"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."
~Mark Twain

• • •

As the night winds down, everyone starts to say their goodbyes before preparing to leave for their journeys back home.

Zola jumps into my arms and wraps her skinny little arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I immediately smother her face in kisses causing her to giggle and hug me tighter. "I'll see you later Zo Zo. I love you."

"I love you too Kez Kez."

When we're saying goodbye and sometimes hello, we call each other those nicknames. Zola used to say it all the time when she could barely speak so I guess it kind of stuck and made me call her Zo Zo.

I move onto Zuri and give her a hug as well before letting go. "You're growing up way too fast Zuri." She gives me a cheeky smile, "Maybe you just need to grow taller."

I gasp in shock at her while she skips away laughing.

Nikita and Tobias both squash me between the both of them. "You realise that you'll see me again right?" I squeeze out.

"We know, but we wanted to do that." Nikita speaks up while Tobias nods.

Once they eventually let me go, Andre picks me up in his ridiculously large arms and crushes my body to his.

"Can't. Breathe." I force out.

"Oh, sorry." He puts me down on the ground, "I just wanted to say see you later."

I smile in response and pat him on the back.

"I hope you hang on to that Abel boy Keziah." Aunty L says.

"Yeah, he seems lovely." Aunty M adds.

"Don't make it all easy for him though." Gramps says with a chuckle.

"Back in my day, your grandad had to work hard to get me and to keep me. It keeps them on their toes." Grams says with a wink.

"You're just a difficult woman." Grandma teases.

"Excuse me Agatha, I just kept him interested." Grams responds defensively.

"No need to argue ladies." Gramps jumps in.

"Were we talking to you Bernard?" Grandma says.

Grams shakes her head and mouths 'can you believe him?' to grandma. The rest of us burst into laughter at this, knowing that they are only joking.

"This is what happens when you bring your parents with you." Uncle P mumbles.

"Got that right." Dad adds.

"We need to head out now guys." Uncle G states.

As a result, everyone starts bustling about once more.

"Bye!" Everyone yells this simultaneously as they leave our house allowing us to shut the door.

"What a night." My mum says.

"What a night indeed." I add.

• • •

Since it's already half 11 and because it's been a busy day, I head straight to my room to remove todays make up and clothes. I jump in the shower for the second time today, embracing the feeling of the hot water beating against my back.

I change into an oversized shirt and sleep shorts before jumping into my bed and wrapping myself in the covers. However, instead of sleeping straight away, I grab my phone from the bedside table to text Abel. Just as I'm about to do that, a notification pops up on my phone that shows that he's commented on the pictures I posted from today-some of those may or may not have included the selfies I took.

Me: 'Hot damn mamacita 😉' Really??

My phone pings almost straight away in response.

My Abel: I couldn't help myself. You looked that good Brown Eyes.

Me: I suppose I should be complimented then.

My Abel: Your damn right baby.

I let out a small chuckle before hitting the call button; I've missed his voice too much for us to simply text.

"Hi." I whisper through the phone.

"Hey Brown Eyes. How come you decided to call me?" Abel questions.

"I missed your voice." I say shyly.

"But you saw me yesterday." Abel lets out a low husky chuckle that makes me shiver in response. It's crazy how much he affects me, even with just a laugh.

"Don't laugh at me Abel, I know you missed me just as much."

"Probably even more. How was your day by the way?"

I quickly go into detail about everything that happened before Abel does the same. He tells me how Zane is still acting like I'm going to fall in love with him and leave Abel which is laughable and how even Monroe asked about me which is unusual because of her timid nature.

"Keziah, I've just realised I've never taken you out on a proper date. I'm a crappy boyfriend, I can't believe I forgot that."

Abel groans through the phone and I can imagine him tugging on his ear slightly out of frustration, "I'm so sorry baby."

I decide to put the poor boy out of his misery and stop all his pouting. "Abel, that never even crossed my mind. I spend time with you as much as I possibly can so it hasn't ever felt like I missed out on something. All those times we went out together, do those not count as dates? Just because we didn't call it that, doesn't mean it wasn't. You're not a terrible boyfriend Abe." I let out a soft laugh, "In fact, you're pretty amazing."

Abel lets out a deep sigh, "I'm still sorry though. I promise I'll make it up to you. How about two days after tomorrow? Is that alright with you?"

"You really don't have to but that is fine."

"Now I just have to plan something."

"Whatever it is, I know I'll love spending time with you."

After that, Abel and I continue to talk about whatever comes to mind. Time passes extremely fast when I'm speaking to Abel and before I know it, it's past one in the morning. At this point, I'm mumbling incoherent responses and drifting in and out of sleep.

"Have you thought about what universities you want to apply to?" Abel asks.

"Mmm." I respond.

"What are they?"

"Mmhmm." I mumble sleepily.

Abel chuckles once again, "Baby, you're tired. I should go now."

That alone seems to wake me up straight away, "No! I like talking to you."

"Me too Brown Eyes, but you're falling asleep on me."

"Can you sing me a song before you go?" I ask pleadingly.

"Only because you're asking."

I settle into my bed sheets and prepare for the melodic sounds coming from his mouth.

"I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day.

When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May.

Well I guess you'd say,

What can make me feel this way?

My girl,

Talkin' 'bout my girl."

Eventually, my eyes drift shut as I focus on nothing else but his husky and deep voice. My breaths start to slow down and my grip on the phone starts to loosen. No longer able to fight the pull, I fall into a deep slumber with Abels voice ringing in my ears.

"Goodnight Brown Eyes."

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