*Kariann’s POV*

The rest of the week, with me being with Harry, it flew by way to fast. Toward the end of the vacation, I was locking myself in my little cabin room to finish the music, knowing I plenty of footage to go through. Most of the time Harry would lock himself in there with me, but I would find myself getting distracted from his simple touching, be it brushing my arm with his fingertip, resting his head on my shoulder, or even playing with my hair.

That Thursday, I made him stay out of my room the whole day until I was done. The video was due tomorrow and I didn’t want any distractions. He pouted and promised not to bother me, but I still refused. With his presence near, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get anything done. I did let one person in, though. Dakota came in halfway through the day. She sat down next to me and helped me pick out the best footage to use for the video.

“This is really good.” She murmured. “We’ll win for sure.”

I nodded in agreement. “I hope.”

“Confidence, my friend.” Dakota said, rubbing my shoulder with her hand. “Confidence.”

With nothing much more to say, I finally got all of the main footage I wanted to use picked out. Two straight days of working was really paying off. By Friday, everything was done. The others were dying to watch, so I let them. Dakota had her arms wrapped around me the whole time, excited to be watching.

I got good feedback. Everyone loved it. Some even went to watch it again.

I sent it in. No regrets, no doubts, just confidence.

With my friends by my side, that was all I needed. Our hard work was sure to pay off.

And it did.

*Dakota’s POV*

The diploma was in my hand, my heart racing fast as I drew my closest friends into hugs. Tears were streaming down everyone’s faces but my own. I was never the type to cry in parting from others, because I knew it wasn’t the end. There would be a day we would be together again, be it fate reunite us or not. I made sure to hug everyone tight though. Even if I wasn’t crying, I would miss them like hell.

I was going to Florida. Kariann too. It would be a long time before we ever get to see everyone again.

Bonnie did decide to proceed on as a model, but that required her to move overseas. Her parents were angry, even threatening to kick her out of the house, but she settled them down. She told them she would prove them wrong. She would make herself do a career she was good at and loved. Niall supports her the whole way through and was even helping her out by setting up a flat down in England close to where she would began working this summer. She didn’t want him to, because she wanted to do everything on her own, but he somehow convinced her. He even offered to pay the rent, but she absolutely refused. She wanted to help herself out. She thanked him for the flat either way.

My best friend would be overseas, now that made me want to cry. It would be a long time before we could ever see each other again. For summers, that wasn’t unusual, but still. School was over and now there wasn’t an excuse to see each other every day.

It killed me though, knowing that this past year was the craziest yet.

“Excuse me…” The intercom spoke up. “It seems some special guests decided to make a surprising visit…”

The councilor smiled as the gym became quiet and everyone listened. “These boys have been a special part of a group of girls’ lives so far. So why don’t we give them a warm welcome?”

Clapping began. Somehow I knew, but was still slightly confused. Five boys came from behind the curtain of the stage and waved at the crowd. Girls were screaming, but Kariann, Bonnie, and I stared in shock. “Oh, God, I’m loving the faces they’re making!” Niall said into a microphone, pointing at us girls.

I started to gape as people behind us began to scream. Mostly girls. One Direction was here, at our graduation. What was that all about? Why didn’t they call us? Hell, weren’t they supposed to be on a world tour at the moment?

Kariann and Bonnie dashed ahead of me to run up on stage. I followed afterward and we were all pulled into hugs from the five of them. If the tears weren’t falling before, they were now. I sniffed. It’s been over two months since I last seen these boys and with them being on tour, it was hard to talk to them. Bonnie and Kariann stayed in Harry’s and Niall’s arms for the longest moment, only to break apart and kiss. Louis was the last to be hugged by me. He held me close. “I see you’re still wearing it.” He whispered to me.

The bracelet. “Of course.” I said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I sniffed as he wiped a tear stream from my cheek. He kissed my cheek before pulling back to where the eight of us were facing the crowd on stage, his arm slung over my shoulder. “Hello Senators!” Louis shouted through his microphone. “How is everyone tonight?”

