Images of their last time together plagued his consciousness, and as time passed, the more it hurt. Both their emotions were heightened, and as soon as he walked out that door, an overwhelming sense of sadness rushed over him.

She was gone. He might never see her again.

It was three at night and he was lying in bed, wide awake, consumed with thoughts of her. Her strawberry blonde hair. The splatter of freckles across her skin. Her ocean blue eyes. All he could do was try to block her out of his mind.

Which was wishful thinking.

He hated this. He had doubts, but in the end, he chose her over them and he was kicking himself for letting her make the final decision. Because he was hopeful she would have chosen him, which would give him just the right amount of courage to believe they could do this whatever came their way.

But she didn't and that was it. What else could he do? Drive over there and tell her she made a mistake? No, he couldn't. She was the logical and rational one and whatever she decided he would respect.

He remembered when they first met in class.

He felt like such a dumbass. He remembered glancing at her several times during homeroom and maybe 80% of those stares had been caught by her. But she hadn't rolled her eyes at him or given him a glare so he got up off his seat and walked over to her. He remembered something about Pikachu and saying Togepi was better because it was the only thing he could think of to further their conversation.

Things were going great until he made a suggestive comment. He was asking her about Maryland and the carnivals and she told him she was good with "things like throwing balls into buckets or shooting at ducks." He couldn't believe what he said after that. He implied, to a person he'd just met, that she was good with her hands...and she was. Now having experienced those skills firsthand. God, there he went again with the innuendos. But, for a second, it provided temporarily relief from his situation.

The first time she rolled her eyes at him. It was the first time anyone had done that, aside from his mom of course.

When he had suggested they do their lab reports at his house and proceeded to give her a hard time about her not wanting to because she wouldn't be able to resist him. He admired her tenacity. It was a breath of fresh air.

Their bickering. Most of it was just to get under her skin, because it was so much fun, but then suddenly, it wasn't.

He had feelings for her and she had a boyfriend.

He was heartbroken and ignored her during lab.

"So I'm just supposed to pretend you haven't been giving me the cold shoulder the past week?"

He feigned innocence, but she was having none of it, so he decided to hint at the problem itself. He snapped and implied she should not care what was going on with him because she wasn't his girlfriend.

When he decided to go for it and lay all his cards on the table. He kissed her and it was amazing. It was everything that came after that wasn't.

He remembered all the harsh words she said to him.

"We live in the real world, and in the real world, you and I will never work."

"Do you even think you would be here if I turned out to be the kind of girl you thought I was?"

"You always get the girl, but with me, you didn't. That's why you're doing this. Feelings have nothing to do with it."

Not choosing him. He knew telling her to fuck off was uncalled for, but she had just crushed his heart and the only thing he could think of was to hurt her the way she had hurt him. It was stupid, but he didn't actually care at that point. He'd just lost the one girl that ever mattered to him.

He spent the next hour of the day in a fog. He convinced himself to write her out of his life and move on because, really, what else could he do at that point? He wouldn't pine after her like a lovesick fool.

Then the explosion at the warehouse and the "death" of his parents. The arguments.

"We need to share stuff, no matter how difficult it is."

"All that matters is you and that's it and it's incredibly selfish. I understand you've been having a rough couple months, but why don't you stop for a minute and think about how all this has affected me? You ignore me for weeks without so much as an explanation and I have to deal with it while you're off doing whatever the hell it is."

"I am sick of being kept in the dark and being the last person to know anything. It makes me feel like I don't matter. For you to buy into someone's words more than ours is beyond hurtful."

"I'm not something you can take your frustration out on and I won't be intimidated or coerced into anything I'm not comfortable with. Get it together and find it...I don't care how, but just do, in yourself to make an effort in fixing this because there's no way I can do it myself. I don't want to do it myself and if I have to then that right there tells me all I need to know about us and where this relationship is headed."

When the dust finally settled. They both admitted to being wrong. Then this.

"You're saying that like I want you to change. Tony, I don't. You're enough."

"It's okay, Tony, I get it. You see things in percentages and numbers and you calculate the odds and all that stuff and you've come to the conclusion that our relationship has less of a chance surviving if we're apart than it would if we're together."

"It's nice of you to want to do what I want, but it's selfish of me to keep you anchored to something you don't want to be a part of."

