Chapter Eighteen: Epilogue

Three Years Ago—Freshman Year

{Zach}

"Zach! They're here!"

Rushing down the stairs at my mother's words, I came to a sudden halt when I saw my favorite cousin standing at the bottom with her hand on her hip.

"Hey, cous. Long time, no see," Macey said, giving me our infamous family smirk.

I grinned. "Hey, Mace." I met her at the bottom and pulled her into a big hug. Although we've talked on and off, I hadn't seen her in years since her family moved, and honestly? I kind of missed her.

"You've been in town for two days and you haven't bothered to call?" she nagged with a fake pout. That I didn't miss so much. "I'm disappointed. I thought we were closer than that."

"I've been busy moving in, Macey," I told her with an eye roll. "I haven't had time."

It was her turn to roll her eyes and scoff. "You're such a loser." Without warning, she reached for my hand and began dragging me through my new house towards the garage. "Come on, I'm stealing you away."

"And where are you taking me?"

"My friend Ryan doesn't live too far from here," she explained, grabbing my mom's bike from off the wall and mounting it. "That's where all my friends are, so that's where we're going."

"We're meeting your hot friends? I'm down," I told her as I hopped on my own bike and followed her out into the street.

"Zach…" she warned with the same tone of voice our mothers used when she and I were little troublemakers.

"Macey…" I mocked.

"You are not to get involved with any of my friends," she ordered.

I placed a hand over my heart and feigned innocence, like what she said had insulted me. "What are you talking about?"

She shot me another glare over her shoulder. "I know how you treat girls. And I'm telling you now, you're not to get involved with my friends," she snapped.

"Fine. I won't date your friends," I succumbed. Easy enough. I wasn't the type to actually date anyway.

"Don't do anything with my friends," she countered. "Don't date them, don't hook up with them, don't even look at them like that!"

That was a little harder to agree to. I chuckled, because I couldn't help but taunt her. "Now, Mace, where's the fun in that?"

"I mean it, Zach," she warned again, and this time, I was pretty sure I heard some begging as well. "My friends are off-limits."

Oh, she shouldn't have said that. I know it's childish, but when something's off-limits, it only makes me want it more. Girls were no exception to that.

"Promise me you'll leave my friends alone," Macey pleaded, giving me her special puppy dog eyes that I'm sure make all the boys down here in the middle-of-nowhere, Virginia swoon like little girls. Macey was considered smoking where we grew up in the big city back in Maine. So, I'm sure she was practically goddess status down here in this tiny town.

Which meant that I was probably elevated to god status as well. Hey, I wasn't complaining.

I sighed when Macey's stupid face only continued to look sadder. "Even if I promise you that, I can't help it if they fall all over me. And you know I can never deny a pretty face." I grinned.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Macey said with a dismissive wave. "They already promised me they'll stay away from you."

What kind of crazy were these girls? A hot, new guy rolls into town and they promise not to be interested?

"They can't resist my Goode charm," I told her.

To which she laughed at. She laughed so hard, her bike swerved and almost knocked into mine.

"Trust me," she said, finally quieting down. "They can, and they will."

She sounded so sure that I had no other choice but to oblige. If her friends were that controlled, then I probably didn't want them anyways. "Fine. I promise."

"You promise what?"

I glared at her before rolling my eyes. "I promise not to date or hook up with any of your friends."

"Good boy," she said with a triumphant smile as she braked her bike outside a modern, gray house. She hopped off the bike and led me to the front door, where she simply opened it and walked in without knocking.

The house was quiet, and for a moment, I wondered if my crazy cousin tricked me into breaking and entering.

"Come on, they're probably downstairs," Macey offered, continuing to lead me through the house until we reached the basement.

"Macey, you're just in time!" a perky blonde shouted when she spotted us. She kind of reminded me of a Barbie doll. I guess her large chest and skinny figure helped with that. I couldn't help but glance over her long legs and rounded hips as we approached.

