious, Kate,' he said and winked at her, then decided it's best for her to decide how she wants to do this.

'So, um... How do you – '

'Just give it to me,' she said, her voice half-amused, half-aroused, and teared open the package.

'Kate, are you really sure this is what you want?' She almost facepalmed him.

'Rick, I told you. I don't just want this, I need this. And basically, if you don't give it to me, you're a dead man, Richard Alexander Rodgers,' she said, jokingly the last part, and he gasped in mock-horror.

'You wouldn't!' he joked and she rolled her eyes.

'Rick?'

'Yeah?'

'Stop half-assing this and come closer,' she told him in a stern voice, bossy and so hot.

There was no more half-assing that night.

She woke up with the stream of sunshine rays falling down over her sheet-covered body. She stirred her legs, only to find an ache between her thighs, one she has never felt before. She hissed and turned around to lay on her stomach, thinking about...

Where was he anyway?

Her head shot up from the sinfully-plush pillow and she looked around her room. There were only her clothes scattered over the floor, all of his gone. So she sat up quickly in bed and ran a hand through her mussed hair, trying to figure out where he had gone. She had one of his t-shirts on and a pair of panties, which she put on just before they went to sleep and it all felt so good against her skin. It made her want to smack his head for leaving her alone in bed.

She stood up and wandered down the corridor to the bathroom, looking for him in there.

He wasn't.

So she went downstairs and was met with a scene so domestic it made her insides explode with butterflies.

He was standing over the stove, making pancakes, whistling to himself.

His hair was sticking up at odd angles and his clothes were wrinkled. He flipped the pancake with a flick of his wrist and put it down onto a plate.

And that's when he noticed her. He almost dropped the spatula at the sight of her, standing half-naked in the kitchen, biting her lip in the most adorable of ways. He greeted her with a wide smile as she came close enough to kiss him.

'Hmm, good morning,' he murmured and as she ran her hand over the place where his heart was, she nodded with a graceful smile plastered on her face.

'Good morning, indeed.'

'Are you making pancakes?' she asked, even though she already knew the answer and he chuckled, put down the spatula to press his hands to her shoulder blades.

'Of course I am. Guys told me that it's an edible way of saying, 'Thank you so much for last night'. I think I needed to thank you, don't you?' She bit her lip, shaking her head in disbelief for how cute he was.

'I do think I deserve pancakes, yes. Let's just hope you didn't burn them all.'

'Hey, it's me.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' she mocked and sat down at the table as he brought the plates filled with pancakes to set them down. They dug into the food, both moaning appreaciatively at the taste and the breakfast went by so fast, filled with innuendos and jokes and loving looks.

After they ate and had a mini make-out session against the fridge (during which Kate had almost fallen from his hands a few times), they decided to have a lazy morning in and watch some tv. After finding out that watching tv was boring when you had your loved one beside you, they made out on her couch a bit, too. And after that, their talk ventured into more serious waters.

'I really missed you, you know,' she confessed, closing her eyes when her cheek hit his chest. She was curled into his side on the couch, silently cuddling.

Until now.

'I know. I missed you too,' he sighed and she swore she could feel tears stung behind her eyelids.

'I... It was hell for me. Once you were gone, it was – it was awfull.' Rick squeezed her and pressed his lips to her forehead.

'It was hell for me too, believe me.'

'Those first few weeks... My hands were shaking. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. It took me a while to remember how to breathe on my own,' she choked out, her voice laced with sadness and bad memories and pain and hurt. He felt like a dumbass for ever letting his father take him away from her.

'I'm so sorry, Kate. I'm so sorry.'

'But it also made me stronger. I'm stronger now.'

'Everything you do makes you stronger, Kate. You're the strongest person I know.' She sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

'But I'm so weak without you,' she told him, sat up to look him in the eyes.

'I'm – I can't be me without you. You make me real,' she whispered, her eyes falling shut as Rick kissed the tears off her face, framing it with his hands.

'I love you, Kate. That's never going to change. Trust me.'

'I love you, too.'

He leaned in to kiss her, their lips so in sync it seemed as though they had been doing this forever, like they had never had to part their ways.

Later, much, much later, when they had gone through 21 winters in their lives, they were joined in marriage forever, and from their love they had grown seeds of their own making, beautiful children with curly, brown hair and blue and green eyes.

Their love had never stopped.

The End

Guys, I'm gonna cry. :(((

This is so sad. It's like I'm finishing a certain part of my life with the end of this story.

It's so weird, like this story has been like a diary for me, I've written a lot of stuff related to my life in here, but I've... I've never thought I'd become this attached to it and I am kind of sad to have to let it go.

There will be sequels to this, of course, just not a lot of them and not so often and not this long.

This is huge. I'm ending this 9 months and 2 days after I had started and I feel like I have accomplished something with this.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this story as much as I did.

And I want to thank you for all your support and love, it means so much to me.

Thank you for being a part of this story, a part of my life, for being my faithful companions on this incredible journey.

I love you all.

Until next time,

Ariela