beautiful

chapter 2: lovebirds

We spent most of the day hanging out, and having fun. There were only a couple more days until summer break officially began; plus, now that all this "Chosen One" mess was behind us, I felt like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders.

Soon I found myself at Fabian's side on the loveseat, laughing along with a joke Jerome told us. Amber wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I didn't realize why until I looked to my right; Fabian's arm was casually draped behind me. I tried not to blush.

I heard Jerome make a comment about lovebirds and I snapped out of it, playfully scoffing at him.

"Aw, come on now," Jerome retorted, "Take a joke." I smiled, letting a giggle escape my lips.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied, slightly rolling my eyes.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Amber suddenly blurted, a couple tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Oh, Amber," I got up immediately and hugged her, which just made her cry harder.

I started thinking. Summer break began in a few days, and I had a lot of packing to do. I wondered what would happen. After all, I live an ocean away from everyone else. A lot more things would get in the way of our friendships: time zones, international cell phone charges, and the fact that we can't exactly hang out, either.

Then, I wondered what would become of Fabian and I. Were we even together now? This thought hadn't come to me last night.

Soon, I felt tears falling down my own cheeks as well.

"Aw, Nines," Amber hugged me tighter, "Don't cry!" With that, everyone joined in on our hug. And, I felt another pair of very familiar arms around my waist.

When the big group hug broke apart, I spun around to hug Fabian back. He stroked my hair gently as I tried to keep myself from crying once more. After my breathing evened out, he pulled away to look me in the eye.

"Are you okay?" He whispered, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," I giggled, as Fabian wiped away my tears with the soft pad of his thumb. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear just before I wrapped my arms around his neck once more, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Aww," I heard Amber coo, probably beaming.

"Get a room," Mick joked, "Just not ours, mate."

We all laughed, and Trudy called us for lunch.

I looked around the room I've shared with Amber for pretty much the whole term. It was getting a lot less pink as she packed things away. My side of the room was becoming plainer as well. I sighed, sitting down on my bed.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked me, sitting across from me on her bed.

"I don't know," I said, but then started blabbering, "I mean, I have no clue what relationship Fabian and I have and Joy said she and I could be friends but I'm kind of afraid of her and I really don't want to have my Gran get mad at me over the summer for the long-distance charges on my cell phone and I won't see you guys for like three months and I'll have to re-apply for the scholarship and what if I don't get to come back? And what if I never see you guys again? And what if—"

"Nines," Amber said, placing her hands on my shoulders as I rambled on, "NINA!"

"What?" I broke out of my trance.

"Calm down," she reassured me, "Everything is going to be fine. Joy won't hurt you, long-distance charges are never that expensive, you're a shoo-in for the scholarship, and you and Fabian are meant for each other!"

"Okay," I sighed, smiling at her. Then, there was a knock on the door.

"It's Fabian," a voice on the other side announced.

Amber squealed as I said, "Come in, Fabes!"

"Hey," he said as I opened the door, "I just wanted to see if you needed help packing."

"What, trying to rush me out of here?" I joked.

"Of course not," he replied, smiling back at me, "So, since you don't need any help, wanna go for a walk?"

"I could use a break," I sighed once more, looking around the room. Amber gave me an encouraging smile before Fabian took my hand, and led me out the door.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 2! Sorry the update took so long, but like I said, few and far between. So stay with me! ^-^