"Thanks for coming!"Ike said.
"Bye!"Zac yelled.
"We should do this again!"Tay exclaimed.
All the guests were leaving and saying their Congratulations and Good Luck's. Last to leave was Erica. She was helping to put Mackenzie to bed. She came downstairs just as Ike flopped onto the couch, Tay onto a chair and Zac just sort of collapsed on the floor. Erica walked into the room and announced, "Great Party."
All three boys turned their attention to her,"Oh we thought you left." Ike said.
"Nope, still here but...I gotta go."
Tay got up to walk her to the door but before Erica left she went over and hugged Ike and kissed the top of his head,"Good Luck, Ike." She did the same with Zac and then walked with Tay to the door.
"Well...what can I say, I hope everything works out for you guys."
"Yeah, me too." he glanced at the floor and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Well, don't be a stranger. Write me, okay?" she said.
"Yup."he kept his eyes locked on the floor.
"I'm talking about five page letters and about two letters a day."she joked.
Taylor forced a smile.
"Because," Erica continued,"I won't let you come near me unless you come home with a serious case of writing cramp...so you better..."
He cut her off,"I'll only write you that much if I get twice that amount back." he joked briefly looking up from the floor.
Erica nodded,"Walk me across the street, I want to talk to you,okay?" she asked.
He glanced up from the floor and thought this would be a good idea,"Sure I will."
He told his mom he was going to be right back and he grabbed a jacket. He walked outside with her and shut the door. He saw her shiver nad realized it got much colder. He put his jacket on her shoulders instead of on him. She looked up and smiled.
"Look Tay..." she began, but he didn't like the sound of her voice,"I had to say goodbye to you before and it tore me up and I don't want to do it again." her voice was starting to quiver.
"Yeah I know, it was hard on me too."he said. All he could think in the back of his mind was God please don't let her cry...I can't handle that. She continued a little shaky though.
"I know there is no way around it though," a single tear fell from her eye and she quickly wiped it away and hoped he didn't see her crying, but it was too late. In the dim streetlight he saw that tear and felt a piece of his heart tear away.
"So how about if we just say "See You Later"?"he said. He reached for her hand and they stopped in front of her house.
"See you later? I like that better. Well Tay see you later." she let the tears fall down her face not really caring if he saw or thought she looked like a dork.
He didn't think that though. He pulled her into him for a hug and she wrapped her arms around his neck in reassurance that when he came back nothing would be different. Everything would pick up just where it left off and they wouldn't grow apart.He wrapped his arms around her waist thinking the exact same thing.
He whispered into her ear,"See you later."
But they never moved. A minute went by and she said,"I don't want to let go of this moment. I'm afraid evrything will change...I'm afraid..."
He pulled back and looked at her crying, wiped away a fresh tear and said the sweetest thing she had ever heard.
"Then don't let go. Just lock it in your heart and keep it there forever."
Erica became overwhelmed with a feeling that she had never really known before. She had no idea what it meant but it scared her because she knew that this feeling just might cause her a lot of pain. She pushed it down and fought against that feeling."I have to go," she stopped crying,"I can't be here now. You should go home." she broke away from his arms and turned around and started up the stairs.
Taylor stood there not really sure about what just happened. He wanted to hold her again and let her tell him everything she thought at that moment, but he was glued to the sidewalk and he couldn't bring the words past the lump in his throat.
She started to peel off his jacket.
"Keep it." he said.
"What?" she looked at him.
"To remember me...please...just keep it." his eyes pleaded with hers.
She pulled it close to her,"Forever."
The next day Erica watched the car pull out of the driveway and go down the street with Taylor in it. She let out a deep breath. It's only friendship she reminded herself we never wanted anything more...
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