No way.

"Hi, Thal."

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry.

I didn't know if I wanted to do one or both all at once.

I didn't know if I wanted to sprint towards him or play it cool, but in the moment I was frozen in place, smile across my face as I stared back into those chocolate eyes that changed colors in the sun.

"H-hi, Xander."

His grin stretched wider.

"Thal?"

"Yeah?"

He chuckled, and it was actually so cute how his nose wrinkled over the magazine, his eyes never leaving me. "I see you."

And I giggled back at him, our laughter melding across both the gate in the airport and the phone line because I was moving towards him, now. I was close enough so that cell phones weren't necessary, but we were using them anyway.

"I see you, too."

There were so many questions; I had so many things I wanted to ask him in that moment, because this boy just kept throwing surprises my way and I swear to god, I was not doing a good job of keeping up.

"Hi," he said.

"Xander?"

I shook my ponytail, forcing my mouth closed and blinking my eyes back inside my skull so I didn't look like the gaping idiot that I felt like.

I weaved through chairs, heading his direction.

"Yeah, Thal?"

"Xander?"

"Hah. Yes?"

"What," I began, "and I do mean what are you doing here?"

Xander placed his magazine back upon the shelf as I grew nearer.

"See," he smirked, "here's the thing..."

I sucked in a quick breath because I could just tell where this was heading.

"I've got to y'know, catch this flight because school starts tomorrow, right? And well," he shrugged, hanging up his cell as I stood before him, now, "Georgetown happens to be in DC and the fastest way for me to get there is by air."

I rolled my eyes.

"So you know," he continued, grinning. "I'm here because I've got to get on a plane and fly across the country."

"God," I sighed. "Shut up."

"Really? Really with the hostility?"

I laughed. "You're honestly the worst, do you know that?"

"What?" He gasped, eyes wide and taunting. "It's the truth!"

"You know what?" I asked, poking him in the chest. "I give up. I'll settle for that crappy answer only," I held up a finger, "because I'm actually so happy to see you."

"What?" He placed both hands over his heart. "You're happy to see...me?" He pointed to himself, now. "Me?"

I shrugged. "I live for this kind of stuff, y'know?"

"Really?"

I laughed because I couldn't help it. "Yep," I nodded. "I freaking love surprises and friendship and--"

"Bonding?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed as he feigned confusion. "Is that one of those little things you love, too?"

And I just shook my head, smiling to myself as I rolled my eyes.

"Xander..." I sighed.

He smiled brightly, teeth white as he peered down at me. "Yes, Thal?"

But I kept shaking my head, eyes on the floor and definitely not his face as I snaked my arms around his waist.

He caught a breath as I held onto him, feeling his arms tighten around my shoulders. He was wearing his Westchester pullover today, and I buried my face in the black fabric.

Xander laughed, his chin on my head.

"Hey, Thal."

"Hi, Xander."

"Thal?"

I tilted my head to face him. "Yeah?"

I met his eyes with my own.

"Aaron told me," he said simply. "I asked him about your flight and he let me know so," he shrugged, "yeah."

I was definitely unable to stop smiling at this point. "So here you are."

"Yeah," he grinned. "You could say that."

I looked down again, staring at the cotton across his chest. "Thanks," I whispered.

He pulled away. "For what?"

My arms fell to my sides and I lifted my shoulders, palms up. "Y'know," I began, not knowing exactly how to answer, "bonding and going along with my plans for friendship and inviting me to baseball and fixing my car and," I paused, as he looked away, biting the inside of his cheek as he smiled across the gate. "And this," I beamed. "Thank you so much for this moment right here."

"Honestly, Thal," he replied softly, facing me again, "it's really nothing."

"Yeah," I snorted, "It's definitely not just nothing to me."

"I mean," he shoved both hands in his pockets, "I can't tell you enough how--" He shook his head. "It's the least I can do."

"You're too nice to me, Xander."

He snorted. "You said that about me and Nikita."

"Well," I laughed, "I mean it for me, too. Seriously."

"No," he shook his head. "It's," he lowered his head, "it's like my eyes," he said. "Y'know how I can't see them, but you can describe them to me?"

I nodded.

"You can't see how amazing you are," he shrugged. "I can."

"Xander--"

He shook his head. "I do."

"Xander--"

"Hey," he shrugged, "you're stuck with me, whether you like it or not. You're just going to have to deal with me singing your praises and all that other great shit."

