august 1, 2022:

"FLIGHT 478 TO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WILL BEGIN BOARDING AT GATE 22 IN TEN MINUTES. AGAIN, FLIGHT 478 TO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WILL BEGIN BOARDING IN TEN MINUTES."

She held a finger up to her parents, telling them to give her a minute, and turned back to her friends, her face glowing with excitement. Her hair whipped behind her as she turned, falling over her shoulder; it had grown much longer over the summer – extending down to the middle of her back – and the sun had tinted it lighter with streaks of caramel and reddish-brown running through. She tugged on the hem of her shirt, a red, tight-fitted, cropped varsity tee that read 'STANFORD' in white letters across the chest. She smoothed down the front of her low rise jeans before tucking her hands in her back pocket.

"Okay," she sighed, giving a sheepish smile. "I guess this is it."

"Can't be," Luna said, shaking her head. "There's no way our summer is over already." In contrast to Maddie's long hair, Luna had cut hers short. It now dangled just above her shoulders in messy waves, which complimented her new curtain bangs. Her hands were pulled into the sleeves of her white Stanford crewneck, a parting gift from Maddie, as her arms dropped to her sides limply.

Madeline moved in to hug Luna and nearly starting crying herself when she saw the tears in her best friend's eyes. She wrapped her arms tightly around Luna, who clung on as though her physical strength would keep Maddie in North Carolina.

The longer they stayed connected, the more emotional Maddie felt. She couldn't recall a single day in the past six years in which she hadn't talked to Luna, whether it was face-to-face or over the phone. Most of her best memories from middle school and the beginning of high school were ones of just her and Luna. Now, Madeline was leaving and Luna would be staying in town for NC State, and they would be nearly three-thousand miles apart; they'd be in different time zones, living completely different lives for months at a time.

Before any tears could swell past the point of stopping them, Madeline pulled herself back, slipping out of Luna's grasp.

"Call me, text me, every hour of every day," Luna demanded, letting out a little sniffle as she used her sleeve to wipe her nose.

"You got it," Madeline laughed. "A text every hour, on the hour. I expect a response to every single one." Luna smiled and moved to the side so Maddie could say goodbye to everyone else.

She moved down to the next person in line. Zach stood with his arms already outstretched and a huge smile on his face. He had also changed quite a bit over the summer. Him and Samantha were no longer dating – but they ended on friendly terms – and the breakup seemed to be harder on the group as a whole than for Zach individually. Now that she and Zach weren't dating, there was no real reason for Samantha to keep hanging with them. The first movie night after their break up, Samantha didn't come, so Jason drove to her house, which was on the other side of town, and practically kidnapped her. After that, she would come to most movie nights and hang out with the group every once in a while. She would still go out for lunch or a girls day with Luna and Maddie anytime they invited her.

Their relationship did wonders for Zach's maturity, however. Sammie motivated him to apply himself and actually put an effort into his academics, and it seemed to be carrying through. Zach was going to the University of Alabama for sports broadcasting, which everyone deemed very fitting for him.

Zach's goofy expression almost made her laugh as she allowed him to engulf her in a hug. Zach squeezed her tight enough to knock the air out of her, swaying her on her feet a bit, and she swore she heard her back pop. She patted his arm, and he quickly released her.

"Take care of yourself out there, Mads," Zach started, a brow raised to portray sincerity. "There's some real freaks out in California." He gave a sideways glance in Jason's direction and Madeline smirked. She gave him a final pat on the arm before moving on.

Jason was next, but he had his arms crossed over his chest and his head was resolutely turned up and away from Madeline. She stood in front of him patiently with a hand on her hips, but he wouldn't give in.

"Jason?"

"No."

She laughed, "Stop being a baby."

"I'm not being a baby," He countered childishly. "I'm just not saying goodbye to you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not leaving. Duh."

"Oh. Right," she responded. "Let me just go tell my parents I've reconsidered this whole college thing, so that I can stay here with you guys."

