A/N
Holy shit guys, we've made it to the last chapter. I just wanna say thank you to everyone who gave this book a chance and helped me reach 3k in such a short time. I wouldn't necessarily say that this is the end, there are quite a few bonus chapters after this so I wouldn't remove the book from your libraries just yet.

Anyhow enjoy this chapter x

Xo- LR

**
Future: A period of time following the moment of speaking or writing

That's something I'd never thought I'd do.... Well technically you can't actually get to the future, but planning it is something I thought I would never get to do. Let's be honest, we all thought I was gonna die. After relapsing the second time I lost all hope in myself and so I never really bothered trying. But thankfully Serenity never let me give up

Anyway after weeks of hard work and fun, I or should I say we finally made it. "Hat"

I apply another layer of mascara, "Fotos!" Her Mom calls out from downstairs

"C, the hat" June scoffs

I toss it over before following her out of the bedroom, her mom is standing in the living room with her phone in hand. "Carmen, estás preciosa" She gushes

I smile, "Thanks aunt Maria"

"What about me?" My best friend pouts

Her mother rolls her eyes playfully, "You too-... stand next to each other"

We got a few pictures taken before it was time for June and I to go. Maria's gonna meet us at school, I drove June and I over in my car. "Can you believe it?"

I shield by eyes from the sun, "Not at all"

"We're done with high school, get excited"

"We're done with high school after the ceremony" I correct, she rolls her eyes

Now when I tell you how over the top Americans are, I mean it. Literally, everyone tries so hard to get their entire family to fly out just for graduation, I spotted Zoe's, Junes, Aaron's, Siennas..... and mine -minus Isabella-. "I can't believe you're graduating" Camila pulls me in for a warm crushing hug

"Me too....I've gotta go" I murmur with amusement

"I know I know, I won't embarrass you"

"Now it'll just be me Matty and the twins" Lola pouts

"And then there were four, see you guys in a bit" I wave at my dad before joining the rest of my grade

Throughout the time that our principal was calling out names I could feel myself getting worried, I haven't seen Carter yet and I'm a little scared. We texted this morning but he hasn't responded to the last one I sent him, I could see Grace, Melissa and Travis in the crowd but no sign of him.... We've almost reached M.

Melissa: Where's Carter?

I look up from my phone before looking at her and shrugging, she looks around with narrowed eyes.

"Zara Kendrick" The principal announces

Cheers erupt throughout the crowd as she gets up before walking onto the stage, I look around with a frown before spotting my older brother in the crowd, "What's wrong?" Lorenzo mouths

"Carter"

He murmurs something to Santi and they both look around, I huff as I sit back. "Eliza Lennon"

The clapping dies down and all you could hear were her parents cheering and applauding, she goes a little red with embarrassment whilst walking up the stairs. "I'm sure he'll be here soon" Zoe whispers

"Chris Lee" The football team cheers and he grins as he gets up

I chew my bottom lip nervously, I mean what if something happened? Shit what if he's injured or something... I'm texting him again

Mylove:Yeah I'll meet you there, don't worry
That was sent earlier

Me: Ok we're all here, where are you and Aaron?
Me: Carter

And that was me spamming him now, I couldn't help it.

You know what, maybe he's stuck in traffic, that's the thought I'm going with. "What are the chances that he forgot about his own graduation"

"Well he's a boy so I'd say the chances are high" She says amused

Very funny

It was as if God could see how nervous I was getting because then, a familiar black and white duo walked down the aisle before quickly sitting behind Zoe and I.... They look out of breath.

Melissa narrows her eyes at her son as I turn around, "Are you two crazy?" I scoff

"What, did we miss our names?" Aaron asks

"That's not the point" I say annoyed

"I called you" I then add with even more annoyance

"Shit, my bad-

"Yeah, your bad"

He laughs, "Baby relax. I'm here now"

"Where were you?" Zoe frowns

"Last minute shit" Carter replies

"A text would've sufficed", I mutter

The principle leans over the microphone once more, "Carter Miller"

He straightens his hat as he chews his gum, "Well?"

"Ugly" I deadpan

"Beautiful" Aaron corrects

He rolls his eyes before walking up onto the stage and I sit back with massive relief, they're lucky they made it on time. Despite how annoying he is I can't help but smile after making eye contact, "I love you" Carter mouths as he takes his scroll

I blow him a kiss as he steps back with the rest of the football team, "Sienna Moretti"

Enzo cheers the loudest as she carefully walks down the aisle and makes her way over to the stage, Zoe and I also cheer along. Siennas maths teacher reaches his hand out to shake hers but she dodges, I snort and everyone else laughs.

