I was smothered by hugs and kisses when I saw my family again after I was questioned. They wanted to know everything, so I found myself telling the story all over again to them. My dad couldn't believe what they were hearing, and my mom turned pale and had to sit down so she wouldn't faint. I hated doing this to them, but at least it was over and no one else got seriously hurt.

But out of my entire family, I knew my brother felt the worst. He found out that not only did his best friend killed his grandmother, but he was also harassing his little sister as well. I would have felt horrible if I was Austin, too.

"So every time I saw you two together..." Austin began to say, but didn't let himself finish as he rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm a horrible brother. I can't believe I couldn't see how scared you were. I can't believe I didn't see how crazy he was."

"Everything's okay," I told him soothingly, rubbing his shoulder as I sat down next to him. "He tricked a lot of people. I don't blame you for not seeing it, Austin. Hunter's a good actor and he's used to fooling people."

Austin smiled at me sadly. "I'm so sorry, Jordan."

But that had been weeks ago, and we were now technically into our summer vacation. We didn't have any classes, but we were finally having the make-up graduation, so we were back at the camp, but it wasn't like I was complaining. I loved that place and I never wanted to leave it, but I was supposed to go to Yale in only a few more days.

"Could you stop sucking face for one second and practice your speech?" Alex asked, smacking the back of my head with the paper that had the speech written on it. "I swear, it's like you guys plan on just making out on stage!"

I scowled, snatching the speech from him as I continued to sit on Jesse's lap. "We don't need to practice," I told him, slapping the speech down on the table next to us before wrapping my arms around Jesse's neck again. "We know who's saying what and if we forget what we have to say, we can just look down at the speech."

Alex rolled his eyes at the two of us. I stuck my tongue out at him, but went back to kissing Jesse only a second after. He had just gotten out of the hospital the day before, and we had been working on our speech for only five minutes before we starting making out. Now that our relationship could be out in the open, I didn't really care about practicing some stupid speech.

"We're leaving in fifteen minutes!" Alex warned after who knew how long. "I'm surprised you two haven't died from lack of oxygen yet! Get up and put your gowns and caps on! You're going to make us late!"

I grumbled, scooting off of Jesse's lap. Graduation was going to be at the camp, right outside on the huge grass field. There was no way we were going to be late since we were already ready, except for the caps and gowns. I knew Alex just wanted us to stop making out in his cabin.

"Okay, okay, we're going," I sighed, grabbing my gown and swiftly slipping it on. Jesse did the same as I grabbed my cap. I then grumbled, "I'm not really surprised that you interrupted us..."

"Well, someone's gotta be the cock block."

My face reddened. "Oh, my gosh!"

Alex burst out laughing, and I scowled when Jesse did as well. How could guys just joke around like that? My face was practically on fire... There was no way I'd ever be able to say that to anyone, not even my closest friends!

"Ah, sorry about that," Alex apologized after he had finally stopped laughing. He wiped a tear from his eye, and I couldn't help but stare at him flatly. "I just couldn't resist. Your reaction was priceless..."

I scowled once again. "Do you want to leave or what?"

"Just make sure to not let your crazy stalker crash the graduation this time," Alex wagged his finger at me, and my scowl only turned harsher. I didn't want to think about Hunter then. Actually, I never wanted to think about Hunter ever again. Jesse, Alex, and I had to go to his trial a few days before, and the entire time he wouldn't stop looking at me. Even when Jesse and Alex went up to speak, Hunter's eyes never left me. I still felt my skin crawl just thinking about it.

Hunter was originally sentence to death because of all the crimes he had committed before. But when I took the stand, much to Jesse and Alex's surprise, I begged for them to spare his life. Because even after everything he had done to the people I care about and me, I couldn't let someone else die and let it be my fault.

So he was thrown in jail with a life sentence with no possibility of parole. I was happy and relieved, but I could tell Jesse and Alex were a little ticked off with the fact that I asked them not to kill Hunter.

Alex now shrugged, completely ignoring my scowl before the three of us made our way to Cabin C, where the rest of our friends were. It upset me to think that this would really be the last time we'd all be together. Lexi, AJ, Chelsea, and I were all going to be scattered across the country when we went to college, and I hadn't even talked about what colleges Alex or Jesse were going to go to with them yet...

     "Jordan, are you ready to get up in front of everyone and actually say a whole speech?" Chelsea teased when they had come out of the cabin with everyone else trailing behind her. "Are you not going to cry and then have your psychopathic ex-boyfriend crash the whole thing?"

