Once again, I apologize for being so bad at updating quicker. It was my birthday a few days ago, and I am now 17 years old. Gosh, that sounds old. But anyway, here's the next chapter!

I woke up the next morning with a jolt. My eyes flew open and instantly scanned the bedroom. I heard light and gentle snores coming from Alvin, who was clearly still fast asleep beside me. I blinked multiple times as I sat up on the bed, untangling myself from the blanket.

Today's the day.

Today is the day Alvin and I finally return home.

We have been lost for exactly 9 days now. 9 whole days, being out in the woods, surviving only on what we had. Though 9 days didn't seem that long, to me, it felt like a lifetime. Who would have thought that the events that happened within those days were possible?

Who would have guessed that all my hard work on planning the party would have resulted in me, getting lost in the woods with the boy that was nothing more than my friend? Who would have expected me, captain of the cheer squad, to have survived out in the wilderness without my everyday needs? Who would have expected the egotistical, self centered, football player Alvin Seville to have done the same?

Who would have expected Alvin and I to have somehow fallen in love with each other?

I sighed to myself. These past 9 days have been a whirlwind of overwhelming events. The first day we got lost out here, I literally thought that we would die. But then I realized, as corny as it sounds, me and Alvin wouldn't have survived if it weren't for each other.

I sat up in the bed and sighed to myself. We are finally returning home today, home to Miss Miller, to Dave, to our siblings and to our friends. To be honest, I wasn't so sure if I was looking forward to it at all.

Of course, I miss everyone and I am dying to return back home, but at the same time, being out here with no one else but myself and Alvin was just...gosh, it was great. And of course, I was terrified to return home to see Miss Miller and Dave's reaction. Not only did Alvin and I manage to get ourselves lost, but we also lied to them, ditching the house to sneak off into a party in the first place.

It seemed a bit...surreal that everything was happening today.

I looked over at the clock. I realized that I woke up a bit late today because it was a little bit past 11am. I wasn't sure when Lisa's husband was coming home, but I figured that it's better to be prepared anyway.

I looked over at Alvin, who of course, was still fast asleep beside me. I sighed one more time, knowing that this will probably be the last time in a long time, waking up to see him sleeping next to me. I really didn't want to wake him up, but I knew I had to. I placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly shook him.

"Alvin?" I whispered. "Wake up."

He groaned gently, slowly yawning, and turned so that his back was now facing me. "Leave me alone." He muttered.

I sighed exasperatedly. "Please?"

Alvin ignored me.

I sighed to myself. I figured that if shaking him awake won't work, maybe being all cute and romantic will. I leaned over and gently kissed him on the cheek.

"Please?" I asked once more.

He ignored me again.

I groaned. "I don't have time for this." I muttered, as I sat back up. "Come on, Alvin. Wake up."

I heard him sigh in annoyance before groggily sitting up on the bed. He yawned as he ran a hand through his hair. He turned to me with half-lidded eyes and said, "What do you want?"

"It's time to get up. Lisa's husband can come home at any time, and we're still not ready!" I said.

"So?" He asked, tiredly.

I sighed. "Do I have to remind you that Lisa's husband is the one who's taking us back to our homes?"

Alvin groaned, and leaned back, hitting his head against the pillow again. He closed his eyes and sighed. "5 more minutes, Britt."

I frowned, hating myself to giving in. I sighed deeply, as I laid down on my stomach, facing him. "Alvin, it's past 11am. Who knows when her husband is coming? And plus, if we're not out in the next few minutes, Lisa's gonna think something's wrong."

He sighed deeply and turned to look at me. "Come on, Brittany. This is probably gonna be the last time in what seems like a long time that we'll be waking up right beside each other. Because if we do end up going home tonight, then we're gonna be back in our own rooms, in our own homes and everything."

I sighed.

Alvin smiled as he wrapped an arm around me, pulling my body close to his and whispered, "And besides, I like waking up beside you. I've gotten pretty use to it."

I failed at hiding a smile, but rolled my eyes. "I know, me too, but..." I sighed.

"What?" He asked.

I groaned frustratedly as I looked at him. "Can you stop?"

"What?" He asked.

"I'm trying to make a point to you, but you're just too...distracting!" I snapped.

He laughed. "Me?"

"Yes, you." I snapped, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You know what happens when you soft-talk me like that."

Alvin laughed. "I may need a reminder, because I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes again, but leaned in closer to him. "Does last night ring a bell?" I whispered.

Alvin laughed again as he wrapped an arm around my waist. "Okay, okay."

I smiled as I snuggled into his chest. "I'm gonna miss this."

"Miss what?" He asked.

