The final chapter...

PENNY

My dearest Penny,

With you, I knew who I was, who I wanted to be. With you, everything seemed to fit in, everything seemed right. When you kissed me, I knew everything would be okay, that there is still some goodness left in this terrible world.

Our love, it is a source of power, a form of energy. And a thousand people have proven to us that energy cannot be created nor can it be destroyed. Maybe it had always been there somewhere inside us, and I sure as hell know that it won't go away. And don't make it go away. 

Treat it like it was a part of you, embrace it, and learn from it. Don't mourn our time apart, celebrate the memories we made. Because they sure do spread a smile on my face when I need it the most.

Yours forever,

Kyle.

That was the letter he had given Penny, along with his lucky guitar pick in an envelope. She cursed herself for blotching some of the words with her tears.

It didn't feel like an end. She could still feel her relationship with Kyle throbbing in her heart. She knew she had to let go, to start fresh, but she knew that a small part of her would always belong to him.

They say that a person's first love was something they never forget. Kyle had been her first- everything. Her first love, her first kiss, the first person to see her true self. Sure, she had not been his first love, or first kiss or whatever, but that didn't matter to her in the slightest.

What she had with him, was rare. It was beautiful. 

That park, where children threw mud at each other, where dogs did their business behind the trees, it was a sanctuary, a place to hide her from all the sadness outside. Just sitting there, a place which held most of her memories with Kyle, made her feel calm. It gave her strength to face the world.

Penny sat in the front of the RV, which was now leaving the airport, after Kyle's boarding time began to get lesser than it probably should have. It was raining slightly outside, which weirdly seemed appropriate for the occasion.

The final kiss she had given him, it still tingled on her lips. That was the last one.

She kept asking herself, if she should have had kissed him one more time, if she should have had held him in her arms one more time. It just didn't feel enough. She wanted more. She needed more.

But that was the cruelty of life. 

All the wealth in the world doesn't satisfy man's greed for money, all the fame in the world doesn't satisfy his need for recognition, all the free roads, the constitutions, don't satisfy his want of freedom. 

All the stars in the universe would never be enough.

It was the same for Penny. All the kisses in the world would still leave her wanting more.

Half of the year she had been confused about love and attraction. The definition of it. Until Kyle defined it to her, by injecting into her very soul. 

She had expected the year to be just her and Emma, fighting the world together. Instead she became friends with the best captain of the basketball team she could ask for, the sweetest author who would let her crash at his father's mansion sometimes,  a smart psycho who made very fitting yet inappropriate rhymes for every situation, the best dancer in the world, a hardworking and talented secretary to a fashion designer, and of course, the love of her life.

She looked over at all of them, one by one. And she was so grateful for having them in her life.

They would be leaving each other in a course of months. It was all about to get over.

But maybe this wasn't the end. 

WILL

Will slammed his journal shut as Liv approached him. She had done a fabulous job yet again, and had got them a very lavish RV. It had a small bathroom near the front. And a small kitchen to one side. Then, next to the kitchen counter were two small leather couches, enough to seat four people, with a bed attached on top. Opposite to these couches was a small attached coffee table and two leather bound chairs. And at the very back were two bunk beds. And the driver's and passenger's seats were HUGE. Enough to let two people sleep.

Matt and Emma had already called dibs on one of the larger bunk beds at the back. Kevin had taken up the job to be their day-driver, while Will volunteered for the night shift. Liv called dibs on the passenger's side reclining seat for sleeping. That was when they couldn't put up tents outside.

Shane and Kevin called dibs on the two couches and Penny graciously accepted the bed above those couches.

They planned on going cross country from LA to Miami. Something about a music festival in Miami.

"What's my Willy Wonka writing now?" Liv asked.

She kissed him lightly, after which he replied, "Well, I need to finish my story."

"Story? Wasn't it a random collection of your thoughts?"

"Well, after you add some inspiring characters to it, it becomes a kick-ass story," Will said with a smile.