I stared at her flatly. No one was ever going to let that go, were they? I couldn't really believe that they were actually joking about what had happened. I knew they were trying to make me feel better, but it really wasn't working...

"I'm going to have Jesse with me this time," I couldn't help but smile, forgetting what they were making fun of as I clutched onto Jesse's hand. I loved that I could do this in front of my friends now and they accepted it. "So everything's going to be fine."

Jesse smiled back at me, squeezing my hand even tighter. Only seconds later we headed toward the grass field, the last place my class was going to be all together. It was so hard to believe that we were actually here after all this time...

Getting in alphabetical order just like we had during the first graduation ceremony, I was in between the front and the middle. Jesse was about fifteen people behind me, and I couldn't help but look back at him almost every couple of minutes. We both had valedictorian stoles hanging around our necks, so it wasn't really hard to see him.

 When Pomp and Circumstance began to play, I felt my stomach twist. This was really it... We were really graduating. There was no way Hunter could crash it this time. There was nothing that could have possibly stopped up from graduating...

Just like I had told Jesse when he had woken up, we were under protective custody pretty much the entire time. There were plain-clothed cops in the crowd just in case anything might have happened, and then when I went off to Yale a few cops were going to be around just in case. I didn't know how long this was going to last, but I didn't really care. As long as the people I cared about and I were safe, I was perfectly fine.

We walked down the aisle and to where the stage had been set up, sitting in the seats right in front of the audience. I was afraid that when Jesse and I went up to speak, people were going to boo or give us dirty looks because of what had happened last time.

"Welcome," Matthew smiled brightly when he walked up to the podium, "to the official graduation of the class of 2011..."

I didn't know if I was just being paranoid, but I could tell that some people shifted their eyes in my direction. It wasn't my fault Hunter had crashed the last graduation! It wasn't like I wanted him to do it!

I stared down at my lap as Matthew called the class president up. I didn't listen to whatever he had to say, and I knew that it didn't really matter. It was probably the same speech that he had recited during the first graduation ceremony, so I didn't really think I needed to listen to it all over again.

"And now," Matthew finally said when he got back up to the podium. "Our valedictorians, Jordan Emery and Jesse Jacobsen."

Much to my surprise, the crowd behind us erupted in cheers. They knew who we were from what had happened last time, so I expected everyone to boo or hiss. I didn't think people would be cheering us on like they were. They were so... encouraging, and it made all the fear I had wash away as I stood up and walked to the podium, Jesse by my side the entire time.

"Hi, I'm Jordan," I smiled, making sure to say who I was just in case they thought that I was Jesse or something, since both of our names were for males and females. "And this is Jesse. Thank you for joining the graduating class of 2011 during this very exciting time..."

I gripped Jesse's hand, but I knew no one could see because the podium was in the way. Not that it would have mattered if it wasn't, since our relationship wasn't a secret anymore. Everyone here knew that Jesse and I were a couple, and I couldn't help but smile at the thought of it.

"The last time we were all together, we kind of got interrupted," Jesse chuckled nervously, and I let out a sigh of relief when I heard small laughter coming from the audience. "But I assure you that nothing like that is going to happen during this ceremony. The man who had caused that all, Hunter Drax, is behind bars and he will be there for the rest of his life."

The audience cheered, and Jesse and I smiled at each other. Everything really was coming to an end. Not just everything with Hunter, but our high school lives as well. Here we were, both of us reciting a speech that we had written together at our graduation ceremony. I never thought this day would come the way it did.

"We'd like to have a moment of silence for Alexandria Quirk," I informed them all before we could get into anything.

The whole room went silent, and I counted to thirty and blinked away my tears before I started to speak again.

"It feels like just yesterday it was our first day at the camp," I began, looking around the audience feeling happy that I wasn't scared. "But that was months ago. I can honestly say that I wish I was able to attend all four years here at the camp, but I'm still happy with the time I was given..."

"It's Jordan's and my fault that we and all our classmates are here," Jesse began to explain with a small smile on his lips. I knew he was remembering all the times we had together when we were younger. "Ever since the first time we met, Jordan hadn't been able to stand me. She might have thought that I hated her just as much, but I truthfully have always loved her since the moment I laid eyes on her."

My cheeks turned bright red, and I looked down at the speech to see if that was written in there somewhere. It wasn't, so I had no idea where he was going with this...

The crowed awed, but that only made me blush deeper. It was really sweet of him to say that, but it was still embarrassing...

