"And so, the Thomas Theorem can help us recognize the importance of labeling to an individual's behavior in society. By understanding how individuals act and feel the way they do, we can begin to remedy the issues in groups or even entire nations."

Once Grace had finished the closing line of the presentation, the class applauded and her, Cal, and Dana returned to their seats.

When they were at their desks, Cal let out a sigh.

"Whew, it's finally over," she breathed. "I'm surprised we even got it done in time."

"Seriously," Grace agreed. Then she folded her arms over her chest in an act of trying to hide her shyness. "I really appreciate you guys for keeping it together while I was out of school. We would've never been able to finish if you hadn't."

Since Grace had been gone, Dana actually did a part of the project during the critical period when Cal had to be there for Grace. When that passed, Cal returned to help, and they worked tirelessly to try to keep the presentation up to Grace's standards. The last thing Cal wanted was for Grace to come back to have to re-do a good chunk of the project.

Naturally, Grace still wanted to make a few revisions, but she was surprisingly pleased with their work. Dana seemed especially proud of this.

"See, we weren't that bad of a group after all," Dana said with a smirk.

"The jury's still out," Grace replied defiantly, but a smile was threatening to form at the corners of her mouth.

There was only one more presentation after that and then Mr. Morrison let them go fifteen minutes early.

It was the last day of the semester, and, honestly, Spring had flown by. Cal couldn't believe that summer break started the next day and they would all basically be seniors.

In spite of the difficult first month, Cal and Grace's relationship was going far smoother than expected. The following two months flew by, and they even survived the stress of finals.

"Do you guys have a final for seventh period?" Dana asked once the three of them had left the classroom and were walking down the hallway.

"It's a free period for me," Cal replied.

"We did our finals for that class yesterday, so I don't have to go," Grace added for herself.

"Lucky," Dana said with a sigh. "I've got to go fail a world history final."

They stopped near the stairs of the hallway and Dana turned to face the two of them. She suddenly pulled them into a three-person hug, her voice shaking as if she was about to cry.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much," she blubbered.

Cal smiled, patting her on the back, while Grace seemed to just be trying to survive the tight hug.

"Oh, calm down, Dana," Cal soothed. "We can see each other a bunch over the summer."

Dana finally released them from the hug and sniffled.

"Yeah, but you guys still have to get back from your trip," she protested.

Grace rolled her eyes. "It's only two weeks."

"Well, just make sure to be safe, and text me, call me, take pictures...oh! And grab me a souvenir too-"

"Alright, Dana, you don't want to be late for your final, right?" Cal interrupted gently.

Dana regarded them with her rare, genuine smile. "I'm really glad you guys are doing better."

The couple smiled at her in response.

"Thank you, Dana," Grace replied. "For...everything."

The blonde girl finally turned so she could head down the stairs to her class, waving back at them as she did so. Cal smiled, knowing that two weeks would still be enough for her to miss the nosy cheerleader.

She looked over at Grace who almost seemed like she was on the verge of crying herself.

"What? Don't tell me you're actually going to miss her?" Cal teased.

Grace's face morphed into an expression of indignity. "No! I didn't see her for a month after spring break, didn't I?" But then her expression softened once more. "I'm just...she's just a good friend."

Cal smirked deviously, poking the side of Grace's arm. "You used the 'F' word!"

"Shut up," Grace groaned, lightly slapping Cal's hand away.

"You don't hate her, do you?" Cal continued teasingly.

"Sometimes I still do. Same goes for you."

"Aw, how could you hate your girlfriend who's taking you on a trip to Australia?"

Suddenly, Grace frowned as if she'd just remembered the whole affair. "Oh yeah...I keep forgetting that I'm going to be meeting your dad soon."

Cal chuckled, snaking an arm around her waist. "My dad's super easy-going. You guys'll get along."

"But what if he thinks I'm too uptight?" Grace asked, starting on a long ramble of worries. "After he's invited me to come with you on this expensive trip...not to mention that we're both girls and-"

"Calm down, Grace, take a deep breath," Cal said, thinking about how dangerously cute it was that Grace was so worried about being liked by her family. "I know he'll love you. Plus, the flight wasn't expensive, my dad travels constantly so he's got like a gillion miles."

