It's been six days since Ethan and I arrived back home, five days of Finals and five days of non-stop chaos for all of us.

We found out on Tuesday that the house we had put an offer on, we were granted, which we're all thrilled about; Lauren more so, especially now she knows for sure she's got somewhere to bring home her baby. So, we have been sorting that out, on top of final exams, which has been a lot.

But finally after a long, hard year, it's eventually the last day for us all, and God, does it feel good when we're being excused to leave. I pack away my things, turning my phone back on before leaving the hall, and all the stress I've been feeling lately, just lifts. My last Final is over and done with, I can finally relax.

Lauren soon enough follows out of the door, hand on bump, protecting her baby from the busy halls. She hooks her arm in mine, I slip my phone in my pocket and we join the human traffic jam, "So, how do you think you did?"

"We studied, that's all we can do, but I think I did okay, you know? How about you?" I ask her back, hoping the help I gave her did something.

"You really helped me, I remembered my notes, baby brain didn't fog this time, only had to suffer through the kicking and heartburn, but I did it," she grins, seeming really happy about it, "Even if I get a simple pass in this class, it's enough because fuck me, it's like this baby is treating my bladder like how Ethan treats his punch bags."

I let out a laugh at the comment, "We'll get to the dorm as soon as we can, I think Ethan and Hanna's final ended just before ours, and Matt's was two hours ago?"

She nods, "Yeah, it was, he said he was going to be tidying the place up for when we get back."

We're saying our temporary goodbyes to Hanna and Matt soon, too soon in fact. They'll be back here with us again in four weeks for the moving date, but until then Lauren and I will be living at the Campbells' place, me sleeping with Ethan, and Lauren with Felix.

We've slowly been taking a couple boxes over every day, only leaving the last few for today, but I really don't want to say goodbye to my best friends again. I hate the distance and I hate not being able to jump into their beds every morning, it's going to be so weird without them again for a little while.

We meet Ethan and Hanna in the middle of the two buildings, Ethan wrapping me up in a bear hug, immediately asking how I've done, before we take the slow walk back to our dorm. Lauren and I have another two years of college, whereas next year it's Ethan, Felix, Hanna and Matt's last, and considering Lauren's due date is September, she'll most likely be taking a year out of studies, so everything is going to be so different soon.

We eventually make it back to our building and as we are about to brace the stairs up to our dorm room in this heat, we all suddenly stop when the elevator magically opens. Audible gasps are heard from us all and before it shuts and goes back up, Ethan presses the button and looks at us, questioning if we want to use it.

Lauren scoffs in disbelief, shaking her head, "Oh, of course it would be fixed now. I don't care what you guys do, but I'm not walking another flight with this bump when this is finally working."

Together, we ride the elevator for the first time, but being the pessimist I am, the thought of it breaking again was the only thing I could think of for the entire duration. So, as soon as those doors open, I leave and head straight to our dorm at the very end, ready to be with Matt for a while before he leaves for the summer.

When I unlock the door, I abruptly come face-to-face with the sight of Matt and Kieran heavily making out in the kitchen, grasping onto each other's clothes. Kieran clears his throat and Matt purses his lips, looking at the four of us with much loath. I hold up my hands in amusement, "You have had hours to say goodbye to each other, we don't."

Matt hides his smile before he opens the fridge, grabbing a couple of bottles of water out and a brown paper bag, "Hanna, I've made you lunch for your drive home. Lauren and Francesca, you've got cookies in here; Ethan you can have them too, of course. I think everything is all packed, so we can leave whenever. Francesca, you're still handing in the keys, right?"

"Yeah, Ethan's going over with me."

As Matt said, everything is packed; the furniture is in storage, there's nothing left here for us, not even the sofa, just a few boxes in the middle of the room waiting for us to take with us.

Kieran and Matt say their goodbyes to one another, promising their love and that they'll see each other soon. I couldn't imagine not seeing Ethan now that I have him, especially not for too long, so I hug Matt just that little bit tighter once he walks back into the dorm.

Hanna is the first to go, having to get on the road back to her hometown; she's going to her parents lake house tomorrow with her other friends, so the sooner she gets home to pack and settle, the better. It's not very long after when Matt has to leave also. There's nothing left here to do, we were just delaying time sitting on the floor of the living room, drinking soda. So, we all go downstairs and wave him off as he pulls out of the parking lot in his car.

