Forever.

Chapter 24: "I ship!"

Veronica hugged Laylah and kissed her cheek as a farewell. Laylah smiled at her and said, "Okay, I'm going to leave now. Goodbye, gooey glue."

Gooey glue, a nickname Laylah had customized for her lovely best friend, Veronica. While Veronica called Laylah bestie boo, Laylah called her gooey glue. Any specific reason? Well, none.

It was like a hidden message that maybe this would be their last meeting before getting in touch again for a long time. Veronica smiled back at her and said, "Buh-bye, bestie boo."

Laylah's luggage was kept in the car her mom had sent to pick her up. After wishing goodbye to Veronica, she turned to Sebastian and Joshua; smiling at them, she said, "I'm going to miss you two! Until next time." Then stepping closer to Sebastian, she whispered, just so that Veronica and he could hear her, "I ship!"

Taking a step back, she looked at Theodore, taking a deep breath, blinking her eyes not to let the tears escape, biting her lip, trying to hold back but then failing to, she said, "Can we have a word?"

Theodore sighed and looked at the other three, who were looking at them incredulously; Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him; Theodore gave him a look, rolling his eyes. Sebastian cleared his throat and said, "Okay then, bye Laylah. See you soon!" With that, he grabbed Veronica's hand in his and dragged her to the beach house with him. Joshua faintly chuckled under his breath and said, "Good luck, kids," Tapping Laylah's head once, making her frown at him and look up, scrunching her nose at him in annoyance. Theodore was so fascinated by her in all. She looked cute doing anything and everything- Okay, I need to stop, Theodore thought and stopped thinking about her. Chuckling at Laylah's reaction, Joshua side hugged her while she hugged him back; rolling her eyes, they bid goodbyes to one another, and Joshua left.

"So..." Laylah trailed off, looking at Theodore expectantly to say anything.

Theodore gulped down his doubts and asked her, "Would you mind taking a little walk with me?"

---

As Sebastian walked with Veronica to the beach house, there was thick tension and immense awkwardness in the air, along with anticipation and affection. The way he held her hand, tight enough but not enough to hurt, just depicted that he cared, and she felt safe.

Never had she ever thought holding hands would feel safe, and now here she was feeling safe because they were holding hands.

Sebastian halted as they got closer to the beach house; turning to face her, he said, "Okay, darling, before we get in the house, I want you to promise something to me."

"What?"

"We'll stay the best fucking friends, no matter what you see when you go inside. Promise?"

Veronica smiled and said, "Promise."

She would never be able to imagine not being friends with the person that stood in front of her. Her best friend, the coolest guy she'd ever met, the most annoying creature, the most handsome man, the ugliest crier, everything. He was her person. The one who annoyed her, but also the one who made her smile. He had become her strength during the dark days when she cried to sleep, when she didn't want human contact, when she just wanted space; she just wanted him around because he was the only person capable of making her smile through all her tears.

As those words came out of her mouth, Sebastian sighed again, held her hand, this time tighter, and led the way to the beach house. She looked at him; he looked so stunning, his hair - a tousled damp mess, his shoulders so broad, which comforted her when they hugged. It always made her happy that he was taller than her. Though it wasn't a big thing, she'd be just as whipped as she was now, even if he wasn't. But his height was a bonus; even though she was tall, they still managed to have seven freaking inches between them. He was tall, tall.

He left her hand, causing her to snap out of her daze. She looked at him puzzled, then realized they'd reached, and he was fishing the keys out of his pockets to open the door.

Too excited and unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "What's in?"

"Something you will know very..." He found the keys and put them in the lock. Turning it around, unlocking the door, he said, "Soon."

--x--

I know; I'm so sorry; my uploading schedule is haywire. There is a lot of shit going on. My head wasn't in the right place, had to take a break from writing. I'm so sorry once again!

Also, heh, cliffhanger, huh? What do all of you think about it? What's happening in the next chapter???

Do tell me in the comments! Don't forget to vote and share if you like the book!

Thank you for reading; I hope y'all enjoyed!

Lots of love,

Estrel <3