"How was Cali?" Virgil asked the next night while him, Richie and I played poker at the Hawkins' house. I missed the days when we would just hang out together. It was a Thursday.

"Hot." I replied simply, throwing two cards away and picking two up.

"What about Tony's mansion? How was that?" Richie asked, picking three up.

I sighed. "Big. And too high-tech for my taste." Virgil picked one up.

"Three of a kind." He showed his three Jacks.

"Sorry, bro," Richie showed his hand. "Full house."

"All I've got is two pair, threes and fours." We threw our cards into a pile, Richie straightened them all back into a deck, and shuffled them. "So how was the homestead? Nothing too exciting happened I hope."

"Well…" Virgil trailed off, smirking like an idiot. "Richie-"

"Virg!" Richie hit him.

"What? What happened?" I couldn't help smiling. "Riche, what did you do?" I accused.

"I didn't really want to tell anyone, Virgil." He said through clenched teeth.

I hit his arm. "Dude, come on! I'm your other best friend." He still didn't seem convinced. "I would tell you if I did something…probably drastic."

"Fine! Fine." Richie took a deep breath. "I asked Frieda to marry me." He said quickly.

My mouth dropped. "You what?"

"I asked Frieda to marry me." Richie said, a little more confident than before.

"That's… …" My face had gone from slack to a large smile. "fantastic!" I clapped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations."

Richie only smiled sheepishly. "Thanks." He began to deal again, and I raised my hands slightly.

"Can I ask a question? Really fast." He nodded. "Are you guys absolutely, one hundred percent sure about this?"

"Yes." Richie said. "We had a nice long chat about it, and we both agreed that after two years of dating, we should make it official."

"But?" I hoped for there to be something more.

"We are waiting until after we have both had four years of college before we actually have the ceremony."

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds sensible." I placed down one card and picked one up. "Now, I know you're going to MIT, where's she going?"

"University of Boston." Virgil picked up two.

"Now, I know we haven't had much contact this summer, obviously. But I still want to be invited to this wedding." Richie smiled when he laid down two.

"Of course you're invited." Richie laid down his hand. "Pair of twos." He said disappointedly.

"Three threes." Virgil happily beat him.

"Sorry boys, straight to the ten." They groaned and threw their cards at me.

"Kids! It's time for dinner!" We heard Trina yell from downstairs.

"We're coming!" We all yelled back in unison. We left our card game in Virgil's room and trampled down the stairs.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright?" Richie asked, heading for the door.

"Of course. See you." Virgil and I said, waving goodbye and heading towards the kitchen. We entered the kitchen-dining-room combo and were met with a fabulous meal of stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables.

"I thought we should have one family dinner before you guys have to leave." Trina said, getting a little teary eyed as she stared at us.

Virgil stepped up first. "It's wonderful, Mom, thanks." He gave her a warm hug and she gasped.

"Mom?" She asked, a happy tone lacing her voice.

"Is that okay?" Virgil pulled away from their hug.

She nodded, a tear trickled down his face. "Of course it's okay. It's more than okay." Virgil smiled and went to go make himself a plate.

It was my turn to give her a large hug. "Thanks, Mom. It looks wonderful."

"You too, huh? That's…splendid." She chuckled.

"Well," I pulled out of our hug. "I needed to call someone 'Mom', and you're the perfect candidate." She gave me another hug and we went to the table.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Are you sure you don't want us to come?" Mr. Hawkins asked Virgil and I the following day. Him, Trina, and Bruce were standing in front of Virgil and I in the living room of the Hawkins house, our luggage laying in front of the stairs.

"Yes, we're sure." I answered for us. "We're big kids," Virgil threw his arm over my shoulders. "We can take care of ourselves."

"I don't know…" He trailed off, his worry prominent.

"Dad," I began. "Virgil and I are going to be fine. We have an apartment a mile south of campus, our class schedules are all worked out; everything's going to be okay."

"You better be." Bruce smiled at us. "Otherwise I'm going to come up there and kick your asses." We both chuckled. "Have fun, alright guys?"

"We will." Virgil confirmed. "I'll make sure she goes to at least one party this year."

"Well, not too many now." Trina warned, beating Mr. Hawkins to the punch. "You guys still have to study."

It was my turn to confirm. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he hits the books."

"Virgil," Bruce whispered. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He nodded and they slid into the kitchen.

"What's up, Bruce?" Virgil said his name wearily. Even though Brucie had told him countless times to stop calling him 'Mr. Wayne', but he hadn't really gotten used to it.

He grabbed Virgil by the back of the neck. "If you let any harm come to my little Andi, I will kill you. I don't care that you're family." He said with a wicked, toothy smile.

"But even something were to happen to her, God forbid." He added quickly. "Isn't she just going to heal herself?"

Bruce sighed and dropped his smile. "I'm not just talking about physical injury, Virg." He said that name as threat. "If some little boy decides to break her heart, you best be breaking bones. Or I will." He whispered. "Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Virgil swallowed.

"Virgil," Bruce turned him back to the door. "It's Bruce, please." They came back into the living room.

I saw Virgil's slightly terrified look and gave Bruce a cocked eyebrow. "Brucie, what have you been doing to the poor kid?"

"He was just giving me some brotherly advice for my little sister." Virgil said, inching away from Bruce's reach.

"Wait." I paused, trying to process. "Little sister?"

"Yeah," Virgil said like that fact was the most commonly known thing in the world. "You were born in February, I was born in January. Little sister."

I gave a nervous chuckle at his answer, and I nodded. "Right." Oh, you are completely wrong, Virgil! "Well, I think it's about time we should be going."

"Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure you don't want one of us to tag along?" Mr. Hawkins pressed once more.

"Yeah, Pops." Virgil said, picking up his bags. "We'll be cool."

"Dad," I picked up my bags. "Come on, we'll be okay. And we'll come back all of the time. Right, Virg?"

"Of course. Holidays, long weekends, we'll visit for birthdays and such. Trust me, you'll be sick of us before too long." Virgil slung his bag over his shoulder and went over to Mr. Hawkins. "I love you, Pops." He gave him a large hug.

Mr. Hawkins returned the embraced. "I love you too, Son."

He pulled away and faced Trina. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you, Virgil." She hugged him.

Virgil went over to Bruce. "I'll…make sure to follow your advice."

Bruce gave him a small smirk. "You better." Surprising him, Bruce gave Virgil a brief hug.

I went up to Mr. Hawkins. "Thank you for everything, Dad." I stood on the tips of my toes and gave the man a large hug. He eagerly returned the favor.

"It was my pleasure."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Andi. And don't you ever forget it." I pulled away with a smile and went over to Trina.

"Be safe, okay?" She asked, pulling me into a hug.

"Always." I gave her a quick squeeze, pulled away, and went to Bruce.

I stared up at him. "Uh oh." He said. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"Maybe." I smiled sheepishly. "I don't really want to leave again."

"It's not like you're running away."

"It feels like it."

He opened his arms up. "Come here." I went to him and he enveloped me in his arms; I have never felt so loved. The usual "I love you" 's did not need to be said. We already knew that. Instead, Brucie just said, "Stay out of trouble, Gypsy."

I smiled against his chest. "I can try, but I can't make any promises, Hayes."

His kissed the top of my head and let me go. "Have fun."

I went back over to Virgil and grabbed his shoulder. "We'll be back."

"Soon." He added quickly before we both disappeared.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Virgil and I appeared in front of a large building, It was three stories tall, with the second and third story coated in windows. I looked over at the sign adjacent to it and smiled.

"Virgil," I started, turning to look at him. "Welcome to Langara College."