it was a day before skylar left for university. she had decided to go in person for the semester as it was a very vital one. when they started university, crystal's singing career had just taken off and so, she had chosen the option of online school. skylar, being skylar wouldn't leave her best friend's side and so, she took up online schooling as well. but what worked for one did not work for the other. crystal was excelling at university as online schooling suited her. she could create a barrier between work and leisure even in the same place. but skylar found it harder to concentrate. they both had spoken about this topic more than once. and decided that offline was the way to go for skylar.

not one person looked forward to the day, though. they would all miss her. mainly crystal and corbyn. to take their minds off of this, they both had planned a going away party for their best friend. yesterday crystal was out at the movies with zach, and she knew that she had feelings toward him. what kind? she didn't know. did she see him as a friend? well, certainly. did she see him as a brother or as a possible lover? she didn't know this. she thought at first that she had a crush on him. but she would want him to be happy with whoever he's happy with. does that mean that she doesn't like him or that she's just mature enough to let him be happy? even though it wouldn't be with her.

maybe she was... mature enough to see him happy. because all that mattered to her was his happiness. she would never want to see his smile fade. oh, that beautiful, wonderful smile. it could make crystal melt into a puddle of sunflowers. maybe he was smiling at someone else, in a way that she wanted him to smile at her but... at least he was smiling. she didn't know just what it was that made her feel that way.

she thought about telling corbyn about this while they were hanging up the banners and balloons. corbyn, he was a guy. he knew how guys were. crystal and skylar always consulted corbyn whenever they had a crush. and he helped them, it also worked the other way 'round. the girls helped him too. so crystal just decided to ask him. hopefully, he wouldn't be angry. and for that reason, she made it subtle.

"corbs... what would you say if i fell for one of your bandmates?" crystal asked, as she was holding up the 'we will miss you' banner on one side as corbyn held up the other.

"well, they're all good lads... and i wouldn't mind it but, i think that it would be very difficult for me to get to terms with... i mean they're like my brothers. and you're my best friend. and if you date and do break up for whatever reason, it would mess my life up. and if they hurt you, or if it is the other way around; i wouldn't know what to do. but one thing's for sure, if anybody hurts you, i will bury them alive," corbyn replied, glancing at the young girl with furrowed eyebrows. what was she onto now?

"oh," crystal replied. short and sweet. yet bitter and sour.

"why'd you ask such a question?" corbyn asks, as they finish hanging up the banner.

"i 'ont know, just curious," and this is when corbyn knew that something was wrong with his best friend; but he decided to let it go since he did not want to approach this topic on today of all days

by 5 p.m., all the arrangements were done. food, drinks, decorations, music, karaoke, everything. moreover at the end of the night, they planned a barbecue; skylar's favorite. crystal and corbyn had gotten time to do this as the boys had agreed to take skylar to spend the day at a luxury resort. skylar was happy, for the offer but she wasn't as enlightened when she found out that her best friends wouldn't be joining her on her last day.

"alright! it's time to head home. sky, we're gonna drop you off at your house and both you and crys can get ready and head over to ours. we're gonna watch a movie and order pizza," jonah said, hugging the girl by his side. he had developed a liking toward her. no, he liked her. like, he like-liked her. she did too. and that's why she was always either on the phone with him, or she was with him.

"okay," skylar said, still thinking about why crystal and corbyn did not want to spend the day with her. as the boys drop skylar to the house, crystal's already inside. skylar's still upset as she thinks that crystal wasn't there on her last day at home. she walks in, and sees everything packed up in boxes. both hers and crystal's stuff, photos, everything. moving away is going to be hard on her. 

she walks into her room to see a pretty outfit laid out for her. it was attached with a note written in a familiar, beautiful cursive she recognized to be her best friend's. crystal's a writer after all. it read 'wear this tonight! i know you don't like dresses so i got you this! love ya so much BB. i hope you like it. <3' smiling, she put the note aside, and took another look at the outfit. it was a white lantern sleeved button-down shirt made of satin and faded grey jeans with a vintage black belt. crystal could become a fashion designer if she didn't love music and literature so much, skylar thought.

