Disclaimer: Not mine. I do own Lizzy and Paul, though.

A/N: Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing!!

In a matter of a few weeks, all of the reviewing and studying had been finished, and finals had come and gone. The seniors managed to pass with flying colors, despite all of the slacking and procrastinating caused by a well known disease by the name of Senioritis. Lockers were cleaned out, yearbooks were passed around, and the goodbyes had been said. It was a bittersweet time for all; the students were sad to leave their friends, but were excited about moving on to college.

Lizzy couldn't believe it had come so quickly. It seemed like she and Paul were just a couple of overwhelmed, awkward freshmen, and now it was time to graduate--it was the end of their high school years. So much had happened in between then, especially this year. Who would've thought that Lizzy would find out a huge secret that ended up changing her life so dramatically? She never pictured herself moving to New York City to live with a bunch of ex-hippies she now called her family, and going to her dream art school. It was surreal, but she couldn't be happier about it.

Then again, she was happy about a lot of things at the moment. She was feeling much better now that her ribs had healed and the stitches on her forehead had been taken out last week. Although she had to wear the stupid cast on her wrist for another week or so, she was able to function normally. Lizzy was also quite happy that Paul was recovered and doing just fine, even though the question of their relationship was weighing on her mind more heavily these days. She was leaving for New York with her family in two days, which gave her enough time to finish packing and say her goodbyes.

She pushed the problem to the back of her mind again, and commanded it to stay there, for at least today. Today was supposed to be exciting--it was graduation, after all. It was something to be celebrated, and Lizzy was determined not to let the little issue worry her right now. Instead, she concentrated on the task at hand, which was preparing herself for the graduation ceremony that was to be held in the courtyard of the high school at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Lizzy stood in front of the mirror in her room, putting loose curls in her dark brown hair with the hand-held curling iron. She had on a royal blue party dress with spaghetti straps; it was something dressy to wear for the party later on, because the graduating class was supposed to wear traditional caps and gowns. Michelle had painted her nails an hour ago with a matching shade of blue, so that was one thing Lizzy didn't have to worry about.

Once she was done curling her hair and it was styled the way she wanted it, Lizzy put the strawberry pendant around her neck, slipped into her black flats, and walked down the stairs to the living room. Those who were going to the graduation ceremony were busy getting ready, having packed dress clothes just because Lucy had said they were staying in Florida indefinitely. Those who weren't going to the ceremony were occupied with getting ready for the party afterward. Mrs. Harrison felt bad for putting them to work, since they were guests, but Sadie and the others had insisted on helping while they were gone. Eleanor and Michelle were helping Sadie, Prudence and Rita with the food, while JoJo, Jimi, and little Max were putting up decorations and setting up tables in the backyard. Lucy and Jude had left a half hour ago to pick up Julia and her fiancé, Henry, from the airport, and they were due back any minute.

"Lizzy," Mrs. Harrison called, entering the living room. "I ironed your gown for you." She laid the black graduation gown over the back of the couch, and set the cap beside it on the cushions.

"Thanks." Lizzy replied, grateful. She wasn't sure if Maggie had heard her or not, because she was out of the room and trying to take care of something else faster than she had spoken. The entire family was in an excited frenzy--mostly because Lizzy was the first one of the group that was going to go to college and actually had the intention of following through with it.

"Lizzy!" A new voice called. The teenager recognized the voice, and spun around to see Julia, Henry, Lucy and Jude coming in the front door. Julia, who was already dressed for the ceremony, looked at her niece from head to toe and smiled. "You look so beautiful!"

Lizzy embraced her aunt, grinning. "Thank you--so do you." Julia thanked her, and put an arm around the young man Lizzy guessed to be her aunt's fiancé. He was tall, with short, jet black hair and hazel eyes, and he, too, was dressed for the ceremony already.

"Lizzy, this is your future uncle, Henry."

Henry reached out to shake Lizzy's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for coming."

"Is everyone almost ready?" Lucy question, picking up her daughter's cap and gown from the couch.

Lizzy shrugged. "Uh…I'm not sure…you might wanna go check."

"All right. It's twelve o'clock now, so we have to get going soon--they wanted you to be there a little before twelve-thirty, right?"

The teenager nodded, and Lucy went outside to put Lizzy's cap and gown in the car. Meanwhile, Jude volunteered to go around the house to find everyone who was going and see if they were ready. Lizzy helped Julia carry her and Henry's belongings up to the room where she and her fiancé would be staying. They were only staying overnight; their flight home was in the afternoon tomorrow.

Lizzy spent a few minutes ambling around the house, asking if she could help with anything, since she didn't have much to do. Her family members always declined her offer, because it was "her day" and they wanted her to "enjoy it and relax". They didn't want to put her to work, even though she was eager to help. After awhile, Lizzy sat with Julia and Henry in the living room and talked to them until it was time to leave.

When they arrived at the high school, Lizzy was immediately sent to the gym--cap and gown in tow--while the rest of her family went outside to find their seats in the courtyard. The atmosphere in the gym was absolutely crazy. There was a mix of students who weren't yet dressed in their black gowns, and those who were. Some of the girls were crying already, giving their friends hugs. Some seniors were taking the opportunity to pose for pictures or get a last minute signature in their yearbook. Teachers scurried in and out of the crowd, trying to tell everyone to get their caps and gowns on. There was definitely a lot happening all at once.

Lizzy hopped up onto one of the fold-up bleachers and scanned the mob of seniors for Paul. She spotted his mop of sandy blond hair on the other side of the gym and instantly maneuvered toward him.

"Paul!" she called, and flung herself at him, cap and gown still in either hand. The two of them embraced, laughing.

"This is insane…" Paul mused, looking around at their classmates.