No, Zach. Remember your promise!

I cleared my throat, hoping to distract myself from my torturous thoughts. "Just in time for what?" I whispered to Macey.

"Movie night," she exclaimed. Then, to the whole group, Macey shouted, "Hey, guys! This is my annoying cousin I told you about. Zach, this is Hannah—" she pointed to the busty blonde, who gave me a quick smile before sitting down on one of the couches and inching up against another dude. "—Ryan, Jonas, Bex, Liz, Grant, and Cammie," she finished, pointing to each person in turn.

I nodded at them all, but my eyes were drawn to the pretty blonde at the end. She didn't stand out from the crowd all that much—not like Barbie Hannah had—but for some reason, I liked it. She had a natural beauty to her that some might consider plain, but I thought it was nice. Refreshing. Innocent.

She caught me staring and smiled shyly, her gaze shifting to anything that wasn't me.

Oh, yes. Definitely innocent. Why did that tempt me so much?

Her eyes met mine once again, and my mood instantly inflated at the prospect of getting to know her.

That was, until Macey leaned in and whispered, "Remember your promise."

And my mood instantly deflated at the reminder. "You always gotta take the fun out of everything."

We joined her friends around the flat screen and watched some remake of a superhero movie. And like the good little boy I was, I focused my attention on what was happening on screen and not what was happening on the other couch with the pretty blonde.

Well, for the most part.

Every now and then, I'd sneak a peek at Cammie and mull over what it was that had me so interested. I loved how bright her big eyes shined from the glow of the TV in the dark room, and how she smiled to herself when the hero got the girl in the end.

She was so innocent—something I was never drawn to before. But something about her made her different, and even though I hadn't even said two words to the girl, I knew I was in trouble.

Screw Macey and her damn promise. This girl is mine.

::*::*::*::

{Cammie}

"Hey," Macey's hot cousin said as he came up next to me while I watched the guys play a game of pool. "Cammie, right?" he asked, smiling at me and showing off his perfectly white teeth.

I nodded, seemingly at a loss for words. Thank God everyone else was distracted and busy doing something that took their attention away from us. The last thing I needed was for Macey to find out that her forbidden cousin left me speechless just by smiling.

"I'm Zach," he offered, holding out his hand.

I took it, giving it a small shake. I looked up, meeting his eyes for the briefest of moments, and was greeted with the liveliest of green eyes darkened by a burning desire. It was so strong and alluring that I was pretty sure my knees almost gave out and I had to fight to remain upright.

"I know," I answered him, somehow managing to keep a neutral tone.

"Ah, so my reputation precedes me even all the way out here in Roseville?" Zach smiled cheekily, teasing me with a smirk that resembled Macey's.

I laughed, and not one of those cute flirtatious giggles girls seem to adapt in front of attractive boys, but a real one that ended in an embarrassing snort.

Thankfully, it only made him smile bigger.

"Macey likes to talk about her crazy family," I told him. "I figured you were either Zach or Preston."

"No way did you think I was Preston," he exclaimed with a snort. "Preston's a dork."

"That's how I knew you weren't him." Holy crap, did I just flirt with Zach? Macey's cousin, Zach? The same cousin all the girls promised literally a few hours ago to stay away from? That Zach?

I didn't even know where it came from. I'd never been so bold with a boy before! But if his growing grin had any say in the matter, I guess it was definitely worth it.

He concealed his laughter by biting his lip, and I swore time stopped. But when he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, that's when I knew time definitely had stopped. Should anyone really be that attractive just from stuffing his hands in his pockets?

"You know," he said, and the look he gave me had my heart racing, "you're going to get me in trouble."

"What? How?" I laughed, awkwardly. Me and Trouble were never really synonymous.

His eyes darted to the far wall. I followed his gaze and found Macey talking on the phone in the corner, no doubt probably talking to the kid she met at the pool a week ago and had been obsessed with ever since. Declan, I think.

I turned back to Zach, who silently raised his eyebrows at me.

