♪ Yellow Lights – Harry Hudson

I thought this song was quite fitting for the end of this journey. I absolutely love the lyrics.

Chapter Fifty-One – Iridescent

My eyes fluttered open and as my vision cleared, even though I was on my side with my back towards Parker, I could see his arm was still outstretched across me. The reception party didn't finish until the early hours of the morning and we were so tired that we went straight to sleep in what we'd been wearing. Parker was still asleep, his chest rising and falling gently. The wedding had gotten me thinking about what our future would look like, and part of it scared me, because I loved him more than I thought I ever could. So much so that my heart raced just thinking about him, and the knowledge that if things changed, it would shatter me.  

I tried to sneak out of bed to get ready early but failed when he stirred. He tightened the arm around me and pulled me in close before nuzzling up to my neck, sending jolts of electricity through me. "Let's just stay like this a little longer," he said. I turned around to face him. Tooclosetooclosetooclose. Our faces were mere inches away from each other.

If anything, I was firstly freaking out about how disheveled I probably looked and how bad my morning breath was. I quickly turned again to lie on my back. "We need to check out and witch hotels you know," I said.

"Thanks for coming to the wedding with me," he said.

"Thank you for always being there for me," I replied. I cleared my throat to jam down the emotions that were rising. How could he look so perfect after just waking up?

"Thank you. For everything."

"Come on, we have to pack, get breakfast and move to the other hotel," I said, changing the topic, getting out of bed.

"Noo," he groaned, throwing the sheets back over his head.

"You're kidding," I laughed. I crawled back onto the bed, yanking the sheets off before dragging him by the arm to the edge of the bed. "You are such a baby."

We eventually checked out just in time to avoid penalty before driving to The Grand Vermont, an extravagant tower of a building by the shore. Just as we pulled our suitcases up to the reception, Stephanie and Logan came in through the doors laughing and talking.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, waving. They both waved back and quickened their pace towards us.

"Hey!" Stephanie replied, setting her suitcase next to mine. "How was the wedding?"

"It was beautiful. It felt so magical. Like a fairytale!" I gushed like a child.

"As expected. Ashton was always the more romantic one," Stephanie said with a smirk, looking over in Parker's direction.

"Woah there! Why are you suddenly attacking me?" Parker replied.

"You popped into the picture just when I thought he was going to be forever alone," Stephanie giggled.

"So, how'd you guys get down here?" Parker asked.

"We drove. Traffic was so bad it's obvious it's summer break," Logan replied.

"I see," Parker said in a suggestive tone. Just then, Elaine came out from the adjacent elevators with a grin plastered onto her face. She came flying at me at full speed, hugging me.

"I've checked in for us girls already," she grinned. "Holden saved us the VIP suites on the top floor. Our suite is adjoined with the guys'!"

"VIP suite!?" I exclaimed. She nodded solemnly.

"The Vermont hotels are indeed a five-star establishment. It is a very fancy hotel," she remarked. "Now, excuse me gentleman, we're going to settle down," she exclaimed, taking mine and Stephanie's hands, leading us towards the escalator. 

"We'll meet you guys on the beach in an hour!" Logan called out.

"Ok!" We all yelled back.

Elaine swiped the key card to the white double doors and there was a slight beep as they both opened automatically. My jaw dropped. The marble floors dazzled, the reflection of the small ceiling lights almost blinding me. The living area had a huge flat screen fixed to the wall and a cute little flower display as the centerpiece of the coffee table. Central columns stood proudly by the kitchenette. There were two bedrooms, each with a king bed. The bathroom was bigger than my entire bedroom with a mirror that stretched almost the entire length of the wall, and a black marble jacuzzi.

"Man, I knew Holden would forget the details," Stephanie laughed. "He said he'd get three beds into one bedroom."

"No way we're splitting up. It wouldn't be a slumber party then," I said.

"Let's just squeeze onto the bed. We'll be fine," Elaine said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"You sure you guys are okay with this? I mean, you're way closer than I am."

"Come on Steph don't be silly!" Elaine exclaimed, dragging our suitcases into the room. Steph yielded and started unpacking her things. "We should get changed into our swimsuits and head down in twenty," she said. Elaine was in a cute floral slip with her blonde hair done into two French braids. The halter neck tie of her swimsuit poked out.

"I always want to get my hair braided, but I can't do it myself," I said, rummaging for my swimsuit.

"We can braid each other's hair!" Steph suggested.

