Heartbreak Girl // A.F.I

9

Kelsey's POV // Sydney, Australia 

The weeks fly by at an extraordinarily fast.  I take in every moment with my friends and my boyfriend as much as I can. Every day I've had with them is also another day closer to me being without them. Without him. And today is the day I leave them. I only have 6 hours until I leave for the airport, and they're going with me to say goodbye. We all hung out together last night and stayed up all night having fun and having deep talks all night. It was so worth it. The joy I feel with them is absolutely unmatched, and I can't believe I have to go. Though I'm embarking on the most exciting thing I've ever done, I'm scared of being alone, too. I know I'll probably be okay at Yale, but I don't see how anybody will compare to my friends here.

Ashton told me last night that he was going to take me somewhere for lunch. I pull on a nice outfit and sit on my porch until I see him come out of his house, then walk over to him, throwing my arms around his neck and giving him a hug. We walk over to his car, and we get in and drive.

"Where are we going?" I say, giving him a look. 

"Well, I thought I would do something different for you, so we're going to pick up take out and go eat at Bondi...does that sound okay?" He says, taking my hand from the driver's seat. 

"That sounds perfect," I say back to him with a smile. After grabbing our food, we drive to the beach and park. This was one of the most thoughtful things that he could've done. He got me food from my favorite restaurant and took me to my favorite place in Sydney, which is Bondi. 

We sit on the beach, smiling, laughing, and talking, and after quite a while, we go down to the waterfront and walk along there. It's unusually quiet for what a beautiful day it is. 

"I can't believe I won't be able to come here every day anymore. I won't have any beach close to me at all, for that matter," I sigh, looking out over the water. 

"I know, but who knows, maybe you'll find more appreciation in it since it's not close to you," He says.

"I know that'll be true for a lot of things," I say as I look at him and give him a sad smile. He turns to me and grabs both of my hands.

"I believe it."

We check the time and realize it's been nearly 3 hours since we left to go to lunch. 

"We should probably go back so I can say goodbye to everyone's families..." I tell him. My friends' families are like extensions of my own family. 

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. My mum wants to see you for sure," Ashton says, and we walk back to the car. 

"Ashton...thank you for today. It meant a lot to me, like a lot. I hope you know that," I confess to him as we get close to Jocelyn's house. We plan on picking each of them up as we get to each house and then head to the airport from there. 

"I know it means a lot to you...this city...us...I can't believe you're going, but I'm glad I was able to spend the last few hours of you here with you," He says, taking my hand and kissing it. 

God, I am so in love with him. Even thinking about leaving in a few hours is making me so nervous and already hurts.

We go through to everyone's houses. Jocelyn, Michael, Calum, Luke, and finally Ashton's house. His siblings give me a hug and I hug them back. It'll be so crazy to not be here to see them grow up more as they have over the years. Ashton's mom pulls me aside for a while. 

"Kelsey, dear, please take care of yourself, alright? You're probably already going to do this, but please check in on him, okay? You know how sometimes he tries to hide when he's hurting...I can tell he's already been doing that, ever since you found out you were going, and it's gotten worse since he's found out he is leaving. I'm just so thankful the other boys will be with him the entire time. I know he is so excited about everything that's to come, but he is really deeply feeling the drawbacks of this. You know, with all of his struggles over the years, having you there has always helped him. You mean so much to him and...I know you'll go above and beyond to make sure he has your support but I...I'm going to miss you so much as well. You've really become a part of our family over the years...I can't believe you're both going to be halfway across the world, and doing amazing things..." She starts to choke up, and I give her a hug.