The Way I Loved You

I'll miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain.

In Australia, the weather must be just reaching winter.

Alex sighed as the random thought filtered through his head. In England though, they were in the midst of summer. It wasn't particularly hot yet, but you could feel it in the air. And when the sun came out, there was too much warmth for comfort.

Alex and his best friend Tom were over at Sabina's house. She and Alex had broken up in April, after deciding that they simply weren't meant to be anything more than good friends. And good friends they were.

Now, two and a bit months later, they were as close as ever. Just, not in that way...

"Sabina! Darling, our ride is almost here! Have you finished packing yet?"

Sabina turned from her place by the window to shout in the general direction of the door: "Mum! I finished packing last night! Now would you please leave me alone!"

Alex and Tom heard Mrs Pleasure sigh before walking away, no doubt to berate Sabina's father for leaving some valuable piece of rubbish unpacked. She'd been doing that on and off for the past few days.

Yes, Sabina was officially moving away. When she originally came back to England two or so years ago, her parents had decided to settle down for a while and have some semblance of normality in their over-travelled lives. And so their few month holiday ended up being a two year stay.

However, a few weeks ago, Mr Pleasure had received an offer which neither he nor his wife could in their right minds refuse. And so, the family were packing again, ready to leave for New Zealand.

To say that Sabina was excited would be an understatement. The very well travelled girl had never been to New Zealand. She'd heard all about the natural beauty there though, and was extremely excited to be able to witness it for herself.

However, she was also highly depressed over leaving Alex, Tom, Rose, Ben and Jack. So much so that there were times, especially in the last few days, in which she would burst into tears whenever she saw any of the five aforementioned people.

This made for extremely awkward conversations. Rose and Ben had deigned to stay out of Sabina's way. Jack, well, she never really hung out with Sabina before, so there was no reason to start now. Tom and Alex on the other hand...

The two boys were never sure if they would catch Sabina in a happy or depressed mode. Hell, sometimes she could be both at the same freakin' time! They could honestly say that it was worse than dealing with mood-swinging PMSing girls.

At the current moment in time, Sabina seemed to have developed a third emotion: nostalgia.

"Remember when we built that snowman, right there?" She sighed, staring out the window of her now extremely bare room. "And then it collapsed on Ben and almost knocked him out?"

Tom and Alex exchanged glances from their position on the floor. They still weren't used to dealing with the current Sabina. Especially when she sprung new moods on them. Nervously, not wanting to set the girl off, both boys nodded their head.

Sabina never saw the nods; she was still staring out the window.

It was her mum who broke the silence again. "Sabina! Our ride's arrived!"

Promptly Sabina burst into tears. Startled, Alex and Tom both leapt to their feet, before glancing at each other again. They slowly approached Sabina, before awkwardly patting her shoulder. If either Rose or Jack had been there, they would've bashed the two boys' heads together for their failed effort.

Mere minutes later, Sabina had calmed down. An excited gleam could be seen in her eyes as she grabbed her two bags, wrestling them away from Alex and Tom who had offered to carry them for her. All the way down the stairs, she was chatting excitedly about mountains, green pastures, blue lakes and God knows what else. As much as they loved the girl, neither Tom nor Alex knew how much more they could take.

Waiting outside the house for them was a seven seater, with Rose at the wheel. Ben was sitting rather sulkily in the passenger seat; it was quite obvious the two had fought over who would be driver. In the first row, already seated, were Sabina's parents and Jack.

Sabina broke down into tears again, causing Alex and Tom both to sigh before bodily lifting the girl into the car where her parents tried to comfort her.

As he passed Rose, Alex muttered to her under his breath: "And we just got her calmed down!"

Tom hauled Sabina's bags into the back of the large vehicle, before the two boys climbed into the back. Sabina was already seated and, thank the Lord, calm again. Well, as calm as one could be when they were chattering non-stop about the crystal lakes of New Zealand.

Finally they arrived at the international airport. It had to be a record – no-one was injured, and neither Tom nor Alex had lost their minds.

After an hour filled with calming Sabina down, checking in, trying to stop Sabina from crying, finding trolleys, keeping Sabina away from sugar, and wheeling their on board luggage to their gate, it was time to say goodbye.

Sabina was in tears; she flung herself onto Alex and broke down on his shoulder. For his part, the fearless MI6 agent awkwardly patted the girl on her back, shooting desperate looks at Ben and Rose that clearly screamed "HELP ME!"

Eventually, Sabina recovered enough to pull Tom into a hug, where she once again burst into another round of tears.

By the time she reached Jack, Rose and Ben, she was all cried out. Still, didn't stop her from giving each adult a hug and thanking them for their friendship. With a final group hug, a teary sniff and a watery smile, Sabina led her parents through the airport gate, ready for departure. As she was just about to board the plane, Sabina turned around once more.

Behind her, their arms draping over each other's shoulders or interlinked somehow, Alex, Tom, Rose, Ben and Jack watched the girl depart. Seeing her turn back, they all waved goodbye. Sabina returned the wave, before stepping out into the unknown.

To my anonymous reviewer Hlinky Pink the Third. First of all, how dare you make me type hat name! Lol, I'd like thank you for writing the most hilarious anonymous review I've ever had. The format of your review was also really interesting. I'm also really glad that you think my story is...ah "trippin'". Thanks for your review!