I couldn't help but smile at that, because his words were unleashing a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach. "Well," I began, "I guess I can live with that."

"Can you?"

"I can," I replied, and I reached out to tug gently on his hoodie, "Come with me and kill some time, 'kay?"

"And where are we going?"

I pointed to another snack kiosk across the gate. "I need some candy," I laughed. "I have to eat it on the plane so my ears--" I shook my head, laughing at his raised eyebrow. "I just need some candy," I grinned. "Want some?"

He threw his arm around my shoulder. "Gummy bears?" He asked.

There he was, looking all cute again.

"Of course."

~*~

"I think you're too excited about this."

"Why?" I exclaimed, as we stood together, waiting in line to board our plane. "Xander, this is exciting for me, okay?"

"You do remember that we didn't make up our nicknames, right?"

I elbowed him. "You're just bitter because you don't like being The Playboy."

He grunted in response, which only made me laugh harder.

"It's not my fault you're a flirt."

"Correction," he paused, "I used to be a flirt. Get the fucking facts right, Thalia."

I chose to ignore that, considering he was still the biggest flirt in the world--at least with me. "I like being The Peacemaker, okay?"

"Well," he shrugged, as I peered up at him. "Yeah, that actually does fit you, like, perfectly."

Again, his words sent those butterflies into frenzy.

"Did the girls have nicknames in High School?" I asked, to which he nodded. "Oh my god you've got to tell me what they were!"

"Dude, you know them already," Xander laughed. "Jamie's The Perfectionist and Eliza's The Cheerleader," he shot me a pointed look. "Duh."

"And what about Nikita?"

"Oh," he coughed out a laugh. "Nikita...right."

I elbowed him again.

"She hates hers."

"Well, yeah," I said, fishing through my bag for my boarding pass. "I could've predicted that. What is it?"

"The Funsucker."

"Sheesh."

He nodded, and with his pass between his teeth he zipped his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"These are all coming from the minds of David and Marco, and occasionally Nico," he grinned, slipping the paper from his mouth. "So, you can see how they all might make sense."

"Misch and April still needs one," I said as we neared the front of the line.

"Only Mischa," Xander replied. "The guys have had April's I swear since that party."

"Stop! What is it?"

"The Fun Drunk."

I opened my mouth to protest and immediately bit my tongue. "Actually," I nodded, "that one fits, too."

"It's like, honestly the best one."

I had to tell her. "Seriously, it's so perfect."

"Ma'am?"

I whirled around, presenting my ticket to the attendant, now.

She offered me a forced smile, a nod and an additional, "Enjoy your flight," before turning to Xander with her hand outstretched.

"Where are you sitting?" He asked, peering over my shoulder as he followed me onto the plane.

"7A," I replied, poorly attempting not to hit anyone with my backpack as I squeezed through the aisles. "Where're you?"

"11D."

But he shrugged, pausing behind me as stopped in line, waiting for an elderly man to place his briefcase in the bins overhead. "Sit next to me."

I almost laughed aloud. "Yeah," I snorted. "Sure. Okay."

Xander didn't crack a smile. "I'm serious, Thal. Sit next to me on the plane."

"How?" I asked. "My seat's not even close to yours," I said. "I'm four rows up."

"So?" He shrugged.

I laughed again, because I definitely thought he was kidding. "So? So, how am I supposed to sit next to you, Xander?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Thal. You've got to be more resourceful than that," and he dragged me all the way to the eleventh row.

On both sides of his open seat were two women, already situated.

"Excuse me, misses," Xander said politely, leaning over the headrests to address both the young and old woman. "My girlfriend here has a fear of flying, and we weren't able to get seats together," he shrugged apologetically. "Would either of you mind switching with her? She's in seat 7A," He said, grabbing my hand and smiling down at me. "I'd really appreciate if she could ride comfortably, since, y'know," he said cutely, "we'll be in the air for five hours."

And when I say that every woman in the vicinity melted, I mean every woman in the freaking vicinity melted.

"Of course, angel," the young woman said, reaching for the purse she'd already stowed beneath the seat beforeher. "Gosh, I wish my boyfriend was as attentive as you."

The grandma in the aisle grabbed my arm and gave it a quick squeeze. "You're one lucky girl."

"Uh--T-thank you," I replied, since there was no turning back, now. The young woman was already squeezing past us in the aisle. "Thank you both so much."