After a long wait we finally reached my letter, "Aaron Reed"

Aaron being Aaron, he raised his hands up higher so that everyone could cheer really loud. After that he straightened his gown as if it were a suit before accepting his scroll and standing besides his best friend, Mr Cadell smiles a little before leaning over the microphone. "Carmen Rodriguez"

Zoe pats my back as I get up, unfortunately for her shes Y so she'll be waiting quite literally till the end. Anyway the cheers I was receiving were multiplied by a thousand, I saw Grace, Melissa, Junes parents, Camila, my dad.... My siblings too. I passed by quite a few families, I swear I even saw Eliza smile at me as I walked up the stairs

Cadell hands me my scroll before shaking my hand, "I'm very proud of you Carmen" He nods

I smile a little, "Thanks"

I was about to go and stand besides Macey but Carter pulled me back, he also seems to have forgotten about the audience (or probably doesn't  care) that are now staring at us in awe..... including my dad.

"Seriously?" I say amused

He puts his arm around me before kissing me on the cheek and I lift my shoulders up as I smile. "I'm sorry for forgetting to assure you that I wasn't dead" He murmurs against me

"Michael Thomas" Cadell announces

"Where did you even go?" I ask

"You'll see" Carter hums

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously before looking back into the crowd. You know, I'm just glad that we're going to the same college, I don't like what time apart did to us last time so this is a good thing. Melissa also insisted that she buys our first apartment too, I tried to disoblige but she wouldn't have it.

I spot Adri with her phone up in the crowd so I poke my tongue out, she grins.

This is it.... We're done with high school

"Aw my baby sisters a grown up now" Enzo laughs as he catches me

I smile as he spins us around, "Yup, the trios done with high school"

Daniel, Enzo and I make the trio since we're all the oldests.

"Now I'll be all alone" Matty complains

"Hello? You have us, and we're the best you can get" Santi gestures to him and Adriana

"That's what I'm worried about" Our little brother replies

Adri hits him on the head and he hits back, this goes on for awhile, "Stop you ass hole"

"You started it" He says annoyed

"Alright guys, enough" Daniel intervenes

"He's annoying"
"She's annoying"

"Stop copying me"

"Stop copying me" Matty mimicks

I narrow my eyes with amusement, "Guys not today"

"C we're going!" Carter calls out

I look back at my dad, "I'll see you later?"

"Wait, one more picture"

I groan, "Dad-

"It'll be quick I promise" He gestures for my siblings to stand besides me and June laughs a little

"Daddy I really have to go" I say through my smile

Adri nudges our little brother away from besides me, "Bitch move"

"Ow!" Matty says annoyed

"Guys" Camila warns

I sigh as dad takes about a thousand pictures, then I take off my hat. "Alright dad that's enough"

He pulls me in for one last hug, "Tes has convertido en una chica tan fuerte. I'm so proud"

-you've become such a strong girl-

"Gracias" I say softly

Then I look back, "J let's go"

~*~
"We did it guys"

Logan, June, Zoe, Aaron, Sienna, Carter and I cheers before drinking from our beverages. "I'm just glad I'll never have to see Mr Raymond again" Sienna says

I laugh

"Summer plans?" June asks

"Drink drink drink" I answer, Zoe pouts

"You can have a mock tail"

She sighs as she rubs her stomach, "It'll be worth it I guess"

"What are you guys hoping for the baby to be?" Logan asks

"Boy" Zoe answers

"Girl" Aaron says, I lean over before high-fiving him

"We should travel one last time" Sienna suggests

She sits up, "Yes please"

"You guys have fun with that"

"What about you?" June frowns

"I'm spending the summer at Carters beach house"

"Ughh, lucky"

Speaking of Carter, he just came back over to the table.

"Come on"

I frown, "I haven't had anything yet"

He takes my hand, "I know"

June looks at us knowingly, "We'll see you guys later"

I look at her confused as Carter continues to gesture for me to stand up, "Where are we going-

"Carmen for once in your life just trust the process" Aaron says amused

"Fine I will"

"Later" Sienna sings

I say my goodbyes before catching up with my boyfriend, "So is this the part where we go back to yours and have a little fun?"

Carter laughs a little as he unlocks the car, "Maybe later"

I frown as he opens my door for me, ok now I'm even more curious. As I put on my seatbelt he shuts his door before reaching into his back pocket, a blue blindfold is then revealed. I snort, "No way"

"I thought we were trusting the process?"

I stare at it for a moment as I debate on whether I should or shouldn't, eventually I sigh as I give in. He reaches around to tie it on my head and I close my eyes, "So do I even get a clue?"

Whatever he's planning has taken me away from food so it better be good, "It's somewhere"

"Im hungry" I complain

I can just feel how close Carter is to me right now, his warmth is just so.... Warming. "Don't worry, you'll get your food" He murmurs before giving me a long kiss

I pout before eventually sitting back

The sun shines through the open window and wind blows against my face as we drive through town, I can hear chatter so that's how I know the streets are busy.

