❝I walk by the edge of the ocean and I look to the sky and then I watch this world turn, in this love.❞ -Stick Figure

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note- play the song in the video linked above while you read the chapter; it's the song nicholas was singing in the last chapter and it's so peaceful :)

[ nicholas | aria | lyndsey ]

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"Hey."

"What, no 'this is the Fine Apple Market' blah-blah-intro-whatever?"

"That was a terrible impression. It's 'Hello, this is the Fine Apple Market, and no, we are not an Apple knockoff store. How may I help you?"

"WELL, SOMEONE JUST STOLE MY PHONE!"

"There's a 90% chance it's in your hands."

"I'm joking. Dude, that trick only works once. And what's the other 10% chance?"

"I dunno, dude; what if your friend was holding the phone for you or something?"

"Wait, really? How did you guess?"

"... Uh, I was just joking."

"No, I mean literally--Lyndsey's holding the phone right now for me while I carry our food. Duuuuude, how do you KNOW these things? Are you psychic?!"

"Nah. Although I'd like to believe I'm psychic, that just isn't the case. I was just messing with you."

"I hate you. But I'm low-key in love with you. Is that allowed?"

"Yo, Aria, let's keep the verbal PDA to a minimum, okay?"

"What was that?"

"Just Lyndsey. Can't you tell?"

"..."

"You there?"

"Yeah... just working on a smoothie. It's fine; just keep talking. What's good with you guys?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you--Lyndsey's dad works for a travel agency and gets discounts all the time, so she booked us on a five-day cruise to the Caribbean to celebrate graduation. That was the 'surprise' I was telling you about before."

"... Oh."

"Yeah, I love it so far! I've never felt so relaxed in my entire life. It's a great feeling... just knowing I've accomplished so much and now I'm just totally free of the burden of school."

"I wish I had that kind of satisfaction with my life."

"Nico... you're better than you think you are. You really are."

"..."

"..."

"Are you still there?"

"Yep."

"Listen, just listen--what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't have any regrets. It sounds like you've really pulled your life together and I'm so happy you're headed in a more intentional direction."

"You know a lot of it is because of you, right?"

"Me? Why?"

"It was you who first really inspired me to get my life back together... to start working hard... to pull myself out of the undertow. You know?"

"How did I do that?"

"Because you always work so hard, Ari. And it's easy for that to take over your life sometimes, which isn't always a good thing, but in general you just live the structured life I was never able to achieve."

"I'm far from perfect, Nico."

"I know that; no one's perfect. But I'm... I'm hopeful that the new me can somehow be closer to perfect than the old me. I really am. I've made a new start, surfed a new wave, made new friends..."

"Yeah, about that--I forgot to ask, but where do you live now? Just in case you ever wanted to m--"

"Ari, the waiter's coming."

"Hang on a sec, Tinkerbell; the waiter's here..."

"..."

"Hey, do you have the drinks menu... wait, why is he on the phone?"

"Hi."

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a/n: sorry for the fast update; i'm just dying to finish this! posting the final chapter tomorrow. i can't wait!! can you? :)

tina