Luke's POV

"Are you ready to go?" I ask Calum, picking up one of his suitcases.

"I guess so," he says quietly, grabbing the rest of his bags.

We head outside to where my parents and Delilah are waiting. Ashton and Michael said their goodbyes yesterday, but Delilah wanted to come along today.

"All set?" my dad asks us.

I nod and put Calum's suitcase in the back of the car.

"Alright. Let's get going then, we don't want to miss the flight."

"I wish I could miss it," Calum mumbles as he gets in the car.

Calum, Delilah, and I squish into the backseat with me sitting in the middle. Delilah reaches for my hand and squeezes it lightly.

"Just a few months, and we'll be in Australia," she says quietly in an attempt to make me smile.

I nod and smile a little.

It's been a little over a week since New Year's Eve, and my mom and Calum are leaving today. It felt so great to finally have them here. I don't want to be separated from them again. It feels like they were only here for a few days, when it's been three weeks. In these short three weeks, I've made more memories with them than I did the past six months before I left.

It's also been a little over a week since Delilah and I first kissed. I was afraid things would get awkward between us afterwards, but surprisingly, it hasn't. We've been completely comfortable with each other, which is strange because the old me would never have gotten the courage to even kiss Delilah. I'm still getting used to the fact that we're more than friends now. I'm not sure if we're technically official just yet though, but we could be. I don't understand how relationships are supposed to work, it's all so confusing. I hope we are though.

"It's going to be so weird to not have to wear five layers of clothes when I go outside," Calum says, laughing.

"Lucky you," Delilah responds.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much," Calum says suddenly.

"We'll miss you too," Delilah tells him.

"I mean, I guess I'll miss you," I say jokingly.

He shoves my side, causing me to squish Delilah into the window.

"I definitely won't miss you, I take it back," Delilah says, laughing.

I'm happy Calum is friends with all of my friends. I thought that they may not like each other, but everyone got along so well. With them, I feel like I finally belong. Now that Calum's going back home, it's like a piece of me is leaving too.

We arrive to the airport, and none of us get out of the car. We all sit silently and stare straight ahead.

"Do you guys have to leave?" I whisper.

My mom turns around and smiles kindly. "We do, Luke. I wish we didn't." She reaches over and puts her hand on my knee.

"Can't you just stay here forever?"

My mom shakes her head and turns back around so she can unbuckle her seat belt.

We get out of the car and slowly walk to where they're getting dropped off. We can't go right to their terminal since they have to go through security. It's about an hour until their flight leaves.

"Do we have to say goodbye?" I say quietly, looking down at the ground.

My mom shakes her head. "No, we can just say I'll see you later. How's that?"

"It doesn't make it much better. You're still leaving."

My mom hugs me tightly, and it feels like she might not ever let go, just like when I left Australia. She finally lets go and wipes a few tears from her eyes.

"I hate leaving you," she says, trying to smile.

I hug her again. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Luke. I'll miss you," she says quietly. "I'm so proud of you."

Delilah gives Calum a quick hug while I'm saying bye to my mom. When I'm done, I head over to them.

"Promise you'll come home soon, okay?" Calum says, hugging me tightly.

"Promise." I'm not sure where home really is now though. Australia and Maine are both my homes now.

Delilah looks down at the ground.

"Can we talk for a sec?" Calum asks me.

"Yeah, of course."

Delilah walks over to my parents, and Calum and I walk over to an area with not many people around.

"Are you sure you're ready for a relationship?" Calum asks me. "I really, really like Delilah, I just don't want you to get your heart broken and go back to... how it was before," he says.

I nod. "I'm completely ready. Don't worry about me. Delilah's really great."

"I know, she brings out the best in you. Moving here really helped you. I just want this Luke to stay this time. I'm sorry if I wasn't the greatest friend the past few months, I just didn't know how to handle everything."

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing. You were just always trying to do what you thought was best for me. I was the one who was a bad friend. I'm really happy you came up here though. You have no idea how much it means to me."