*the outfit*

*the way she looks at the end of getting ready* 

smiling at the outfit in the mirror, she does her makeup and heads out to barge into crystal's room. skylar was beaming the whole time. she walks in on crystal doing her makeup. the young girl was concentrating so hard on her makeup and she doesn't notice her best friend until she comes up behind her in the mirror.

"oh my god! skylar brown, you look as stunning as ever!" she squeals at skylar, getting up with half-done makeup.

"imma pretty boy im stunnin'," skylar sings.

"supa speed sonic, i'm runnin'," crystal completes for her.

"and goddamn it crystal your outfit is fire!"

*crystal's outfit*

"thank you!" she beamed at skylar, "corbyn helped me pick it out!"

"alrighty! get done with your makeup now, quick."

*the makeup*

soon after, they headed to crystal's jeep since she insisted on driving. about fifteen minutes later, they reached the WDW house. as skylar stepped in, she was taken by surprise. all the furniture was gone. there were golden and black balloons everywhere and the boys were all dressed in black.

*the boys' outfit (el rey)*

"we're dressed in black since that's you favorite," jack smiled kindly at the shocked girl.

"oh... my god," she was speechless, to say the least, "i love you guys!"

"we love you too!" came a joint reply by them all. after this, they started karaoke, and as expected it was crystal and zach that enjoyed it the most. soon as they sang at least fifteen songs, they headed to the kitchen to get something to drink as their throats were hurting by scream-singing. zach makes full use of this opportunity to admire crystal. she looks gorgeous, as always. but... something was so different about her today. she made him get chills.

'i got chills when you walk, chills when you talk, chills every time you say my name'

"did i tell you that you look gorgeous tonight?" he spoke, his face forming into a small smile.

"thank you," crystal gushes, her cheeks turning the shade of her lipstick. she looks at him properly for the first time today. he was wearing all black, as decided by the latter earlier. but what actually made her breath to get caught in her throat was his shirt... it was see-through with holes in it, highlighting his abs so perfectly.

"you look amaZayn too," she said tearing her eyes away from his abs. he noticed her staring at them before and he smirks at her.

"like what you see, butterfly?" 

"i've seen better," she remarks as the mood of the room changes. the air was heavy between them as he stepped closer to her, his hands tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear. he stares at her, taking her beauty in. finally his gaze lands on her lips. oh, hoe bad he wanted to kiss them in that moment. and almost as if it was a reflex action, her eyes switch to his lips and she takes in a deep breath. they inch closer, and closer, and closer until their lips touch. her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands placed firmly on her waist.

they take in the moment, as she kisses back. her stomach doing all sorts of gymnastics, and her hands on his neck giving him chills. they stay that way for about five more seconds until... 'click' they hear a camera click. frightened, they break apart from the moment of euphoria to see daniel with a camera around his neck and the rest of the group behind him, smiling at one other. except one person. corbyn.

fuck. fuck. fuck. she thinks she messed up. skylar and jack whistle at the two, as crystal exchanges a glance with zach. he sees what she sees. they see corbyn. he had his mouth open with a surprised look on his face. he takes time to register what was happening until he breaks into a huge smile and screams : "i knew it!" this causes both crystal and zach to stop worrying and smile widely. what; just; happened? they kissed. finally. they couldn't believe it themselves though.

"finally!" jonah and skylar exclaim, looking at one another, "mission accomplished!"

"wait... what mission?" zach asks the two.

"nada-nothin'!" jonah says back smiling at the girl beside him.

as the others were talking about how they knew this would eventually happen, they all headed to the living room.

"i'm gonna set up the grill," jonah speaks, turning the attention of the room away from zach and crystal.