"This. You know, just you and me, no siblings, no parents, nothing. Nothing to get in between us. Just you and me, being able to spend as much time as we want with each other without anyone around." I said.

"We'll still be able to do that once we get home." He said softly.

"I know, but it won't be the same. Especially when we return back to school." I said.

"How come?" Alvin asked.

"Well, because you'll be back with your own group of friends while I'll be with mine. The only times I even see you during school is after school when you drive me home from cheer practice. I mean, we don't even have a single class with each other this year too." I said.

"Britt, it's not like I'm gonna put my friends before you, because you know that I'm always gonna put you first. And besides, even though we barely see each other during school, we can always hang out after school." Alvin said.

"I doubt it. Miss Miller and Dave will probably ground us for the rest of our lives." I muttered.

He laughed. "Brittany, am I the type of person who follows rules?"

"Definitely not." I said, laughing.

"Exactly. You have nothing to worry about." He said.

I smiled. Everyone who knows Alvin knows that he can often be a self-centered jerk sometimes, but I'm one of the few people who can see how caring, responsible and mature he really is.

"You're right." I said.

"Of course I'm right." Alvin said.

"Don't push it." I teased.

He laughed gently and kissed my forehead. "I love you."

I looked at him and said, "I love you too, but can we please get up now? We already slept late last night, we really don't need to wake up late this morning either."

Alvin laughed gently and said, "Well, you can't really blame us. You and I did stay up late last night, doing...things."

I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment. "It's not like we actually did anything. Well, not anything that went too far, at least."

He laughed as he leaned in to gently kiss me on the lips. "Are you sure about that?" He whispered softly.

"What are you implying?" I asked carefully.

He looked at me and smirked before hovering over me, and delicately pinning my arms above my head on the bed. "Does this refresh your memory?" He asked.

Ugh, I absolutely hated it when he does this to me. He knows my weaknesses, and he knows that I grow weak in the knees whenever he sweet-talks me. I especially hate it when he makes me smile and swoon like a 12 year old girl, particularly at times when I want to be mad at him.

I just rolled my eyes, biting back a smile and said, "If you're not gonna get out of bed in the next minute, then yes, last night was completely non-existent."

Alvin just laughed before leaning in, kissing me gently on the forehead. He let go of my arms, and I sat back up, smoothing out my shirt, pretending that nothing happened.

I turned to him and said, "Alvin, I love you, but gosh, you're such a handful."

"And you just learned about that today?" He teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Good point." I sighed.

After using the bathroom and what not, Alvin and I entered the kitchen to see Lisa sitting down at the table with a cup of tea in her hands. She looked up when she heard us walk in, and smiled.

"Oh, good morning. I saved you two some breakfast." She said, standing up to walk over to the stove.

Alvin and I sat down at the table as we ate our breakfast. As breakfast progressed, I noticed that Hayley wasn't in sight. I assumed that she was in her room doing her homework, but didn't she usually work in the living room? But that didn't concern me, so I decided to shrug it off.

"Lisa, what time will your husband be home?" I asked.

"Anything this afternoon." She said.

"Will he be okay with driving us back to Los Angeles though? I mean, I know he's not expecting to have two random teenagers in his house all of a sudden." I said.

Lisa laughed. "I'm sure he'll be fine with it. Oh, and I have all of your laundry ready and set to go, for whenever you two are ready to change back into your own clothes."

I nodded. "Thanks, Lisa. Oh, and thanks for everything. Alvin and I really appreciate it."

"Of course. Like I said, I would have hated sending you two back in the woods." She said. "But speaking of the woods, Alvin, isn't your car still out there?"

Alvin laughed nervously. "Oh, uh, yeah. My dad is gonna kill me, but I guess I have no choice than to get tow truckers to retrieve my car."

"It's not gonna be a very pretty price to pay." Lisa said.

"I know. But I guess I deserve it." Alvin said, shrugging. He looked at me and said, "I guess we both deserve it."

Lisa laughed gently but shrugged. "I know your parents will be furious, because I know I would if Hayley did the same thing, but the important thing is that you two are finally back home safely. And speaking of Hayley, do you two mind getting her?"

"Um, sure. Where is she?" I asked.

"She's out in the backyard." Lisa said.

"Actually, I'm right here."

Alvin and I turned around at the same time to see Hayley standing by the wall. I looked at her. Today, I didn't feel as much animosity towards her compared to yesterday the first day we came here. I don't know why, but maybe it's because of the fact that after today, I will probably never see her again.

"Oh, sweetheart, there you are." Lisa said.

"Yeah. I decided to come in a bit early." Hayley said.

"Good. Anyway, do you mind grabbing Alvin and Brittany's clothes from the laundry room?" Lisa asked.