"When we first met, she was on a date--"

"I wasn't on a date," I interrupted in embarrassment, causing the audience to laugh.

"Okay, she was technically on a date... But I ran into her, and I wasn't really the nicest person on the planet... But I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to say to her. I didn't believe in love at first sight back then, so I didn't know what I was feeling at first..."

"Aren't we supposed to be talking about the camp?" I couldn't help but ask, chuckling nervously as my cheeks turned even redder. "This is sweet and all, but I don't really know if people want to hear about this..."

"Yes we do!" I heard someone shout somewhere in the crowd, and it suspiciously sounded like Lexi. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, but smiled when I heard the audience laugh. Some of them even agreed. Why would people want to sit around at a graduation and listen to the first time Jesse had met me?

Jesse smirked. "I'll keep this short for you, Jordan," he assured me with a nod. He then turned back toward the audience. "I don't want to bore you with the details, but let's just say it took her a while, four years to be exact, to start feeling the same way about me."

I elbowed him in the ribs lightly, causing him and the crowd to laugh. Were we going to continue with the rest of the speech after he was talking about me?

"She gave me a reason a live, a reason to change who I was. I dragged her into something horrible and yet we still managed to get out and finally be together... So she's the person I want to thank. I know I'm supposed to do this later in the speech, and I'm surprised she didn't notice that I didn't write it down, but Jordan Emery is the person I want to thank for everything she's done for me. Because, even after she learned about my past and what had been going on with Hunter, she still accepted me and didn't look at me any different way..."

He now turned toward me, and I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes. This was why he was talking to everyone about me? Because he wanted to thank me?

"I love you, Jordan," he smiled, and my eyes widened when I saw that he had tears in his eyes. "I love you more than anything on this entire planet."

Totally forgetting that we were in front of hundreds of people, I jumped up and crushed my lips to his. Forgetting the fact that our families were in the audience, we kissed for a only a few seconds before the audience erupted in cheers. I quickly pulled away after that, a deep blush making its way onto my face once again.

"And I guess I thank my mom, my dad, my sister Camilla, and my best friend Alex, too," Jesse added quickly with a nod, all signs of tears gone from his eyes. "They'll kill me if I don't mention them."

I knew he was only talking about his mom, Camilla, and Alex when he said the last part, but I didn't say anything about it as the audience laughed once again. When Jesse turned toward me again, I knew that he was now allowing me to speak.

"Well, that was surprising..." I sniffed, wiping at my eyes and letting out a small chuckle. "It makes everything I was going to say so irrelevant..."

Jesse rolled his eyes at me, nudging me in the side to keep me talking so I wouldn't start balling right on stage. How could this be the last time we were all going to be together? I looked out at the kids that I had spent the last few months with, and I really wanted to just break down and cry right then and there on stage.

"I wanted to thank my best friends Lexi, Chelsea, and AJ for being there for me during everything I was going through without even knowing that they were," I breathed, gripping the podium as the tears slowly started to go away. "And my other best friend Alex, for being there for me with his stupid sense of humor and knowing it."

Alex winked at me, but all I could do was roll my eyes at him like I always did. Some people would never change...

I looked out at the crowd one last time, wiping my cheek when only one tear fell. I looked over to see Dallas smiling at me, nodding when he saw that I was looking at him. I smiled back, remembering all the times we had together. And when I saw Erica right next to him, a little closer than just a friend should have been, I couldn't help but smile even more.

But now all I could think about was how this was the last time... The very last time we were all going to be together...

"And, of course, I want to thank my family..." I nodded, looking out in the crowd to see them there smiling brightly at me. After this was all over, I only had a few more days with them all. I'd be going to Yale, where I didn't even want to go anymore, and I'd be far away from them. Yale had been my dream, but it died the moment I fell in love with Jesse.

"And... Jesse," I sniffed, turning toward him with a small smile on my face now. "I couldn't stand you for almost four years. Every time I saw you coming, I wanted to run for the hills. You dragged me into something that almost got me killed, but I don't even care. Because if I hadn't met Hunter, I don't think we would have gotten as close as we are now. I would still be the brainy but stupid schoolgirl that didn't care about anything but grades. So thank you, Jesse Jacobsen, for showing me that there's so much more than that."

Jesse leaned in to kiss me, but I only brushed his lips against mine for a few seconds before turning back toward the crowd. I took the paper that had our original speech and ripped it in half, knowing that we weren't going to need it anymore.

"And I want to thank you all for coming," I finished off with a smile. "Sorry if what we've said got too personal or boring for you."