He thinks maybe he'll call her before he boards the plane, but he realizes how it's going to go. He'll ask if she's alright and she'll pretend she's fine just to spare a conversation they both didn't want. She'll ask if he's on the plane just because. At that point he wants to say what a big mistake he's made, but doesn't out of fear. He'll tell her he has to go and one of them will bring up the idea that they should keep in touch and they do for the first couple weeks. Eventually they'll force themselves to be busy and ignore the texts they've sent to each other. Every memory of the other will be deleted, except one. The one that's each other's favorite and reminds them of better times. And, then one day, they'll be the last thing on each other's mind, and it's like they've never even met.

But he wasn't going to focus on that. He was going to focus on everything good that's happened. She was an unexpected twist in his life. An unexpected twist in the best way possible. Thinking back on it now, it was clear he knew straight away there was something about her he wanted to figure out.

It was still fresh in his mind. The kiss. He could still taste her on his lips and he could feel the burning sensation rising through him as it had that night. He didn't want to go. He wanted to stay and live in that intoxicating world for just a few hours longer before reality checked in.

But that would have just made everything so much more complicated so he forced himself to go.

The next day comes relatively quickly. He's finished packing and feeding his dog. He's in his room deciding what was left for him to bring. He doesn't realize the voicemail she's left for him just seconds ago because it's turned off. JARVIS fails to mention it.

He sees a photo collage of them she had made. It was of their first date and the memory of that made him smile. He really enjoyed himself that night. It was the most fun he'd had in a long time. Picking it up, he looks it over and shoves it into a drawer right beneath where it sat. He didn't want to deal with it. So he grabs a couple things here and there to decorate his room in New York. Giving the area a last once over, he turns off the light and heads for the tarmac on the outskirts of the only home he's ever known.

The plane ride was just a little over five hours and he guesses he can spend the time listening to music and falling asleep on the couch. He turns on his phone and gets a bottle of water. He returns to his seat and notices a red light flashing. It's telling him a voicemail's been left for him. He's not even tempted to listen to it because it's only going to make the pain in his heart a billion times worse. His right pointer finger hovers over the trash button, but he never touches it. Yet. He doesn't want to cave in and he hopes she's hoping he does.

No, don't do it. It's probably just a goodbye. It's what he tells himself and it's enough for the time being. His finger touches 'delete' and her name disappears. He didn't want the satisfaction of knowing he was right.

He's hurting, and she's hurting, but there is nothing they could do at this point because the aircraft's already taken flight.

He's reminded of her words. "It's going to be hard, but it's what's right." He'll just have to bear the weight for them both.

And who knows? Maybe this will only take a couple months and he'll be back in Malibu in time for senior year. And maybe she'll still be hung up on him and he'll still be hung up on her and they'll agree to start over again.

Months pass and he's still in Manhattan. School starts and he sees no signs of him going to back California anytime soon.

A year goes by. Two, then three. It's somewhere in that third year he's back. He's just grabbed his coffee off the counter at a bistro when a certain redhead has run into him and knocks it out of his hand.

And that's a wrap. I'm kinda sad. Can I tell you how torn I was to not give these two a happy ending? It killed me, but I thought it was fitting because you guys will be able to come up with your own ending and take it from there. This story has been more than I ever thought it could be and I'm shocked more than anyone else that it's been such a hit with you. It's been longer than I ever expected, both lengthwise and time-wise. Again, I just want to thank you guys. Whether you just read silently or left comments. For hitting the favorite and follow button. It's been a good ride and I'm gonna miss this story!

I truly believe without your support and kind words, I wouldn't had have the courage to write this. I'm also glad this fic is complete. I was a reader before I was a writer and I told myself if this was going to happen, I HAVE to finish it, so I'm glad I did.

Would you guys be interested in a sequel? Right now, I have no plans on writing such, but I have this feeling that I won't be able to stay away from here for long. I've even already thought about a bunch of story lines I could write and it's gotta get out of my head sometime. If you're interested, I will definitely consider writing one. And, for the last time, please leave your thoughts below. Whether it's this chapter, the story; to complain. I'll welcome it. Thanks a bunch!

Maybe you'll see me again, Dreamingsstars :)