"I hope you made me attractive and less...bitchy in the book," Liv said with a smile. That was the you-better-make-these-changes-or-I'll-hide-the-s'mores smile.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but Liz has some very...diverse character development," he said, and Liv punched him in the arm.

"Jerk," she said.

"What's my character like?" Matt asked.

"You mean Jett? Tall and stupid, oh and incredibly into an singer called Ned Skeehan."

Matt threw an empty bottle of Gatorade at him.

"Yeah I'm not asking how he wrote me, or Shane," Kevin said from the front where they made him drive because he was the last one to arrive at their meeting spot.

"I wanna know," Shane insisted.

"If you mean Zane, then he's an awesome dude who throws kick-ass parties, and has a very grumpy and sulky boyfriend named Devon."

"Shane kick him for me," Kevin said from the front.

"Nah he said good stuff about me hon," Shane shouted back. Kevin just shook his head.

"What about me?" Emma asked, getting up from where she was sitting, and moved over to lean on the small kitchen sink they had.

"You mean Gemma? Yeah she's a very confused blonde who made me edit a really long graduation speech, and then forgot everything and went with something entirely different," he said with a fake scowl.

"Yeah? I already like her. Bill deserves what he got," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"How did you know my character's name?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.

She gave him a a serious look and pointed to her forehead, "Mind games."

Will nodded gravely, "Ah I see."

"That's how she got me to switch to soy milk," Matt said, "Now everyone hates my pancakes. Protein shake tastes even more tasteless."

"I-uh understand your internal struggle," Will commented. He rather liked soy-milk. And well, Liv had even called his taste buds 'non-functional' for that.

"How're you doing Penny?" Will asked, looking over at Penny who was sitting in the passenger's side next to Kevin, gazing out of the window.  She looked so at peace, Will wanted to kick himself for saying anything to ruin that.

"Good," she said, giving him a small smile, "I miss him already. I wish he was here, singing some cheesy song."

Emma scoffed, "Tell me about it. Matt was crying in the small bathroom for fifteen minutes till I had to drag him out."

"Hey! It was super emotional," Matt defended himself.

"Can I trade places with you?" Will asked, "No one lets me write."

"Sure," Penny replied, folding Kyle's letter and putting it back in the envelop.

And so he sat down next to Kevin with his journal in his hand. 

Kevin was quietly vibing to some music he was playing through the radio. One thing he absolutely loved about Kevin, was that he never asked questions. If you were sad, he would just pat you on the back and sit down with you, and on some occasions, offer you beer. And Gatorade, in Matt's case. Oh and M and Ms in Kyle's case. And coffee in Emma's. And wasabi peas in Shane's case. 

If you haven't noticed yet, Shane had the weirdest taste. Well, Kevin was an exception of course. He was the literal best.

Wow that guy would always come equipped with something or the other to comfort you. Will needed to add that in some parts of the story.

Why was he just realizing it?

"Hey Kev," he said, and Kevin removed his headphones but kept his eyes on the road.

"What?" he asked. 

"Thanks for always being there," he said.

And Kevin smiled at him, "Where is this coming from?"

"Nowhere I guess."

"I love you bro, I'll never leave you alone," he said with a final smile before concentrating on the road again.

He turned around to look at Liv again. She was laughing at something Shane had just said. She looked so beautiful. So much more free than when he had met her. And it gave him an immense amount of happiness that he was one of the reasons behind it.

Yes she had cause him pain, but that had just managed to make him stronger.

Will turned back to his journal to continue writing. Only the ending was left. Something sweet, and...hopeful. 

 "They embarked on a journey, into the unknown. They didn't have a destination in mind, their sole purpose was to enjoy each other's company. To enjoy the limited amount of time that was now left with them. All of them had a tiny amount of sadness welling up in their minds, at the thought of being separated from the ones which they had now begun to call family. They had just been separated from one, and their minds dreaded the moments when the others too would leave one by one. But they had each other now...and the big bundle of memories that they had made, and were about to make through this trip..."

