No Ordinary Exchange

live like there's no tomorrow

1. Let's recap! Black lives matter, and they always will. All BIPOC lives matter, and we must work to be anti-racist and combat the different forms of discrimination that BIPOC experience. Queer love is real and valid love, no matter the form (from marriage to friendships to QPRs!). Trans rights are human rights. Xenophobia disproportionately impacts people of color and often goes hand in hand with Islamophobia. Our society should be as accessible for disabled individuals as it currently is for able-bodied people. Intersectional feminism is true feminism. I know sometimes you might look at the state of the world and wonder, "How will anything change?" It's hard. It's scary. I get it. But things can change. And they will, because they have before. Do what you can, and we're already halfway there!

Today, I say, "Bonjour vous-autres!" a final time. Wow. It's the last chapter. The epilogue. I cannot believe I have been working on this story for over an entire year?? I never would have believed I had it in me to finish this 180k fic. And you know what? Maybe I didn't have it in me on my own! I say this because I could not have finished this story without the support of all of you. I know many of your handles/usernames by heart because you commented on every damn chapter (or most of them, haha!), reminding me that there were always people who wanted to see where I was taking this story. (Special shoutout to my FFN readers! I didn't usually reply to y'all directly because I dislike FFN's system of going straight to PMs vs replying under the comment like the other platforms I post on, but I still treasure all of your reviews and know many of your handles/usernames, too.) I could say thank you a million times and it wouldn't be enough. Instead, I offer you this humble epilogue.

For the last time in No Ordinary Exchange, I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

xXxXxXx

"I can't believe the two most important people in my life are leaving me at the same time!" Claudia said, half fake-sobbing and half crying real tears. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I don't know what I'm going to do without seeing you guys every day!"

"Ouch," Sonya commented dryly, stepping forward to slip one of her hands into Claudia's and giving it a comforting squeeze. "Please tell me I'm at least in the top three."

Callum laughed at his friend's dramatic reaction as well as at Sonya's utter lack thereof. "Claudia, I'm going to text you every day. And I'll be back for winter break" - or part of it, at least - "so it's not like you aren't going to see me at all while I'm gone."

"And I promise to call you at least twice a week, Clauds," Soren added. "No - I'll call you three times a week!" He grinned at his sister. "I'll call you so much that you're going to wish you didn't have cell service."

Claudia sniffed, rubbing her eyes with her free arm. "You'd better." She let go of Sonya's hand to pull both Soren and Callum into a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you guys so much!"

Callum was flying out to Xadia in a little over an hour, and his friends and family had all come to say goodbye. Soren was leaving, too, though not for Xadia. He was taking a gap year to decide whether he wanted his next step in life to be heading to the NFL or pursuing his master's degree. Numerous NFL teams, including the reigning Super Bowl champions, had assured him that they would be interested in drafting him if he chose to become a free agent - even if a year passed - and thus Soren had determined the break was worth it. His plans were, as he'd put it, "to travel around as much of the world as possible in one year." That included Xadia, much to Callum's - and Rayla's - excitement, but apparently he was keeping the country as one of his last stops.

Viren had come to see his son off, technically speaking. He'd driven Soren and Claudia to the airport, which was more than Callum had expected him to do. Though he hadn't actually joined them inside to say goodbye with everyone else.