*Unedited*

*Completed*

This is the final piece of the story, the last actual chapter I will upload.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked through the forest with the boys by my side. Everyone was finally getting together again to have a long overdue lake day. I looked over to Sam as he spoke animatedly about something that had happened at his job with a smile on my face, glad to see all of the boys again.

On one hand, it felt like high school had just ended but on the other it felt like so long ago. It had been 3 years since graduation and everyone had their own lives now. That didn't mean we didn't all stick together though.

Eric was slowly working his way to become a lawyer. He immediately went to college and soon enough found himself working his way into a big law firm. He still had a few years of college to go before he could actually start his career, but he was on a good path to a great future.

Sam took an interest in physical therapy which actually surprised me. He wanted to work with children and everyone knew he would be great. Kids absolutely loved him since he was basically a child himself.

Cody had taken a gap year to figure out what he wanted to do, and he still wasn't quite sure. He had decided to start working to save some money up for when he finally found his career, and something told me he was getting closer to knowing.

Kyle had stuck with Cynthia. The second they admitted their feelings to each other they were inseparable, and they've been going strong ever since. They both went to college to get their basics and weren't going too go any further than that, at least for now.

As for me and Zack? I'm doing good but I'm not sure Zack will when he finally shows up here and gets his neck rung out for being late.

On a serious note though, we were doing great. We attended the same college, and both started to pursue our dreams. It didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to help people, and Zack the same. One day Zack had told me about his aunt's job and I was immediately interested. I had gotten her number from him and called her later that night to learn more and with everything she told me, I knew it was what I wanted to do.

She helped me so much and I would forever be grateful to her for setting me on my path to become a therapist. I knew I would be able to help people and that was exactly what I wanted. If I even got the chance to help one person, I would be content with my decision.

What Zack had decided he wanted to do surprised all of us slightly. He was currently in college to become a pediatrician.

Yes, big bad Zack was currently going to school to work with children.

The group suddenly stopped walking and turned to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Were going to need to blindfold you Zoe." Sam said pulling a scarf from his bag.

I took a step back skeptically.

"Why would you need to do that?" I asked and Sam stepped forward.

"Because we have a surprise for you, just trust us." Eric said with a soft smile.

"Easier said than done but okay." I agreed as I looked around to the rest of the smiling boys.

Sam wrapped the scarf around my eyes and held onto my right arm as Cody took my left.

"Where's Cynthia by the way?" I asked curiously as we neared the opening to the lake.

"You'll see her soon, don't worry." Kyle said right as my shoes met the sandier ground. We walked forward as I nervously laughed slightly.

"You guys wouldn't murder me, right? Not after all this time?" I asked as we came to a stop.

"I'm going to take off your blindfold, but you can't peak yet, okay?" Cody said and I smiled.

"Okay." I said and a second later, I felt hands pulling the blindfold off. I heard several people shuffle around as I kept my eyes sealed shut.

"Okay Zoe, open your eyes." I heard Zack say and I blinked them open, trying to get used to the bright light.

"Wha-" my words were cut off as my eyes focused on the man kneeling before me. My hands instantly flew up to my mouth as my eyes trailed over him and finally landed on the small box in his hands.

"Zack..." I whispered as my eyes welled up with tears as he opened the box and beamed up to me.

"Zoe, you are the love of my life and ever since I started to get to know you, I knew you were different. I knew you were the one for me and I knew I would be doing this one day. Er well, I really really hoped." He paused to let out a nervous laugh and I tried to muffle my laughter with my hands as a tear slipped down my cheek.

"From the way you smile and blush when I compliment you to the way you snore when you pass out in a ball on the couch you are absolutely perfect for me and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for you. I love you with every fiber of my being and I promise to protect you until the day I die, and I was wondering if you, Zoe Starr, would make me the happiest man in the universe, and marry me?"

I stared at him in awe for a second, taking in his every feature as he looked up to me hopefully with love in his eyes, before nodding and choking out a yes. He immediately sprung up and wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me off the ground and spinning me in circles as I laughed through my tears. He stopped spinning and I heard everyone cheer and clap as I looked up to him to see tears in his own eyes.

"I love you Zack." I whispered and his eyes softened.

"I love you too Zoe." He said before dipping down and capturing my lips with his.

When we pulled away, he took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger. I stared down at it as Zack pressed a kiss to my cheek.

A few seconds later, we were swarmed by everyone who was standing by the side and watching.

Everyone came and hugged us both and I could have sworn I saw tears in their eyes.

We all ended up sitting down on a large blanket that had been laid out and for the next few hours, all we did was talk.

We talked about what everyone had been doing with their lives, people we had met, opportunities that had presented themselves.

We talked about memories. Things we missed, funny stories, past arguments.

We talked about the future. What we wanted, where we thought we would end up.

We talked about everything we could think of, we laughed, we teased, we almost cried a few times.

And we all made a promise.

We promised to always stick together, to always be there for each other. To not let work or other people or life in general get in the way of what we had because what we had was pretty damn special.

"We had friends in each other, we had family. We had memories, good and bad, though mostly good. We had stuff that could never be forgotten, could never be replaced.

We had each other and even if I lost everything else, I would be okay with that because this? This right here? This is what mattered, and this was all I ever needed.

We would never let each other go because we are special together.

We are family.

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~**~*~*~*

That's it, the story is completed.

I'll be posting a big authors note next so if you are interested in that, please read it.

thank you all so much for reading this and I hope you liked it. I know its a mess and isn't very good but its my first book I ever let people read and that in itself is a big thing for me. I started this book like 3 years ago so it seems insane that its actually finished now.

Please comment, I would truly love to know what you guys think.

XoXo and thank you all

~awkwardpenguin3 aka Chloe