It was the evening before Amy was leaving to go to University and they'd just got back from saying goodbye to Chris's parents.
Amy was so excited about going but she was also starting to feel quite nervous.
Once they got back Amy went upstairs to do the last bit of her packing and Rachel came up to help her.
"How are you feeling about tomorrow?"
"Nervous"
"I think you're bound to be, it's a really big thing you're love"
"I've been looking forward to it for so long but now I don't know if I feel ready"
Amy could feel herself starting to cry so looked away from her Mum but Rachel was quick to notice.
"Hey come here love" Rachel said before taking her daughter in for a hug
Amy let herself cry for a bit but then stopped. Rachel too was welling up now.
"Everything is going to be absolutely fine love, I promise"
"I just want to get up there now"
"That's understandable, this time tomorrow you will be probably getting ready to go out"
Once they had everything sorted Rachel and Amy went back downstairs and spent one last evening as a family in front of the TV.
Amy was getting really nervous and just wanted to get going now.
At about 10 she went up to bed, but once she was in bed she couldn't get to sleep.
It was midnight and Amy still hadn't gone to sleep but she saw light starting to come into her bedroom and when she looked up she saw her bedroom door was being opened.
"Amy" Ruby said quietly
Amy realised it was her cousin so sat up in bed and switched the lamp on.
"Are you okay Ruby?"
"Please can I come in for a cuddle?"
"Of course you can"
Amy pulled the covers back for Ruby and she got into bed beside her cousin.
"What are you doing awake at this time? It's gone midnight"
"I woke up and I remembered you were leaving tomorrow and I don't want you to go"
"Oh Rubs" Amy said cuddling up to her cousin "I'm not going to be that far away, and I know you won't see me as much anymore but you'll definitely still see me sometimes?"
"Do you promise?"
"Of course I promise"
"I will miss you though"
"Aw Ruby I'll miss you too, so much" Amy said which was true, she was going to miss them all loads
Ruby ended up falling asleep in Amy's bed so when Amy's alarm went off the next morning she got out of bed as quietly as she could trying not to wake her.
Amy went to the loo and then put her dressing gown on before going downstairs.
Rachel was down there already making coffees to take up for her and Chris.
"Morning love"
"Morning"
"Do you want a coffee?"
"Yeah that would be nice please"
They took the coffees upstairs and Amy sat at the end of her Mum and Dad's bed.
It felt so weird knowing that it would be quite a while before she would be able to do this again.
"Anyway I'm going to jump in the shower" Rachel said
"Yeah me too" Amy replied
Amy went back to her room where she found Ruby awake now.
"Are you leaving now Amy?"
"No not yet I'm still in my pyjamas, I'm going to have a shower now though"
"Okay"
Ruby decided to go in for a cuddle with Rachel just like she did most mornings as soon as she got up.
However when she got in there no-one was in bed as Chris had gone downstairs now.
Ruby decided to get into Rachel's bed anyway but she soon realised she needed a wee so got out again and went into Rachel's en suite.
Rachel was still in the shower when she saw Ruby come in.
"Ruby what are you doing in here?" Rachel sighed, she never seemed to be able to manage to get even 10 minutes to herself
"I need a wee"
"Go on then" Rachel said
Once she'd been Ruby went back into Rachel's bed.
Once Rachel had finished in the shower she turned it off and wrapped a towel around herself before brushing her teeth and then going into see Ruby.
"Did you sleep okay love?"
"Yes I slept in with Amy"
"Oh did you, how come?"
"I woke up and went to see her and she said I could come in for a cuddle but then I fell asleep"
Rachel gave Ruby a quick cuddle before getting ready.
Once she was dressed and had dried her hair Rachel went with Ruby to get her dressed.
Once Ruby was dressed Rachel went back and straightened her hair and put makeup on before going downstairs.
Amy was down there, she was ready now too.
"Right, I'm going to take the others to Grandma and Grandad's and then we'll load the car up shall we?"
"Okay sounds good"
Amy was really excited to get there now and get settled in and meet her flat mates.
"Chloe, Ellie, Phil, Ruby time to go" Rachel called up the stairs
A few minutes later they were all downstairs saying goodbye to Amy.