Hayley turned to us. "Oh. You guys are leaving today, aren't you?"

Alvin nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh...okay, I'll be right back." Hayley nodded slowly before turning away, disappearing from around the wall.

After breakfast, Lisa cleaned up all the plates, and Alvin and I took turns using the bathroom to change back into our clothes. I sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror. There I was, back in my denim shorts and a cropped tanked top, with my long hair that draped my shoulders. For some odd reason, I didn't feel like...myself.

If this was me 2 weeks ago, then I admit that I would be that typical teenage girl who hangs out at the mall to go shopping or to get her nails done. But now, as I look at my reflection in the mirror, I felt all different on the inside, as if the girl that I am currently looking at through the mirror has gone somewhere else.

But I knew why.

The girly and popular image I put on for school and in front of people...it's not me. Well, it's not entirely me, at least. I admit, I am not a fake person. But after spending all this time away from everything I own, away from my laptop, from my closet filled with clothes, away from everything, I realized that I am better off as myself. Of course, it's not like I was gonna do a drastic change, but I knew that I was going to change personally.

I exited the bathroom to find Alvin. I laughed to myself, seeing how the both of us are back in our party clothes - the clothes we left our houses in, the clothes we wore as the car rolled down that hill.

"Wow. You going to a party or something?" Alvin joked, when he saw me.

I looked at him, who was wearing his dark jeans, Ed Hardy shirt and his leather jacket again. "I can say the same thing about you." I said back, laughing.

It was now a bit past noon, and we both walked back into the living room. Alvin and I were sitting on the couches, as Lisa was working outside on her garden or whatever. As Alvin and I talked, Hayley suddenly walked into the living room. She stopped in her tracks for a few seconds when she saw us, but then proceeded into the living room with us.

I glanced at Alvin quickly before looking at Hayley. "Oh, hi, Hayley." I said.

She smiled softly. "Hi."

"How's it going?" I asked.

She shrugged and said, "Not much."

I sighed. This reminded me exactly of the first day I talked to her. She seemed quiet and shy at first, but when she starts talking, boy she doesn't stop.

I cleared my throat. "So, do you know when your dad is coming?"

She shook her head. "Probably in a few hours or so."

I nodded my head. "Okay, great."

"So...are you guys excited to go home?" She asked us, yet, her voice was very quiet.

Alvin shrugged as he spoke up. "Kind of."

"How come?" Asked Hayley.

"I dunno. It'll be good seeing everyone again, but at the same time...not really." Alvin answered.

"How about you, Brittany?" Hayley asked, turning to me.

At first, I was surprised that she was even acknowledging the fact that I was there. 2 days ago, when she and Alvin were talking, Hayley pretended like I wasn't even there. But I guess it's the same reason why I don't feel any annoyance towards her, that after today, I'll never see her again.

"I agree with Alvin. I miss everyone, but it'll be weird being back home." I said.

And this continued for the next hour. For some reason, Hayley, Alvin and I got involved in a very...normal conversation. Alvin and I told her what it was like living in such a populated and well-known place like Hollywood, how it was like to go to school with a bunch of people our age, what we did for fun, the music and movies we were into, everything.

Then Hayley told us what it was like living in such a remote area, how it was like to be homeschooled every single day, how the closet thing she had to a mall was the forest in her backyard, how she grew up as an only child, and how painting and drawing has really been a big part of her life.

The conversation between the three of us was going nicely, that I didn't even realize how much time had passed. But since the conversation between us was going well, I wasn't even expecting Hayley's next question.

"You two must love each other a lot, don't you?" Hayley asked.

Alvin and I looked at each other quickly. I wasn't sure why Hayley was asking us this, but at the same time, I guess there was no bad meaning behind it. Maybe she just wanted to know out of curiosity.

"I guess you could say that." Alvin said.

I smiled to myself, liking how Alvin was the one who spoke up first.

I nodded. "Yeah. But trust me, it's not as romantic as you think."

Hayley laughed gently. "Why?"

I sighed and laughed. "Well, to put in simply, Alvin and I have been friends since we were 5 years old. We've literally hated each other, and argued with each other every day of our lives. Even til today, he drives me insane. We both drive each other insane. And you can only imagine what it's like being in a relationship with someone you've known almost your entire life."

Hayley laughed again. "But you guys still love each other?"

I smiled and nodded. "We do."

I knew I couldn't tell Hayley the fact that Alvin and I literally just got together not even a week ago, but to be honest, what difference would that make? Like I've mentioned before, just because Alvin and I weren't an 'official' couple, the fact that we've been best friends for all these years have made it seem as though we have been a couple ever since.