Suddenly, it all clicked.

"You promised Macey, too?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

He nodded.

"So...friends?" I offered. As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt like a total idiot. Of course we'd be friends. Macey was one of my best friends and she was his cousin, so we'd kind of be part of the same group by default.

He nodded. "Friends." He smiled kindly, but his eyes had that dark intensity to them that told a different story.

And suddenly, I knew he wasn't the only one in trouble.

::*::*::*::

The next few weeks were...interesting. I'd learned that flirting was what Zach did best. He flirted like other guys breathed, easily and without thought. It meant nothing.

But, as I'd also learned, it meant something to me. Every time he flirted with me, I liked him a little more. Which wasn't exactly allowed, due to our promise to Macey and all. So, I'd tried to put an end to his flirting—many, many times—but it always ended in an argument, and nothing ever changed.

"There you are."

His voice was smooth, and his breath was hot on my neck. He was so close that I could practically feel his body heat radiating off of him, and yet it sent a chill down my body. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was, but I did anyway and came within an inch of Zach's face. His stupidly handsome face.

"Here I am," I told him, consciously making an effort to not stare at his lips.

"I've been looking for you all night," he grinned, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" I laughed. I hadn't even known Hannah's party supplied alcohol, but I guess it wasn't surprising when half of the senior class showed up to a freshman party that alcohol would follow.

"Another epic party delivered," Zach said, his arms wide like it was some sort of accomplishment.

"And I assume you're expecting me to thank you for that?"

He put his arm around me and leaned in, whether it was to get closer to me or due to loss of balance I wasn't sure. "You sound skeptical. I can make your party experience more memorable if you'd like?" His husky voice whispered in my ear, his gaze dropping to my lips.

"Zach," I groaned and shoved his arm away. "Not this again."

"What?" he asked, amused.

"You know what."

I didn't want to get into yet another argument revolving around his flirting. When was it ever going to end?

"Forgive me if I can't remember. I've had a little bit to drink tonight," he laughed.

I shot him a look. "You can't do that."

He grinned. "Do what?"

"You can't flirt with me like that," I said quietly, though the music was loud enough to conceal our conversation without having to whisper. "It's not fun anymore."

"Cammie," he said, shaking his head. Suddenly, he didn't seem so tipsy anymore. "When are you going to realize that it was never for fun?" He moved closer, his hand going to my neck, his thumb brushing across my cheek. "I have been trying for weeks to make you like me. But you keep pushing me away."

I hadn't been expecting him to profess his love for me. But even though I wanted to tell him that I already did like him (and I mean, I really wanted to tell him), I knew I couldn't. I promised Macey.

"Maybe you should learn to take a hint," I said instead, and I hated myself for how breathy my voice had gotten all of a sudden.

My rejection, however sad and pathetic it was, amused him. "I am. You're not pushing me away because you don't like me, and we both know it."

"That's not true," I argued, but it was an even worse attempt than the first time. Especially when I found myself stealing glances at his approaching lips.

"You're just afraid of breaking Macey's promise," he continued, still inching closer.

"Aren't you?" I knew that was all the confession he needed to know he was right, but I didn't care. We both knew we wanted more, but were holding back because of our agreement.

"Sure," he said like it was common sense. "But you're worth it."

I shook my head, baffled by how confident he was with his answer. Did he really want to screw up his relationship with his cousin for the rest of his life for me, someone he barely even knows?

"We can't do this," I said through clenched teeth.

"Come on, Cam," he smiled, growing even closer. "Admit that I make your knees go a little weak. Admit that your palms get all sweaty. And that every time we're in the same room, your heart beats a little faster."

"We agreed to be friends," I reminded him.

He stopped, barely a breath away from my lips. "Friends don't let friends get this close to kissing them."

The smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth angered me. When he dipped his head to kiss me, I pushed him away, and before I knew what was happening, my hand came up with a loud smack across Zach's face.

