Author's note: thanx for the reviews plz keep em coming! Also plz forgive me for not giving much detail about the actual places they visit on the road trip…I am not from America and so I find it kind of tedious to go look up places for them to go….sorry, but I think what happens on the trip is more important than where they actually go.

"Hey, do you guys remember prom?" Jessica asked the group wistfully.

"God, that fiasco. I want more coffee." Tia said in one breath, looking around the late-night diner that they were all packed into, hoping beyond hope that they would all drop the topic.

"Yeah. Me too." Elizabeth said, also sounding uncomfortable at the switch in conversation topics. Tia looked at her sympathetically. Then she glanced around the table at her friends. Evan and Jade and Jeremy were deep in conversation about the pros and cons of ordering biscotti. Andy and Dave were discussing the need for more televisions in the world. Maybe nobody really wanted to rehash the events of prom.

"Yeah, Tee. Prom." Conner said, with a mischievous look on his face. "Why don't you tell me again how you hurled a tiara at Melissa Fox? I never seem to get tired of that story."

Tia flopped her head down onto the table. Why did she expect any less? "Conner, you shouldn't talk. Really. You weren't even there, remember?"

'Doesn't sound like I missed anything." He snorted. "Besides, I think I came for the best part." Tia saw him shift slightly and knew that he had taken Elizabeth's hand.

"Ohmigod, you guys," Trent said dramatically. He slammed his coffee cup so hard down onto the table he almost soaked his egg sandwich. "Does the word nauseating mean anything to you freaks?" Conner flicked a straw in his direction in response just as Jeremy laughed appreciatively of Trent's outburst.

Conner flicked his eyes in Jeremy's direction. "Look who's talking." He turned to Jessica, who was almost sitting in Jeremy's lap. "Jess, you don't seem comfortable. Why don't you just lie down in Jeremy's lap? We all know you want you." He said dryly, earning laughs from the rest of the gang.

"Whatever." Jessica grinned.

"Wow, what a great comeback. Can't handle anything with more that two syllables can you?" Conner asked, feigning concern.

"I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person," Jessica deadpanned. The group broke into laughter, and Jessica and Andy high-fived. Evan was choking with laughter on his salad and Jade began to whack him on his back. Hard.

"Ow!" Evan choked out, motioning for Jade to stop hitting him. However, Jade seemed to take it differently, and began to hit her boyfriend harder. By the time the laughter subsided, Evan could breathe again, no thanks to his overzealous girlfriend. Everyone quieted down in anticipation as Evan began to speak, half expecting him to tackle Jade.

Evan opened his mouth and then closed it again. He looked at Jade who was laughing uncontrollably. "Thank you Jade, honey, for that." There was a collective mock gasp from the group, followed by a few giggles. "It's nice to know that if I am ever choking to death, you will do your best in trying to kill me by beating me silly and ending my suffering." The group collapsed in laughter again.

Elizabeth breathed in the smoky air, letting her eyes blur in and out of focus as she stared at the fire that the guys had started. She couldn't remember when last she had felt so relaxed. She was with her best friends, her boyfriends, her sister. She looked up at the beautiful night sky. The weather was beautiful. Parents were a million miles away. She was eating s'mores. Elizabeth allowed a little smile to play on her lips as she heard the sounds of Tia and Trent talking and laughing in his tent, and the laughter and splashing coming from her extreme left as Dave, Jade, Andy and Evan swam around in a little pond they had discovered behind their campsite. Then Elizabeth looked at Conner's handsome face illuminated by the flames. Nope, she hadn't been this happy in a long, long while.

"Liz, do you think Mom and Dad are missing us?" Jessica asked.

"Nope." Elizabeth said, eliciting a few laughs from Jeremy and Conner. "I mean, they said something about taking a trip up to Montana for two weeks. They haven't had a vacation alone in a while. So no, I doubt they'll be home moping around for us," she explained.

"Ew, gross, parent time." Jessica screwed up her face.

"Grow up Jess," Elizabeth grinned, throwing a balled up napkin at her sister.

"What time is it?" Jeremy asked suddenly.

Conner checked his watch. "Ten," he replied.

"Jess," Jeremy began but Jessica cut him short.

"Yeah, let's," Jessica got up, and she led Jeremy to the car.

"What's up?" Elizabeth asked, munching on a marshmallow.

"Oh, we wanted to go to a drive in movie," Jessica said. "It starts at ten thirty. We'll be back around midnight you guys," She got in the passenger seat in the car as the engine sprang into life. She shouted goodbyes to Tia and Trent, and then shouted ""Night you goofy assholes!" to Jade and the guys in the pond. With a screech, she and Jeremy were gone.

Elizabeth and Conner looked at each other and laughed. "Okay," Elizabeth said slowly, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"It's good that they're gone," Conner said grinning, and Elizabeth laughed. She flopped down on the blue blanket that Jeremy had spread next to the fire for he and Jessica before Elizabeth and Conner had snagged it. Elizabeth had to smile as Conner wrapped one arm around her and the two of them lost themselves in the stars.

"If anyone had told me that I would be here with you like this today a month ago, I would have laughed in their faces." Conner murmured and chuckled softly. Elizabeth remained silent, and Conner looked down at her. "Oh, Liz," he said once he saw her face. "I didn't mean it like that! I only meant that I never thought that we'd be together again."

"I know," Elizabeth said, her voice only above a whisper. "We were looking like a lost cause back there for a while." She and Conner laughed.

"Yeah, I mean, me and Alaana,"

"And me and Jeff," Elizabeth said, and Conner held her a little tighter. " But, I mean, after it all, we still came through. "

Conner smiled. "You know, Elizabeth, you were the first person I ever told I loved,"

"Yeah. I know." Elizabeth began tracing the lining of Conner's red tee with her fingers.

"I do love you, you know, Liz." Conner said tenderly.

"I know." Elizabeth gave Conner a quick kiss. "I love you, too."

Conner smiled contentedly. "You know, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on? Even before, you know, we hooked up, I spent nights and nights thinking about you. I mean, it scared me. I had never felt this way about someone."

"I remember thinking that I would never have you. Wondering if you felt the same way about me. You had me guessing for a while there." Elizabeth said.

"Good." Conner said, planting a kiss on her nose.

"Yeah. Well, there's one thing I can say about us." Elizabeth looked up at her boyfriend.

"What?"

"I always thought that you were so freakin' cute!" Elizabeth laughed. "I mean, jeez! Do you know how annoyed I was with myself when I was with Jeff and you would pass looking all sexy in some get up!"

Conner shook with laughter. "You think I'm sexy, huh?" he said with an unabashed grin all over his face.

"Only when I really have to," Elizabeth said, laughing, after a moment of consideration. She broke into hysterical giggles as Conner flung himself on top of her and began kissing her like crazy.

"Sexy enough for you?" Conner asked in a low voice after a minute.

"Nah…try harder," Elizabeth smiled and closed her eyes as their lips merged again.