He was answered by screams. I felt Liam beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. We smiled at each other as I rested my head on his shoulder for a brief second. “We were actually trying to fly over here before graduation started…” Niall spoke up, “But our plane got slightly delayed. Hey, better late than never, right?”

More screams.

“Sorry we couldn’t make it sooner!” Zayn said, smiling at the crowd. “But we did make it just in time to see you off!”

“We’re going to sing you guys a song.” Liam said right after Zayn. “It’s a song that we can all relate to, I think. Since our band couldn’t make it, we’ll be doing it without the music.”

“Alright!” Harry spoke after everyone’s screams seemed to die down some. “Your futures are beginning now. Some of you will be heading off to college this fall, some heading straight to work, but we are still young, right? We want to have as much fun as possible, right?”

Screams.

“And no, we’re not singing Live While We’re Young.” Niall said. “Instead, something else.”

“Something a little more meaningful.” Zayn added.

“Tell me!” Liam shouted. “Who wants to be forever young!?”

Let’s dance in style
Let’s dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we’re only watching the skies
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worse
Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever. We don’t have the power but we never say never. Sitting in a sandpit. Life is a short trip. The music’s for the sad man.

Forever young
I wanna be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever, forever young?

Some are like water
Some are like the heat
Some are a melody and some are the beat
But sooner or later they all will be gone,
but why don’t they stay young?

It’s hard to get old without a cause
I don’t want to perish like a fading horse
Youth is like diamonds in the sun and diamonds are forever.

Forever young, I wanna be forever young
Do you really wanna live forever, forever, or never?
Forever young, I wanna be forever young
Do you really wanna live forever, forever, or never?

So many adventures just couldn’t happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue
We let ‘em come true.

Forever young
I wanna be forever young
Do you really wanna live forever, forever, or never?

Forever young
I wanna be forever young
Do you really wanna live forever, forever, or never?
Forever young
I wanna be forever young
Forever young
Do you really wanna live forever, forever, or never?
I wanna be forever young
Do you really wanna live forever
Forever

Forever young

Commence epic cheering and crying. My heart was lifted and my body felt light with happiness. The students, teachers, and parents alike gave a standing ovation. A graduation nobody will ever forget. The boys made it all better too.

From there, we all left. My dad got to meet up with the boys again, though mostly Louis. They even hugged each other. Man hugs, gotta love them. “Hey, since you guys are here, why don’t we go out for dinner?”

“I don’t know about you, but Rooster’s seems good to me.” I heard Kariann’s dad speak up. “It’s all you can eat ribs today.”

I looked over at Bonnie. Her parents were near, looking among us and the five guys – mostly Niall. Ah, I just remembered, they’ve never met each other. I watched, slightly amused as Bonnie practically dragged him over, introducing him. Niall gave his sweetest smile as he shook hands between her dad and her mother came over, eloping him into a hug. Even if they weren’t happy with Bonnie’s wishes in becoming a model, they still liked the boy that made their daughter the happiest girl in the world. They knew he was there for her when she needed it and helped out as much as he could.

Bonnie spoke to her parents, nodding her toward us. They nodded, agreeing with whatever it was she told them. She and Niall came back, smiling and hand in hand.

“Ribs it is!” Louis shouted and followed by slinging an arm over my dad’s shoulders as he whispered something into his ear.

“Ribs? Am I hearing food?” Niall asked, excited.

“Hell yeah!” Kariann said. “My favorite! Let’s go!”

“Guys…” Zayn spoke up. “Our ride ditched us.”

“No way!” Liam and Harry shouted, looking over. “Where the hell did he go?”

“Need a ride?” Kariann’s dad, Paul, spoke up. “I can fit two in my truck.”

Harry put an arm around Kariann’s waist. “I’m in.”