"You're welcome," she said. "I swear, when you find a man like that, you've got to hold onto him."

Xander winked at me, "Hold onto me, Thal," he grinned, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

With a laugh, he squeezed my arm before holding his hand out towards the, now two, empty seats. "Want the window?"

I squealed, clapping my hands happily. "Do I?" I exclaimed, squeezing past the granny.

"Oh, Thal..." Xander grinned, shaking his head as the women around us began to laugh.

"You two are adorable," a mother said.

Xander cocked his head, catching my eye with a fond look in his own. "Thank you," he replied. "Thank you very much."

~*~

So much for my window seat, because I was in and out of sleep throughout the entire plane ride.

Barely 30 minutes into the flight, almost directly as we'd reached 'maximum altitude,' I fell asleep against Xander's shoulder and was out like a light.

I awoke a second time and fell asleep against the window.

I'm telling you, that dream about Peter had really disturbed my psyche and sleep schedule. Not to mention, I still hadn't told Xander about it, and quite frankly, I didn't think that I ever would.

"Thal? Thalia, wake up."

I woke up a third and final time to Xander's soft voice in my ear.

"Hmm?"

He chuckled softly, pushing stray hairs from my eyes. I was back, nestled against his shoulder again. "Look out the window, Thal," he whispered as gently as his fingers grazed my cheek.

My eyes came to focus, and his face was so close to mine I could count his freckles; I could count his freckles and I could make out the swirl of browns in his eyes. .

"Look," he pointed now to the thick blanket of white covering all of Washington D.C. "We're landing," he grinned, and in my sleepy stupor I wanted to trail my finger along his jaw and tell him just how much I loved it when he smiled, but I was far too cowardly to do that.

"But, guess what?"

Instead, I just stared up at him, blinking slowly as that face came in and out of focus. "Hmm?"

"It's snowing."

~*~

"I had fun being your boyfriend, today," Xander grinned, as we waited together in baggage claim.

"Yeah," I laughed, as he caught sight of his suitcase. "Those ladies were practically drooling over you."

"What can I say?" He shrugged, lifting the bag from the moving belt. "I'm irresistible."

"Right. I keep forgetting."

He bit his lip to keep from grinning. "Fuck you."

I stifled a chuckle as a nearby father gave Xander the evil eye. "You really love cursing in front of children, don't you?"

He wrinkled his nose. "What the hell are you talking about, Thal?"

"I mean," I continued, laughing aloud as more people turned in the vicinity, "You literally dropped the f-bomb like, twice in front of all the kids at Eliza's on New Years, and do you remember when you scared the life out of me in Target?"

"Man, that was priceless."

"More like scarring, for both me and the kids I nearly bulldozed to the ground."

"Fuck you 'cause I'll be a great dad."

"Oh," I snorted, moving towards the conveyor belt as my suitcase drew nearer. "The best."

"I heard that sarcasm," Xander replied, following behind me before he pointed to my bag. "Is that yours?"

My mouth fell in amazement. "How'd you know that?"

He grinned, lifting the bag and placing it at my side. "This," he replied, flicking the yellow ribbon I'd tied around the handle. "Kinda like that '63 Beetle, huh?"

And my jaw dropped again because of his dead-on observations.

"How do you keep doing that?"

He snorted. "What, Thal?"

"That," I exclaimed. "How do you like, know this stuff about me?"

"Is it really that crazy that you like yellow?"

I shook my head. "Not that I like yellow, that you know I like yellow," I crossed my arms. "Xander, you honestly do that all the time."

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I thought that's what people did when they liked each other--y'know, they noticed things."

"Smart ass," I replied, following him as he turned, dragging his bag away from baggage claim and now towards the door.

He simply shrugged, "Need a ride?" He asked over his shoulder, to which I shook my head.

"My mom signed me up for this taxi service," I replied, holding out my phone so he could see the app. "My driver's like, ten minutes away, so I'm good."

He nodded. "Alright, 'cause my friend's picking me up and, y'know, you could always catch a ride with us."

"Thanks, Xander," I smiled. "Is this friend of yours on the baseball team?"

He chuckled, nodding. "You'll meet him. He'll love you, too."

"Really?"

"Jeez, Thal," he sighed, "You just don't believe me when I tell you how amazing you are," he paused, stopping now to stand in front of the double doors. "Like, it's all the same."

