"Sky?" I called as I entered her new apartment. She had given me her spare spare key as she had so dramatically described it as "a way to remember her" and incase I ever just needed to leave the huddle and bustle of New York behind and just come visit her.

"Em?" Her head popped from behind a wall and as soon as she saw me she grinned.

Without a moment of hesitation, she was lifting me of the ground in a tight hug much like when we were children.

"You've still got that muscle I see?" I teased her when she finally put me down.

"And you're early." I frowned and her face immediately changed to one of panic, "Not that's that's a problem! I just wasn't expecting you so soon. Is something wrong?"

I took a deep breath and that's all Skylar needed to hear to know that something was bothering me. So when she raised her eyes expectantly and dragged me to sit on her couch, I knew I had to tell her now.

"It's just that Hunt and I..." I sighed and Skylar used the opportunity to interrupt me.

"Em, I know you guys decided it would be better to end things now than to try long distance. But for goodness sake, poor Hunter is completely smitten with you and you clearly love him very much even if you haven't said it out loud, it's obvious. If anyone could work through a long distance relationship, it would be you and Hunter. Sure, you wouldn't be able to see each other as often and communication would be difficult but still vital. And then there's the whole physical aspect..." her words disinterested and I knew she knew. "Shit, Em. You slept with him?"

My cheeks immediately flushed bright red as I remembered last night. Of course we had been awkward and clumsy but that made it all the more endearing. And there was the fact that Hunter had a box of condoms in his drawer that he had felt completely embarrassed about, but I could only laugh which seemed to make him relax. It was so strange to see Hunter so unsure and vulnerable when he was always the confident one, but it made me realize how much he trusted me to let me see that side of him and I loved him even more for it.

"Do you regret it or something?" Skylar's words made me snap my eyes open and I shook my head frantically.

"No! Of course not."

She was silent as she took everything in and then whispered, "It just makes leaving him so much harder..."

I nodded and tried to force the tears that I could feel were trying to surface. "I know we could make long distance work because I love him so much that I would take that risk but I can't do that to him, Sky. It's not fair on Hunter."

"What's not fair?" She looked puzzled.

"The reason I'm leaving to New York is because after Jaimie, I blamed myself. I still do, a little bit. And Hunter needs someone who is not bordering on hopelessness and who can love him - " I felt myself choke up and I couldn't help the few tears that slide down my face.

"Oh, Em." Sky crawled closer to me and hugged me tight, "You've never told me this."

"Remember when Ivy told me it was my choice if I wanted to stay broken or if I wanted to heal?" Sky nodded, "And I told her I want to heal. Because I do, Sky. Not just for myself but for Hunt too. And I don't think I can love as much as he deserves to be loved, if I'm not loving myself completely first. Gosh, it sounds so much more selfish out loud."

"What? No, Em!" She pulled me back to look at me. "I never understood why you were leaving and you knew I was a bit angry when you told me you didn't want to try make it work with Hunter but I understand now. It wouldn't be right not to let him go when you're still hurting so deeply. You need that time to heal by yourself and if that time is going to be spent in New York, then that time is going to be spent in New York. But you're not selfish, Em. Weren't you listening to yourself? You said you were leaving Hunter behind because you didn't want him to not to be loved as much as he should be. That's not selfish. I think that's pretty selfless actually. And I know that that's also love."

"Skylar, you always know exactly what to say." I pulled her back for a hug.

Spending my last few hours in town with Skylar made me realize how hard leaving my best friend would actually be but I know no matter what we would always keep in contact. And as a little compensation for the pain of leaving her, Skylar's words again, I let her rent my car from me while I was gone.

"You've got the keys, right?" I checked with her before I left.

"Yip. There's Hunter." She said as she waved to him behind me.

"You'll take care of him for me please?" I said as I looked back at him and flashed him a smile so that he wouldn't worry.

"Of course."

"And look after yourself too please. I know I'm miles away but if you ever need anything you call me or if you ever want to visit me, New York will be waiting for you. And I'm sure Ivy and Theo would be happy to see you too. So please Skylar, if there is anything ever, please call me. I love you so much." I said as I wrapped her in another hug.

"See this is why we agreed that I wouldn't come with to the airport. We would definitely flood the place with our tears." I smiled sadly as she wiped away a few stray tears. "I love you too, Em. So very much. I'm here for you no matter what, okay?"

I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat, "Goodbye, Sky."

"Never! Don't ever say goodbye. It's only 'until next time'."

I laughed at her and turned to leave, "Until next time then."

"Go kick some Broadway butt!" She screamed as I hopped into Hunter's car.

"New York and then the world, baby!" I called back as we drove away.

-

Hunter was carrying my small on flight travel bag as he walked me to my gate. I tugged on his hand that I was holding so that he would look down at me and I smiled at him.

"I just wanted to say... about last night," I felt myself blush and was glad to see the same happen to Hunter when I said those words, "It was really..." I struggled to find the right word.

"Amazing?" He suggested with a sheepish smile.

"Even better."

"Agreed." He said as we continued walking.

After a few moments of silence, he looked down at me again, "Thank you."

"What for?" I frowned.

"I wouldn't have trusted anyone else to do that with. And you were great, in more than one way." He teased with a wink and I blushed again.

"I guessed I should thank you to then."

"What for?" He copied my previous question.

"For the best night of my life."

When we stopped walking I turned to look up at Hunter and he had the biggest and brightest smile. I couldn't help but match his happiness because Hunter's smile was contagious. But then I felt the familiar drop in my stomach whenever I saw that we were at a point where Hunter couldn't follow me anymore. So when my smile faltered and he noticed, he put two fingers under my chin to lift my head and kiss me softly.

"It's moments like these when I wish I was brave enough to try long distance." I admitted softly when he pulled away.

"Don't say things like that, Em. Not now."

A cheery voice came over the intercom, "This is the final boarding call for all passengers for flight 521, heading to New York City."

"I should get going." I whispered as I took my bag from Hunter and walked to a point when I wouldn't be able to go back to him and he wouldn't be able to follow me.

"I love you, Emilia Anderson."

My whole body snapped around at the words I had longed to hear and feared to say. But he had already turned around and was walking away.

"Hunter Maddox, don't you fucking dare!" I screamed after him hoping he would turn around so that I could say it back to him instead of screaming it across the airport.

But he never did. So as I walked towards the airplane, I whispered to myself.

"I love you too, Hunter Maddox."

•

And we have reached the end. I know I can't believe it either. Im so sorry you guys had to wait long for an update but it was really hard to write this chapter and then when I did finally upload it, something happened on Wattpad and it deleted the chapter so I quickly rewrote it as well as I could remember.

I hope you guys understand Emilia's reasoning and you enjoyed this book as much as I loved writing it. Did anyone notice a very small detail about the flight number? It's a tiny thing that would be easy to miss but I hope someone picks it up.

I wasn't actually going to tell you all this but rather just upload it as a surprise but I'm worried some of you might delete the book after that ending so let me just say: there will be an epilogue! And then I've got some other news to share with you guys but I'll put that at the end of the epilogue.

So thank you for continuously being so fantastic and you know the drill: vote, share, tell your friends and please comment I really want to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions.