"Do you have to go?" Haylie whined.

"Unfortunately, I do. My other friends and all my family are back home and I have school."

"I'm gonna miss you" she hugged me.

"I'm gonna miss you too Hay. Don't worry I'll come visit sometime. Maybe thanksgiving or Christmas break. You're welcome to come to Texas whenever you want."

He face shriveled in disgust. "It's too hot there. You can come here"

I laughed and squeezed her tight.

"My turn" Dari said and pushed Haylie out of the way to hug me. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his torso. "I'm gonna miss you, Co"

"I'm gonna miss you too, Dar" I smiled at him. "And you boys too" I walked over to Barrett and Bryson.

I hugged Barrett first and he opened his arms wide for me to hug him. I wrapped my arms around his torso. Barrett was always joking and happy all the time and I loved that about him. I'm going to miss his dad jokes and funny comments.

Next I hugged Bryson. He hugged me back, but he wasn't the type to let out his emotions. He always was hidden in that way. He's guarded but once you get to know him, he's the best. He has the best smile, not better than Will, and he never seems to stop.

"I'm going to miss y'all" I cried and they all piled me in group hug. Half of us were crying and the other half were pretty close. We kind of looked like crap. "Let's go to CC, one last time." I suggested and they agreed.

Haylie grabbed me and pulled me out of the door. She always wanted coffee first. I laughed and followed her as we ran from the boys. Once they noticed we were running they put it in gear and ran after us.

We pressed the button on the elevator that opened almost immediately. We got in the elevator and locked the boys out. I heard them cuss and start running down the stairs.

Haylie and I died laughing as we reached the bottom floor. We almost ran into someone coming out of the elevator. We apologized while we laughed our asses off. The guy looked at us like we were crazy but shrugged and went on with his day or night. It was probably close to midnight by now, but we didn't care.

The boys come out of the stairwell seconds after we got to the lobby.

"Ha suck on that loosers" Haylie cheered.

Barrett rolled his eyes as her but count contain his smile at his girlfriend. "Let's just go" he smirked and we all walked surprisingly calm out of the dorm.

The air was cold as it transitioned into the early fall. It was a little chilly but it felt good. Will slung his arm around my shoulder and wrapped his right hand around mine. His body gave off a warmth I didn't know I needed. I snuggled in closer as we walked to the coffee shop.

We all ordered our drinks and Haylie bought all of them as a parting gift to me. Why she bought everything is beyond me.

We spent the next two hours at Coffee Connection talking about random things. Most things we talked about happened this summer together.

After a while, we finished our coffees and chais and we went back to the dorm. It was almost three o'clock by the time everyone left. I was exhausted. Goodbyes were draining. I didn't want tomorrow to come.

I climbed in bed next to Will and held him close to me. I couldn't live without him. I didn't want to live without him. We'll still get to see each other every holiday and face time, call and text anytime we can. But it's not the same. I want him. All of him. All the time.

With the thoughts rolling in my head, Will pressed a kiss to my shoulder. I knew that he'd always be mine, no matter the distance between us. We slept like that all night and we both dreaded the morning.

The next morning was a mess. I was crying and trying to get everything together. I had all my stuff packed and added a few of Will's shirts. I was dressed in his sweats and hoodie. They smelled like him and that made me happy.

Christian and Will carried my suitcases and I grabbed my carry on. We made our way to Will's truck. They threw my suitcases in the bed while I got in the passenger seat. Christian got in the back and Will was obviously driving.

We stopped by Coffee Connection before going to the airport at the airport the boys helped me check in and then we waited for boarding. This is when I said my goodbyes.

I started off with a hug from Christian. He was my best friend other than Will here. I've known him the longest out of the whole group. I don't want to leave him almost as much as I didn't want to leave Will. He was like brother to me.

"Don't worry mama you'll see me soon, I promise." He reached in the backpack and pulled out a brown paper bag and a piece of paper. "Mom made you her peanut butter cheerio bars and Landon wrote you a note and drew a picture. They both told me that they'll miss you and to give hugs for the both of them" he smiled.

My eyes glazed over with tears. "Tell then I both said thank you so much and I'll miss them" I told him with one more hug.

"Promise. Bye mama, I'll miss you" he kissed my cheek and walked to the chairs to wait for Will.

I looked at Will and I almost burst I to tears. His face was full of sadness and his eyes were filled with tears. I grabbed his hands in mine.

"I'm gonna miss you" I squeezed his hands and pulled him into me for a hug.

"I love you Cora more than you'll ever know. I promise I'll come visit for every holiday and we'll face time every night if that's what it takes to keep me close to you. I'd literally do anything for you." He said. "This distance may be hard but we'll make it work. I know we can"

I sniffled as tears fell down my face. "I love you to the stars and back a million times. I know we'll make it work because no matter how far away you are I'll love you more every day. I won't let go of you, Will, even if you were on fire" I cried.

He crashed his lips into mine with such passion. I kissed him back equally. He pressed his hand into the small of my back and dipped me the slightest bit. He pulled away before it became a make out session. He pressed his forehead against mine and gently rubbed the pad of his thumb across my cheek.

"I love you, Erickson" I smiled.

"I love you, Barnes" he smiled.

"Now boarding flight 375. Now boarding flight 375." The PA system croaked.

I sighed. That was my flight.

He pressed one more kiss to my lips. "Go" he whispered as he lips brushed mine. I walked with everyone else to the boarding zone. With one last turn, I waved my boys goodbye and I got on the plane to take me back home.

***

I walked off the plane. Ready to see my family again. I was so excited to see everyone, well minus Coop.

The first person I saw was Carter as he ran up and tackled me in a hug. I'd say he missed me the most. I laughed and picked myself up with the help of Carter. His arms were around me again as soon as we stood back up.

"Hey Car" I laughed and hugged him back.

"I missed you" he mumbled. "You're never allowed to leave again."

"I'm sorry I left you alone with your brothers and your girlfriend all summer. You did ask her out, did you not?"

He nodded his head and laughed. "She didn't tell you?"

I shook my head with a laugh. Soon Connor pushed Carter out of the way and hugged me. "You had long enough with her" he grumbled.

I missed my brothers this summer. Sure we FaceTimed all the time, but this was a million times better. I hugged my other brother.

It took a few minutes but Dad couldn't take it anymore. He pulled Con off of me and wrapped me in the biggest hug. I melted into his hold. I missed him so much. He picked me up and squeezed me tight.

"I missed you Coco" he whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek.

"I missed you too Daddy" I whispered back.

"Let's get your bag and grab some burgers at Riley's." He said. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

I laughed. This was my family always hungry and always wanting burgers. I missed them so much. The only thing missing was Cooper. It's weird to have the almost twenty year old still live with his family and the nineteen year old left to go to college.

"Yeah me too" I smiled and we walked to the baggage claim. It took almost twenty minutes but we finally got my bag. We all left and piled into the car.

It was just like old times. I was in the front with all the leg room and the boys were squished in the back.

We pulled into Riley's parking lot. The spots were filled with cars, some of which I recognized from this past year. The stickers gave them away. I don't know who they belong to they're just there.

We got out of the car and walked up to the restaurant. The smell already felt like home. I took a deep breath. Once my eyes adjusted cot the lighting in the restaurant I could see my best friends standing in front of me.

"Remi!"

"Cora!"

We squealed at the same time and hugged each other. She would've taken both of us down if I hadn't kept my balance.

"Ahh I haven't seen you in forever" she squealed and we let go in our hug.

"I know, I missed you so much. FaceTime wasn't enough." As I remembered something I hit her in the arm.

She rubbed her arm with a pout. "What was that for?"

"For not telling me you and Carter made it official" I sassed.

"I'm sorry you were preoccupied with Will and you were a thousand miles away"

I hugged her again. She was a little salty about me leaving her but I got Will all summer and she had Carter. It's really a win win.

Nick and Tommy were the next ones to hug me. Followed by Harper and Skylar. Next came Kenzie, Karla, Michael, and Ryan. It was a big reunion in the small dinner of Riley's Kitchen.

We ordered food and we spent the rest of the day talking together and catching up. I'm pretty sure Skylar never stopped talking. Going on and on about several different things. She was so excited for kindergarten and her first year of school.

By three o'clock everyone had pretty much gone, except for the boys, Remi, Harper and Sky, Dad, and me.

"So how's football been this summer?" I asked the boys.

They all shrugged. "Weird without everyone with us. I miss my boys" Nick admitted.

They all agreed. "We got a hella good QB though. His name's Logan and he's awesome. You'd love him Coco" Tommy said. "Not as good as Will of course" he said with his hands in a mock defense.

"Well if he makes Carter look good, then he better be hella good" I teased my brother and slightly shoved his shoulder. We all laughed, including him. The amount of people became apparent. Our group had withered over the summer.

"Nobody has to make these guns look good" Carter countered and flexed his arms.

I rolled my eyes at my brother and laughed.

"Put those away before you hurt yourself" Dad joked at the end of the table.

We all laughed together. I missed this. Me, Remi, and my boys. No one else but us.

"Come on Coco. Someone's been waiting for you at home. He's missed you all summer"

My eyes widened in realization. I quickly jumped out of my seat as if it was on fire and rushed out to the car with the biggest smile spread over my face.