I hurried off the stage and back to my seat, Jesse lazily trailing behind me as the audience broke out into one last round of applause. I collapsed into my seat, breathing kind of heavily when I thought over what we had just said.

We didn't talk about the camp pretty much at all! We only talked about each other... Was that okay? We had talked about who we thanked like we were supposed to, but was it okay to talk about each other...?

I sure hoped so.

When Matthew went back up to the podium, I knew what was coming next. Dallas and Erica were behind him now, and behind them was the table with our diplomas. It was time to walk the stage, but I didn't know if I was ready just yet.

"Emily Annex," Matthew started in that bright and excited way of his, looking down at the list of names that lay on the podium in front of him. Emily hopped up from her seat, quickly making her way up the steps and over to Erica, who held her diploma.

They shook hands, and I saw Erica smile as she said, "Good job, Frizzy."

I expected Emily to frown, but she didn't. She knew that Erica didn't mean for it so sound mean like she had used to. She smiled right back at her as they shook hands before she turned toward Dallas and shook his hand as well. She then walked toward the steps opposite from where she had come on, walking passed the podium and shaking Matthew's hand before making her way back to her seat.

"Molly Anthony," Matthew now said after a few other people had gone up. Molly excitedly jumped up from her seat and made her way up the steps, doing exactly as Emily had as she shook both of the counselors hands and took her diploma.

Except this time Erica had smiled and said, "Good job, Shorty."

Molly smiled at her brightly, and I knew that she knew it wasn't offensive any longer. After he had shook Molly's hand and she went back to her seat, Matthew went through a few other names of people that I had vaguely heard of.

"Alexander Carson," he now called out, and I couldn't help but cheer extra loud as my male blonde best friend made his way up to the stage and shook both Dallas's and Erica's hands before taking his diploma and shaking hands with Matthew.

"Dalton Carson," Matthew said right after, and I couldn't help but realize that this was the first time I ever thought Dalton looked similar to his brother. He did look like a brunette Alex, if you looked at him at a certain angle... It was kind of funny, and it made me wonder if he acted like Alex at all...

I sure hoped not. I couldn't deal with another Alex...

After Dalton had done everything else everyone else had to do, he sat down and Matthew continued to call out names of people I barely knew. I looked over to see which of my friends were next, and my eyes widened when I saw that it was AJ and Aimee was right next to her.

Neither of them were talking, and I could tell that AJ was really nervous. I didn't blame her, because I knew she hadn't gotten over the fight that we had had with Aimee months before. I didn't think she ever would, but I didn't blame her for that.

"Annabelle Jo Crow," Matthew now called out, and I cheered as my best friend went up there to get her diploma. Even though she was a singer and usual loved to get up in front of people, I could tell that she was a little nervous as she went up.

After shaking their hands and grabbing her diploma, and after Erica had said, "Good job, Birdy," with a smile on her face, AJ quickly smiled back and  made her way back to her seat once again.

But before she could sit down, something I definitely wasn't expecting happened. Aimee stood up, even though her name hadn't been called yet, and wrapped her arms around AJ in a tight hug.

Chelsea, who was only two people away from me, gave me a look of shock as I did the same. We definitely weren't expecting anything like that! Aimee hadn't even acknowledged AJ since we had gotten into the fight.

"Aimee Dennett," Matthew now smiled, and Aimee grinned at AJ before making her way up to the stage and doing everything that everyone else had done.

Matthew continued to go through people, and I started to wonder how long this graduation would be. The class president's speech had been about ten minutes, and so had Jesse's and mine. So if calling off everyone's names took an hour, that meant it wouldn't even be an hour and a half long...

"Jordan Emery."

I blinked when I heard my name be called. Had he seriously just called my name? Was it really my turn to go up there and get my diploma? I quickly stood up before Matthew could call my name again, and I hurried along up the aisle and up the steps so I wouldn't cause any type if delay.

Dallas handed me my diploma and reached out to shake my hand. I could tell he was trying to act like our lips had never touched before, and I knew he was trying to pretend that he wasn't bothered by the fact that I had just professed my love for Jesse in front of everyone, but he hadn't ever been the greatest actor...

So instead of just shaking his hand, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. It was the least I could do, since I pretty much broke his heart... Even though he had done the same thing but didn't do anything about it until four years later, I wasn't going to do the same thing.

"I'll always love you," I whispered, squeezing him tighter for only a second before pulling away and smiling at him. "Don't forget that."

Dallas nodded, smiling as well. "Right back at you."