"Yes!" Elaine agreed, clasping her hands together. That was how we wound up sitting in a row with me in the middle braiding Steph's hair while Elaine did mine. "Do you guys have anything fun planned over the break?" Elaine asked.

"Probably still interning at my parents' firm. It's going to be super boring," Steph replied.

"I dunno. Haven't thought that far yet," I answered.

"Well, if you guys don't have anything planned, hit me up any time for a proper girls' trip! Maybe Europe?" Elaine said feverishly as though she'd had the whole schedule penned already.

"What am I going to do when we all go off to college?" I said wistfully. The last couple of months had been so hectic I'd just been trying to push through and make it to the finish line, without thinking about everything that lie after it.

"Well, we could end up going to the same college," Steph said. I knew there was a very slim chance of that. Anywhere they were going, I couldn't afford. Mum and I had barely managed to scrape through the single year at Pemberton even with the hefty discount given. Regardless, I just nodded in agreement.

"Done," Elaine said proudly, with the snap of the last elastic signaling the completion of the braid.

"Same," I grinned, smoothing out some of the kinks in Steph's braids.

"Thanks!" She said, spinning her head side to side to look in the mirror. "It looks so cute!"

We changed into our swimsuits. I found Parker's linen shirt stuffed in the bottom of my bag and put it on over the top. Sun safety and all. "Well, damn, don't we all look amazing," Elaine grinned. She'd swapped her slip for one of those swim kimono styled things with a white lace pattern. Her bikini was navy white and blue striped like a sailor.

"I agree, now let's go," Steph grinned, donning her yellow one piece.

The guys were leaving their room just as we came out, so we all piled into the one elevator.

"Huh...I was wondering where my shirt went," Parker remarked. He was wearing his board shorts, and of course, a black t-shirt. The others got off the elevator first with me and Parker following behind. "Cute hair," he complimented.

"Thank you," I beamed. "Elaine did it."

"Well, she did a very good job." He paused for a moment. "Also...this shirt. Not sure if seeing you in it is any better than just the swimsuit. Arguably worse," he whispered in my ear with a smirk. I smacked him in the arm, unfortunately loud enough for the others to turn around and laugh at us.

"Aw young love," Holden teased.

"You put on a good decent act but you're actually hell perverted hey?" I hissed to Parker.

"Well, it's not my fault you decided to run around in my shirt," he replied. He put both hands on my shoulders, urging me onwards before I had a chance to protest.

There were a couple of jet skis lined up along the shore for us. "Race you!" Holden exclaimed before taking off. We all sprinted out and I followed Parker to the one on the end.

"You wanna drive?" He asked.

"I have literally never been on a jet ski. Maybe next round," I grinned. I sat behind him, keeping my arms firmly wrapped around him. The jet ski shot forward as he twisted the throttle. We left a trail of water flying out behind us.

"You're losing Holden!" Parker exclaimed, looking over his shoulder. Holden's jet ski skipped across a small wave as he continued charging towards us with a determined look on his face. Elaine zig zagged past him with Steph as her passenger, shooting the water gun at Holden. Logan swerved to narrowly avoid a buoy.

We came up on an unexpected wave and the jet ski seemed to almost flip, leaving me clinging onto Parker for dear life, also letting out an unintentional shriek. "You okay?" Parker asked.

"Yep!" I said in between a mouthful of saltwater. "Might need to work on your control though."

"Alright. Let's swap," he grinned.

"I have no idea how to drive this thing!"

"Relax, I can show you." He hopped off into the water and I shuffled forward to hold onto the handlebars. He climbed back on behind me. He reached forward and pointed to the throttle, explaining how to speed up and slow down, then the brakes. "Pretty simple right?"

"I mean...theoretically," I agreed.

"You'll be fine," he said.

"I hope I don't kill us."

"Same," he replied.

Then I twisted on the throttle and we leapt forward. Possibly a little too much on the throttle because he reflexively held onto me a little tighter. "Oops," I said.

"It's fine. See? We're still alive."

We stayed on the beach all day, setting up a barbecue for lunch before getting back into the water for another swim. It was nearly five when we came back to the shore.

"We have to set up a bonfire," Parker said. "It's a tradition."

"No debate here," Holden agreed.

"I've never seen a real bonfire before," I said.

"No way!" Stephanie exclaimed. "You smell like smoke and you get ashes lightly dusting your skin after, but otherwise it's pretty fun."

