*NOT EDITED*

Chapter 37

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Ryder and I fell asleep in each other's arms until he woke us up before anyone in the house could have seen us. It was hard getting him out of the house without anyone hearing him. At that time, every creak of the steps on the stairs seemed loud enough to wake up an entire nation.

"I feel like a big elephant walking down these stairs," he had told me in a hushed tone.

"You're not the only one."

After walking down, what seemed like, an endless set of stairs, we were finally out the house and nobody woke up—at least I hoped so.

"How are you going to get home?" I asked.

"The same way I came here—I'm going to use my motorcycle."

My eyes widened. "You have one? You're such a cliché."

"No, I'm not. Just because I own a motorcycle, doesn't mean I'm clichéd." He rolled his eyes and I let out a laugh.

"Don't deny it," I said with a smirk.

He just rolled his eyes again and hopped on the motorcycle. He pulled on a helmet on his head and drove away, the sound of the loud engine interrupting the peaceful silence of the birds chirping.

After he left, the bed still smelled like him. It was too bad that we were going to California, and I wouldn't bask in the scent whilst falling asleep.

We spent the day packing and right before lunch, Reece came home. She wasn't here for the full day yesterday, and I wasn't sure why she wasn't here and if she knew about Cameron and Warren.

I was just about to open my suitcase when Reece walked in the room.

"Where were you for the past 24 hours?" I asked and noted her exhausted look.

"I was talking to dad and trying to convince him in me going with you to Los Angeles." She flopped on the bed, head first.

"And?"

"And . . . he said no. We were originally coming to Toronto for my sister, and then I begged them to come here instead. I have to visit my sister one way or another."

"Oh." The sadness was noticable in my voice.

"Yeah. Dad's waiting for me to pack my bags. He's coming to pick me up after lunch."

"What?" I asked with wide eyes, "You're leaving now?"

"Yes." She exhaled deeply and stood up. She bent down and pulled one of her large suitcases from under the bed.

"But you can't leave now," I said, standing up as well. I tried thinking of all the ways that I can convince him to keep Reece with us, but my mind was blank. Right when I needed my brain the most, it went blank.

"I don't want to leave either but we both know that we have little choice—no choice left, actually."

Someone knocked on the door before I could say anything else.

"Come in."

The door opened and dad walked in. He eyed the suitcases and bit his lips.

"Xavier's making you leave already?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"You know that when he sets his mind on something, it's near impossible getting him to change his mind," he said, shaking his head and crossing his arms, "Well, it was a nice week while you stayed with us, Reece. We'll really miss you."

Dad walked up to her and ruffled her hair like he always did when we were younger. Reece smiled a sad, warm smile before fixing her hair again.

"It's time for lunch, girls. I'll meet you downstairs," he said before leaving the room and closing the door after him.

We looked at each other and didn't say anything. She was the first to break away from my gaze, turning away and leaving the room. I followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen where Elyse was preparing the food.

"What are we having, Elyse?" Reece asked excitedly. Not even leaving her own mother would die down her love or enthusiasm towards food.

"Buttered chicken, potatoes, and sweet corn," replied Elyse with a smile.

My mouth watered as the smell of the sweet, warm food wafted up my nostrils. I sighed in content making Elyse laugh back.

We helped in bringing out the food to the dining table where everyone was already sitting down. I sat across Cameron and in between Damon and dad and dove right into the food. I ate so much so fast, I felt my stomach grumble as it struggled to digest it in time.

After lunch, the high of eating the delicious food died down, and it was time for Reece to leave. She had packed her bags ridiculously fast and I worried that she'd forget something here when she'd leave.

My stomach jolted when I heard the doorbell ring, knowing that her dad was here to take her. She was going to be taken away from me for the second time this year.

It oddly felt like déjà vu when we were saying our goodbyes, but this time, I was in a different house and Reece was the one who was going away. I had to watch her leave, knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop it. Was this how she felt when I left?

I tried to minimize the crying as much as possible when Reece was finally getting into the car with her dad. Cameron put a comforting hand on mine and suddenly, the door to their car opened, and Reece rushed to me with something that I couldn't see clutched in her hand.

My eyebrows furrowed. "What are you-"

"This is the picture that Ryder, you, and I took by the sea port. I want you to keep it." She opened my hand and laid the small, rectangular, shiny, piece of paper in the palm of my hand.

I felt a small smile form on my face when I saw the picture again. Reece and I had fought on who was going to keep it and, as always, she had won the fight.

Reece smiled back and turned around back to the car. I watched their car leave from our neighborhood, my eyes following the back of their car until it was out of sight.

I was the first to turn back around, walking up to my bedroom. I opened the drawer of my bedside table and took out the small box with worn out corners. I pulled off the lid and placed the polaroid picture next to the ring pop that Ryder had given me. I smiled at the memory of that night and at the apples that were lined up with the notes.

At that moment, Damon burst into my room, sharply snapping me out of my thoughts. I quickly put the stuff back into the box, shut it close, and pushed it under my bed.

"You're never going to learn to knock, are you?" I asked, slightly annoyed as he walked to my bed and sat on it.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

"So, did you and Ryder have fun yesterday?" he asked and wiggled his eyebrows, "I heard him leave in the morning."

"It wasn't like that, you dirty-minded dimwit." I rolled my eyes and gave him a hard push on the chest, making him fall back with a laugh.

"Whatever you say." He chuckled with a smirk, leaving me alone again within the deafening silence of my room.

When I looked at the clock above my bed, I realized that there was little time left for my packing. I sighed and turned back to packing the empty bag.

California suddenly didn't seem as fun as it used to.

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Author's Note:

Hey, guys! This was really hard to write since I'm a particularly a happy and sunshine person (regardless of my username) lmao. Reece is finally leaving, aww! What did you think of her?

As promised, you are going to find out about the project I told you about earlier. It's in the next part of the book. What is it, you may ask. It's a .  .  .

TRAILER!!!

Yes, I made a trailer for TGTCTP! I'm so proud of it and I really worked hard on it. I posted it on YouTube. Details in the next part (Book Trailer)

Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT, SHARS, and FOLLOW!