Lauren offers to head over to the apartment with my old car, so when she leaves, me and Ethan head back upstairs to grab the last of our things.

Though we're all ready for this new journey together, having to say goodbye to the place we've been sharing for the last two years is turning out to be harder than I initially thought.

This kitchen holds so many memories, from emotional breakdowns to almost burning down the building several times. I laugh remembering one certain moment which sticks out the most from the rest; all the way back from our first year.

"Lauren, quick!" I scream, turning the faucet on.

She looks at me alarmed, questioning how the fuck this is going to help the cookies that are on fire. She quickly catches on thankfully, dumping the tray in the sink and letting the faucet put out the flames. I grab a dish towel, clearing the smoke away from the detector so we don't cause everyone to evacuate their dorms, while she opens the closest windows in the living area.

"Jesus fuck, what are you two doing?" Matt walks through the door, shutting it right behind him.

Lauren sheepishly looks at him before we all burst out laughing.

I walk through the hall to my bedroom, remembering my first day here, the room looking as deserted as it does now; bare mattress, clean shelves and empty wardrobes.

With my hands full, I knock to the best of my abilities on the door to the bedroom, my nerves swallowing me whole now that my mom has left me to my own devices. Suddenly the door swings open, welcoming me to a tall slender man with purple hair. The fear of having to sleep next to a guy sets in, but once he opens his arms to pull me in for a hug, all fears leave.

Muffled against my shoulder, he says, "I'm Matt, what's your name?"

"I'm Francesca, but you can call me Frankie, there's no need for the full name."

"Frankie... I think me and you are going to be the best of friends, welcome to Princeton."

I sit on the bare mattress of my bed, pulling my knees to my heavy chest as I remember another dear memory that these walls hold.

Ethan notices my clear nerves as we stand in front of each other, both knowing where it's going to lead next, "We don't have to do this. If you're not ready or one-hundred percent sure, we can wait."

"We've waited too long, Ethan," I whisper, the desperation to finally have him after pining for so long. To have his lips where I've been dreaming of since I first met him a couple of months ago.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"One-hundred percent."

He then kissed me, our lips found each other, our clothes were ridden off and we were together finally. He made me cum over and over again; the only man to ever do so, making me feel pleasure I had never felt before. For the first time since the accident, my head went silent, only Ethan was on my brain.

Sniffling at the memory, I wipe my tears from my cheeks and exhale a deep breath.

"Hey, Nirvana," Ethan suddenly says, leaning against my door frame, scaring me, "You ready to go?"

"Am I pathetic if I say no?" I try to cover a sob and hide my face as my emotions get the best of me.

He walks over and climbs on my little bed next to me, pulling me into his side, "A lot of memories in this little room, huh?"

"Mhm," I nod against his shoulder, "Harder than I thought it was going to be. It's just the silly things really. They're just walls, but so much happened here."

"I know, darling, you can take your time, we have no rush, we could even unpack the last box and get the sheets back out, have a few more days here until it's gone."

"Need to pull the bandaid off, say the final goodbye and leave without looking back," I whisper, and he presses a long kiss to the top of my forehead.

And so with that, between the two of us, we grab the remainder of our things and load them into Ethan's car before leaving the place where my friends and I have spent the last two years of college living together. Those two years have been a whirlwind, and through all of the bad, the good still manages to shine through. Without my friends, I hold no doubts that I wouldn't have survived them, Ethan especially.

He once named me as his damsel in distress, and as much as I hate to admit so, he was right. He saved me in ways I know I'll never be able to repay because, throughout all of the trepidation, he was my serenity.

And I was his nirvana.

~~~~~

A/N

Thank you so much to everyone who has been here from the beginning, I couldn't have finished this book without you. 

If you are aware, there was supposed to be a third book and I was going to explore a lot of them moving in together, Francesca was going to visit her father. But writing isn't as easy as it seems; I've been writing these characters for three years and the story was giving me the worst writer's block. I thought it was a problem with me, but after writing a new book and almost completing it within five months, I realised it was this story. 

After a long consideration, I decided to rewrite the ending of this book and give you all some peace, a happy ending and an Epilogue (don't hold me to it yet)

The journey of Francesca and Ethan will always have a piece of my heart, but it's now over and I'm happy to be saying goodbye to this story. I couldn't be more grateful for my readers, voters and commenters. The messages I have received have been beyond lovely and you're the reason why my characters are getting the ending they deserve.

Again, I love you all so much and thank you for reading.

~ B