CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
(chapter title - Time Files, Time Dies)

Two weeks later, John and Jules were at the airport, waiting to go back to Michigan.

"Take care you two." Roger told them, tears in his eyes. Jules blinked tears out of her own eyes as she hugged her dad, too afraid to let him go. She eventually pulled away from him and turned her attention to Crystal.

"I'll see you at Christmas, right?" Crystal asked. Jules nodded and hugged her tight. Crystal smiled and hugged her back. Jules then went to say goodbye to Mark, Destiny, Caitlyn and Jason as John walked over to say goodbye to Roger and Crystal. They both hugged him and told him to behave. John laughed and shook Roger's hand.

"Where's Maureen? I really wanted to say goodbye and thank her for the chocolate chip cookie recipe." Jules said, looking around the terminal for Maureen and her adorable daughter.

"I think she's at home with Sophia, but I'll be sure to tell her that you said goodbye." Mark told her, hugging Jules one last time.

"Thanks, Mark." Jules thanked him as she followed John so that they could board the plane, but before they did, they heard three familiar voices calling out to them.

"Wait! You can't get on before you say goodbye to us!" Joanne called, running as fast as she could without running into anyone. Hannah and Anna were right behind her, jogging to keep up.

"Joanne! We've really gotta go!" John said as they boarded the plane home. With a last glance at her family, Jules followed John down the long tunnel to the plane and to their seats.

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"It was really nice to have you kids here." Gary said as Adam loaded his and Eileen's bags into his car. Eileen nodded and hugged Gary. He smiled and hugged her back.

"Don't forget to call when you get home Adam!" Carolyn scolded jokingly. Eileen laughed and hugged Carolyn. Carolyn smiled and hugged her back.

"I had a lot of fun riding and going to the MSU football games. Thank you so much for a fun time." Eileen thanked them as she climbed into the passenger's seat.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Come back anytime!" Carolyn called over the roar of the engine. Gary wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and waved goodbye to Adam and Eileen.

"So, did you have fun?" Adam asked as he pulled out of the dirt driveway and traveled down the dirt road.

"I had the best time of my life. Thanks so much." Eileen answered, putting her new CD in that Lynn had gotten her for a "welcome to the family" present. It was a CD called A Prairie Home Companion, based on the popular radio show. As the first track came on, Adam briefly kissed her on the cheek before turning his attention to driving. The two of them sang along with the CD once in a while.

"I missed John and Jules a lot in these past two weeks." Eileen confessed as the CD went to an instrumental break.

"I know. I missed John, Chris and Anthony like crazy." Adam told her.

"I missed Sara, Miranda and Kelli, too." Eileen said, looking out the window. Dark clouds were gathering in the east, otherwise the sky was a beautiful shade of blue, like a robin's egg.

"I think Lynn and her family liked you." Adam told her, looking straight ahead. When Eileen didn't respond, he figured that she had fallen asleep.

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"Finally! We're home!" John announced as the plane pulled into the airport. Jules had fallen asleep, her head resting on John's shoulder. The arm that was around her shoulders had fallen asleep. He gently pushed Jules forward so that he could wake his arm up. Jules was now wide-awake.

"Afternoon Sleeping Beauty." John teased, kissing her forehead. She smiled at him and sat up in her seat, which was next to the window. Putting up her tray in front of her, she stretched and put her CD player and CDs away.

"Adam and Eileen are meeting us right?" Jules asked, her voice hoarse. John nodded and kissed her cheek. Jules smiled wider as she unfastened her seatbelt and gathered her backpack. She waited for people to pass before exiting the plane, followed by John, who was holding her hand.

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"Do you see them yet?" Eileen asked, watching the passengers from John and Jules' flight parade past them.

"No, not yet." Adam told her.

"Dude! Eileen!" John called from somewhere in the crowd of passengers.

"John!" Eileen and Adam called to him in unison. Eileen heard Jules laugh from the same spot where John's voice had called them not even ten seconds ago.

"Julie chica!" Eileen screamed excitedly. Jules and John appeared in front of them two minutes later.

"Oh my God! It's so great to see you two again!" Eileen told them, Adam hugged John while she hugged Jules.

"Switch!" Adam laughed. Jules hugged him as John hugged Eileen. The four of them walked to the baggage carousel, talking about what they did the two weeks away from each other.

"Sounds like you two had fun." Jules noted, grabbing her duffel bag. Adam helped her get it before it went around the carousel again. Jules smiled at him as he went to help John with his duffel bag.

