Crusin' On Vacation

18| It'll Always Be Me and You.

I WAS REALLY GOING BACK TO LAND, huh. This was just too surreal.

I still remembered how I was when I first got here; naïve and stupid. The Ava who kept deceiving herself and was still hung up over the fact that Ashton had slept with someone right after kissing her was far gone. I could say this journey was productive, just not in the way I hoped for it to be.

I flipped the suitcase lid over and zipped it shut. I'd finally finished packing and was ready to leave. The thought alone made me feel incredibly uneasy, and for good reasons, too.

One, Tom. Over the past ten days, I'd grown accustomed to him. I was used to his presence and his usual bugging me and annoying me (even if I still hated it when he did that). The thought of me never having to deal with that ever again in my life scared me. Who would be there to annoy me until I crack? Even Lillian didn't annoy me that much.

Two, the whole Martin family. I owed a huge thank you to Martin, especially. I hadn't spoken with him since the incident. We'd exchanged a few glances of acknowledgment but never actually spoke. He offered to help even without knowing what the problem was. I also owed a thank you to Tom's siblings; Tatiana and Taylor. They'd been on great help these past few days.

Three, James, Jenny and Blake. It wasn't like we really spoke about anything, but when I needed comfort, they were there. Well, James was in person, but Jenny and Blake had to call because they were going to be in the escape room. From what I heard, they weren't a couple just yet, but they'd finally admitted their feelings towards each other. I was bummed about the fact I wasn't there when it happened exactly, but at least I was the first to know about it.

I wondered how Lilian would react to all of this. She was definitely going to scream. I mean, I did keep this from my best friend for weeks. I knew she knew that something was up, but boy she would not be expecting this with my parents. They always used to hold the legacy of the perfect married couple and to Lilli, their relationship was the epitome of perfection.

The door opened slightly and it didn't take me a second to figure out who it was, considering the person didn't knock on the freaking door.

What does it take to just knock on one door? What if I was getting it on with some stranger to celebrate? Huh?

"You ready, Ava? I heard we're on land right now." Thomas said with a new found glint in his eyes. He looked excited and relieved.

"Really?" I ran over to my room window and opened the blinds. I squinted when I was greeted with the bright morning sunlight.

I could see various people scattered out on land of different age groups. I could spot a few people coming out of the ship with their suitcases. A few people kissed, hugged, and played around as they walked back to their cars and family.

This really was happening.

I mean, yeah, it's not like I want to spending my whole life on the sea, but it's a lot to take in, you know?

Over the past few days, I'd already seen how I developed, mental wise. I was sure I could finally take on a break up (I wished), I was sure I would handle emotional trauma with maturity and lastly, I was sure I finally going to be able to tell Lillian about all of this without panicking, because let's be real, she could slap me, her being the dramatic ass she is.

"C'mon Ava, my bags are already downstairs, so are everyone else's. I'll help you,"

Thomas and I carried my bags downstairs with great effort. I volunteered to carry my clothes bag with could just roll on the floor while Tom carried my makeup bag - it's not like I used it anyways - but, for real though, that bag was heavier than my clothes bag.