The hair on the back of his head prickled and he looked up, to see Emma staring at him. His mouth spread into a smile, when she stuck her tongue out at him. He loved how casual their friendship had now become, from all those awkward dances and even more awkward dating.

He stuck his tongue out at her too, and then his eyes shifted to where Liv was sitting.

She looked back at him, and gave him a heart-warming grin.

"I love you," she mouthed.

He smiled and mouthed, "I love you too."

MATT

Matt stared at himself in the mirror. 

His eyes did not look that complex to him. 

They were just a little green-y, a little grey-y, there was a black dot in the center whose name he had forgotten, and there was an orange-ish ring around that, which was surrounded by the green-grey stuff which got darker as you move outwards.

Why did she spend three hours making him sit in front of her, then?

He looked over to see Emma smiling at something which Will said to her. They seemed to be getting along very well now. And Matt knew that Will knew his boundaries, so that was okay. 

He had never been the jealous kind after all...

"You can use my eyes to look at yourself, gorgeous," Matt heard Shane's comment, directed towards him. He rolled his eyes at Shane and smiled a little to himself as he shifted his eyes to see Emma laughing.

She had the most beautiful laugh. Her lips would stretch to her eyes, and her dimples would become prominent and her eyes would light up in the most adorable way.

His heartbeat accelerated every time she laughed. God, he was insane about her.

His thoughts went back to last night, when him and her... when the Shane's stupid gift was finally put to use.

Lying in bed, watching Emma breathe while sleeping, was the most peaceful he had ever felt in life. The way his blanket was wrapped around her, perfectly hugging every inch of her body...it was mesmerizing.

It was a shame that it only lasted for an hour before they got Shane's call that they had to get ready to bid farewell to Kyle.

Well he lasted for more than that...he thought, pleased with himself.

His eyes involuntarily travelled down her body, taking in every feature, feasting on it, to remember, when they had to part ways later that summer.

"Matt?" he heard Emma's voice.

"What?" he asked, unaware that he had been asked a question.

"Stop being horny," Liv commented, narrowing her eyes at him. Matt just raised an eyebrow at her. How did she know?

"Hey! My boy's finally grown up!" Shane fired back, "Be as horny as you want!"

Matt's eyes switched back to Emma, who had now turned a deep shade of red.

Adorable.

"Have you looked at my girlfriend? How can I not be horny?" he said, smiling widely at how much redder Emma's face was getting.

"What was your question though?" he asked Emma.

"I was asking how long will it be before we reached the camping spot?" she asked him, her voice small. She was so cute when she was embarrassed. He had to do it more.

He opened up his phone, ignoring all the texts from Derek and Quinn, complaining about Hannah's pancakes. 

"My GPS says about half an hour," he replied, giving her a wink.

"Did you ever make use of my gift though? I never checked up on it," Shane asked, and Matt couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Emma had become a deeper shade of red as Matt smiled knowingly, hoping Shane would catch a hint.

Shane broke out into a grin and began typing on his phone. A second later Matt's phone lit up with Hannah's name.

"YOU FINALLY GOT LAID! I had always shipped you with Emma I'm a fucking prophet!" Hannah shouted on the phone. Everyone heard it, and Liv and Penny giggled slightly as Emma hid her face with a pillow. Matt glared at Shane before returning to the call.

"I'm gonna hang up, freak. Make better pancakes for Quinn please," was all he said before hanging up.

Half an hour later they were standing on top of the cliff, overlooking the seaside. The perfect spot. His family came here all the time, along with Will's. 

He marveled at the spread of the sea in front of him. The crystal waters splashing onto the shore below them. And at the sun setting in front of them. They were so far away from the water, yet he felt it's presence in his bones.

This spot got the award for the most beautiful view.

"Oh my god I can look at this view forever," Emma walked up to him, and he felt her slide her arm into his and then felt her fingers intertwine in his. A wave of goosebumps rolled up his skin. This was the effect her touch had on him.

"I'm glad you love it," he said, before pressing a kiss on her head.