“I got my jeep. My parents and I drove in separate vehicles.” Bonnie said, Niall stepping to stand behind her, resting a cheek on the side of her head and place his hands on her waist.

“I think I’ll ride with her.” Zayn said, taking a step next to her.

“Same here.” Liam said, putting an arm around his Bradford friend.

Dad and I looked at each other, grinning. Dad looked over at Louis. “What about you, son? You with me or Dakota? We only have room for one.”

Louis at him questioningly. I felt a grin come to my face. That present my father bought me on my birthday that he refused to tell me about, it was sitting in the parking lot next to my father’s Harley Davidson. My baby. Louis’s eyes lit up. “A motorcycle.”

“Hell yeah!” Only compared to Dad’s Harley, mine was a crotch rocket. It took a hell of a time convincing my dad to let me getting my license after I got my driver’s license, but he finally agreed. I’ll be riding that in Florida. Saving gas and money.

“Damn!” The guys said. “Is she safe?” Liam asked.

I gaped at him, smacking him. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

“Dakota’s the only one with an extra helmet.” Dad noted. “Maybe you should ride with her.”

Bullshit, I thought, he was purposely doing that. I rolled my eyes. We all decided we’d meet each other there. “I’ll follow you guys!” Bonnie shouted toward us. “I have no clue where I’m going!”

I walked over to my bike, unstrapping my extra helmet and handing it to Louis. He gave it an once-over before placing it on his head. I got onto my bike, putting my own helmet on. I turned on my bike. I looked over at Louis. “Get on.” I said, patting the seat behind me.

He put a leg over, resting his hands around my waist. “I never rode a bike before.”

“It’s fun.” I felt myself smile. Dad’s Harley shot on. He waved at the two of us before departing ahead. I started to take off and Louis’s grip tightened.

I’m guess Louis was scared at first, but as soon as we got to the highway and sped up, he seemed to get use to the ride. He kept his body close to mine, but looked around, amazed by the view. Not that there was interesting about seeing farmland, but whatever.

It was a twenty minute ride and Dad, Louis, and I were the first ones to make it to Rooster’s. It was a family restaurant, and they made some pretty good food. It was right in our hometown too, so that was a bonus. The others soon followed.

“You two seriously scare me on those bikes!” Kariann said, coming over to sit at the biggest table we found.

“I think we’re going to need more tables than this.” Paul said, he and his wife taking a seat next to Kariann. She ended up sitting right across from me and Paul and his wife next to my father that was on my other side. Harry took a seat next to Kariann, ending with him being across from Louis. The two boys smiled at each other. The rest of our group trailed in quickly, and because of our big group, we had to combine another table with ours.

Our orders were pretty big and we had a while to wait. We talked amongst each other, laughing and having a good time. Our food came, along with two other huge plates full of ribs. We all dug in. Actually, there was one thing about coming here for ribs that I liked.

Kariann. She literally loved the stuff. I didn’t know how she did it, but it was like her stomach had a bottomless pit for the stuff. Even Niall, I could tell, was loving the stuff. By the time we were all done eating, they were still eating. We watched, amazed by them. “Shoot, how many rounds does that make this?” Harry asked, not sure to be amazed or disgusted.

I laughed. Oh, my goodness, this was great! There was one point where we were cheering toward the end. “My money’s on Niall!” Zayn shouted, excited.

Most of the guys agreed on Niall too, but they didn’t know just how well Kariann could make herself eat. I grinned at my friend. “You can do it, K!”

“I… can’t! I’m done!” Niall shouted, grunting as he pushed back his food. Kariann was still chewing on her food as she raised her hands up in the air in victory.

She swallowed her food, bringing her fingers up to lick them. Niall’s hands were on his stomach and face planted on the table. Bonnie was shaking her head, smiling as she gently rubbed Niall’s back to comfort him. “I need to go wash my hands…” Kariann said, getting up to head toward the bathroom. She stopped, turning around. She pointed at me. “Help me?”

I grinned before getting up. I followed her to the bathroom, opening the door and turning on the faucet. Kariann sighed as she washed off the majority mess on her hands before putting soap on them. “God…” Kariann started, looking over at me. “I feel like such a pig eating in front of Harry like that.”

I laughed. “It’ll be fine. He seemed pretty amazed to see a girl eat like that anyways.”

Kariann sighed, washing off her hands and resting her elbows on the sink. “Okay, I’ll be lying if I don’t say eating five pounds of meat is making my stomach cramp some.”

I placed a hand on her back, giving her a soft pat. “Think you’ll be fine?” I asked.

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she looked into the mirror. She nodded. “Yeah… just kick me the next time something like this happens. It’s really embarrassing doing this in front of Harry.”

“If you say so.” I laughed.

I left her alone then to go back to my seat. Only Louis took it over. He was speaking with my dad again. I took over his seat, sitting between him and my good friend Liam. From there, Niall let out the biggest burp known to man. Half of us laughed, only for me burp soon afterwards. Yet another competition came afterwards. “I can’t handle this anymore!” Zayn shouted, covering his ears as he stood and quickly left to go outside. Sometimes I forget that he gets disgusted easily.

We were laughing during the whole thing until Niall started to feel sick again. Bonnie patted Niall’s back, whispering something into his ear. He nodded as he stood. She stood up with him and they both stepped outside with Bonnie close to his side.

“Well, I don’t know about Kariann, but I’m heading out to the truck.” Paul said, letting out a breath as he and his wife stood up. Kariann came out of the bathroom then. “Kariann! Bring this boy with you when you come back to the house. I want to talk to him some more.”

He patted Harry’s shoulder before walking out with his wife. I grinned as I watched Kariann come over to his side. “So? Wanna take a walk?”

Harry nodded, standing up. “I’ll see you lads in a bit.” Harry said to Liam and Louis, taking Kariann’s hand and walking out.

That left me, Liam, Louis, and my father in the restaurant.

“Well,” Liam said, resting an arm on the back of my chair. “We don’t leave until another hour, so what shall we do?”

I pouted at him. “You’re leaving? You just got here!”

His hand rested on the back of my head. He lightly grabbed some of my hair. My head moved some as I continued to pout. He gave me one of his small smiles. I noticed he looked behind me. His face mustered some as he pulled back his hands in surrender. “Dude, chill with the glaring. I gave her to you.”

I looked behind me. I saw Louis quickly look away, bringing a hand up to his mouth. “What?” I said.

Louis looked over at me, elbow resting on the arm and chin cupped in his hand as a finger was tapping against his lips. He offered a smile. “Hi there.”

“Hi…?” I looked at him confused.

“Hey, Liam, right?” My dad asked, sticking his head out to look at Liam.

Liam nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You a fan of dogs?”

What? I thought to myself. The hell is going on? I watched Dad as he stood. I knew exactly what he was doing then. I looked back at Liam, who was looking at me, not sure what to say. I gave him the biggest glare I could muster. You better not, Liam… I thought.

“Actually, yes.” Liam said, standing up from his seat. “You have a dog, right? Buddy, I think. Can I see him again?”

Oh I so wanted to tackle him right now, both my dad and Liam. They were so doing this on purpose just so Louis and I would be alone. Dad waved him over and Liam stepped out from his seat. Dad put an arm over his shoulder as they walked toward the door. I saw my dad peek back, giving me a wink – or maybe Louis. Either way, I was so going to kill him later. I let out a slow breath before standing.

“Where you going?” Louis asked, curious.

“Anywhere but here.” I muttered, stepping out from my seat.

I could hear Louis stepping close behind me as I walked out of the restaurant and made my way to my bike. I grabbed my helmet, stepping over my seat to sit down. “Wait.” Louis said, putting a hand on the handle to keep me from starting my bike. I stared at him with my helmet still in hand.

“What?” I asked.

Louis let out a breath. “I seriously don’t know what is up with this. With us, really. One minute we’re perfectly fine, the best friends in the world, but when we’re alone, it’s like you can’t stand to be near me. Why are you acting like this?”

I clenched my jaw, staring down at my helmet. “There it is again! That guarded expression! I know you know of my feelings, but it really hurts me when you push me away like this. Not as the boy who loves you, but as your friend. We were never like this before, you know.”

“I know, Lou.” I said, putting down my helmet. “It’s just that… I’m scared.”

“Of what exactly?”

“Of everything. I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt. I just don’t want the heartache…” I felt myself sniff some.

“Aren’t you in pain now?”

I looked up at him, surprised to hear the words. “What?”

“You’re crying.”

“Oh.” I looked away, staring at the building in front of me. He let out a sigh before reached out and pulling my head to his chest, letting me cry.

I didn’t know what it was that was holding me back. Being in Louis’s arms seriously did make me feel better. I stopped crying immediately, but he continued to stand there, holding me to his chest as he stroked my hair. “Your hair’s gotten longer.” He said after a moment, gently taking a lock between his fingers.

“I guess.” I said, not sure how to reply to his comment.

I felt him pull back, letting me go. I sat up straighter. His leg swung over on the back of the bike to sit. I felt him taking a small handful of hair. “Do you know how to braid?”

I turned my head to look at him. “Yeah. Why?”

“Teach me.” He said, looking at me. “I’ve always been curious about it.”

I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I decided to teach him either way. I stepped off my bike to sit backwards on it to face him. I took a few strands of my hair, beginning to show him. “Pretty simple, really.” I said, going over and under with my hair.

With three strands of hair on the other side of my head, Louis was attempting to braid. “It’s so hard!” He complained, staring down at the messy braid he’s made compared to mine.

“You gotta keep the hair separated.” I said, rolling my eyes at him.

I had to pick out the knot he made in my hair, brushing it down once I was done. Louis made a face and ran a hand through his hair. “Hey, do it to mine.”

“It’s not long enough.” I said, raising an eye.

He shrugged. “So? Just do it”

“Okay, Nike.” I said, standing up from my bike so I could be taller and see the top of his head. I brushed some of his hair back. It was really soft and think, even longer than I expected it to be. I felt myself laugh as I somehow managed to get a part of his hair to braid in the front. Once I was done, I stood back a little to look. I started laughing. Louis looked over at my mirror, touching the braid. “Weird, wasn’t expecting it to turn out that good.”

“Sit up, I’ll fix your hair.”

Louis sat up strait, letting me take out the small braid and run a hand through his hair. I found myself playing with it and spiking it up in the front. “Your hair’s pretty easy to tame.”

“Yeah. Our stylist loves it.” Louis commented, smiling up at me.

I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. “It sucks you guys are leaving though. I really do miss you guys a lot.”

Louis reached up, grabbing my arms and gently uncrossing them. He pulled my arms to where they were over his shoulders. From there he brought his hands around my sides and pulled me to a hug. I couldn’t help myself, I felt my arms wrap around his neck and I dug my face into his shoulder. He did the same with me. “I know the feeling.” Louis said. “I miss you all the time.”

Why was it like this? Louis, who obviously cared for me, wanted to keep us together and so desperately wanted more. I knew I felt the same way, but I was too much of a coward to do anything about it. Why couldn’t I just pull back now and do something, anything – like kiss him? What would it be like to do that? Kissing Louis? The boy who has stuck by my side for so long and supported me through every hardship I faced and gave me the strength that was needed to get through the days.

My mother came to my mind. She was something I wanted to just forget and let be part of the past. Was it her that was holding me back yet again? The mere fact that she was not happy about Louis made my mind go crazy. She didn’t know Louis, yet she was convinced it was him that caused me to be this way.

Well, maybe so, but not for the worse, for the better it was. I had to find out though, just how much I wanted, no, needed to be with him. “Louis…” I started.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

He was stunned into silence. I pulled back, leaving my hands resting on his shoulders. He looked up at me, as if he couldn’t bring himself to hear what he thought he heard. “You want… to kiss me?” He asked.