"That sounds lovely," Jason agreed quietly, bringing a hand up to his face. "I'll wait right here while you go do that."

Jason's hair had grown to be nearly the same length as Luna's. Zach didn't like it, Dylan didn't have opinion on it, and Luna and Maddie loved to mess with it. If Jason fell asleep, they would put his hair in elaborate braids or pigtails, most of which were poorly done because his hair still wasn't nearly long enough for the styles. Still, every once in a while, Jason would put his hair in a short ponytail or pull back some of it into a bun. He had spent most of his summer outside, and he was now far more tan than the rest of the group, and a small patch of freckles dotted his nose.

When Jason finally turned to face Maddie, it was with glassy eyes and pouty lips. Madeline gave him a soft smile and pulled him into a hug, resting her face in the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around her waist, tugging her in even closer.

"Why do you have to be the first to leave?" He confided into her shoulder grumpily. "Why couldn't it be someone else? Like Dylan? I wouldn't mind if he were gone."

"You would be dead 100 times over if Dylan wasn't here to deal with your ass," Maddie responded, letting out a small chuckle.

"Whatever. I still wish you didn't have to go."

"I know, I'm sorry, J," she confided as she pulled away. "But we're going to be in the same state."

It wasn't surprising to anyone that Jason had decided to go to college back in his home state. He was a westerner, and a true Californian, through and through. Although he did his best to remain optimistic and positive, Jason always struggled with homesickness. Maddie could vividly remember the way Jason would smile from ear to ear anytime he would talk about waking up before school to go surfing with friends, or how at peace the world felt when he would watch the night sky from his board when the waters were calm. A lot of his family, including his father, lived in the area, too, which also had an impact on his decision.

"Stanford is like a 12 hour drive from San Diego."

"We can meet halfway and rent a hotel for the weekend," Maddie continued. "We'll have a mimosa morning and a neapolitan ice cream night. Just like old times."

"Just like old times," Jason repeated with a roll of his eyes.

Maddie sighed, "We'll all be back before you know it."

"You promise you'll be at Friendsgiving?" He asked, his tone conveying his skepticism.

"I wouldn't miss it," she vowed. "You know I can't resist your mother's apple pie."

"Good. What do I do until then?"

"Count down the days until I'm back," she responded sarcastically.

Jason stole a second hug before eventually letting Maddie go, allowing her to move on to Dylan, who was doing his best to conceal any trace of negative emotions. He was smiling at her, but his jaw was taut and his shoulders were tensed up.

Dylan seemed taller now, although that could just be perspective. He had cut his hair, so it was no longer dangling over his face. His eyes seemed much brighter with his hair like this, and the break from school had done wonders for easing the stress lines on his forehead and the creases near his eyes. She could already imagine what he would look like during finals week at Columbia– hunched over a desk, glasses askew, sweatpants he'd been living in for days, and maybe a grey hair or two.

"You gonna miss me?" She asked, a small smirk playing on his lips.

He snorted. "You? Never. I've been waiting to get rid of you for ages."

She laughed as he clasped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground into a bear hug. He held her tight against him, and his familiar scent was enough to bring back the lump in her throat.

Dylan was her first ever friend: they played T-ball in his backyard and watched episodes of AFV on her couch with a bowl of popcorn between them; he was her date to her first school dance, and she was his biggest fan at all of his hockey and soccer games. He called her stupid when she was covered in her own vomit after drinking too much and he told her she was being dramatic when she was in the midst of a mental breakdown over a chemistry exam. After all this time, he was not just her friend, or even her best friend– he was her brother. She didn't need to share blood with him to know that he was her family.

Her vision went blurry as the tears welled up and she shook her head back, blinking rapidly, to clear them away before anyone noticed.

"Promise me you'll be safe in California?" He demanded softly, rubbing up and down her back.

"Of course," she responded. "You know my motto: 'What would Dylan do?' I'll live by it."