"That's not the point," Grace grumbled.

"Did you pack already?" Cal asked, changing the subject. "We're leaving pretty early tomorrow."

"Of course," Grace huffed as if it was ridiculous to even insinuate that she hadn't. "And you did too...right?"

Cal smiled sheepishly.

"You haven't even started, have you?"

"Ah...well...I just figured I'd have enough time tonight."

"Cal!" Grace said sternly. "You need enough clothes and essentials for two weeks and we don't even know what the weather's exactly like or-"

"Alright, alright," Cal said, suddenly pulling Grace closer so the front of their bodies were pressed together. They were still on the second floor of the east wing, and the bell had rung, so luckily no students were around...at the moment.

Cal leaned down to whisper in Grace's ear. "You know, my dad will still be working while we're there, so we should have plenty of alone time..."

Grace visibly shivered, boosting Cal's ego a little. Cal found herself losing grip of her self-control and awareness of her environment, so she bit Grace's earlobe lightly.

The honor student immediately reacted by shoving the taller girl away, holding a hand to her violated ear while her face lit up bright red.

"Cal, we're at school, remember!?" she screeched.

"Sorry..." Cal said, not really meaning it.

"God, you've been totally insatiable lately!"

"Hey, you can't say that when last weekend we missed the movie because you-"

"Oh my God, shut up, we're at school!" In an effort to hide her beet red face, Grace began to storm off down the hallway. Cal quickly caught up to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"You're not gonna see me off before I go home to pack up?" Cal asked, pouting.

Grace rolled her eyes.

"Maybe if you start behaving yourself."

--

Cal spent most of the evening doing as she promised – preparing for the trip.

Her father, many times in the past, requested to pay for Cal to come see him at whatever country he found himself in. However, Cal's mother never allowed for this to happen, and, quite frankly, Cal never had much of a desire to go anyway.

But since breaking the good news about Grace, Cal's father insisted on bringing them both over to see him in his current temporary residence in Melbourne, Australia. Cal thought it actually sounded like a good idea – escaping from all of the chaos they endured during the spring semester seemed heavenly.

The issue was getting Cal's mom to let her go.

So she followed what Samantha told her to do – she brought it up to her mother in front of Grace when she came over to visit.

Naturally, not wanting break her façade of having a perfect family in front of a guest, she agreed that it would be a good idea. And before she could refuse once she was alone with Cal, Cal's father purchased the tickets and the vacation was confirmed.

It was shady and underhanded, but it was also wrong to prevent your almost-adult child from seeing their biological father.

Grace was initially skeptical about the whole trip, but she caved in once Cal expressed how excited she was to go on a vacation with her and have her meet her father. Grace was a softy at heart, really.

--

"Do you need help with that?"

"Nope, I got it."

Cal heaved the suitcase into the trunk of Samantha's car, slamming the door shut over it.

"Alright, then, let's get going," Samantha said, heading towards the driver's side door of the car. Cal followed suit, climbing into the passenger side.

"I appreciate you offering to drive us to the airport," Cal told her sister genuinely.

Samantha sighed as she started the car and turned on the navigation to Grace's address. They'd be picking the other girl up on the way. "Well, I'm still not super happy about you going to see Dad."

Even though Cal and Samantha's relationship had improved, the elder sister still maintained no contact with their father. Since she was older when he left, she remembered the devastating effect it had on the family even more than Cal did.

"It's not like I don't blame you for not being able to forgive him," Cal said, trying to tread lightly. "But you should know that he really regrets it. You should see his face whenever you come up in conversation. Maybe you should give him a chance to apologize?"

Samantha just frowned, and Cal figured that was as good of an answer as she was going to get. Their relationship was not something Cal could force – Samantha would decide what she wanted to do and the younger sibling would support her in it.

They finally pulled up to Grace's new house after the modest drive, and the honor student was quick to see them and appear from the front door. Behind her, her father Neil was quickly telling her what could only be safety tips and farewells, but Grace hastily made her way from the car, blushing as if he'd said something embarrassing. The middle-aged man waved at Cal and she and Samantha waved back.