Suddenly I sit up, "Shit my car-

"Adri will pick it up, relax my love" He takes my hand and I sit back once more

I just had to clench again

He's never called me that before.... I like it. For once I'm gonna decide to let myself relax and trust that whatever Carters doing will make us both happy. My right hand is lifted into the air, "You got your nails done?"

"Mhm"

"White looks good on you"

"Why are you being so loving?" I ask suspiciously

"Because I can"

And cue the normal Carter

**
"What is that" I flinch after feeling a tingly feeling against the bottom of my leg

Perhaps wearing shorts was a bad idea

"Grass"

I then turn after hearing a crunch, "A twig snapped" He assures me

Ok so we're definitely in the woods... I think

"Your not leading me to my death are you?"

He leads me further. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna strangle you and dump your body into the ocean"

If my eyes were open then I would've rolled them.

Ok so I'm feeling the sun more than I could've when we were in the car, it's definitely not the forest. "Can I look now?"

"Hold on" He releases my hand and I hear his footsteps descend

I frown, "You can't just leave me"

He doesn't respond and I scoff, "Carter"

Once again he doesn't talk, "This is stupid I'm taking it off now" I yank the blindfold off before blinking quickly and adjusting to my surroundings

We're in a field of some sort but I can tell it's a private one. At one corner I spot the gate that we walked through, then there's a waterfall not too far away and grass.... Lots of it, my eyes then soften as I spot Carter standing behind a chair

There's a table and two white plates, also a basket rested on one chair, then there's a string hanging through the air with Polaroid photos of us two and on the centre of the table there's a cake... with a photo of us both again. I feel incredibly bad for complaining and whining on our way here, I didn't realise how much work he put into this.

"I'm a brat"

"A cute brat" He replies as I continue to take it all in

I'm fucking excited though I'll tell you that, Carter laughs as I jump into his arms. "I love it" I murmur into his shoulder

"Yeah?"

I nod before kissing him lovingly, "It's why me and Aaron were so late" He admits

"Well then in that case, you're forgiven"

I continue to look around as he holds me in his arms, all the pictures are just so cute, the whole idea is so cute.... Carter is so cute. "I love you, it's perfect Carter"

He smiles softly as he sets me down, "I'm glad you like it"

We both sit down and he picks up the basket "What do we got, I'm starving"

"Well to put it this way.... Everything you like"

There was sushi, there were chips, there was soda, there were brownies.... And a thousand other snacks. "Where did you find this place?" I ask him as I open the box of sushi

"My grandparents own the place, there's a hotel nearby"

Ah, rich people perks

"Well you've gotta try some sushi"

"Absolutely not" He disobliges with disgust

I lift a piece up to his lips with the chopsticks and he moves his face away, "No"

I bite it instead, "You're missing out"

"I'm sure I am"

I moan with pleasure, "I haven't had this in ages"

"Trust you to turn everything sexual"

I frown before realising what he meant, "You're disgusting"

He smiles, "Are you excited?"

"About?"

"About the fact that we're done with school"

I drink from my bottle of coke before nodding, "Mhm, I'm just happy we'll both be doing what we want"

He's gonna start focusing on football and I'm gonna start focusing on psychology, I've always wondered about how the mind works.

He reaches over to pinch my cheek teasingly, "My little psychologist" 

I roll my eyes playfully, "I've got a schedule" I then say

"Hit me"

I put my chop sticks down, "After we come back from the beach house, we need to focus on our apartment"

"We? Or you?"

We both know that I'll probably end up taking over and designing it all myself, I like to be organised. "Good point"

Cater leans his arms on the table as he watches me, "What?" I wipe my hands

"Nothing, I'm happy" He answers truthfully

Me too

I swipe my finger across the white icing on the cake before sliding it onto his nose, "You're cute"

He looks down at it before reaching over for the cake and I move away quickly.

"Not a chance"

"Carmen, You're dead."

I laugh as I get up hurriedly, he steps over the basket before coming towards me and I run deeper into the fields, he may be fast but he won't catch me this time. As I was running away I couldn't hear Carter at all, which is suspicious. I frown as I turn around..... it's just me. However as I look the other way I notice him standing right in front of me, "How did you-

He picks me up before throwing me over his shoulder and I scoff, "You can never outrun a football player"

"Ok that's not true-

My ass is slapped as he walks us back over to the table, "It is"

He sets me back down and I can't help but wrap my arms around him, "I love you"

"And I love you too" He murmurs before bringing our lips together

If you were to tell me years ago that I would find someone who loves me for me and doesn't give a shit about what I eat or what I look like, I'd call you crazy. I spent years and years trying to look like the perfect girl and it took me a long time to realise that if you wanna change yourself, it shouldn't be for validation. I always had this image of what a pretty girl would look like, and thanks to society I was sure that what I looked like wasn't good enough. If there's one thing that Carter and Serenity have taught me, it's that being skinny won't make you any happier

Don't let your mind bully your body

-THE END-

A/N
First bonus chapter at 5:00pm, UK time 😘