Hey Guys! Hope everyone is having a good summer. Here is the next chapter!

**Massie**

I was so proud of my best friend. She was rocking it! I saw Alicia and Dylan turn back towards me, and we locked eyes. They dropped their jaws in an I-had-no-idea-she-could-sing-like-that way, and I just shrugged and half-smiled. The rest of the crowd seemed to agree, nodding their heads to the beat. I heard one of the drunk jocks let out a "Duuuuude", and I knew everyone in the room was looking at Claire in a new light. She was a natural performer, and it was like her normally shy self had been abducted by her confident and sassy alter ego. Derrick put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in closer, planting a light kiss on the top of my head. Cam just sat there watching Claire with the goofiest grin.

Once the song came to an end, people jumped to their feet and gave a standing ovation. Seemingly coming back to earth, Claire was more like herself as she blushed and looked extremely shy, retreating to the back of the stage to return the microphone. People were still clapping as she made her way to leave the stage, so she gave a little wave before running down the steps and the side aisle back to our row. The next singer was being set up on stage, but all my focus was on Claire and Cam. I hoped she would carry all the confidence she'd had during her performance to finally, finally get together with her perfect guy.

**Cam**

I locked eyes with Claire as she came down the aisle towards us and tried to decipher the emotion I saw emanating from her. It looked like pure joy. I hoped once she got off the high from her performance she would be able to associate the whole thing with me and how much I cared about her. I held out my arms for a hug as she approached, but she surprised me and everyone else by throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me.

The first thing that registered was shock, but when she pulled away slightly to look into my eyes, I immediately dove back in. Her lips were soft and sweet, and the kiss was ten times better than in my imagination. I felt all the stress and negative feelings from the last week drain out of me, and all that was left was happiness.

When we broke apart, I could tell her smile matched mine. I grabbed her hand and squeezed, and we sat down to watch the rest of the current song. Once they finished though, Massie ushered us out the back door. I looked around as we escaped, hoping no one would notice. But my eyes briefly caught Ginnah's, and I was about to panic before she gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back and slipped quietly out the door. When we got out onto the main deck the stars were shining so beautifully, I let out a sigh.

Derrick led the four of us over to the lounge chairs the girls had been sittng in the very first time we laid eyes on them, and somehow that felt right.

**Derrick**

"So Claire, how do you feel?" I asked, loosely wrapping my arms around Massie's waist. I would never be able to thank her enough for getting me the girl of my dreams, so I was beyond happy that she was finally getting the guy of hers.

"Woah. That was exhilarating!" She exclaimed, her face in a perma-grin. "I think I'm going to have to look into live performances when I get home. Singing alone to my recording equipment isn't going to cut it anymore."

"Hey, New York is probably full of cafés with open mic nights, right?" I suggested, and she just nodded, and then shook her head slightly like she still didn't believe everything that had just happened.

"Don't worry, Claire," Massie piped up, "consider me your new manager! We'll get you booked all over Westchester." I laughed to myself, knowing this was the perfect job for Massie.

"Just don't forget us when you're famous," Cam joked, nudging her with his elbow.

She looked up at him, locking eyes, and replied seriously, "I could never." Short and simple, but I knew those words carried a lot of meaning. I slowly stood up and offered Massie a hand; she took it and rose as well. We left them alone quietly, but they didn't acknowledge it, still looking at each other.

"They'll work it out. Right? They've got to!" Massie whispered to me when we got farther away.

"You know they will," I confirmed, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up expectantly. I grinned before leaning in to kiss her. It was still thrilling, every time I kissed her was better than the last. When we pulled apart we went back into the Green lounge to watch the rest of the karaoke. I was so glad everything was finally straightened out.

**Claire**

Cam and I were having a de facto staring contest. There was so much I wanted to say and I knew he had a lot to say as well, but where to start? I wanted to kiss him again, his lips looked so appealing and part of me wished for my previous confidence back. But I knew we had some things to straighten out first.

"Thank you so much for tonight," I broke the silence with the least complicated topic, "I can't believe you arranged all of that for me! It was perfect, I had so much fun." He was beaming and I could tell he was really proud to have pulled it off.

"Claire, you're an amazing singer and songwriter. The world deserves to know that," he replied, causing me to blush. I could tell he was being sincere, if somewhat cheesy, and finally everything Massie had been trying to convince me of seemed clear. He really did care about me. But where did that leave us?

"I meant it," I took a deep breath before continuing, "when I said I could never forget you." He closed his eyes for a minute and let out a breath. Then he turned to me and smiled, draping an arm across my shoulders.

"Claire, I know I've only known you for a little over a week. But it feels like so much longer than that. And this is going to sound really cheesy, but do you believe in love at first sight?" I inhaled sharply in surprise at his question and he continued. "I've already told you that I was hooked the first day. I know things got muddled at the beginning, but never once have I wavered on how I feel about you. And the more I get to know you the more I can't picture you not being in my life. I can't just go home tomorrow and cut off all contact, it doesn't work like that. I won't forget you either." It was a lot to process, but every reaction I was feeling was positive. I let out a happy sigh and melted a little more into his arm.

"Cam, I don't know what to say," I replied, "I didn't think this was possible. But you're right, it feels wrong to not even try to make this work. I will always wonder what could have been."

"Good," he grinned at me, "I'm glad that's settled then. Now let's make the most of the rest of our time together." To demonstrate what he meant by that, he leaned in and kissed me. And as I kissed back, I felt the universe smiling, as if it were saying finally.

So as you can see, most of the excitement is over. I'll probably post a wrap up chapter and their time in Athens. Thanks for sticking with me on this story guys!

Hugs,

-Sky