Marcel's POV *3 months later*

“Are you nervous?” Cami whispers, her head nudged into my shoulder. We're in my studio, listening to tapes and sitting on the couch. It's the last time we'll be doing this for awhile.

“I haven't slept in days,” I tell her, smiling shyly.

“Me too.”

She shuts her eyes and snuggles in closer. I can feel her warm breaths and the beating of her heart against my chest.

“I can hear your heartbeats,” we both say in unison, causing us to laugh.

We sit in silence for a minute, each lost in thought.

I wonder if we'll still do this in college. If we'll sit in each other's dorms on rainy days and watch movies in our pajamas. Or if we'll study together before big exams. Maybe we'll walk around Harvard Square after it snows and look at all the scenery. There's so many things we can do together.

“Marcel?” Cami whispers.

“Yeah?”

“I could stay here forever with you.”

“As long as I'm with you, I could be anywhere.”

The door abruptly opens, shining a strip of light into the room.

“Are you ready?” my mom asks.

I stand and shrug, “I guess so.”

I'll miss coming here. I'll miss strumming the old guitar and hitting random notes on the piano until I come up with a song. I'll miss listening to old tapes that bring back memories. I'll miss dancing around the room with Cami.

“Wait, there's one last thing we have to do. We'll be out in a minute,” I tell my mom.

Cami looks at me confused, “What do we have to do?”

“May I have this dance?” I say, smiling.

“Of course you may,” she says, holding onto my hand.

I remember the first time we did this.

“I love this song,” Cami told me quietly.

“Let's dance then.”

“Marcel, you hate to dance,” she said giggling.

“Not if I'm dancing with you. May I have this dance?” I said, extending my hand to her.

“Of course you may.”

“It's not a silly little moment,
It's not the storm before the calm.
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on,” I whisper in her ear, singing along.
“Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms.
Nobody's gonna come and save you,
We pulled too many false alarms,” she says, joining in.
“We're going down,
And you can see it too.
We're going down,
And you know that we're doomed.
My dear,
We're slow dancing in a burning room.”

I spin her around slowly, and wrap her in my arms. We sway back and forth as she smiles up at me.

I lean down and kiss her gently while holding tightly to her tiny figure.

“I love you.”

It's just like the first time we danced in this room. Time seems to freeze with her in my arms. I don't ever want to leave.

“I love you,” she says, “Thanks for dancing with me one last time.”

“It doesn't have to be the last time.”

“Promise?”

“I would never break a promise.”

I shut the light for the last time and hold the key tightly in my hand.

We head outside to our waiting families. It's a sunny day in the middle of August. For anyone else, it's a normal summer day. But for us, it's the last time we'll be here until Christmas.

I walk over to Gemma and she quickly embraces me. She's holding back tears.

“Be good to yourself, okay? If you need anything, just call me,” she says as we hug.

“I'll be fine, I promise,” I tell her, “I'm okay now. Everything will be okay.”

She hugs me tightly one last time, “I'll miss you so much. Call whenever you can.”

I nod and walk over to Sam.

He's grown a lot this past summer. He's growing up now. His hair is shorter and his skin is tanner. He's almost as tall as me now.

Cami is hugging him and ruffles his hair, “Don't do anything stupid while I'm away.”

He fixes his hair and smiles, “I'll try not to.”

“Marcel has something to tell you,” she says, pushing me towards him.

“So I know you've always wanted to play the drums,” I tell him.

He nods.

“I thought maybe I'd let you use mine while I'm away...” I say, smiling.

“What?” he asks excitedly.

“Here's the keys to my studio. You can play any of the instruments whenever you want. I trust you, Sam. No one else is allowed in there. No parties, nothing. If you fall in love, maybe you can bring a girl in there, but don't do anything you'll regret. Alright?”

“Marcel, I can't take your keys. It's your studio.”

“It's ours now,” I tell him smiling.