Cal stepped out of the car to help Grace put her luggage in the trunk.

"Your dad giving you trouble?" she asked after taking it upon herself to grab Grace's suitcase for her in spite of the shorter girl's protests.

"He's just worried about me," Grace sighed. "This should show you how much he trusts you. I never imagined he'd let me go on a trip abroad without him."

Cal smiled. "We'll, I've won him over with my good looks and charm."

"Shut up."

They both climbed in the car, Cal in the front, Grace in the back.

"Good to see you again, Grace," Samantha said curtly, pulling the car out of the cul de sac.

"Yes, same here," Grace replied, overly formal.

Cal smiled. The two were still getting used to each other and Samantha was adjusting to their relationship. This led to awkwardly stiff interactions between the two of them. But Cal knew it would get more natural over time, especially since the two young women were rather similar to each other at heart.

They headed for the airport under a spotless sky and warm weather, the perfect conditions for flying. Cal's heart began to race as she imagined what Australia would be like – she'd never traveled out of the country before.

As she looked back and chatted with Grace during the ride, she could see that her girlfriend was starting to look excited as well.

Their anticipation mounted when they pulled up to the drop off area of the airport. All three girls got out of the car to remove the luggage and say their goodbyes.

Cal stepped up to Samantha, offering her a smile. "Thanks again, sis."

Samantha smiled lightly herself. "Be safe out there. I'll be here to pick you up in a couple of weeks."

Cal debated it for a second, shifting on her feet, but she finally decided to just pull her sister in for a hug. The older woman stiffened at first, but eventually returned the gesture.

"I love you, Sam," Cal said, feeling like she might tear up a little. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just relief from all the stress she'd been under for months. Maybe it was the fact that she'd be leaving her home for two weeks. Or maybe she was just happy to be on speaking terms with her sister again. Whatever it was, it was a happy feeling rather than a sad one.

"I love you, too, Cal," Samantha said in her usual awkward tenseness, and they pulled away.

Grace thanked her one last time and the couple left Samantha to drive back home.

The airport was already bustling with people leaving for summer break, and the festive air only worked to ramp up Cal's excitement.

After they passed customs and security and made it to the terminal, the two made their last texts and phone calls to friends and family, Cal promising to bring Kenzie and Mark souvenirs when she returned.

Once they were done, they sat in the waiting area of the terminal, and Cal took hold of Grace's hand. She half expected the honor student to pull away since they were in public, but she didn't.

"Everyone's acting like we're leaving forever," Cal remarked with a sigh.

"Well, we're going to the other side of the world, basically," Grace replied.

Cal smiled, watching the light of the rising sun leak in through the airport windows and illuminate Grace's face. "You know, if you told me in September that I'd be going on a vacation abroad with you as my girlfriend, I would've called you crazy."

"And if you told me that I would've socked you in the stomach," Grace joked.

Cal laughed, squeezing the honor student's hand and looking down at where their fingers were interlaced. "You know, I never thought we'd get back together. But now that we're here I can't imagined not being...well, you know." Cal blushed, worried about saying anything too corny.

"I guess it was just meant to be," Grace said, almost in a whisper.

Cal blushed even more. "And here I was trying not to say anything too cheesy."

"Oh, shut up! I mean it!"

"I know...me too," Cal replied, pressing their foreheads together.

"I love you," she told Grace, her voice dropping to a more serious tone.

When she first transferred schools, she'd been betrayed by 'I love you's' and displays of affection. They held a promise of betrayal, of short-lived sweetness that would transform into bitterness and mistrust. From her father leaving to her ex-girlfriend stabbing her in the back, the bonds she made appeared to exist to be broken. She was even convinced this was the case when she had a falling out with Grace.

But when Grace said "I love you" back, those fears and regrets dissipated. Those words held a promise of a future, of trust, of struggles that ended in happiness instead of despair...

And Cal believed them.

----

A/N: 

Remember when traveling was a thing guys?