"I'm gonna go help with Penny's tent," she told him and kissed him on the cheek before running over to Penny, Liv and Kevin. Matt and Will were done with their respective tents. Will was nowhere to be seen.

So he decided to sit next to Shane who was building up the campfire. The guy was flawless at doing that.

"Need any help?" he asked Shane.

"Yeah, hold my beer," Shane said, handing Matt the bottle of beer that was previously sitting on the ground. Ouch.

"Very, humble," Matt replied, before receiving the bottle and chugging the remaining beer in it.

Shane wasn't even paying attention to him, he was staring at the ocean in front of him, "You know, the ocean sometimes reminds me of how much there's left to experience. It's so huge, so immense, so much undiscovered. It would be such a perfect representation of life."

Matt blinked. Did those words just come from Shane?

"You high?" he asked,

Shane chuckled, "You know I'm more than a jokester right?"

Matt clapped him on the back, "I always knew you were so much more than that."

"I'm a little scared Matt. Yale is a fancy-ass school. What will my stupid-ass do there?"

"Kick it's fancy-ass," Matt replied, and Shane broke out into a laugh.

"I'm gonna miss you, man," Shane slapped his back.

"I'm gonna miss your ragers."

"I'm sure all the juniors will, too," Shane said with a snort.

Matt stared at Emma, Penny, Liv and Kevin laughing at something together. He smiled, looking Penny, who no longer looked lost. She had become such a good friend of his, he couldn't ask for someone better. 

Matt wasn't the closest to Liv, but hey, whatever made Will happy made him happy. He was so glad all of the drama between Will and Liv did not break them, but made them stronger. He was so glad his brother found the one after failing countless times before.

He remembered the day when Shane had told them that he was gay. He remembered the day when Kyle told him that Kevin was bi. The day they got Kevin and Shane together. He remembered being overjoyed for his friends, feeling so happy for them as they reveled in each other's companies.

He remembered the day they had shamelessly followed Will into the cafe, when he had been so close to Penny, but had never felt more faraway. He had mistaken the small attraction he felt towards Penny, for love.

But he was endlessly glad he made that mistake. 

It lead him to find the girl of his dreams. 

He remembered their first kiss, by the pool. He remembered all those times when Emma was angry with him, how he had to keep his distance when all he ever wanted to do was grab her and kiss her till they were completely out of breath.

He remembered the time before the accident, when he thought he could finally be together with Emma. He thought of the day when she jumped into his arms and told him she loved him. He felt the hair on his arms raise as he felt the surge of happiness he had felt that day. It had been so overwhelming, so sweet.

He thought of all the dreams he had before, of Emma walking down the aisle towards him. Of having a huge house with a large patio where their children could play with Will's children. A backyard with a barbeque and a pool. Emma hiding in a room away from the kids to paint. Sleeping next to her, waking up her hair covering his face.

And he was determined to make those dreams a reality.

EMMA

Matt had been staring at her for an awful long amount of time.

She flicked her head in his direction, a silent question. He smiled and shook his head, continuing his conversation with Shane.

The camping spot was perfect. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. Overlooking the entire shore, countless waves crashing onto the shore at once, their noise as loud as ever, even at this distance.

The noise filled up every corner of her mind. The force, the strength of the waves had always baffled Emma. How could something be so beautiful, yet so terrifying at the same time.

She wanted to paint the view in front of her. The sun casting it's final colors into the sky before darkness would cover the sky, like covering a painted canvas with black. She snapped a photo, to refer to, when she would paint it later.

Still won't be as difficult to paint, as Matt's eyes. The thought made her chuckle to herself. She was taken back to the day when Matt had told her he had loved her.

"Still painting my eyes?" he had asked.

Her mind flashed to the painting on the wall, the one he had shown her before the Prom wall. That one painting had made her gain more confidence than any Ted Talk could ever try. With Matt, she had finally been comfortable with who she was.

She remembered the graduation speech, how Matt had comforted her below the tree. Their initials scratched into the bark of that very tree.

All the conversations they had there. All the laughs they had shared under it's shadow. The very tree, under which, a year ago, she had waited for Penny, had seen Will before he had broken up with Chloe.