"You guys hungry?" Eileen asked as they headed out of the airport.

"Yeah, I am actually." John answered, patting his stomach. Adam, Jules and Eileen laughed.

"Dude, you're always hungry." Adam reminded his friend.

"I know…" John's voice trailed off as he got into the passenger's seat. Eileen and Jules sat in the back and talked. The best friends hadn't seen each other in two weeks - that was the longest the friends had been away from each other.

"Do you guys wanna hear a joke?" Adam asked. His three friends chorused a 'yes'.

"There was a blind man whose dog pissed on his master's shoe. The blind man said 'c'mere Rover. I've got a piece of beef for you.' the blind man's wife said 'don't reward him. You can't let that pass.' the blind man said 'I gotta find his mouth so I can kick him in the ass.'" Adam told the joke, but no one laughed.

"I've got one - when God created woman, he gave her not two breasts but three. When the third breast got in the way, God performed surgery. The woman stood before God, the useless breast in hand. She asked, 'what do we do with the useless boob?' and God created man." John told his joke and still no one laughed.

"Those jokes are so NOT funny." Eileen told the boys, offended.

"I know!" Jules agreed, also offended.

"Sorry baby." Adam and John apologized.

"Wait! You guys'll like this one! Gramps turned 80 the other day and everyone was there. He was dressed in a nice new suit, sitting in his big armchair when a beautiful young naked woman stood up in front of the group. She offered gramps some super sex and he said 'I'll take the soup!'" John told this joke and this time, the four of them burst out laughing.

"Did you guys hear about the Viagra shipment that got stolen?" Jules asked, trying not to laugh.

"Uh, no." the three friends said in unison.

"They don't know who did it, but they're on the lookout for hardened criminals." Jules finished the joke and burst out laughing. The others took a moment to get the punch line and burst out laughing.

"Hey, did you guys know that diarrhea is hereditary?" Adam asked.

"No." the others answered in unison.

"Yeah - it runs in your jeans." Adam told them, laughing.

"These are so bad!" Jules announced after they had run out of jokes.

"I know. Eileen and I watched A Prairie Home Companion and we wrote down all the bad jokes that Dusty and Lefty told." Adam told the group as he pulled into the student parking lot. Eileen smiled and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's last comment.

"I have the CD and we listen to the song Bad Jokes all the time." Eileen corrected him, smiling. Jules and John laughed while Adam just shook his head and laughed along with his friends.

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"It's so good to be back at school! I actually missed this place." Jules announced as Adam turned off the car and got out. Eileen smiled and put an arm around her best friend's shoulders. Jules looked at her friend and smiled. Eileen smiled back, knowing that nothing could come between the special bond that they shared.

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"What movie do you guys wanna see tonight?" Adam inquired later that night.

"What about that new Luke Wilson comedy?" Eileen suggested, taking a bite of her mozzarella stick. The four of them were sitting in a booth at their favorite Italian restaurant, Fazoli's.

"Oh! Yeah! I've been wanting to see that!" Jules squealed, taking a bite of her pizza. John laughed at his girlfriend's enthusiasm.

"There's one on at eight fifty and another one at ten thirty." Adam told them, looking at the paper spread out in front of the four friends.

"The eight fifty one sounds good." John and Eileen answered in unison.

"Jules? What about you?" Adam asked. Jules took a sip of her Dr. Pepper and nodded.

"Okay. Let's finish up here and get going to the movie." John told the group, standing up and throwing his and Jules' food away.

"Thanks sweetie." Jules thanked her boyfriend.

"You're welcome sugar." John told her, smiling. Eileen suddenly pulled out a white envelope from her purse and put it on the table.

"What's that?" Adam asked, putting an arm around Eileen's waist and drawing her close.

"The Halloween pictures from Maddie Fitzpatrick's party." Eileen told him, a wicked grin spreading across her face. The four of them had decided to go as the Flintstones and the Rubbles. Jules and John had decided to go as Fred and Wilma while the other couple went as Barney and Betty. They looked at the pictures for a bit, laughing and pointing at each one.

"We should get going to the movie." Jules announced a few minutes later. The others agreed and gathered up their things. As they drove to the movie, they talked about Maddie's Halloween party and how much fun it had been.

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After the movie, the four of them decided to go back to the dorms and unpack. None of them were ready for classes the following day, but they all knew that they would manage somehow.