That night, I cried until I felt like my lungs might give out, and ignored the constant buzzing of my phone that was Emerald wondering what was going on. She was smarter than that, though. When she didn't get an excited, celebratory call, she knew exactly what was going on.

I'm determined to make day one of my three days before being sent to Hell worthwhile if only to make Gerard happy and live up to what he told me. "We have to make the best of the time we have left." Even so, I had to force myself out of bed. My head was pounding when I woke up, probably thanks to all the crying I'd done last night up until I fell asleep in Gerard's arms, and he insisted I take a couple pain killers.

I, on the other hand, insisted I didn't need them. I wanted to let myself suffer, but he won in the end.

When Gerard asked me where I wanted to go for lunch, I looked past his shoulder at Mikey who had previously been leaning against the counter, but was now jumping up and down mouthing, "Sushi, sushi, sushi."

I decide to stray from my usual cheese pizza or Chinese food and sigh, "I think Mikey would kneecapitate me if I didn't say sushi right now."

"Yes!" Gee starts jumping up and down like his brother and it makes me wonder if I'm the adult here, but then he stops, raising an eyebrow. "Wait— did you just say kneecapitate?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I said." I nod once and leave it at that, then go up to my room to get ready. I decide to put a little more effort into my appearance today because, although I know Emerald has seen me at some of my worst times, I want to look nice for her. I want our last full day out together to remind her not of how much of a mess I am, but of how she gives me a reason to get up in the morning, to try to get through the day, and of how she completes me.

I settle on a pair of black denim overalls hidden in the back of my closet I've always been too self conscious to wear, thinking they'd be too childish for a sixteen year old. Pairing it with a black and white striped long sleeved T-shirt, I'm satisfied with my reflection after I apply some light makeup (mostly black eyeliner), and then put my still-vibrant red hair into two little pigtails. I'm glad that it's gotten long enough at this point to do that, having been inspired by Lindsey.

If I'm alone for too long, my mind will start drifting to places I don't want it to be, so I quickly leave my room and head back downstairs. Gerard, Mikey, and Lindsey are already at the front door waiting for me, so I waste no time in pulling on my black combat boots.

"You look so cute!" Lindsey says, looking my outfit up and down.

"Thanks!" I smile, then shrug. "I guess this is what happens when I try."

We meet Ray and Christa, Frank and Jamia, and Emerald at the mall. When Em sees me, she immediately runs towards me, her hair flying behind her. It's not like some slow motion scene at the end of a romance; she almost knocks me over. She nuzzles her head in my shoulder as though we aren't being watched by seven adults and stammers uncharacteristically, "Evie, I- I just can't believe—"

"Let's not talk about it now," I say lowly, as much for my sake as hers, worried we'll both break down in the middle of this very public place. "This is supposed to be a happy day."

She nods, then takes my hand, squeezing it tightly. "You look hot, by the way," she whispers.

I feel my face flush.

"So, Eve has chosen sushi for lunch," Gee announces. There's a murmur of general agreement amongst the group, not that anyone was going to try and dispute me today.

"Actually there was a fair bit of peer pressure involved," I say, eyeing Mikey.

He raises his hands innocently. "Hey, it was just a suggestion."

We break off into packs, it seems, as we make our way to the sushi place found in the other side of the mall. The band walk in stride with each other ahead of the rest of us, talking about anything that doesn't have to do with work or the reason we're all out together today.

Em and I walk hand in hand, swinging our arms. "I'm so glad your mom let you miss school so we could do this," I say, remembering suddenly that it's Monday. I knew no one would make me waste these three days by going to school, but I wasn't sure about Emerald.

"Don't you know my mom well enough by now to know she wouldn't make me miss this for the world? She loves you, you know. And she's gonna miss you, too."

"She's gonna miss me?" I ask incredulously. The idea that the people closest to me would miss me is already hard enough to believe, so the fact that my girlfriend's mom had become attached to me is impossible to wrap my head around.

"'Course she does, Eve!" Em exclaims loudly enough that I'm worried people are staring. She lowers her voice when she says, "She sees how happy you make me and, I guess, what makes me happy, makes her happy."

I don't know what to say to that, so I don't say anything at all, and instead lean over and leave a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Awww!"

She and I snap our heads up to see Frank with an amused expression on his face, making heart hands at us. The other three turn around too. They're just as obsessed with our relationship— and were crushed when they realized that me moving away meant they wouldn't get to tease us about it anymore— as some crazed fans are with a certain ship. And they caught us in a moment. I feel my face grow hot and, glancing at Em, I see a light dusting of pink on her face, too, but she's still smiling, biting her lip.

She looks like she's holding something back, a witty comeback, probably, when Jamia is the one to speak up from where she's trailing behind us with Christa and Lindsey. "Leave them alone, they were having a moment!"

Sure, I've had to put up with Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and Ray (though Ray has always been less of pain), but their wives have always been on my side when the boys become insufferable. I turn around and mouth, "Thank you," to Jamia.

The rest of the walk to the sushi place is spent in comfortable silence, with the odd interruption of Frank turning around and wiggling his eyebrows at Em and I. I stuck my tongue out at him, and when I realized that wasn't enough, flipped him off.

"Gee," he whines, tugging at Gerard's sleeve. "Eve flipped me off!"

"Dad, don't believe anything he says!"

"There's only one way to settle this—" Gee looks between the two of us. "—a fight to the—"

"Okay, kids," Lindsey cuts in. "We're here."

I sit with Em on my right, our fingers intertwined under the table, and Gerard on my left. When we get our food, Mikey is the most excited out of all of us. He holds the chopsticks expertly between his fingers and I try to copy him.

I don't consider myself to be very skillful in any area of life, unless being able to make any situation awkward counts as a skill, but I thought I'd at least be able to hold two sticks. In the past, I would've beat myself up for not being able to use chopsticks, but now a smile spreads across my face before I burst out laughing. The chatter around the table stops abruptly, everyone pauses what their doing, Frank's mouth is open as he's about to take a bite. Everyone looks at me.

Em giggles when she see my fingers clumsily holding the chopsticks. "You need some help with that?"

"Do something before I stab myself in the eye," I deadpan.

I feel them being yanked from my hand. "There will be no eye stabbing at this table," Gee says. "Watch me."

He shows me how to hold the chopsticks, then hands them back to me. When I still can't get it, he places them in my hand himself. When I start to think that maybe it's not worth it, Em says, "Here, Eve."

I turn my head to look at her and she stuffs a piece of sushi in my mouth herself.

• • •

We didn't stay at the mall too long after that. It would've been nice, but a group of teenagers that seemed to be skipping school were standing around, trying and failing to take pictures discretely. They were interrupting an important occasion, but I didn't hold it against them; they didn't know. When they asked for pictures when we were on our way out, the guys stopped with the usual, "Yeah, of course!" When one of them asked me for a picture, a genuine eager smile on their face, I was dumbfounded, but complied and held up a peace sign.

"Do you know any other pose than a peace sign?" Em asks me later when we're up in my room alone.

"Nope."

With my old laptop that I'm impressed is still able to turn on between us, we were watching YouTube and talking about how crazy it is that people know of my existence. Reminiscing on the first time she came over and how starstruck she was. And now, some people even know about her. Just then, a knock sounds on my door and a moment later, Lindsey walks in.

"Hey, girls," she says. "I have something for you."

Em and I look at each other, then back at Linds to see that she's holding out two copies of the same photo: One for each of us. I grab them both and hand one to my girlfriend.

Em looks down at it and immediately smiles brightly. "Aw," she says, holding it to her chest. "Did you take this today when we were walking?" she asks Lindsey.

Linds smiles and nods. "You two were just so cute. I had to capture the moment."

The photo was obviously taken at the mall today when Lindsey, Jamia, and Christa we're walking not far behind us. Our backs to the camera, Em and I are strolling hand in hand through the mall, gazing at each other, a light pink tint on both our faces. It's cheesy, but the way we're looking at each other makes it seem like, in that moment, we really thought we were the only two people in the world. Nothing else mattered. Not our past, and not the future.

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