"Well, I'm keen on seeing it," I grinned. "Where though? Surely we can't just chop down some trees and drag them onto the beach," I laughed.

"The hotel owns a couple of bonfire spaces on the beach and we just have to grab the wood from storage," Holden replied.

We split up into two groups with Parker and Holden staying back on the beach to stack the wood, because they claimed to have "the most experience".

"You sure it's not because you're too lazy to walk?" I asked.

"Positive," Parker replied.

That left the three of us girls and Logan to go bring the logs back to them. The storage area was about a hundred metres away. Elaine and Steph each picked up two logs before heading back first.

Logan handed me two logs before picking up two for himself. "Do you have any plans for the summer?" I asked.

"Well, I'll be heading to the UK to look at some apartments," Logan began.

"You're moving?"

"My parents are trying to fix things, and it looks like there's a new business opportunity there as well. They think it might be good to get a fresh start. I'll be applying to colleges there as well." He looked hopeful and there was excitement in his voice.

"That sounds amazing. I'm so glad to hear that but I'm gonna miss having you around," I admitted. Somehow in the crazy year we'd unintentionally become friends.

"Same," he replied. "Who else would I blackmail and complain to about my crazy family about?" He joked.

"It's been an interesting year, hey?"

"Definitely," he laughed.

Parker placed the final log on the pile before taking a step back. He and Holden both had their arms crossed, looking lovingly at the bonfire, clearly very pleased. "Who wants to do the honours?" Elaine asked, holding out a matchbox.

"Well I think Holden's going to sulk if we don't let him," Parker jabbed.

"Catch," Elaine said, tossing the matchbox in his direction. Parker covered the wood in diesel and Holden struck the match before tossing it onto the wood. We'd saved some of the longer logs to use as chairs, carefully placed in a circle around the bonfire. Holden grabbed the pack of soft drink cans and placed them inside the circle and distributed sticks, drinks and marshmallows.

"I just have to stay it. I fucking love you guys," Holden grinned, holding up his can. "I mean, some of us used to be mortal enemies but aside from that...no hard feelings, right?" He said, looking at Logan who simply grinned back.

"Same here," Elaine grinned, holding up her can in agreement. "If you'd asked me what I thought the end of my year would look like, it certainly wouldn't be this," she laughed.

We all got up and clinked our cans together before sitting back down on the logs. Parker swung an arm over my shoulder. A gentle ocean breeze had just started to come through, ruffling his messy dark brown hair and leaving small goosebumps along my skin.

On our right, Logan and Stephanie were toasting marshmallows. Holden and Elaine were on the log to our left, apparently bickering about the correct way to make a smore.

The flames licked at the sky with small embers falling onto the sand. Along the horizon, the sun was beginning to set, blending pastel pink, purple, orange and yellow on its canvas.

"What's on your mind?" Parker asked with a smile, squeezing me tighter before kissing the side of my head.

Even though I didn't know what the future would hold, I was glad I'd had that year, that I'd met all of them. I was right where I was meant to be.

And this was just the beginning for all of us.

The End

--

It is 2am when I officially save this chapter on Word and PWTRB is officially complete. Wow! I honestly never thought I'd finish this, seeing as how I published the first part in 2017 (crazy!! I know!!)

I fully intend on uploading an epilogue once I have the inspiration to make it as beautiful as I am envisioning it to be. However, the story is itself complete, so I have marked it as such.

At the time that I'm publishing this final chapter, the story is at 567k reads. I am genuinely humbled by the love that you have all shown for the story, and absolutely floored by the fact that so many of you have stayed on to see the completion of this journey.

Thank you for putting up with my erratic updates and inconsistencies (mostly due to these erratic updates). This last chapter has been pretty challenging to write and like most of the other chapters, will require editing in the future.

I hope that even though the general premise of this story was quite cliché that there were some unique elements. I also hope that I managed to develop the different friendships and flesh out the characters so that they weren't too one dimensional.

I have loved reading all of your comments – especially the predictions in the early chapters. I'm definitely dying to know if your assumptions about the story at the start were true, or if there were some unexpected twists! (Mostly, did you guess who she would end up with correctly?)

Again, thank you so much!

all my love,

daria xo

PS. it seems like it literally takes me 3 years to finish a book because this was started in 2017!! (and my other story IDLBBS also took me 3 years lmao)

PPS. I will be editing this over the next few months! Some character arcs will be changing – probably mainly Logan considering it actually took a different direction to what I had planned when I started writing