Across the Globe [COMPLETE]

On top of the world

24TH OF JULY

Emma

I don't think I've ever been up so early in my life, but if I'm honest with myself, I'm not sure I've slept much at all because the excitement kept me up all night. As I walk into the lounge of the little flat we rented for the night, I'm not surprised to see that Sam is already awake, sitting at the table while reading a book. I check my smartwatch and find that it's barely after 7 in the morning.

"Morning, sunshine," I say softly.

"Morning, Moony," Sam says looking at me with a little smile. "Fell out of bed?"

"Something like that, where's Tane?"

"He left only a second ago, he's having a shower."

"And you didn't join him?" I lift my brows playfully, and Sam chokes on a laugh.

"We're not quite there yet," she says with a shy smirk on her face. She places the book on her lap and looks at me with a weird half-smile. "How are you today, anyway?"

"I'm good, and you?"

Truth is, I'm super excited about my secret plan for our last day in this country, a plan I hope will make this the best day of our lives. An adrenaline-packed, Emma's style last day in New Zealand so we can go out with a BOOM.

"I'm fine," Sam replies. I know this is a bittersweet moment for her because she doesn't know when she'll be able to see Tane again after we leave; which is one of the reasons why I want today to be amazing and have spent every spare second yesterday planning this out. That is, with a little help from my dad's contacts.

I look down, and the book she's holding reminds me of something. It's the one I gifted her earlier this year, and she has been reading it quite a bit during the trip, even if I haven't seen her pick it up in a few days.

"Here," I say. "Pass me that book," I add as I extend my hand towards her.

She gives it to me, and I sit in front of her, flipping the pages.

"What are you looking for?" she asks curiously.

"A quote," I reply with a smirk.

"You read the book?" she lifts her eyebrows curiously.

"Of course I have! I wouldn't give it to you if I didn't know it would help you," I hate to admit this to her and sound too soft, but fuck it, after everything we've been through, a bit of softness and cheesiness is the least of my worries. My best friend saved the damned world this week, I can be cheesy for once.

"Here," I say, finally finding what I'm looking for.

Sam looks at me, her eyes fully focused on my own, and I have to wonder how she's so awake at this time of day. "Let's hear it," she says.

"There's nothing more difficult than walking away from what we love before we're ready to." I start reading slowly. "Even when every fiber of our being understands that we must go, we want to stay. We want to linger. We want to find a loophole or shortcut that allows us to have it all." I look up at Sam, her eyes still on mine. "When we have to leave the things we love behind, we are allowed to mourn them. To miss them," I read with a sad smile. "But we must never, ever forget that the best days of our lives are not all behind us."

Sam's still looking at me, a few tears trapped between her lashes. "Thanks, that's lovely."

"I know you're only splitting up for a while, but I thought I'd be good for you to remember that you're allowed to feel a little sad about it," I say. "But today, today is a day to create some marvelous memories together!"