"yeah man, we're gonna play some music; call us when it's done," corbyn replies as jonah heads out, "now, how's zystal?" he says back to the others.

"wait... what?" crystal asks, confused, as she takes a seat next to zach and he pulls her to his side.

"the ship!" jack exclaims, as if it were the most general knowledge fact ever, "zystal is per-fect!"

crystal shakes her head at her immature friends and zach chuckles. skylar gets up, heading to the garden to help jonah set up the grill.

"so... they finally kissed," she says, out of nowhere making jonah jump since he didn't know she was here.

"yeah, i mean it was bound to happen. if it's meant to be, it'll be ya know?"

"hm..." skylar drags her words as she head over to help jonah pick up the box the grill was in, as he was struggling to do it alone. finally as they lift it onto a table, they turn toward each other only to notice that they're inches away. skylar sucks in a breath through her mouth, staring at the boy in front of her. how... is a person so pretty?

he stares at her eyes, they enchant him. those soft, brown eyes that made him want to leap from a building; hypnotizing him completely. his eyes drop to the girls lips. tinted with a light shade of lipstick, were her soft lips. and he didn't know what it was but he leaned over and gently touched his lips to hers. it was as if something took over him, the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

'i can feel the rush of adrenaline'

and at just the wrong time, they heard not a camera click, but a scream. it was a horrendous voice, the intensity of the scream made their eardrums ache. it was her. tate. she was here. hearing the scream, everyone came out of the living room, to see skylar and jonah only inches away from each other and tate standing at the other end with eyes wide.

"you only... you only broke up with me two days ago and now you're pursuing another bitch?! how dare you, you bastard!" she screams, full of rage. everyone was shocked. jonah broke up with tate? 

"tate why are you here? please get out," daniel says, speaking sense after a long time.

"i was here to return the keys, i have no buisness here," tate replies, coldly throwing the keys at jonah's feet and stalking back to the front door.

"you broke up with her?" jack questions, as crystal goes over to skylar.

"yes. not two days ago, though. we were always off. it was because of the management that we held together. or we would've broken up two months ago. we did. but the management was threatening me and i had no choice. this wasn't what i wanted... she wasn't the one for me, he turned away from daniel now talking directly to skylar.

"joylar it is then!" zach says, earning a giggle from crystal. tonight was... interesting. two kisses, two ships, enjoyment and... skylar's last day.

the grill was soon set up and everyone had the most amazing time at the barbecue. they made jokes, old memories were reminisced, the next day's plans were discussed, songs were sung (you know who), and soon it was the end of the night. 11 p.m. this caused the situation to change. tears were shed, hugs exchanged, kisses given, and that was it. 11:30 and they had to leave. they had to go sleep, skylar's flight was scheduled at 8 a.m. the next morning. still tears falling down from her face, she heads toward corbyn, giving him another final hug, he hugs her back, the tears from his eyes falling onto her hair as they hug tightly. she then heads to zach, jack and daniel giving each of them a huge hug and receiving comforting words from them. and finally... she heads toward jonah, who hugs wraps his arms around the girl. yes, they met only a month ago but the connection they had was intense.

saying her goodbyes, she heads to the jeep and gets in with crystal. with no words spoken, they let the music take over the silence as they head to their apartment. getting inside, they change into something comfortable, take off their makeup and set up the boxes in a corner for when they come back; and the packed bags to the front. they were both tired and upset. crystal hugs skylar and heads toward her room, where she finally let her tears fall from her eyes.

as she wrapped the sheets around her, the sound of an opening door surprised her. skylar walked in to lay next to her best friend. she hugs her, still crying.

"i love you, crys," she comforts the young girl, "i'll be back"

"i know, i know you will. i'm being too emotional aren't i? i should stop," crystal replies, wiping her eyes.

"no, you aren't. sleep, now."

and just like that they drift into sleep. without dreams. because skylar leaving was unimaginable a dream within a dream, as the poets say.