I walked over to Erica, who was smiling at me as well. She stuck out her hand, but I did the exact same thing I had done with Dallas. I pulled her into a hug and to my surprise, she actually hugged me back.

"Good job, Jordan," she smiled over her shoulder. "I knew you could do it."

I pulled away from her, still smiling. "What, no Ugly?"

Erica bowed her head a little, but she kept on smiling just like me. "I've come to realize that I made a mistake when I came up with your nickname."

"Thanks, Erica," I couldn't help but thank, feeling tears at the corner of my eyes now. "I never got to thank you for saving me last time. So... thank you for saving my life."

She patted my shoulder, pushing me long so I could hurry up and shake hands with Matthew. "No problem, Jordan... No problem..."

"Chelsea Evans," Matthew finally said after I had shook his hand and sat back down. I wiped at my eyes as my other best friend walked up to the stage and shook all of their hands after Erica had given her the diploma.

"Good job, Klutz," Erica smiled at her as they shook hands.

"Gracias, su majestad," Chelsea smiled right back.

Matthew called a few more people up, and I felt myself wanting to cry even more as continued to move along. Was anyone else crying? I wanted to look around to check, but I was afraid I'd definitely start crying if I did.

"Jesse Jacobsen," Matthew called out now, and a huge round of applause erupted from the crowd. I was definitely one of the loudest people cheering, but there sure were a lot of other people who were cheering pretty loudly as well.

Dallas and Jesse shook hands, and I was kind of scared of having the two of them so close together. They never had gotten along, and I assumed it was always because of me, so I was afraid something was going to happen between them while they were both on the stage.

But when they smiled at each other and shook hands, my jaw almost hit the floor. It wasn't like they were best friends or anything, I knew that was definitely not possible, but it was still good enough for me.

"Yolanda Jenkins," Matthew now beckoned with that bright smile of his. The only time I ever saw him frown was when he thought Jesse was dead... and that was only for a few seconds. Matthew was just such a bright person, and I was definitely going to miss him.

"Good job, Chicken," Erica told Yolanda as she shook her hand after she had gotten her diploma from Dallas. "Sorry for being so mean to someone so nice like you."

Yolanda smiled timidly at Erica before shaking Matthew's hand and going back to her seat as quickly as she possibly could have. Even though she wasn't as nervous in front of the girls and me anymore, that didn't mean she wasn't nervous around everyone else.

"Cindy Jones," Matthew called out now.

"Good job, Blondie," Erica told her as she handed her the diploma and shook her hand. "I definitely underestimated your brain power."

Matthew called out more people, and I finally glanced back at the crowd behind me. This was the last time we would all be together, and it depressed me as we went on with the ceremony. I couldn't help but wish that Alexandria was here with us...

"Ryan Komiyama," Matthew called out, and my childhood best friend hopped up from his seat and made his way up to the stage excitedly. It was still hard to believe that we had been reunited after almost ten years.

"Alexis Lightle," Matthew continued on after Ryan had shook his hand and sat down.

"Good job, Ducky," Erica said to my female blonde best friend, and I couldn't help but laugh just a little. All because duct tape sounded like duck tape... I was never going to get over the real hilarity of that nickname.

Matthew called more people onto the stage after Lexi had sat down, and I felt myself wanting to cry even more as we got near the end of the list.

"Adam Williams," Matthew continued on smiling. AJ's boyfriend hopped up onto the stage and did the same thing everyone else did, and Matthew continued on going through the list of people. We got closer and closer until finally he said the name of the very last person on the list, someone I hadn't ever heard before.

"Now," Matthew finally sighed, and it seemed like it was the first time he had taken a breath in the last hour, "I'd like to introduce you to the graduating class of 2011!"

Everyone in my class jumped up, throwing their hats into the air and cheering as our families behind us did the same. I felt someone tugging on my shoulder, and I was soon falling back into someone's chest as their lips crashed down on my own. I smiled, leaning into Jesse even more as everyone around us continued to cheer.

I was suddenly being ripped away from him when arms wrapped around my waist and I was being spun around in the air. I let out a loud laugh of surprise when I saw the familiar mop of blonde hair, and I gave Alex a hug once my feet finally hit the ground again.

I hooked my arm around his neck, grabbing Jesse's arm and pulling him over to me as well. My friends from Cabins B and C made their way over to us now, and I quickly hugged all the girls as tightly as I could.

"We did it!" Lexi cried out, wrapping her arms around Alex's waist but was still talking to all of us. "We actually graduated! I can't believe it!"