He was shocked, just as much as I was. He looked at me, taking two deep breaths. I was sure he was going to scream at me, to tell me I was overreacting. And maybe I should've felt sorry for hitting him, but I didn't. I was furious at him—for flirting with me, for making me like him, for making me want to kiss him when he knew we couldn't. But mainly I was angry because he didn't respect my wishes to keep my promise to Macey.

"You've been drinking, so I'm going to pretend this conversation never happened," I told him, and Zach didn't even try to argue. "But try to kiss me again, and we're no longer friends. We will never happen, Zach. The sooner you accept that, the better."

He took one last breath, then nodded. Then he turned into the crowd that hadn't even noticed our encounter, and disappeared.

::*::*::*::

{Zach}

After the slap, I froze. Had I crossed a line somewhere? I thought she wanted to kiss me. The breathy voice, the dilated eyes that kept glancing down at my lips... Didn't she want to kiss me?

She yelled at me, as much as Cammie could yell considering she had no mean bone in her body. It probably hurt more than the slap did. Instantly, I was ashamed of what I'd said and done. So, I let her yell, and when she practically excused my awful behavior and forgave me, I felt even worse.

She told me to accept that we would never be together, and I did. Right then and there. Because of our promise to Macey that clearly meant a lot to her, I nodded in acceptance and left.

Her rejection stung, but it was admirable for why she'd been rejecting me for weeks. I finally respected it, though it killed me. So, I drank away my sorrows, playing it off as if I was the life of the party like I'd been so many times. No one, not even my new friends, knew the difference.

It wasn't until the sixth or seventh drink that my respect for Cammie's rejection turned into anger. I had made my dumb cousin the exact same idiotic promise, and yet I was so willing to throw it all away for her. Why didn't she feel the same? I found myself getting angrier the more I thought about our conversation—how she hadn't said that I was worth it, too.

So, what? She'd just been stringing me along this entire time? Pretending to like me, sending me false flirty eyes and fake flirting with me?

I didn't care how much she argued that it was because of our promise to Macey, my drunken stupor knew it was because she wasn't truly interested in me like she pretended to be.

And I was going to make her regret it.

::*::*::*::

Present Day—End of Senior Year

{Zach}

"Hey, babe! Need some help?" Ryan shouted as we watched Hannah and Macey struggle to put up their tent. And by their tent, I meant Ryan and Hannah's. But she insisted that she'd set up tents without a man for four years, and she didn't need one now just because they were officially together. She must've forgotten that the only part she helped with was decorating it once it was up.

She was trapped inside the loose fabric, so we couldn't see her when she replied, "Touch the tent, and you die!" By the eye roll Macey gave, I was pretty sure she was begging for some help.

Ryan laughed and got up from the firepit, sauntering over despite his girlfriend's threats.

From a different tent, the most beautiful creature to grace the Earth exited and walked over.

Cammie. The love of my life. The only one who could drive me crazy with a single look and tilt of the head. She was perfect.

"We're on wood duty," she told me, reaching out her hand for me to grab and hoist me to my feet.

"Not gonna argue with that," I teased, wrapping my arms around her waist and snuggling my face into her neck. Any chance to be close to her, I took.

She laughed, giving my shoulder a shove as she shyly looked around for any witnesses. We'd been out to our friends for months now, but she still felt uncomfortable with PDA in front of them. Mainly my nosy cousin, who made her feel like a shit friend for a while for dating me. Eventually she came around, but only after I proved to her that what Cammie and I had was real. More real than that shit-show relationship she had with Declan, who wasn't around anymore. Thank God.

"I meant firewood, Zach," Cammie amended with a sexy eyeroll. She did that very well. "We've got to find some logs for the fire later."

I followed her out into the woods under the guise that we were searching for wood logs, but once we were away from the campsite, I pushed her up against the nearest tree and kissed her. Hard. "Was this just an excuse to get me alone?" I asked between kisses, a smirk tugging at my lips.