Calum hugs me again. "I'll miss you, Luke. Keep me updated on things, okay? Let's go back to everyone before this turns into some sentimental scene in a chick flick," he says, laughing lightly.

We walk back to where everyone else is. I hug my mom one last time and wave goodbye as they walk away. Delilah wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest.

"Will you be okay?" she asks, looking up at me.

"Yeah," I tell her, resting my chin on the top of her head. I feel my cheeks blush, since I'm still not completely used to this. I'm not sure I ever will be.

"Do you want to wait for their flight to take off, or go home?" my dad asks.

I shrug. "Might as well head home, we won't be able to see them again." I turn to look out the window at the planes that are outside. One flies off the runway into the air.

"Okay," my dad says, turning around to leave. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll just miss them a lot."

We start walking towards the parking lot. I don't really want to leave, but I have no choice. They're going home, and I'm staying here. That's just how it is.

I reach for Delilah's hand as we walk through the airport. She's still here, and so is Ashton, Michael, and my dad. I won't ever really be alone, even if I feel like I am.

We get to the car and drive back home. It already feels weird to not hear Calum laughing or see my mom smile every time I say something. I want them back already.

Delilah and I head downstairs once we get to my house and lie down on the couch. Neither of us talk for awhile, we both just lie there. I assume we're both lost in thought, or at least I am. I'm thinking about Calum and my mom and Delilah, like usual.

"Your mom is nice," Delilah says suddenly, which makes me laugh.

"That was kinda random."

She shrugs. "While you were talking to Calum she told me how thankful she is that you met me. I thought that was cute."

"She likes you a lot, she thinks you're nice."

Delilah smiles. "She asked if we were dating, too."

I smile and pull Delilah closer to me. "And what'd you say?" I feel my heart rate pick up as I wait for her answer. My cheeks turn slightly red and hot too.

"I said yes," she says. "Is that okay? We are, right?"

That answers all my thoughts from earlier. My heart gets all fluttery hearing her say that. "Yeah, we are."

"Okay, good because I wasn't really sure if we were, like, official, but I thought that maybe we were."

"I thought that, too."

She smiles. "I'm thankful for you too, you know."

"Did you know there was once some girl who liked the man on the moon, like, a lot a lot and would look up at the stars every night and wait for the moon to come out?" I say. I remember my mom reading me a story like that when I was younger.

"Sure?"

"I'm more thankful for you than she was for all the stars in the sky and the moon every night."

"That was possibly the cutest thing anyone's ever said to me," she says, quickly kissing my lips.

"I guess I can be alright sometimes," I say, smiling.

"Who knew you were so poetic," she says, resting her head on my chest.

"I'm still a mystery then, huh?"

She laughs. "I constantly learn new things about you."

"Did you also know that there's this girl that I really like?"

"You just said that," she says, giggling.

"Hey, you don't know if it's you! I said I was thankful  for you. I might not necessarily like you!"

"Oh?" she says, raising her eyebrows. She props herself up to look at me.

"It is you, though" I say, smiling widely.

"Calum would have rolled his eyes so dramatically if he heard you say that."

"Too bad he's thousands of feet in the air and can't hear me. I miss him already."

"Me too, Luke. We'll see them soon enough though."

It's so weird how two hours ago, Calum and my mom were still here, and now they're already flying back to Australia. It doesn't feel like they were here for long enough. I always feel like time passes by too quickly. I can't wait to see them again.

I can't wait to make more memories the next few months and be able to tell them all about it when I see them.

HEY I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO UPDATE (I THINK. I HOPE.)

I'M TOTALLY COMPLETELY FINE. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME. I DIDN'T WRITE BECAUSE I COULDN'T FOR UNEXPLAINABLE COMPLICATIONS. IT'S ALL POSITIVE REASONS THOUGH.

tweet me what you think @singsongash because I love seeing your thoughts haha :) and this is technically the first chapter and I didn't know how to start it but I hope this was good enough for you guys :)

ALSO I UPDATED BROKEN RECORD AFTER 9 MONTHS SO GO READ THAT!

ily

-ashley