Now that it had come to it Amy was actually finding it really difficult to say goodbye to her sisters. Thee three of them all had a little cry.
Amy picked Ruby up and gave her a cuddle. Ruby started crying as well which made Amy feel even worse.
"Right come on then, it's time to get going" Rachel said
They said their final goodbyes before Rachel left with them.
Chris wrapped his arm around Amy.
"Don't worry, they'll be fine" Chris said knowing his daughter would be likely to worry about them when she was away
"I know, it's just going to be weird"
"It's a big change for all of us, but we'll get used to it"
Once Rachel got back they got the car loaded up. Amy did one last check to make sure she had everything and then the three of them left and headed to York.
The journey seemed to drag but eventually they arrived and went to collect Amy's keys.
It was really busy so it took a while but once they had the keys they drove around to the halls of residence Amy was staying in and got everything unloaded.
When Amy saw her room she was actually pleasantly surprised by the size of it, although the bathroom was tiny. She was just glad she had her own though.
Amy was the first to arrive out of all of her flat mates.
Once everything was out of the car Chris went to move the car to a car park whilst Rachel and Amy made a start on unpacking all of her things.
It wasn't that long before they heard the door opening so Amy went out and saw a girl with her Mum.
"Hi I'm Amy"
"Hello, I'm Abbie" the girl said smiling
Rachel came out and the four of them chatted for a little bit before Amy went back in with Rachel to finish unpacking.
Meeting Abbie had instantly made Amy feel a bit calmer about moving in.
Once they'd unpacked everything in the bedroom they unloaded the kitchen stuff.
Chris managed to put up the things Amy had for her walls and her fairy lights. Amy then came in and put all of her photos up and by the time they'd finished it was looking really good, so much better than the bare, empty room that they'd walked into.
It had taken them quite a while so when they were done they went out for a late lunch.
Abbie was still the only one in the flat. Amy was really excited to meet them but realised she'd just have to wait until later now.
"I'm just going out to lunch with my Mum and Dad, but I'll only be a couple of hours"
"Okay see you later, are you going out tonight?"
"Yes definitely, are you?"
"Yes" Amy said smiling
Amy headed into town with Rachel and Chris. They went for lunch in Bella Italia, one of Amy's favourite places.
Amy was really enjoying spending the last couple of hours with her Mum and Dad but she was also quite keen to get back to her flat and start settling in without her Mum and Dad there.
Rachel could tell this was the case so suggested they headed back.
They drove back and went into the flat.
By now all of the others had arrived.
Another girl called Beth and three boys, Liam, Jack and George. All of their parents had gone.
They all seemed quite nice too, but Amy only speak to them briefly because then she went into her room to say goodbye to her parents.
Amy found it really hard to say goodbye and was crying but she knew they just needed to go now.
"Have the best time sweetheart" Rachel said through tears "but just remember we're only a phone call away and if you need us to come up we're only an hour and a half away"
"I know Mum"
"Okay, well we'll go now. Bye sweetheart"
"I love you so much Mum"
"I love you too sweetheart"
Amy gave her Dad a hug.
"Bye Amy"
"Bye Dad"
Amy then walked out to the door with her Mum and Dad, and gave them a final hug and then Rachel and Chris left.
Rachel felt awful leaving her daughter when she was crying, but she knew she would be fine once they were gone.
Amy closed the door feeling quite sad.
She turned around and saw Abbie coming towards her.
"You okay?"
"I'll be fine"
"I know it's horrible, I cried when my Mum left too but I'm fine now"
"Yeah I didn't think I'd find it this hard"
"Shall we get a drink?"
"Sounds perfect" Amy said laughing
Amy wiped her tears away and went into the kitchen. She text her Mum to say she was fine.
Liam was in there too eating some pasta.
"I need to go and buy some alcohol, I didn't bring any with me for some reason" Abbie said
"I've got a massive bottle of vodka in my room that my Mum and Dad bought me, you can share with me"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah that's fine"
"You're so lucky, there's no way my Mum would have done that for me, she still doesn't think I should be drinking"
Amy went and got the vodka from her room and brought it out.