I felt her smile under the weight of my kiss, and her hands tangled with the hair at the nape of my neck. "It wasn't," she replied, "but I'm not complaining."

I pressed my lips to hers again, but something felt off. The fact that this was our last camping trip must've hit me harder than I was expecting, and I pulled away.

"Zach?" she asked. I could tell the moment she realized something was wrong. She reached out and ran a hand through my hair. "I know," she said, and I guess she did know. We were all feeling a bit weird, knowing this was it.

"I just..." I started, and I leaned against the tree next to her. "I hate that we only got a few months together. After four years of hating each other... I just wish we'd gotten more time."

She turned to face me. "You're acting as if this is goodbye. Are you dying?" she teased, and that sweet smirk stretched across her lips.

"Shut up," I said, embarrassed. Neither of us were dying, but it definitely felt like goodbye. She would be going to Georgetown for school, and I was heading off to Ohio. "How do you know you won't find someone who actually deserves your love?" I asked her quietly. I hadn't wanted to have this talk right now while all of our friends were a mere hundred feet away, but I couldn't keep it in any longer. The fear had been eating me alive for weeks. The thought that someone better—someone like Josh freaking Abrams—would come along, treat her the way I should've been treating her from the beginning, and she'd realize that I was just the fucking asshole who ruined high school for her and who somehow made her forgive even though he definitely hadn't deserved forgiveness was enough to make me wake up at night in a panic. Cammie was the best damn thing to ever happen to me, and I thanked her by practically bullying her for four years. I was a piece of shit, and it was only a matter of time before she realized it.

"Hey," she said, and her head tilted in that way that made her hair fall around her shoulders in beautiful waves like I loved. "Whatever you're thinking about right now, stop. It's useless. We agreed to make long distance work."

"Why do you even want to make it work with the guy who tormented you throughout high school?" It just slipped out, and Cammie looked shocked. I didn't blame her—we thought we'd moved on from our past issues. But here I was, bringing them all back out.

"You know I forgave you, right?" she asked, and it seemed really important to her that I did know. So, I nodded, though I didn't entirely agree that she should've forgiven me in the first place. She sighed and ran another hand through my hair, probably because she knew how much I loved it. "Look, I'm not saying that I wouldn't wish things had turned out differently. But our past doesn't change what we have now. You were there for me when my dad didn't come home. I was there for you when you got busted up by that ridiculously huge soccer player. And you were there for me when I was in the hospital. You stood up to Macey for me! That's the guy I want to be with. That's who you are, Zach. I see that. I just wish you could."

When I didn't say anything, she pressed a light kiss to the corner of my lips, which triggered something possessive in me and I plunged my hands into her hair as I kissed her roughly against the tree. She welcomed it with a throaty moan.

We made out for a while, probably longer than we should've, until our lips were swollen and our clothes were askew. When Cammie couldn't untangle her hair from the rat's nest I'd created, she practically threatened to kill me, but with my help, we managed to erase the evidence.

Later, after the fire had been started and the food had been cooked, everyone sat around the campfire in pure bliss. Grant, who has the attention span of a fruit fly, suggested we play a game, so we played a few rounds of Would You Rather since we were all basically adults and couldn't justify playing Truth or Dare again.

I hadn't really been paying attention to the game because I was too distracted by Cammie's closeness. My back rested against a tree while Cammie's back rested against me. She'd settled herself between my legs, one hand gripping her cup of hot chocolate and the other gripping my knee. Or my thigh. Or any part in between. With her body pressed against mine, it was impossible to get away from the scent of her vanilla perfume. When she laughed, her body vibrated against my chest, and it was the best feeling ever, having her close enough to feel what she was feeling.

"Can you believe we're graduating next week?" Hannah asked with a shake of her head, completely abandoning our riveting game. Though I'm not surprised—it'd been the giant elephant in the room the entire night. I'm kind of shocked it hadn't been brought up sooner.

"It's crazy how close we are," Jonas agreed.