I wrapped my arms around Jesse's waist as well, pressing my cheek to his chest as I hugged him tight. I looked up at him as I grinned, "Neither can I."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You don't seem as excited as I do," I blinked, surprised by how nervous Jesse actually looked. Normally I was the nervous one, not him. "Is there something you're not telling me? We're not going to show up and find out that you're married or something, right?"

Jesse let out a laugh, but it wasn't normal for him. Even though he was driving, he wouldn't look at me. He was definitely nervous about something, but I just couldn't figure out what. "Hah, of course I'm not married..."

I placed my hand on his lap, but that didn't seem to do any good. His mother wanted to have dinner with the two of us before I went off to Yale, which was the next day, so we were on our way over to his house back in California.

Jesse parked the car but didn't get out. I blinked at him in surprise, not knowing why  he wasn't moving. Why was he acting so nervous? It was actually kind of scaring me a little... I couldn't even remember a time when he was nervous like this, not even when we had to deal with Hunter...

"Is this where you live?" I asked, peering out the window at the house we had parked in front of. "It's a really nice house."

"No, it's not where I live," he sighed, running a hand through his hair and leaning back in his eat a little. I turned back toward him, even more confused now. Why would he park here if this wasn't where he lived? "I have something to tell you, Jordan..."

I blinked once again, afraid something really bad was going to escape his lips. He was acting nervous, and he also looked uncomfortable. What if he really was already married?

"Okay, tell me," I nodded, trying my best to keep my breathing under control.

"My family lives in an apartment, not a house," he told me, looking away from me ashamedly. "And not even a nice apartment. It's old and beat up, and it's also not in the best place in town..."

I blinked at him. That was what he was so nervous about? Why would he be nervous about where he lived? Whatever it looked like didn't matter to me at all.

"I'm not rich like you or our friends," he sighed, still refusing to make eye contact with me. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but I was afraid you'd look at me differently because I don't have money like you."

"I didn't look at you any differently when I learned about Hunter, did I?" I inquired, placing both of my hands on Jesse's head and forcing him to look back at me. "I don't care how much money you have or where you live, Jesse. All I care about is you."

Jesse smiled only a little, leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine for a few seconds. When he pulled away from me, I found myself wondering something.

"Wait, how did you go to Cambridge then?" I asked, confused at how he could have gotten into a private school when he didn't have any money. "I mean, just like Adeline, you needed to pay to get into it, right?"

"I had a scholarship," Jesse smirked, tapping his temple lightly. "I'm not stupid. I did manage to beat you and get valedictorian."

I stuck my tongue out of him, sitting straight in my chair once again. "I would have gotten valedictorian if I stayed at Adeline..."

Jesse chuckled before starting the car again, and then we were off. We only drove for about another mile until we drove into an apartment complex. Jesse had been right when he said that these weren't the prettiest or best built, but that didn't bother me at all.

We parked and then walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. We walked to one of the two doors and Jesse pulled a key out of his pocket and pushed it inside the lock of the door, unlocking it in two seconds.

  "Ma," he called out once he walked inside the tiny apartment, me following right after him. "We're here, Ma!"

"Jesse!" a voice called out, and a young and pretty blonde suddenly slipped out into the living room, where the front door led to. The blonde girl ran forward, wrapping her arm around Jesse's neck and pulling him into a headlock. I knew that Jesse could have easily pushed her off, but it was obvious that he was letting her do this.

At first I was jealous because I didn't know who this girl was. I was afraid that it was actually Jesse's secret wife, since I still wasn't really over the thought that he might actually be married, but that worrying feeling immediately went away when Jesse said, "Okay, Camilla, you can let me go."

Camilla, as in his sister Camilla. I let out a silent sigh, happy that this girl was his sister. I would have worried even more if she wasn't a part of his family...

Camilla finally let go of her brother, turning toward me and smiling brightly. "Hi!" she greeted, and I expected her to stick out her hand for me to shake. Instead, she grabbed onto my shoulders and squeezed me into a hug. "I'm Jesse's sister Camilla!"

"Hi," I greeted right back. "I'm--"

"Oh, I know who you are!" she giggled, cutting me off and letting go of me. "You're the love of Jesse's life! You're Jordan!"

"Camilla," Jesse groaned, his cheeks red as he covered his eyes with his hand.

"Aw, come on, Jesse," she smiled, hitting him on the shoulder lightly. "I'm just trying to get to know my future sister-in-law!"

