Chapter 24

"Darren, toss me my suitcase!" Kevin yelled from the driveway up at the porch, hoping that Darren, who was dragging everyone's bags out the door, would hear him.

"I don't remember coming here with such a heavy suitcase," Naya complained as she used all the strength in her body to lift up her black suitcase to shove it in the trunk of one of the cars.

"Where'd I put my car keys?" Amber groaned as she clomped down the stairs inside the house to continue her search.

Everyone sounded busy and frantic. It was the middle of the afternoon and all of the drivers wanted to get a start on heading home, before it got too late and they got too restless.

Cory and I, well, we kinda copped out. While everyone else was outside packing up the cars, we made ourselves look busy by "cleaning up the kitchen." We volunteered right away when we both got out of bed to clean up the house and return the key to the rental offices, meaning we would be the last ones out of the house. No one really minded, simply because no one wanted to clean up the house and return it to a condition that we wouldn't receive charges for. Really, just the kitchen and bathrooms needed cleaning, because clearly we live like slobs when we're not in our own places.

So, while everyone else was loading up their cars and preparing to say their goodbyes, I had my hands in dirty dishwater and Cory was right by my side, drying each dish and cup thoroughly.

Our room was still unpacked, and we weren't anywhere near ready to go home.

Dianna made her way up the stairs and walked into the kitchen. "You sure you want to stay behind and clean up?" she asked me. "It doesn't take two people to lock up and return a key, you know," she added, before throwing a quick smirk at Cory.

I nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah, it's not a problem at all," I replied confidently before handing Cory a wet plate. "Besides, Cory and I came together. We're leaving together too."

Dianna nodded before looking behind her at the empty house. "I think Jenna and I are going to head out now, then. We were talking about grabbing some dinner when we got back around home."

I pouted my bottom lip and my heart began to sink. You know on The Real World or on Jersey Shore or something like that, whenever people start leaving the house, everyone gets sad and they start hugging each other like they'll never see each other again, and that sad slow music starts to play in the background? Yeah, that's kinda how this was beginning to play out in my head. Quickly, I removed my hands from the water and dried them off on a dry towel before shuffling over to Dianna to give her a big hug.

"I can't believe this is ending," I muttered into her shoulder.

With her arms wrapped around my waist, she nodded into my neck. "I'll see you tomorrow. Brunch?"

"Sounds good," I replied as I pulled away. Cory was behind me, and he was next to give Dianna a hug.

"We should go downstairs," I told Cory when their hug had ended, and the three of us headed downstairs.

We walked out onto the porch, and everyone was beginning to gather around the cars. The trunks were all closed. Shit, it was time to say goodbye.

After we made our way to the driveway and we all stood in this weird, unplanned circle thing, it got eerily quiet between all of us. It was hard for any of us to keep eye contact with each other for longer than a few seconds, and in the end, we all ended up looking at the ground. I kicked a few gravel pebbles around, hoping that distracting myself from my feelings would keep me from crying.

"I guess this is the end of the vacation, you guys," Kevin finally said quietly.

"Easily one of the best weeks of my life," Cory added. I looked up at him, and our eyes met. He smiled softly at me, and that was all I really needed to break. A tear escaped out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh no!" Jenna whined, noticing my tear. "You're going to make me cry!"

"No, don't cry," I replied back to her before wiping my little tear away. Jenna walked over to me and gave me a hug, and we both started to giggle out of silliness as we continued to cry.

"You bitches need to pull it together before I lose it," Chris said coolly before covering his eyes with his Ray Bans.

Jenna pulled away from the hug but we stood together, both wiping tears from our cheeks.

"Let's not make this any more ridiculous than it needs to be. We'll all see each other for brunch in the morning. Same time, same place, same booth. Deal?" Mark asked as he pulled his car keys from his pocket.

"Deal," Naya replied, smirking at Mark.

"Here are all the extra keys to return," Chord said to Cory, handing him the two extra keys that we had all shared. Cory slipped them into his pocket, and the metal clinked together as they fell in place.

And then it came time for the hardest part of the whole trip – saying goodbye. We all hugged each other, sometimes two or three times, in the middle of the driveway. I'm sure if any of the neighbors looked out their windows, they must have thought someone died with the way we were carrying on. For some reason, I was extremely emotional. I cried a little bit more at every new hug, and on some t-shirts, I even left little tear trails. Damn my softie personality!

After we had all finished hugging each other and wishing each other well on their trips home, Cory and I stood back at the bottom of the stairs as everyone loaded into the cars. He wrapped his arm around my waist as the ignitions started. I released a heavy breath from my lungs as Amber's car pulled out of the driveway first.

"It's okay," Cory whispered. "You'll see them tomorrow."

Maybe it wasn't about that for me. It wasn't the idea that my friends were leaving and that I wouldn't find a way to go on without them, because honestly, this wasn't the first time that we've all left after a day together. It was more the idea that this week was one of those life-changing weeks that brought everyone closer together and created these amazing memories that you wouldn't necessarily tell your kids about because they were that good. It was a week where one of my greatest fantasies came to life and it didn't come back to bite me in the ass. Turns out, fantasy boy liked me back. Really, he isn't a fantasy – he's my other half in many, many ways. Now, he's all mine, I can call him my own.

Each car left after each other, and the last car that held Mark, Kevin, and Chord, pulled out last. As they began to drive away from the house, Mark honked the horn twice. And then, Cory and I were left in silence.

"You going to be okay?" Cory asked before leaning down and kissing me on the top of my head.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah," I whispered before wiping trickling tears from my face. "I'll be okay."

"Want to go inside and pack?"

"No," I chuckled. I was being honest.

"Are you going to make me do it?" he asked. I wasn't looking at his face, but I knew he was smiling. "What if I pack all your dirty laundry with your clean laundry, or if I accidentally forget to pack all your makeup?"

"What if I kick your ass if you wrinkle my favorite dress?"

He chuckled. "There's the girl I know. Come on, help me out."

We walked up the stairs together hand in hand. I took a deep breath in and let it out again before walking into the house. I didn't like the silence in here. It was like being in a stranger's house, and as soon as I realized how quiet and empty it was, I knew it was time to go home.