Dylan smiled and set her back down, "Seriously, Mads. I want you to have fun out there." He paused for a moment, leaning in a bit closer and lowering his voice. "You can leave all of this behind you."

She gave him a soft smile. She hadn't let on that she was disappointed someone was missing, but of course he would be able to see everything she wasn't saying. Maddie nodded her head and kissed his cheek before pulling away.

"Watch Jason for me," He said, pointing a finger at her. "As the closest person to him geographically, he will be your responsibility. Don't let him do anything stupid. Or more stupid than usual."

"FLIGHT 478 TO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WILL BEGIN BOARDING AT GATE 22 IN FIVE MINUTES, AGAIN, FLIGHT 478 TO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WILL BEGIN BOARDING IN FIVE MINUTES. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GATE."

"It's time, Maddie," her mother said, coming up from behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We have to go."

Her mom wheeled her suitcase in front of Maddie to take, and held her arm out in the direction of her father, where he stood waiting near the boarding gate. Madeline gave her mom a smile and reached out to grab her suitcase, but hesitated before her hand wrapped around the handle.

"Wait," Maddie said, reluctantly. She started looking around the airport, turning her head frantically to the left, then the right, scanning over everyone around. "Are- are you sure that..."

"He's not coming, Maddie," Dylan responded solemnly, already knowing where that question was leading. "He told me he wouldn't. He didn't want me to say anything unless you asked."

It wasn't as though she was expecting him to come. She just casually mentioned in their group chat the date and time of her flight was in case any of them wanted to see her off. He hadn't specifically responded to the text, but she let a small part of her believe he would still come. Earlier today, she could fool herself into thinking he got stuck in traffic, or he had stopped to buy a card or something. Glancing at the gate, then up the hall where more travelers were flooding in from security check, she understood that he was, in fact, not coming.

She tried to not look bothered. Today was supposed to be a happy day. Today is a happy day. She is leaving for college– the college she has dreamed about attending since she was a little girl. Sure, she was leaving her friends, and the one person she was hoping to see today didn't even have the decency to call and say goodbye, but she should be happy. She is happy. She's just also a little disappointed: this wasn't how their story was supposed to end.

But Carson. Carson was an unfinished story.

Even when it was officially over, on the tenth and final day of their peace treaty, it didn't feel like it was over. It never once felt like it was over. Not then, not now.

Their friends thought it was dumb, the ten day 'extension,' as Dylan mockingly referred to it. Zach thought they were setting themselves up for a cycle that wouldn't ever end, Dylan thought they were setting themselves up for more drama, Luna thought they were setting themselves up for hurt feelings and messy emotions, and Jason thought they were setting themselves up for a worse heartbreak.

Despite everything their friends thought, they weren't dissuaded. The ten days were theirs and no one else's.

The ten days weren't even composed of anything spectacular or out of the ordinary. There was no 'you only live once' mindset, and they didn't try to squeeze a lifetime of events into a single week; they knew that was a futile desire. Instead, they spent the ten days like they were any other days– they spent them as though they already spent half their life together and planned to spend the remaining half the same way. The ten days were composed of the simplest, most mundane parts of being in love, but they left the best memories.

There was kisses and cuddling on rainy days, and breakfasts in bed. There was smiling in the mirror at each other while they brushed their teeth and writing silly messages to each other when it fogged up. There were morning showers with half-open eyes, and lunches at coffee shops. There was impromptu soccer games in the backyard and late night swims. There were haircuts in the bathroom and shirtless cooking in the kitchen. There was sitting next to each other on the couch without needing to say anything and reading books that the other thought they would like. There was staying in bed and cuddling on rainy days and dancing in the kitchen quiet nights. There was this and this and a million other things that were so simple, so mundane, that no one else would even think to mention them. But they were the only ones that mattered, and the only ones Maddie cared about.

The one thing they didn't do – which surprised everyone except themselves – was fight. For ten days, Madeline and Carson didn't so much as disagree, never mind argue or fight, over anything. It wasn't a decision they made beforehand– they didn't agree to not argue. It seemed to be more of a shared, unspoken belief that there were better ways to their spend ten days than to waste any of it on fighting.