"Camilla," Jesse groaned once again, his cheeks reddening even more as mine did the same. Jesse and I knew that we were going to get married one day, but we hadn't ever really talked about it before...

Camilla giggled again, turning toward Jesse as she hooked her arm around my shoulders. I remembered Jesse saying that Camilla was the same age as Austin, so that meant she was two years older than us. She sure didn't act like it...

"Jesse, Jordan!" a new voice cried from the doorway from the kitchen, and we all turned to see Jesse's mother smiling brightly at us. "I'm so glad that you guys got here now! Dinner's almost ready!"

Jesse walked over and hugged his mother, and then she walked over and squeezed me into a hug just like Camilla had. I smiled and hugged her back, happy that she liked me. I really was afraid that she was going to hate me...

"Camilla, Jesse, I totally forgot some of the grocery in my car," their mother informed them sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck as she chuckled nervously. "Could you guys go get it for me?"

Jesse glanced at me, obviously not knowing if he should leave me or not. I waved him away, assuring him that I would be fine a few minutes alone with his mother. He glanced at me one last time before walking out the door with Camilla.

"So, I heard you're leaving for Yale tomorrow..." Jesse's mother began, walking back into the kitchen and I assumed she wanted me to follow her. Had Jesse told her that I was going to Yale? "That's very exciting, isn't it?"

I nodded, even though I didn't think it was that exciting anymore. I didn't care about Yale anymore; all I cared about was Jesse.

His mother began to stir something in a mixing bowl. "So have you and Jesse found a place yet?"

I blinked at her. "What?"

She stopped mixing to look at me now, and her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "You and Jesse... have you found a place to live in yet?"

All I could do was blink again. "Why would we?"

I had an apartment that my parents were paying for that I was going to stay in, so I had absolutely no idea what Jesse's mother was talking about. I didn't even know what college Jesse was going to!

"He didn't tell you?" she asked, placing the bowl down on the counter now. "Why wouldn't he tell you?"

Now my eyebrows were furrowing in confusion. "Tell me what?"

Jesse's mother smiled ever so slightly. "That he's going to Yale."

My eyes widened so much that I thought they were going to fall out of their sockets. Jesse was going to go to Yale? Was she being serious with me? Why wouldn't he tell me something so important like this?

When I heard the front door open, I spun on my heel and bolted toward it. Jesse placed the bag on the small table in the hallway when he saw me coming. I jumped up, wrapping my arms around his neck and crushing my lips to his.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked when I had pulled away, smiling brightly as my grip around his neck tightened.

Jesse blinked, obviously not understanding what I was talking about. "Tell you what?"

My grin only widened. "That you're going to Yale!"

"... Ma!" Jesse called into the other room, obviously annoyed that his mother had let the surprise slip. "I told you not to tell her!"

Jesse's mother didn't even emerge from the kitchen. "Oopsy daisy!"

Jesse let out a sigh, but all I could do was giggle as Camilla took all the grocery bags and made her way into the kitchen to join her mother, giving me a wide smile the entire time she did so.

"I was going to surprise you tomorrow, but I guess that that isn't happening..." he sighed, shaking his head and loosening his grip on my waist just a little. "If my mom didn't have such a big mouth..."

"I don't have a big mouth!"

"Ma! Stop listening in on our conversation! You too, Camilla!" Jesse shouted into the other room, and I let out another small giggle.

Jesse rolled his eyes at his family, letting go of my waist and grabbing my hand. He pulled me away from the front door and into the hallway until we got to a door that I assumed was his room. He pushed the door open and we both went inside, and he made sure to securely close it after we were both inside.

"Where were you planning on staying?" I asked, my hands on my hips now as Jesse plopped down on his bed.

"I'm rooming with Alex," he informed me uncaringly with a shrug.

My eyes widened once again. Alex? There was no way that Alex was actually going to Yale...

"Oh, and I guess since my surprise is ruined I'll just ruin Alex's as well. He's going to Yale, too," Jesse explained to me, and my eyes widened even more than they did before. Alex had good grades? Seriously? Jesse obviously got a scholarship, since he said his family didn't have any money, but it was still amazing that he was able to go.

"You're not staying with Alex," I told him simply, pushing him down on his bed and getting on top of him. "You're going to stay in my apartment with me."

Jesse blinked up at me, surprised at what I had been offering. Though it was more of a demand than an offer, he could have said no to it if he really wanted to.

"Would your family be okay with that?" he asked, looking unsure even though I knew he was going to take the offer. "I mean, they are paying for it, right...?

