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And holds until I grow fidgety and uncomfortable

And then finally he sighs

“Fine You’re right I was pissed because things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped I’ll talk to ht Quinn doesn’t deserve this”

A rush of relief floods through me

“Thank you,” I rab his hand “Thank you I appreciate this so much”

He nods “I know And it’s the right thing to do I’m sorry that he was arrested in the first place My dad was angry and I couldn’t talk him out of it”

“I know,” I tell hiht happened”

Gavin gets dressed and we find Dante, Reece and Quinn Before anyone can say anything, Gavin steps forward and holds his hand out to Quinn

Quinn shakes it without hesitation

“I’m sorry,” Gavin tells him “I shouldn’t have punched you Or shoved you It wasn’t your fault that the situation frustratedto talk to es”

Quinn nods and accepts his apology And then we all sit and chat for another hour It’s so surreal that I can’t even believe that it’s happening

But it is

And we actually have fun, all curled up on the stern of The Sunflower, sipping at chas al Gavin with Elena and I don’t see her again all evening Gavin doesn’t even seem to notice her absence

Later in the night, after we go back to Giliberti House, Gavin calls and tells o

I exhale a long sigh of relief and I feel like the weight of the world has slipped froht I was about it until this moment And in this moment, I feel like I could fly

So I fly down the hall and tell Quinn the good news

It isbefore I creep quietly back to my own room

Apparently, New Mia’s boyfriend is sexy as hell and has mad-bedroom-skills

I smile as I close my bedroom door softly behind me My knees are still weak, but I don’t meow at ht that I had

Chapter Twenty-Three

Two Months Later

Reece and I areat Quinn

This is not unusual Every chance we get, we do it It’s hilarious Or we’re just easily entertained One or the other

This ti to wear a speedo in the nor to swi a suit at all is sort of moot He still can’t swim

We’re at the beach today Dante and Reece stayed in Caberra and school finally resumed after construction was complete, but we’re out for Christmas break now It’s been a hectic and stressful past couple of months

We’ve worked our tails off, volunteering on different clean-up coet Valese back to the beautiful, pristine city that it should be And we’ve succeeded You almost can’t tell that an earthquake ever hit

Sadly, the construction onback ho out at Giliberti House with Quinn, Dante and Reece But I’ll just have to make the drive to visit them after I move

Every day

Maybe even twice a day

“Quinn, just grow a pair and wear the speedo,” Gavin shouts from down the beach He and Quinn have patched up their differences in the way that only boys can and even consider each other a friend again It will never cease to aht and then get over it The male species is truly weird

Gavin shouts again, louder this tirow a set!”

Quinn runs hiround and they roll in the sand for a bit Somehow, and I don’t exactly kno, Gavin’s speedos end up floating on the waves of the sea

Reece and I look at each other and laugh before we resuazines froh-house for a while longer and then Dante joins them to throw a Frisbee around

As I look around, atfriends, at the beautiful sea, at my BFF next to me, I can’t believe how lucky I am Life really does seem like a fairy tale

But even fairy tales come to an end I s hard as I reh and I know that our happy little group will split apart next year Gavin and I are looking at Caes in the States Quinn hasn’t decided yet what he’d like to do I’h

Yes, that is selfish

But honestly, Cae? It’s not exactly like it’s a hardship

And even though so so that new doors can open, right?

I watch Quinn now, hisas he dives to catch the Frisbee He holds it up, showing the others that he did, in fact, catch it before it hit the ground Then he crows because he won

Hefroeous

Seriously

I squint up at him as he holds a hand out

“Yes?” I ask hirin

“Coot a deal to uphold”

I’m confused and I tell him that He smiles

“You were supposed to teach o And you haven’t yet”

I consider that

“True,” I tell his Like, you know, rebuilding a city”

He laughs and pulls me to my feet

“Excuses, excuses,” he chuckles “I don’t see a haht now I think you can fit me in”

He wraps his arm around my waist and I tuck myself into his side We walk leisurely down the beach and I stare up at him