And for some reason, I felt that after talking about this with Hayley, I felt as though I didn't need to feel like the 'jealous girlfriend' anymore. Maybe Hayley has finally realized and accepted the fact that Alvin is with me.

Lisa suddenly walked in. She looked at us and smiled. "Are you guys having one more final chat?"

Hayley smiled. "Yeah."

"Well, you better end it soon because guess who just came home?" Lisa asked.

Hayley gasped. "Is dad home?"

Lisa nodded, and seconds later, in walked a tall man with dark brown hair. Hayley smiled as she got out of her seat to greet her father. But as I watched them, I looked over at Alvin. It was getting sort of surreal to know that we were finally returning home.

Lisa turned to us and said, "Alvin, Brittany, this is my husband Randy."

Randy turned to us and smiled. "Ah, my wife told me about you guys. Getting lost in the woods and everything?"

Alvin laughed nervously. "Oh, um..."

Randy laughed again. "Don't worry about it. We're just glad that you guys aren't safe. Now, if you two would like, I can drive you guys home right now."

"Right now?" Alvin asked.

Randy nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure after being lost for so long, your parents want you guys to get back home as soon as possible."

Lisa smiled as she turned to me and Alvin. "So, ready to go home?"

I looked at Alvin and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess so."

Randy nodded and smiled. "Alright, I'll take you guys in my car."

I smiled as I turned to Lisa and Hayley. "Thank you so much for letting us stay here. Alvin and I appreciate it so much, you have no idea."

Lisa nodded. "Of course. And thank you for being Hayley's friend. It was so nice seeing her finally interact with people her age."

I looked over at Hayley and smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Hayley."

"You too." She said, smiling. "You too, Alvin."

Alvin smiled. "Brittany's right. If it weren't for you guys, Brittany and I would have probably still been in the woods by now."

Lisa smiled. "You're very welcome. Now, take care, okay? Have a safe trip home."

"We will." I said.

"Oh, and promise me that you won't ever sneak off for a party like that again. The last thing you guys need is to end up lost in the woods for a second time." Lisa said.

Alvin laughed. "No worries."

Alvin and I said our final goodbyes to Lisa and Hayley before following Randy into the car. Alvin sat in the passenger seat beside Randy, while I sat in the back. I looked out the window to look at their house one last time, and for some reason, I felt sort of...sad seeing it go.

"So, where to?" Randy asked.

"Downtown Hollywood. We'll show you the address once we get there." Alvin said.

As we drove into the heart of the forest, I looked out the window again. Trees, trees, trees and more trees, something that I had gotten so use to seeing. It was going to be so weird seeing the bright sun and cloudless skies again.

Even though our home in Hollywood was about an hour drive away, I could feel myself getting more nervous by the second. I wasn't looking forward to Miss Miller and Dave's reaction once they find out why Alvin and I got lost, and more importantly, how we got lost.

About 20 minutes later, we finally exited the forest. I gasped quietly to myself, seeing the familiar Los Angeles skies for the first time in what seemed like forever. Minutes later, we passed by the Hollywood sign, and I knew that we're weren't very far from home anymore.

I actually couldn't believe that Alvin and I were finally going home.

Alvin turned around to look at me. "Is your phone working?" He asked.

I shook my head. "The battery died a few days ago."

"Oh, do you guys need a phone?" Randy asked, pulling out his cell phone from his pocket with one hand as he drove. He held it out for Alvin.

Alvin took it and handed it over to me.

"What's that for?" I asked, though I already knew why he was handing it to me.

"Call Miss Miller." Alvin said.

"Me? No way! Why don't you call Dave?" I asked.

"I'm already in enough trouble once I explain to him that my car is still in the forest, and that I need to pay a couple hundred bucks to get it towed back." Alvin said.

I groaned. "Alvin..."

"Brittany, just call her. We're almost home anyway. It's better to have her expecting us than to just suddenly walk in the house out of nowhere." Alvin answered.

I sighed heavily as I snatched the phone from his hand. My fingers were trembling. I looked down at the phone, then looked up to meet Alvin's gaze. I gulped as I used my shaking fingers to dial my mother's phone number.

I hesitantly put it to my ear, trying my best to ignore Alvin's stares, and gulped once again. My heart was beating intensely as each ring passed by, with no one there to pick up. But after about 6 rings, the phone picked up.

"Hello?"

It was Miss Miller's voice.

I know, this chapter wasn't as exciting as the others, but hey, at least Alvin and Brittany are finally returning home! FINALLY.

Any ideas on how their families will react once they see them again?

And how do you think everyone will react once they find out that Alvin and Brittany are together? :O

Thanks so much for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!

:D