"I know," Lizzy replied, setting her cap on the bleacher nearby while she slid the gown over her head. Paul was already dressed--cap and all. "It came up so fast." She placed the cap on her head, blowing the tassel off her face.

"Too fast." Paul agreed. Way, way too fast, in his opinion. Lizzy was leaving for New York two days from now, and he had no idea how to handle that…

"Are you and your mom coming to the party at the Harrisons' place after?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we are."

"Cool," Lizzy replied. "You should see the size of the cake Maggie bought. I feel like we're going to be eating cake for breakfast tomorrow."

"And I bet Max will be trying to stick his fingers in it when he thinks no one is looking."

Lizzy laughed. "Which Max?"

"Good point," Paul stated, laughing too. "Might have to keep an eye on both of 'em."

Lizzy nodded, just as the principal told the class to start lining up in alphabetical order. Paul and Lizzy were unfortunately in different ends of the alphabet. Lizzy leaned in and shared a kiss with her boyfriend before skipping off to the beginning portion of the line that was starting to form. Paul sauntered toward the back of the line, shaking his head. She was confusing the hell out of him, that was for sure. She was leaving soon, and yet she was going on like they were okay. What if things changed? She had yet to tell him what was going on…

The familiar tune of Pomp and Circumstance filled the warm, summer air as the senior class walked down the center aisle. The rows of family members stood, taking pictures or videotaping their respective soon-to-be high school graduate. Some of the adults couldn't contain their emotion, and let the tears flow, proudly smiling at their son or daughter, grandchild or niece or nephew.

Lizzy caught sight of her family and grinned at them, making her way down the aisle and up to the stage, where chairs had been set up for the entire class. The graduates remained standing while the rest of their classmates filed in and made it to their seats. Once the last of Pomp and Circumstance ceased, the congregation of family members sat down, and the students followed suit.

The principal went up to the podium first to address the family members, and tell them how far the class had come since their freshman year. She listed off the different colleges that the students were going to attend, and how much scholarship money the entire class earned as a whole. When the principal was done speaking, the salutatorian and the valedictorian gave their speeches, provoking a few laughs and equally as many tears from their fellow graduates as they recalled their four years together.

Finally, it was time to hand out the diplomas. Lizzy waited anxiously in her seat, wringing her slightly sweaty hands and craning her neck to catch another glimpse of her family. Don't trip…do not fall…remember to smile… She told herself nervously. Things moved rather quickly, and before Lizzy knew it, her row was standing up and getting ready to get their diplomas.

"Elizabeth Julia Feeny."

Taking a deep breath, Lizzy walked across the stage to receive her diploma from the principal. She heard her family cheering for her--quite loudly--which made her blush a bit, especially when Max yelled, "Yeah Lizzy!" during a dead silence when her family's cheering had stopped. Lizzy took her diploma, smiled, and walked back to her seat, managing not to trip or fall, thankfully. She sat, staring at and re-reading her diploma as the rest of the class went up to get their own. When it was Paul's row's turn to stand, he glanced back at Lizzy and smiled. She grinned back at him, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Paul Rigby."

Lizzy clapped for Paul, along with her family and his mother. He got his diploma without a problem, and returned to his seat, turning around to smile at Lizzy again. 'We did it!' he mouthed to her silently, to which she nodded. Lizzy watched as the students in the end of the alphabet got their diplomas, and then the principal told them to stand.

The principal stood proudly at the podium and gestured to the large group of students. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the graduating class of 1986."

There was an uproar of applause, and cheering from the students. Suddenly, all at once, they threw their caps into the air, and they rained down as they continued to cheer and hug each other. It was official--they had graduated.

"Congratulations, Miss Lizzy…" Paul said when they found each other after the ceremony. Lizzy hugged him, placing a light kiss on his lips.

"You, too," Lizzy replied. "Who would've thought we would make it through high school alive and…well, mostly in one piece…"

"Yeah," Paul agreed, nodding. "I gotta go find my mom…I'll see you at the Harrisons'."

"Okay." Lizzy and Paul went their separate ways for the time being, trying to find their families. Along the way, she was approached by Mr. Henderson, who stopped her and gave her his own congratulations.

"Have fun in New York, Lizzy. You'll do great in that college."

"Thank you, Mr. Henderson. You've been a great teacher--I probably wouldn't have made into that school if it wasn't for you."

Mr. Henderson laughed. "Good luck next year."

"Thanks!" Lizzy called, heading off to find her family. Once she found them, she was bombarded by many 'congratulations' and 'good job' well wishes, on top of a lot of hugs and kisses.

"All right," Max announced. "Let's party."

And party they did--until midnight, in fact. It was an interesting, slightly crazy affair to say the least. They ate the large spread Mrs. Harrison had prepared for dinner, and just before it came time to cut into the cake, chaos ensued. It was started by little Max, who was encouraged by his father to take a fistful of the dessert and launch it at Valerie. Which he did, and in turn, started a cake war between everyone--even Paul, his mom, the Harrisons, and Julia and Henry participated. By the time the whole thing ended, everyone was plastered with frosting and cake, and there was barely enough left that was salvageable to eat. So, the majority of the family ended up eating the ice cream instead.

Once everyone had changed and the sun had set, JoJo took out his guitar and he and Sadie sang for hours while many of the partygoers danced and sang along. Lizzy and Paul were able to forget--if only for a little bit--about their impending problem, sharing a few dances together. The family finished the festivities off with a fun upbeat song with a chorus that was easy to pick up; everyone was singing along, joined in a large circle as their voices blended together and filled the night air.

"Ob-la-di Ob-la-da life goes on bra

Lala how the life goes on

Ob-la-di Ob-la-da life goes on bra

Lala how the life goes on…"