"Yeah," I nodded, shrugging as if it was no big deal to me. "But I'm sure they know we're going to get married. Why wouldn't they be okay with you living with me? You saved my life, Jesse. I think my family's pretty grateful to you."

"Well, just ask your parents to make sure, alright?" he asked, looking embarrassed as he sat up a little, just enough so I wouldn't fall off his lap. "I don't want to intrude..."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll call them tomorrow and ask. But I assure you, they're going to say yes."

Jesse rolled his eyes at me, leaning forward and placing a light kiss on my lips. He then brought me close and hugged me for the longest time. All we did was sit there, just hugging each other, do so long that I didn't even know.

"I'm sure dinner's ready by now," he whispered in my ear, squeezing my waist even tighter for only a second before I got off him and he headed toward the door. "Let's go."

When he opened the door, two bodies fell forward and onto the ground. At first I wanted to scream because I thought  that Hunter had broken out of jail and had killed more people we care about, but I then realized that it was just Jesse's mother and Camilla who had fallen from leaning on the door from eavesdropping after Jesse had opened it.

"Ma! Camilla!"

All I did was laugh, glad that in sometime in the future, I was going to be able to call Jesse's mother and Camilla my family.

After dinner, Jesse's mother had us all gather in the living room so we could watch old home videos. Jesse looked like he was about to die of embarrassment as we watched videos of him when he was a child, since he had the speech impediment that just made him sound ten times cuter.

When I saw little Jesse run over and hug his dad's leg in one of the videos, I couldn't help but smile sadly. I wished that I would have been able to meet him, but he had died ten years before...

After the videos, we looked through baby pictures as well. Jesse let out a loud groan every time we flipped another page of the album, just to make it obvious that he didn't like what we were doing, and yet none of us stopped until we got to the very end of the album.

"You were a cute kid," I teased, flicking his ear lightly as he continued to pout on the couch next to me. "I wonder what happened."

"Ha-ha," Jesse replied flatly.

We all helped Jesse's mother do the dishes, and she went to bed shortly after. Camilla went to bed a little bit after that, saying she had work early in the morning the next day. Jesse and I were staying the night, so we locked up and watched TV on his couch until around twelve o'clock at night.

"Let's go out on the balcony," he whispered when whatever show we had been watching ended. "There's a hammock out there that we can lay on."

"Your balcony's big enough for that?"

"It's the only thing on the balcony. My mom says it helps relieve stress, or something like that."

I let out a quiet laugh, nodding and getting up off the couch and off of him as well. He then hopped up, heading toward the balcony as I followed right behind him.

"I never thought this would be possible," Jesse breathed into my hair as he stroked it once we got comfortable in the hammock. We continued to rock back and forth, looking up at all the stars that stared down at us. "I always thought that you were going to hate me forever..."

My fingers curled into his shirt, and I just wanted to be closer to him. I never thought we'd ever get together either, since I couldn't stand him for most of high school, and then when I did start to like him I thought that there was no way he could have liked me...

Not to mention the fact his old gang's crazy leader went after us...

And then he ran away to protect me.

And then he also got shot...

Wow, I really couldn't believe that we had actually gotten through everything and we were still together...

"I wish I realized that you loved me earlier," I told him, nuzzling my cheek into his chest even more. "Maybe if you weren't such a jerk when we first met, I would have fallen for you sooner."

"I was nervous," he admitted, still playing with my hair as we rocked back and forth. "I didn't know what I was supposed to say to you. And I thought you were on a date, so it wasn't like I could just hit on you..."

"Well, at least we're here right now..." I sighed in contentment, letting out a breath as I closed my eyes. "We had to go through so much to get where we are now, but everything's fine now. We're safe now, and Hunter's behind bars where we belongs. Nothing can get in between us anymore..."

My eyelids were drooping now, and I knew that Jesse noticed. He continued to stroke my hair soothingly, kissing the top of my head lightly as he closed his eyes as well.

"I wouldn't change anything," Jesse whispered, his hand stroking slower and slower as he started to fall asleep as well. "I would never change our thin line between love and hate..."

And the next thing I knew, we were both asleep as we continued to rock back and forth slowly. We didn't have to worry about being outside anymore, because no one would come after us. We were safe, we were together, and that was the only thing that mattered now.

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The end. D':

Epilogue next! And then a surprise... kind of. ;)

THIS IS IMPORTANT! I've changed the name from Girls vs. Boys to There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate.

When I upload the epilogue and surprise, I'll still call it Girls vs. Boys and than change it so you guys know what it is. :D

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3