"What--What do you mean?"

"You ask me how I notice things about you, yeah? Like, how your face lights up when you're excited, and how your hair can't ever seem to stay in a bun, and how you go out of your fuckin' way to help people all the time...

He gave me a small grin, "Remember when we were in your room, when I asked you to read that book you made?"

I nodded in silence.

"And remember how you didn't want to hear about that thing, that thing that I noticed first about you?"

I let out a groan. "Yes."

"Well, you get to hear it now," he chuckled, "whether you like it or not."

"Xander..."

"You like my eyes, but I like yours."

"What?" I exclaimed. "What--There's like, nothing special about my eyes--"

Xander squeezed my arm, silencing me. "Stop, Thal," he said. "Stop, 'cause remember, you can't see 'em, right?"

I nodded. "...Right..."

"Exactly," he grinned, dropping his hand. "I mean, yeah your eyes are pretty, like," he scratched his head, "the color's like, beautiful, but I don't mean that. When you were there, when I first met you at the garage, it was the way you looked at Aaron--"

"My brother?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Hear me out, okay?"

"Okay."

"See, you like, you seemed kind of mad at him, yeah? 'Cause I remember you saw those shit cars in the lot..."

"...Yeah," I definitely wouldn't be forgetting that day any time soon.

"But, there's, there was like this," he shook his head, "I'm going to sound like a total fucker when I say this, but, honest to god, there was this light in your eyes when you looked at him--the way you guys were going back and forth, like, you were arguing but I could see that you loved him."

He sucked on his bottom lip, "You get this look in your eye when you start talking about him, too. When you're talking about or joking around with like, Aaron or Mischa or April, y'know, like, the people you're close to, I can see how much you love them, and," he shrugged, hand falling from the back of his neck, "and I love that about you. My mom used to say that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and I think you were the first person I met who actually really made me finally get what she was saying. I noticed that about you from jump and it makes me wonder," he shoved his hands in his pockets, "it makes me wonder," he practically whispered, "how you look when you're talking about me."

"Xander, I..." I began, turning away because I couldn't look into those chocolate eyes -- the weight of his words were weighing upon my heart. His words, I mean, they were so much and they made me feel so many things that I could barely place my emotions. If you asked me how I felt in the moment, I don't think I'd have been able to form coherent sentences to even tell you.

So I kept stuttering, looking everywhere -- from baggage claim to Hertz rentals -- everywhere but him.

"I..."

"You don't have to say anything, Thal," he muttered, "Honestly. You asked me why I noticed the ribbon, remember?"

I shook my head, because now was not the time for me to fuck up and not formulate thoughts into words. "Yeah, but--"

"How far is your taxi?" He interjected, turning to stare out the window. It was so cold, I watched as his breath began to fog up the glass. "It's almost here?"

"Umm...?" I paused, squeezing my phone as I watched his eyes scan the pick-ups outside and his jaw jump with voluntary clenching.

I'd done something wrong and I knew it.

I turned to my phone, though, "It's five minutes away," I replied, with futile attempts to ignore the hammering of my heart and jittery, apprehensive butterflies, ravens, bald eagles and pterodactyls ramming against my ribs.

"Cool," he replied impassively, and that's when I felt like crying; that's pretty much the moment that I felt the undeniable onset of tears.

Xander was definitely upset, and it was no one's fault but my own.

I let out a ragged breath. "Xander," I began again, because the thought of him angry with me practically made me feel like vomiting the gummy bears we'd shared before take-off.

"Yeah?" He asked, but voiced a new thought before I could continue my own. "Want to go wait outside?"

"Uh..."

My car was four minutes away.

"I don't want you to miss your taxi."

"Okay," I replied, because if I had four minutes, I needed to get my shit together fast.

"C'mon," he said, and pushed open the door for me, holding it open as I met the icy wind and snow of outer D.C.

I waited for him to join me and pointed to the piles of snow beside the road. "That looks perfect for a snowball fight."

Xander lifted his hood. "That's not too dirty for you?"

I swallowed my response, because there he went again, making these spot-on observations. "No."

"Right, Thal," he stared towards the street. "Right."

And I had no response to that, so I did what I did best and changed the subject. "Is your friend close?"

"Almost," he shrugged. "Caught in traffic, though."

"So I won't get to meet him today?"

"I doubt it," he replied. "He won't make it here before your ride."

