The Trouble with Kissing Connor

Chapter 46- Sadie

5 Months Later 

I stood at the airport with all my bags packed. My mom, dad and sister were all there to see me off. This was it. I was about to go traveling by myself around the world.

Things had been so different the last six months. Connor had left for, and for the first time in a decade, I didn't have him by my side. We'd messaged each other often in the beginning, but after few months, the messages had become less and less and less.

And I learned, that I could live without him. I could be my own person in the world without Connor Matthews by my side. And I liked who I was, and I really liked who Mckenzie and I were together. We'd grown so close these last six months that I was now so afraid to leave her for a year, in case things went back to the way they'd been before. But she'd assured me that would never happen, and the little matching sister tattoos we'd gotten together- that freaked our mother out so much- meant that no matter where I was in the world, she would always be with me.

I'd messaged Connor about a week ago, telling him that I was going, but hadn't heard back. A part of me wondered if he still felt the same way about me, or if, like me, he'd learned to live without me and learned that life wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when we were apart. Maybe he'd moved on?

Had I moved on? Was I still so madly in love with Connor Matthews... honestly, all this time apart was making me wonder about that. I loved him, but I hadn't seen him or spoken to him in so long, that I wasn't sure what was going on between us anymore.

"Okay," I turned to my sister and looked at her.

"Don't fucking cry!" She pointed a finger at me.

"Language!" My mother said from the side and we both smiled at each other.

"Please don't cry," McKenzie repeated.

I shook my head and bit my lip. Truth was, I was on the verge of tears right now. I had wanted to do this for so long, and yet, I was scared shitless. I was going to be traveling... alone!

"Don't be scared," McKenzie said, reading my mind. "if anyone can travel alone, it's you."

"But don't speak to strangers," my mom added, "Especially the French."

"Huh?" I looked at her. Talk about stereotyping here. 

"French men can be very... uh... friendly. Trust me." I looked at my mom blankly for a moment or two and suddenly, her cheeks flushed. Mmmm, I wondered what French man had been friendly to her in her youth. I could see my dad looking at her sideways and wondering the exact same thing. 

"Let's not drag this out," McKenzie said quickly, knowing that I didn't want a massive emotional farewell at the airport. It would just make things much, much harder.

"I'm going to miss you," My mother threw her arms around me and hugged me. It was weird hearing her say she'd miss me, but nice. 

I looked over at my dad, he was fighting back a tear. "Please don't cry dad," I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him.

"Ok. Ok," he said, I could hear he was trying to push them back. "You phone us the second you need to," he said, "At least three times a week so we know you're ok."

"Promise!" I said, as he wrapped a large arm around me.

"Use the credit card I gave you whenever you need to. I don't want my daughter sleeping in dirty backpackers lodges," he added.

"Dad, it's all booked. I'm sleeping where I'm sleeping."

"Then food. Clothes, whatever. You have my permission to use it as much as you need to."