The next day is spent out with their families. Troye and Jacob meet them in their hotel rooms early in the morning, and they all go out for breakfast at Troye and Jacob's favourite diner.
It's early morning chatter, and complaints of the hotel pillows being too thin. They talk with their mouths full, and laugh too loud, and Troye and Jacob keep giving each other this look, one that sort of splits the air molecules to spell 'forever' because that's all it feels like, like this could be their forever. They're families are together and it's all laughs and smiles, and it's like they already are a big family, really.
The twins have syrup covering their faces and fingers, and Sage takes them to the bathroom and cleans them up like they're her own little sisters, fixing their hair back for them again and letting them put on some of her lip-gloss. They adore her, more than they adore even Troye and Jacob even.
After breakfast they go through town together, looking through the shops until it warmed up a bit, and they drive the half an hour drive to the reservoir. The beach area isn't too crowded yet, and there's only a couple of boats out on the water. Sage and Angelina both sit on the dock, their feet hanging over the edge and dipping into the lake water as they talk like sisters.
Meanwhile, Jacob has given in to the twins (and Troye's) pleads to let them bury him in the sand, and he is currently stiff in the warm powdery dirt, the twins packing sand over his shorts-covered legs, and Troye is covering his chest with it, bathing in Jacob's pleading looks to get him out. All Troye does though is flick his nipples and pack more sand onto him.
After Jacob manages to free himself, he tickles all three of them until they're almost peeing themselves, and then he buys everyone ice cream, asking Troye for his family's favourite flavours and surprising them with the sugary sweetness.
They get hot dogs at one of the vendors at the reservoir for lunch, and spend their one day together relaxing in each other's company. Carrie gets time to steal Troye away and she hugs him close and pets his curls, kisses his cheek and says, "Thank god Jacob fell in love with a sweetheart like you."
They have one last family dinner together, except this time it is just McDonalds at the park. It's much calmer; quiet as they just enjoy the cooling end-of-the-summer air. The twins are fast asleep in the grass, and everyone else is yawning from the long day, and it isn't long before they are all turning in early from the long day, giving each other sad goodnight hugs.
Troye and Jacob are exhausted from the busy day, and after they take a warm shower together filled with gentle kisses, they curl up in the bed sheets together, and go to sleep.
The next day is when their families have to leave. On their walk over to the hotel, Troye and Jacob stop and buy a bit more than a dozen doughnuts for them, and they eat one small breakfast together in the midst of busy packing. It's a long drive home for both families, and they all hug each other goodbye, Laurelle and Carrie exchanging numbers, and Angie and Sage as well. Both Troye and Jacob are on the verge of crying, saying goodbye to the twins, Becca taking Troye's face in her tiny hands and kissing his cheek. "You're my favourite princess."
Sage has a hard time letting Jacob and the twins go as well, but an even harder time letting her brother go.
Laurelle and Carrie both have tears in their eyes, saying goodbye though, hugging each of them tightly and murmuring sweet messages into their ears, before kissing their cheeks.
Troye and Jacob walk home, hands in their sweatpants pockets and their smiles tired. It's a bit of a soft day. A bittersweet melancholy that sits in stomachs wrong when you swallow its flawed victuals. One where when they bump shoulders, they don't glance up to each other, but keep their eyes to the ground, allowing it to see their shy smiles.