And I swallowed loudly, checking my phone.

Two minutes.

I swallowed again and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Xander, please don't be mad at me?" I begged, and his eyes widened, head snapping back in shock. "Thal, what?"

"I'm sorry," I continued. "I'm sorry for not saying anything when you said all of those great things about me but it's--I just didn't know what to say. It's like, I couldn't--I didn't--I don't---I, I..." I shook my head, letting my laugh turn into a whine as I threw my head back and sighed. "I still can't find the words for how great you are and how good you always make me feel and I just," I threw up my hands, "I just don't want you to be mad at me because I'm an idiot and don't know how to speak when it matters."

"Thal," Xander shook his head, "you're not an idiot, okay?"

I looked off towards the snow, feeling him step closer.

"Thal?" Xander's hand fell from his suitcase, and he tugged me even closer by the pockets of my pea coat. "Please, Thal don't feel bad--Shit," he cursed. "Fuck," he cursed again, lowering his head and tilting my chin so that he could look into my eyes. "It's my fault, Thal. I'm the idiot, okay? I reacted like a little shit 'cause," his shoulders fell with a heavy sigh, "'cause there's so much that I want to tell you and I just don't know how and it's fuckin' killing me but--"

My phone beeped in my hand, interrupting Xander as I turned to my screen.

Driver is arriving.

"Fuck," he cursed again, and his eyes were hard as he stepped back and straightened. "You've got to go, huh?"

"Yeah, but, Xander, wait--"

"Is that your car?"

"Y-yeah," I replied, waving to the driver because the license plates of the Prius matched the description on my phone.

"Okay," he replied, dragging my suitcase for me towards the driver.

"Thalia Rose?" The taxi driver asked, as I approached with another wave.

"Yes," I replied. "That's me."

"Great," the man said, and he lifted my suitcase from Xander's hands.

Together, we took a step back, and I watched as Xander opened my car door.

"Thank you," I replied, although I wanted to revisit our previous conversation. He had something -- some things -- he wanted to tell me? I didn't want to just let that opportunity pass by for us to actually discuss whatever that was.

But maybe today wasn't that day for me to get that chance.

"Bye, Thal," Xander said, offering me a small smile.

"Yeah," I nodded, because this was 'goodbye,' at least for now, right? "Bye, Xander."

And like always, he held out his arms for me, and I grinned, throwing my own around him for my farewell embrace.

"Bye, Xander," I repeated, and I looked up at him this time. "Thank you," I said. "Thank you for everything. You're the best and I love you and I'll be seeing you," I stated. "Please call me when you're back on campus, okay?"

"Okay," He nodded with wide eyes. "Of course."

"Good," I sighed, dropping my arms and stepping towards the open door of the Prius taxi. "I have to make sure my boyfriend gets to school safely, right?"

Xander's laugh caught in his throat and his teeth clamped down on his bottom lip. "It would be the right thing to do," he nodded, and now I did, too.

"Xander?"

"Yeah, Thal?"

"There are snowflakes on your eyelashes," I smiled, "and they look very pretty."

"Men shouldn't be 'pretty,' Thal," he grinned, as I slid towards the car. "But, thanks," he shrugged. "You're weird, but thanks."

And I giggled, because in that moment I was alright. I was okay with not talking because I knew we'd talk soon, later. It was actually so comforting knowing I had a friend who played baseball at a school down the street.

I sent him a final wave. "See you later, Xander."

He cocked his head slightly, wrinkling his nose in that cute way he always did. "See you, Thal."

And as I slid into the car, I watched as Xander took a few steps backwards before he spun on his heel, whirling back around to face me. "Thal, wait," he said, and he shook his head, "Wait, wait, wait..."

I paused, mid-crouch as I hoisted myself back out of the car and into the falling snow. "Yeah?"

He kept shaking his head. "Thal," he began, and his hands were on my shoulders, now. "Thalia, I want you to know," he flicked his tongue over his lips, "I want you to know that I'm serious about you calling me, okay?"

"Xander," I sighed, "I already told you that I would, I promise."