"I don't even want to think about it," Liz sighed as she leaned into him, her head falling to his shoulder. She would be attending MIT in the Fall. He, CIT. After four years of being lab partners, doing homework and extra credit together, and generally being each other's best friend, they find themselves on opposite sides of the country.

In fact, no one from our group was heading to the same place for college. In a few short months, we'd all be separated. The thought was a fucking mood-killer.

"We'll all keep in touch, right?" Liz asked, and because it was Liz asking, of course we all agreed to stay friends.

"Hey, remember that time Grant went skinny dipping in my neighbors pool because we convinced him they weren't home? And then they showed up and chased him down the street, naked?" Ryan said, and everyone besides Grant laughed. He just threw a rock into the fire and mumbled something along the lines of, "You all suck."

"Remember when we played that stupid game of tag at Cedar Point and we lost Liz for, like, two hours?" Hannah threw out, shooting Liz an apologetic look though she was laughing regardless.

"I remember it completely different. You and Grant left me!" Liz argued, her head shooting up.

"Zach was right there! I didn't want to lose!" Hannah said, and I swore we'd just gone back in time two years, because this was the exact argument we'd heard for the whole two-hour plane ride back.

"Remember when you drew all over Declan's face at that party?" Grant said to me with howling laughter and he gave me a high five.

Macey rolled her eyes, whether at the memory or the fact that she'd dated the idiot, I wasn't sure. But she was my cousin, so I had to poke some fun at her, right?

"Remember when Macey first brought Declan to our movie night, and we convinced him that she was a vegetarian and would dump him if he ate meat? So the whole night, he kept asking if there were any vegan options?" I taunted, and she must've never known that it was our doing for his meat-freak-out, because she shot me the hardest glare I've ever seen.

"Remember when you both lied to me and broke your promise to not like each other?" she shot back.

Cammie's body stiffened in my lap, but I just hugged her tighter and placed a kiss on her temple. "Best decision I ever made," I told Macey. She shook her head, but the glare was gone. She must've seen the concern on Cammie's face, because she gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand.

"Remember when Bex beat Ryan at arm wrestling?" Liz giggled. Bex winked at Ryan, and Hannah mentioned how she only remembers him in the towel afterwards. Which makes me gag, but whatever.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Liz sighed again, and Bex comforted her with a gentle hug.

"I didn't waste four years on losers who I'll never speak to again," she argued. "I promise we'll all still be friends."

"I know, but it won't be the same," Liz said, and as much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Liz was going to MIT. She'd find a group of geniuses there that actually understand her when she speaks her science-talk, and she won't be tempted to call Grant or me and have to dumb it down for us. Everyone would find their own group of people, and all of this would just be high school memories.

Cammie squeezed my thigh and looked up at me, almost as if she were reading my mind and wanted to reassure me that none of it was true.

"I love you," she whispered. She gave no false promises, but that was okay. Just that was enough to remind me of everything our group had been through. To remind me that our friends fought for each other, protected each other, and loved each other. Because if Cammie, of all people, had come to love me, then that was saying something about the strength of bond our group had. We'd be okay. Besides, it was only four years. And we'd all be back during summers.

I smiled and gave her another soft kiss. "I love you, too, Cam."

Yeah. We'd be okay.

Okay, it's been about three years since I last updated this story, so I wouldn't be surprised if no one's still here anymore... but just in case there is life out there, hey how's it going? I'm really sorry it's been so long, you have no idea. I'm not even sure if this chapter is even good enough to make up for the super long hiatus, so I'm sorry for that too.

It was hard coming up with an idea for the epilogue! Everything that I wanted to happen with this story had been said and done, so I wasn't sure where to even go. I hope you guys liked it and it was a reasonable ending to a such loved story! *please don't beat me up! I tried!*

Anyway! Thanks so much to everyone who loved this story and left me amazing reviews every chapter (: you're the best, and I only wish I could've gotten this out sooner for y'all! Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, all that jazz (: