"

Let's share a bowl," Aaron says once we arrive at the ice cream shop and wait in line.

"A bowl?" I question.

"Yeah," he replies, "like couples do on Valentine's day."

"Valentine's day is in February," I tell him, "its mid-May."

"So? We're still a couple."

A couple. He wasn't wrong about that and the truth was, each time he mentioned the fact that we were dating the inside of my stomach would go crazy. And even more so when he would hold my hand, hug me and kiss me.

I smiled tenderly at him and say, "I don't like sharing."

Aaron gives me look filled with disbelief. "That's a lie," he says, "at school you always share your French fries with me."

"Yes," I say and scoot up as the person in front of the line walks away, "that's because I don't like the French fries."

"What?" he asks incredulously and quite loud. I shush him whilst laughing at his reaction.

He feigns a look of hurt and says, "I'm offended. This entire time I thought you gave me them because you liked me and liked sharing with me. Not because you didn't like the fries."

"I do like you," I reassure him.

"So then can we get the bowl?" he questions at the same time as we hear someone calling for us. With a smile on his face Omar makes his way to us, not caring if he's cutting the line.

"What's up?" he says when he's next to us.

I smirk and say to him, "You and Aaron are sharing a bowl."

"What?" Aaron exclaims.

"Fine by me," replies Omar.

Aaron pulls me aside and whispers, "How did he know we were here?"

"He texted me when we were on our way here and asked me what we were up to and I told him."

"This was only supposed to be us two," he says.

"Oh come on," I reply, "its just Omar."

To this Aaron rolls his eyes and grumbles back to where Omar stands.

We are next in line and I choose Cookies and Cream for the flavor as my ice cream and I watch as an annoyed Aaron agrees to get Butter Pecan as the flavor for his and Omar's bowl. When we get our ice creams we sit down at a table outside.

"Can you stop?" Aaron tells Omar.

Omar looks up at him, spoonful of ice cream in mouth and says, "What?"

"Using my spoon," Aaron replies.

"What's wrong with it?" Omar says swallowing the rest of the ice cream in his mouth. "We're bros."

Aaron gives me a look and I let out a laugh.

"The bowl was supposed to be romantic," he mutters.

"What?" Omar says.

"Nothing," snaps Aaron.

Omar shrugs. oblivious to Aaron's annoyance and continues to eat the ice cream from the bowl happily.

I let out a sigh and say to Aaron, "You can have some." I hand him my cone and he happily takes it.

"Thanks," he says and I can't help but laugh at how quickly his reaction changes.

When we're done eating our ice cream I drive Omar home before driving to Aaron's house.

"You like me a lot, huh," he says when my car is parked.

I give him a look. "What?"

"You shared your ice cream with me."

"You looked miserable with Omar," I comment.

Aaron smiles as he reaches out and plays with a strand of hair close to my face.

"Or because you like me so much you're willing to share with me."

Playfully I roll my eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," I say. Aaron's hand has left my hair and is now on my face, caressing my cheek. He smiles before leaning in. As we're about to kiss I lean my elbow on the steering wheel and the horn goes off causing us to jump. Once we realize what happened we start laughing.

"I'm sorry," I say laughing.

Aaron shakes his head, a humorous smile lingering on his face. "Always something new with you," he says.

I playfully roll my eyes as Aaron reaches closer to me and plants a quick kiss on my lips.

"Hey," I say, somewhat shocked that he kissed me so suddenly.

"If I would've let you know that I wanted to kiss you, you might have hit the horn again."

"It was on accident," I tell him.

"I'll see you later Lux Callaghan," he says before giving me another quick kiss and jumping out of my car. I watch him until he's inside before driving home.

When I arrive home I hesitantly walk inside the moment I see dad's car parked in the driveway of mom's house. My eyes find them the minute I'm inside, along with Sage who is sitting beside them in the living room.

"What's going on?" I say and drop my bag to the floor. Mom has an upset look on her face, her arms folded.

"Why don't you ask your brother," she replies and I sit on the couch with them. I look from her to Sage.

"Well," he says, "I've decided I'm taking a gap year."

Yikes. I can know understand why mom is so mad. It isn't like our parents straight up told us we had to go to college. But with mom it was something she expected without having to say so.

"What are you gonna do instead?" I question.

Sage shrugs. "I...I just need time off. Away from people."

"Away from people? Sage this is the time of your life where you're supposed to be meeting people in college! Not wasting a year," Mom exclaims.

"I think if you want to take that gap year then take it," Dad says which causes Mom to snap her head to his direction, eyes filled with fire but Dad pays no attention to that. "You're eighteen. Still just a kid. You shouldn't know what you want to do with your life just yet. You've still got things to figure out. So, despite what your mom says, if you want to take the gap year, take it."

"Are you kidding me?" Mom snaps, upset.

"Thanks dad," Sage replies and then his eyes linger on me.