He hugs me awkwardly at first, before relaxing, “Thanks. When you come back, I promise I'll be a pro. Thank you so much.”

“Have fun, okay?”

“I will.”

Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn pull up quickly, the tires screeching.

“Are we late?!” Louis screams out the window.

“Calm down. Marcel and Cami are standing right there,” Zayn says.

I laugh, “Hi, guys.”

They all run out of the car towards me and Cami and crush us in a group hug.

“Guys, I love you all, but I can't breathe,” Cami mumbles.

They spread apart and give us space.

Niall walks slowly over to me, “I'm going to miss you, pal. You better come down and watch us when we audition for X-Factor.”

“I wouldn't miss it. I know you guys will make it.”

“I still think you should've joined the band. What a shame,” Niall says jokingly. I know he wants me to join the band, but that's not what I want.

I shrug, “It would've been cool, wouldn't it?”

Louis comes over to me after, “Try to bring me back a souvenir. I'm a medium in sweatshirts... Oh, and be yourself and meet new people. You're pretty cool, I must admit,” he tells me smiling, “Don't be scared.”

“I'll miss you guys,” I tell them all.

I laugh and say my goodbyes to everyone else.

I make sure all my luggage is in the car and hop inside. I sit in the back with Cami, waving to everyone as we drive away.

I take one last look at the place I've called home before heading to the airport. Everyone's silhouettes get smaller until I can no longer see them.

I've been anxiously waiting for this moment all summer. And now that it's here, it doesn't seem real. The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering quickly and my heart is racing. I'm so nervous. But I'm excited too.

It's a start to a new life. I can do whatever I want. The choice is mine.

“I'm gonna miss everyone,” Cami whispers, looking at me with sad eyes.

I give her hand a squeeze, “We'll be back before you know it.”

“I cant believe you're going to America. My baby,” my mom says quietly as she drives. Cami's mom is sitting beside her, taking pictures. She wants to document the whole day.

I look out the window and think about how much has happened to me this year. In the past few months, my life has changed completely, for the better. I've made lifelong friends, and I'm with the love of my life. My first love. She's part of my family now. I feel like I've known her forever.

And I can't wait to see what college brings us.

*

“Flight 192, now boarding.”

I slowly stand up and grab Cami's hand.

“You ready?” I ask her.

She smiles, “As ready as I'll ever be.”

My mom tightly hugs me and kisses my forehead, “Call right when you land, okay? Try to text or call whenever you can. I'm going to miss you so much.” Her eyes are welling up, the tears are about to spill.

“Mom, don't cry. Please. I'll start crying too,” I say smiling.

“Marcel,” she hugs me tightly one last time before letting me go.

“I love you,” I mouth as I walk away.

“I love you too,” she whispers back, blowing me a kiss. She wipes a fallen tear.

Cami has broken too, she's crying a little as we walk over to the flight attendant.

“Cam, please, not you too. We'll be alright,” I whisper, rubbing circles on her back.

“I know... I'm just worried about them, it's just my mom and Sam now.... And we'll be away for so long. I've never been this far away from them.”

I kiss her forehead and lift her chin up, “I promise they'll be fine. You'll be alright too.”

She sniffs and nods her head. She looks over her shoulder one last time and waves goodbye to her mom.

“I wish my dad could be here,” she says quietly.

“I'm sure he's watching over you. He'd be proud of you right now.”

She smiles slightly and hands her ticket to the flight attendant.

We take the first step down the long hallway to the plane.

I guess this is goodbye for now.

There's no turning back.

We made it.

I made it.

Thank you all so much for being a part of this. I can't thank you enough. You're all amazing, honestly. This is dedicated to the winner of my contest, go read her stories. She's fantastic.

I'm not sure if I'll write a sequel. I may write a completely new fanfic. I may redo Stay and post that. If I do, it won't be until 2014. I need a little break from writing and focus on school. Comment what you want me to do :)

I love you all.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more stories.

Until then, I guess this is goodbye. <3

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