I nodded once, slowly. “Ah… um, okay.” He said, blinking some.

Slowly, I brought my face down to his. The whole time he was staring. “Why are your eyes open?” I asked, face a mere few inches from his.

“Why are yours?” He countered.

“Because yours are.”

“Same here.”

“Close them!”

“I can’t.”

I half glared at him. “Why, Louis Tomlinson? Why can’t you simply close your eyes?”

“I don’t want you out of my sight. I want to see what I’m about to experience.” He murmured, his eyes searching my own.

Whatever, I thought. “Yeah, okay.” I said, and quickly closed the distance before us.

Louis’s hand traveled up to my face, cupping my cheek. The kiss was soft, tender, and sweet, just a peck. Even so, it was breathtaking. I pulled back, but Louis didn’t let me get far. We were so close, just millimeters apart. “Louis…” I fought the words to say.

“I can’t take it anymore.” He breathed, blue eyes burning with anticipation mixed with longing and pain. With his other hand, he reached to brush back my hair, resting his hand on the back of my neck. “I love you too much.”

He brought his lips to my own. I couldn’t pull back, not that I wanted to anyways. I knew just then what I wanted. My mind yelled at me to stop, but the shields plating my heart came crashing down right there. I knew my heart belonged with Louis and it will continue to do so. I felt Louis sliding down from the seat to stand up on his feet. He reached down and suddenly picking me up. “Whoa! Holy shit, Lou!” I shouted. He sat down to where I was on his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders.

He was sharing a small laughter as his arms stayed wrapped around my waist. I looked down at him, wondering what he was so giddy about. His laughter died down as he just stared up and smiled at me. He pulled me in to where his head rested at the crook of my neck. “I don’t want you to be scared. I told you before, I wanted to be the one to help you face your fears. So don’t be scared. You’re a braver girl than you think.”

He pulled back, only to look up at me. “You can stand on a stage with thousands of fans staring before you, so what’s one woman going to do to you? What? You didn’t think I would know? Your life revolved around your family and your mother was the one who ruined everything. Don’t let her ways ruin how you want to live your life. If anything, let her know, whether she believes you or not, that you are sticking to your word and if she still can’t bring herself to believe you then, then I say to hell with her.”

The words felt kind of familiar to me. Did I use that advice on someone else before? Either way, I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Louis the Tommo Tomlinson.” I said, looking into his eyes. “You’re one hell of a man, you know that?”

He grinned up at me. “Yeah, but I’m your man. Always will be too, no matter what.”

“No matter what.” I repeated his words. He kissed my neck before bringing me to a hug, too happy to simply let me go.

Thank you, Louis. I thought to myself. Thank you for being able to make me smile all this time. For falling in love with me. For allowing me to see that my heart wasn’t something I could protect forever. For being my strength. For being my everything. For being the man I needed to get myself through every struggle that came my way.

Thank you for helping me for facing my fears.

I really did love you, but I wouldn’t say that right now. Those words held a precious meaning to me, so when you do hear the words, you better not ever forget me ever saying them nor let it out of your mind that I care deeply for you. Love is a precious existence, and I wasn’t about to abuse such a thing.

None of us will. Not me, not Louis, not Kariann, Bonnie, nor the rest of the guys. To be together like this, it will be a never-ending adventure. For now, it was just us. We were young and we would stay young. Our hearts may or may not falter, but for now we will live in the present. Later on, we will look back on this day and agree upon one thing. This… this was the time of our lives.

Never, will we forget.

Notes

Okay, this is sorta the final chapter but there are three endings :) NOT alternative but it's just three more chapters of Bonnie, Dakota, and Kariann and what happens after a few years. After that, an epilogue! :D Look forward to them.

OH! I made a book trailer lol (sorta late for that) check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Ly63s651I