I let out a sigh and smile. "I just want you to be happy," I tell him, "I support you in whatever you decide to do."

"This is not how I expected things to turn out," Mom says then points to Dad, "this is all your fault."

Dad rolls his eyes. "This is about his happiness. Not yours, not mine. His. Not everyone's life goes according to plan. You and I are more than aware of that. So if he wants to take a gap year to figure things out, let him."

Something in Mom's face changes and she softens up. Her arms are still crossed but she doesn't seem as mad as before. "Fine," she replies.

The last weeks of May go by quickly, with prom coming and ending swiftly. It would be a lie if I didn't say that Aaron and I aren't made for the dancefloor and yet being there with him made things so much more worth it. The last couple of weeks come by and before we know it, its finals weeks. People in complete school mode for their finals, and when finals end there is a sudden weight lifted off our shoulders. Then of the year has come and soon enough everyone is saying their final goodbyes to teachers and friends. And then graduation comes. Sage, Aaron and Bianca showing off their blue caps and gowns as they walk down the stage and Nat, Omar and I cheer as loud as we can when their names are called.

When the graduation ends the graduates make their way outside and I have to squeeze through what seems a bajilion of people just to find Aaron. I walk as fast as I can when I find him and embrace him in a hug.

"Congradulations," I say, "what does it feel like now that you're a high school graduate?" I hold my hand in a fist and pretend it is a microphone when I say the words to him before holding it in front of him so that he can respond.

Aaron smiles. "It feels amazing, no more waking up at 6 A.M., no more nasty cafeteria food. And it's even better knowing I'm about to spend my entire summer with the most beautiful girl in the world. Oh and of course I'll be making sure I save up some time to spend it with you," he says, smirking and I punch him. He pretends to be in pain and rubs circles on the place where I punched his arm.

He pulls me in a hug and kisses my cheek.

"Let's get a picture before you have to go with your family," he whispers and I nod. Aaron asks Gaby to take a picture of us, giving her his phone and we pose in different ways so that she can take plenty of pictures. When we're done I make sure to take a group picture with Aaron and his family before letting him go and celebrate with them. As I walk away from them to find my own family I bump into someone.

"I'm sorry," I say and look up finding Ethan.

Without realizing it I send him a pitiful look but he smiles at me.

"Its fine," he says, "I wish you luck next year. You'll finally be a senior so make sure to spend every moment wisely. Before you know it, it'll be over."

"Y-yes," I say, "Congratulations by the way."

"Thank you," he says, "If you need anything don't hesitate to call me."

I smile at him and nod. "Me too," I reply.

I tell him goodbye before finally finding my Sage. We take a lot of pictures. I'm even surprised when my mom asks for all us, including my dad, to join in for the picture. I make sure to find Bianca and SoHo, who although haven't fixed everything in their friendship slash relationship have somehow made amends. I bid them goodbye before I go and have lunch with my family.

In some way I am sad that this year is over. The fact that so many things have changed and there's so much that I have learnt makes me with that it wouldn't end. But at the same time I'm happy that it did otherwise I'd be the same person I was at the start. But most of all, I'm excited to start the summer plans Aaron and I made.

"My feet hurt," I whine with a pout.

"We're almost there," replies Aaron.

"That's what you said like twenty minutes ago."

"It was only five minutes ago."

"Feels like twenty," I mutter and continue to walk behind him. I kick a rock I see on the ground and continue to do so until I bump into Aaron.

"Ow," I mutter.

"We're here," he replies.

I let out a groan. "Finally."

I look around, confused, and then turn to him. "Where are we?"

"Well according to your brother's drawn out map, we're at a good spot away from bears but close to restrooms."

"My brother's drawn out map?"

"Yeah," he replies holding it out in his hand.

"You planned our last date of the summer before you head off to college with my brother?" I question.

"He said camping seems like something you would really enjoy."

"Aaron," I reply, "you know me. I'm not an outdoorsy person."

Aaron rolls his eyes. "Just for the night," he replies, "now help me with the tent."

Aaron and I have no idea how tents work. In fact I'm pretty sure that we've spent twenty minutes-this time not exaggerating-trying to build the damn thing. I sigh remembering our other dates. The ones that didn't end with me sweating and annoyed. Just as I'm about to call it quits some guys, probably a little bit older than Aaron and I, walk around us.

"Need help," one of the guys ask me. I look up at him and weakly smile.

"Yes," I say just as Aaron says no. I brush Aaron off and look back at the guy.

"Do you know how to build a tent?"

"Of course," he says with a smile and helps put up my side of the tent. He's about to walk toward Aaron's side when Aaron snaps at him.

"I've got it," Aaron says, upset.

"Doesn't seem like it bro, you're not doing it right."

"I'm not your bro or whatever," Aaron tells him, "I can do it myself."

The guy rolls his eyes and walks back to me.

"He always this mad," he questions.