It was simple. Maddie would be tired, she would want to go to bed. Carson would ask her if she wanted to go see a movie. Maddie would say yes. Or, Carson would want to go for a late night drive and get ice cream. Maddie would be restless and ask if he wanted to go to the gym. They would go to the gym. There was no conflict, no debating, no compromising.

They did have sex a lot. Not as much as someone might expect of the two of them, but, still, they were teenagers in love. It was different, now, however.

It wasn't like the sex they normally had– not to say it was better or worse, because they weren't really comparable. They were skilled at the sex they were used to: unabashed, reckless, passionate, wild. Maddie knew when to rock her hips hard and fast, and when to roll them slow and rhythmic; she knew the right things to say to make his skin crawl; she knew when to kiss and where to bite. Carson knew how to read her body language to tell how she wanted to be taken just as well as he knew her limits to know when she had enough; he knew what to say that would cause her to shiver or make her melt into him; he knew where to touch her and when to feel her.

But the sex that occupied their ten days was nothing like what they were used to. It was passionate, but it wasn't reckless or wild. It was intentional and careful and intense, and loving. Their minds, their bodies, their desires were completely synced together, and entirely revolved around expressing love in every action– in every shuddered breath, in every sweet trail of kisses, in every wave of pleasure.

It was sweet and soft, and not at all how Carson liked to give it and far from how Madeline liked to take it. And inherently they knew that this type of sex was their secret; they wouldn't do this with anyone else. They couldn't do this with anyone else. They were entirely ruined by each other forever.

And it was such a strange idea at first; to be satisfied by so little, to be in love with someone enough that just their presence alone was nearly enough to cause pleasure. But it was addictive, and their bodies became fiends.

There was no way to describe it well, and it felt strange to try to compare it to the sex they had before. It was... it was like a private exchange, a promise even. Every time, it was like two people saying hello to each other, until their last time, on the tenth day, when they were two people saying goodbye– a complete exchange, with the promise of meeting again.

That was the best way she could think to describe it.

"Madeline," her mother called, impatience laced into her warm tone. "We have to go."

Maddie flushed the thoughts from her mind, and nodded her head. She decisively grabbed onto the handle of her suitcase and gave a final goodbye to her friends before turning in the direction of the gate, and making her way over.

This was fine, she decided. They had agreed, after all, on exactly ten days and nothing else. The ten days came and passed, so now it was time for her to move on. Him not coming was allowing her the opportunity to do just that. She didn't need closure from him today because she already had it, so this was fine. She was going to get on that plane with a smile on her face and not think about him for the rest of the day, or week, or month. Hell, she might never think of him ag-

"WAIT!"

It was faint. So very faint she thought she made it up in her head.

But she knew that voice anywhere. She could pick it blindfolded out of a lineup any day, and she'd be damned if she couldn't source it in an airport packed with a thousand strangers talking over one another.

She whipped her head around, frantically searching through the crowds. Her eyes scattered between travelers and rows of seats before she spotted a head weaving through the tight flow of people walking down the hall.There.

He was racing in her direction at full speed, ignoring the reprimands he was getting as he bumped into people along the way. She couldn't ignore that way her heart started racing as soon as she saw his eyes, dark and determined. She looked over to the gate and saw that they had just started boarding handicapped and elderly people. She had time.

Before anyone could stop her, she abandoned her suitcase, pushing it in her mom's direction, and began walking quickly toward Carson, trying her best to contain the rush of emotions coursing through her. It didn't work, though, because the closer she got to him, the quicker she started walking until she was practically running to meet him.

Forty feet became thirty, and thirty feet became twenty, and twenty feet turned into ten, and ten feet turned into five, and then, they stopped. There they stood, in the middle of the airport, staring at each other like it was some stupid Hallmark movie and someone was supposed to ask someone to stay, or someone was supposed to ask someone to go with them.