The day came back to her clearly. She had been skeptical, and afraid of change. 

She smiled to herself.

How ironic was it, that the very next day, the stupid green-eyed boy came in and changed everything for the better.

He was now standing near the edge of the cliff, staring at the view before the sun would set and deprive them of the light they needed to clearly see the waters.

She walked up to him and without giving him any notice, turned him around and pulled him towards her with his collar.

She saw his eyes widen before she crashed her lips on his, savoring the warmth they offered in the cold breeze blowing around them. His arms wrapped around her waist and she smiled against his mouth as he pulled her into him. Every time that she kissed him, she felt a part of herself forging itself into him. He picked her up slightly, and her feet left the ground, her body balanced solely by his arms.

They had to, unfortunately, break apart to get some air into their lungs.

His eyes twinkled in the twilight, "What was that for?"

"Just thinking about everything that happened, I wanted to thank you for making me a better version of myself. For always believing in me," she said with a smile.

The corners of his mouth tugged up, "I can think of more ways you can thank me."

Emma felt her face burn. Yes she had been very confident the night before. But now, among everyone else...

Last night was surreal. Everything that happened, every movement was made with so much love, so much care, so much tenderness. After that, lying next to Matt, feeling the warmth of his skin...she had felt so carefree, so safe.

"Control your hormones, love," she said with a smile.

"How can I, when you give me that smile?" he asked, before giving her one more mind-shattering kiss.

"Hey! Save the making out for the tents please," Liv commented, rolling her eyes.

"Where's your man?" Emma asked with a laugh.

"I saw him head towards the RV," Liv said a shrug, before sitting next to Shane near the fire.

Emma pulled herself out of Matt's arms, and walked over to their vehicle, finding Will sitting in a foldable chair by the side of the road with his journal and pen, writing away

"Finally close to the ending?" she asked, sitting down on the grass beside him.

Will began to get up, "Here take the chair..." he began but she took his hand and pulled him down, and he landed on the ground by his butt.

"Ouch," he grimaced.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Final sentences are left," he whispered, staring out at the road. The roads surface was reflecting the final rays of the sunset, setting an ethereal glow on the entire road.

"What you smiling about?" she asked him, when he smiled down at his journal.

"I was just thinking about all my thoughts of love. I always thought it wouldn't matter, if the other person loved you back. As long as they were worth it, I didn't mind loving them. But now I know how much better it feels, when the other person reciprocates the exact same feelings. How good it feels, when I can express freely, how much I love them. It took me a while to realize that it was a two-way thing. You can't share it, you can't divide this. You belong wholly to the other person only, and they only belong to you, not anyone else. There's only one. And I feel like the luckiest man alive, that I found mine."

"I feel blessed than ever that I found my forever as well," she heard Matt's voice from behind them, and he plopped down beside Emma, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she leaned into his chest.

She was in her happy place now, tucked away in Matt's arms.

He said 'forever'. And Emma was determined to make sure that word stayed in it's place.

"I don't know about mine though," Penny said from beside Will. When did she come?

"I'm sure you will. Maybe you'll be reunited with Kyle. Maybe you'll find someone new, someone better suited. Who knows what the future holds?"

"True," Penny smiled, before resting her head on Will's shoulder. Will patted Penny's head.

"I, for sure, know I won't accept a future without this green-eyed dork," she said, and heard Matt laugh loudly before she felt another kiss on her head.

There, nestled in Matt's embrace, she looked out at the open road ahead of them. Whose end she could not see. She thought of the future, of all the opportunities ahead of her.

But at that very moment, she just wanted to focus on the glow around her. Will, with his book perched on his lap. Penny, with her thoughts solely focused on one particular boy. Matt, whose warmth was radiating into her own skin.

And she knew how stupid she had been, for trying to avoid change. The green leaves had to turn red, the red ones had to fall, and allow space for the flowers to bloom.

She leaned back a little more, till her head rested on Matt's chest.

Change had helped her find home.