"No, but I'm serious. Like," he continued breathlessly, "Like, I don't just want a text because I want to hear your voice, and honestly, I don't just want a phone call because I want to see your face and, and I want to see you smile and talk about cars and make your stupid jokes and--

"And I probably," he let out a breath of air, "I think I went along with all of your bonding shit 'cause I loved seeing you with the guys 'cause you just look so happy, and you look so beautiful when you're happy it like, it hurts. Like, I don't know what to do sometimes 'cause you're just so goddamn beautiful and likeable and easy to be around but you're also sweet and, and you just want everyone to be happy and I sound like a fuckin' cliché but it's true and somehow all of this shit sounded better in my head..."

"Xander--"

"But, see, that's the thing, it's like, I don't care 'cause when you're happy, I'm happy, and I honestly don't think I've really been happy since the 10th Grade.

"So, no," he continued, hands now around my waist. "I don't want to just get a text, and I really don't want just a phone call, 'cause what I really want is to see that face in the stands or on campus or, or..." I couldn't tear my eyes from his, "Or just like this in my arms 'cause I swear to god I can't think of another fuckin' place where you should be instead."

"Xan--" But I didn't finish the thought. For the second time, my head spun and my heartbeat hammered in my ears.

I don't think I realized that we were pressed up against each other, my arms around his neck and Xander's face so close to my own that we could--

And then my eyes fluttered open in surprise because like that, Xander's lips were on mine, chastely at first, but then his fingers tightened around my waist and he deepened the kiss, holding onto me tighter and before I knew it I was melting, burning even, despite the falling mist of snow, my fingers winding their way through his hair with our bodies mashed together and I was kissing Xander O'Hara -- I was fucking making out with Xander O'Hara -- as fervently as he was kissing me.

But as quickly as it began, it was over.

He lifted his lips from mine.

"Next time you draw a book for me," he whispered, so close still that our noses were still touching. "Please," he said, "please make sure there's a picture somewhere of you."

And he kissed me one last time, offering a quick peck on my lips before shrugging his backpack on his shoulder, backpedalling away from me and my taxi.

With rosy lips he smirked that smirk, and I took him in with eyes as wide as saucers. My heart rate hadn't slowed and I was sure, positive that he could hear it beating over the car horns and distant greetings.

Xander smiled that lopsided smile, the one that for the past four weeks I'd come to know so well, and shrugged.

"I'll be seeing you, Thalia," he said, "Remember, you promised," and with a final grin, one where his front teeth grazed his swollen bottom lip, he turned and walked, back to the car that would take him to Georgetown.

"Miss?"

I whirled around, startled. "Yes?"

My taxi driver stood beside my open door. "Are you coming, ma'am?

"Yeah," I shook my head, clambering into the car. I offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," he replied, closing the door behind me.

And luckily, my driver asked for the address of my dorm and nothing more, continuing our car ride in silence, for which I was extremely grateful.

I was drowning in my own head, because now, what I'd attempted to avoid had definitely just happened.

Now, I had to choose.

Now, I wasn't just attempting to patch up my friend's lives, but I seriously had to figure out my own.

Now, my initial excitement was gone, and I was kind of dreading the next time we'd all be together.

Summer.

Roman expected me to pick up things between us where we left off, and now, here was Xander.

Here was Xander with the adorable grins and freckles when there was Roman with the hazel eyes and dimples.

Here was Xander with the lips that I could still taste, the lips that made me even more fucked up and confused because I really wanted to taste them again.

Fuck.

There goes my New Year's Resolution.

-~-~-~*~-~-~-

Crying because...

1. I started this story during my winter break and it's done.

2. Literally, I had the idea to write about a bunch of friends and high school and misunderstandings and here's what all of those jumbled thoughts and words and ideas have turned into...my first full-length novel on Wattpad. I'm going to go through and make edits, so...yeah. That's coming once this is done.

3. I really like this chapter, even though honestly there's a soft spot in my heart for Roman just saying...I might be the only one. ;-)

4. I looooooveeeee all of you guys' comments and votes. Seriously, each note I read makes my day. I love love love how invested everyone has been in this, because I definitely have been too. Lawlz.

5. Thalia and Xander still don't have a ship name. Sad.

6. But -- I've started outlining a sequel (yes, there will be a sequel. I won't leave you hanging with that kiss as a forever goodbye) so I guess those have elicited happy tears. <3

Comment and vote for the last chapter of We'll All Be! And thank you and hugs and kisses to everyone who have liked and commented and added the story to their reading lists! I'm beyond happy that you've enjoyed this ride as much as I have.

P.S. The story still says "To Be Continued" because I've got a little preview of Book 2, so yay. More happy tears to come.