"Do you want any Liam?" Amy asked
"I don't drink"
"Oh right, are you coming out still tonight?"
"I never go out"
"Oh" Amy said a bit taken back by his bluntness
Liam finished his pasta, but his dirty plate on the side and then went back to the room.
The girls started drinking and were soon joined by Jack and George who both got drinks as well.
"Shall we see if Beth wants to come out?" Amy suggested
"Yeah that's a good idea"
Amy and Abbie went and knocked on her door.
"Do you want to come out and have a drink with us?" Abbie asked
"I'm just talking to my boyfriend"
"Okay, well just come out when you're ready"
The girls went back to the kitchen.
The four of them spent ages talking and getting to know each other. Amy and Abbie were both getting considerably tipsy though.
They spent a couple of hours in the kitchen. Liam was still in his room and Beth hadn't come out yet either.
The girls decided to go and get ready.
"Do you want to get ready in my room?" Abbie asked
"Yeah that would be so nice, I hate getting ready for a night out on my own" Amy said
"Me too"
Amy went back to her room and grabbed a couple of outfits and her makeup before going into Abbie's room.
"Your room is so pretty"
"Thank you, I'll put the fairy lights on"
The girls got ready but they carried on drinking.
"I have to go for a wee" Amy said
"Just use my bathroom"
"Thanks" Amy said running into Abbie's bathroom
Amy came out and then got changed before putting on some makeup.
She couldn't do it quite so well as normal because she was drunk but she still looked pretty.
"Do you want me to do your makeup for you?"
"Yeah go for it" Abbie said
Once the two of them were ready Amy grabbed her phone and sent a picture of them to her Mum.
Rachel smiled when she saw it glad to see it looked like Amy was having a fab time.
When they got back to the kitchen Beth was out too but she was constantly texting on her phone.
"Are you coming out tonight?" Amy asked her
"Yeah probably"
"You should definitely come out because we're flat mates and it's freshers, but Liam isn't coming because don't tell him I said so but it sounds like he's a bit boring"
Beth just gave her a disapproving look before picking up her phone again.
"I think we're too boring for her" Amy whispered into Abbie's ear causing them to burst into a fit of giggles
After another hour of drinking they decided to head to the student union night club for their first night.
Amy and Abbie were incredibly drunk by this stage but luckily Jack and George were there to help them.
When they got inside Amy and Abbie headed straight to dance while the boys went and got a drink. Beth sat down and was on her phone again.
After a good dance the girls joined the boys at the bar and did a few shots.
Amy, Abbie, George and Jack went to dance.
Beth had found some people from the flat next door and said she was going back with them.
Amy was having an amazing time but she soon started feeling really sick and realised she needed to get to the toilet.
Abbie saw her rush off so followed her into the toilets and went into the cubicle with her.
Amy was sick and once she'd finished she sat down on the floor and started crying.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to ruin the night"
"What are you talking about? You haven't ruined the night"
"But I was sick and now I'm crying"
"I think worse things have happened on nights out, especially when I'm there anyway"
Amy was feeling a lot better now she'd been sick so they went back out and carried on dancing.
They had an absolutely amazing night for their first night of freshers.
Once it had finished they walked back to their flat and the girls both stumbled straight into bed.
Amy woke up the next morning feeling extremely hungover. Her head was banging. The only good thing was she didn't have her Mum moaning about her being hungover.
Amy got out of bed and put her dressing gown on before going into the kitchen.
Abbie was sat at the kitchen table clearly also feeling extremely hungover. Jack was cooking sandwiches.
"Do you want a sausage sandwich Amy?"
"I would absolutely love one thanks"
Amy sat down at the table next to Abbie.
Jack soon brought the girls sandwiches over. Amy put loads of ketchup on it before starting to eat.
"Thank you so much Jack, you're amazing"
"I'm glad you think so"
Amy was so happy at Uni.
She seemed to have clicked so well with Abbie and Jack and George both seemed lovely too.
She couldn't see herself getting on quite so well with Beth or Liam but she didn't mind because she had some people she was getting on really well with.