"Not usually," I respond.

"I'm Caleb by the way and that's my friend Juan," he says and takes his out for me to shake.

"Lux," I reply and just as I'm about to shake his hand Aaron drops whatever he's holding from the tent and runs over to us, slapping my hand away.

"Ow," I exclaim.

"We're good here," he tells Caleb, "you and your friend can go."

Caleb lets out a chuckle.

"So you two aren't just friends," Caleb states.

"Exactly," replies Aaron.

"Too bad," he says.

At this Aaron stiffens up. "You two can go now."

"Oh we are. Good luck with the tent." With that said Caleb leaves with Juan.

"Really?" I say.

"Why are you annoyed with me? I should be annoyed with you!"

"What? Why?"

"Because that guy was eyeing you up, trying to flirt and you just let him!"

"No I did not!"

"Then why did you let him help us?"

"Because we needed help! We're obviously clueless when it comes to tents!"

"He was still eyeing you up!"

"Seriously? You're acting jealous now? What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Um last time I checked you were the most popular guy at our high school. Even when we made it clear that we're dating there were still girls that flirted and eyed you up! And I never got jealous."

"You can't use that against me! Girls have always acted that way with me even before we started to date."

"Oh I know," I reply, "you especially loved flirting with them when everyone would meet up at the park!"

"The park? Lux that was so long ago!"

"It's only been like five months, not that long."

"That's quite long."

"Doesn't matter! You can't just excuse the fact that you let girls flirt with you all the time just because it's always been that way for you, but the minute some random guy flirts with me it's suddenly my fault."

"Can we just forget about that stupid guy and figure out how to do this side of the tent please?"

I cross my arms. "We could've had our tent already done if you wouldn't have acted like a jerk. Besides I thought you said you could do it on your own."

Aaron rolls his eyes. "Fine," he mutters, "I will figure it out on my own."

I shrug and open up one of the folding chairs we brought and sit down facing away from him. I don't fail to hear the few curses coming out of his mouth when he can't figure out what to do before he's finally quiet. Minutes pass until he walks over to me and says, "The tent is ready," before walking back to it.

I turn around and sure enough the tent is ready. Aaron is already inside the tent the moment I get up from the chair. I let out a sigh and go inside the tent too. We sit in front of each other quietly, moments passing in disturbing silence.

"I'm sorry," Aaron says, breaking the silence.

I frown. "I'm also sorry," I tell him.

Aaron pouts and taps the ground beside him, motioning me to come over to him. I let out a sigh a move over to him, Aaron pulling me closer, my back hitting his chest.

He kisses my cheek softly and when I smile, he smiles too, and kisses me again and again, this time all over my face. I let out a laugh before tilting my head so that we can kiss on the lips. Bliss. Butterflies in my stomach. Aaron feels so familiar, making me feel at home anywhere just as long as I am with him.

"I'm sorry for getting a jealous," he tells me, "I shouldn't have. It's just I wanted this to be just us having a good time because this our last night together. And then that stupid Caleb guy came and showed off his tent-building-skills and it just...I just realized that I'm not gonna be here anymore with you."

"It's okay," I say, "And Aaron, I don't care about any other guys that aren't you, even if they have great tent-building-skills. I'm sorry for bringing up the park, I shouldn't have, that was a low blow."

Aaron frowns. "No it wasn't," he replies.

"What is it?" I question when I see the face he's making.

"I don't know," he replies, "I guess it just really hit me how much you really know me. You know how I really am, but you also know how I used to act. Like a total douche."

I smile. "And yet, I'm still crazy about you."

Aaron smiles back. "Lux," he says.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he says before quickly adding, "And you don't have to say it back, I just want you to know that I love you."

I kiss him. Soft lips. Minty breath. The smell of detergent. Eternal bliss. And I tell him that I love him too, or at least I think I do, my thoughts fuzzy and the only way I want to respond is with kisses. So I tell him again, "I love you." And he says it back and even though we were fighting only moments ago I realize that we're going to me more than okay. Yes we'll fight, but that will be normal because at the end of the day we'll end up like this. Happy and completely and crazily in love. Nothing could possibly be better than this, I know that for sure.

And this is it.

I started off this story mainly as a joke and I actually ended up liking it more than I imagined. It was fun to write, especially some of the crazy scenarios.

I also want to thank you guys bc this past week BBAR has passed the 100k reads mark. And honestly that couldn't have happened without you guys. You guys make my day with your votes and comments and messages. I love you all so much ❤

If you guys want and if you guys have questions. I can answer them in another "chapter". Sadly I am not writing an epilogue and the reason behind that is because...(it is just a thought, so it might not happen) I might want to write a sequel to this. I just feel like there's still a lot to learn about these characters that we didn't get to learn in this story...but like I said...just a thought. And ways if you guys have question you would want me to answer, make sure to put them in the comments. :)

Again thank you guys. BBAR