"No! Don't you know how to fold a shirt?!" Kaitlyn yelled as she refolded what Grady had already put in her suitcase. "You go on tour for a living, you should know how to pack a suitcase!"
Grady rolled his eyes as he watched her bring another pile of clothes over to the bed.
"Clearly the way I pack and the way you pack are two completely different methods," he muttered as he laid back. "I'm just gonna watch you do it."
Gerald was standing in my closet and taking down all of the clothes that I still had hanging up.
"Where do you want these, Rach?" He asked, standing at the foot of the bed. "It's just a bunch of jeans and....my hoodie, that you stole," he said with a laugh.
I smirked as I took them from him, folding them and placing them in my suitcase.
"Yeah, you're not getting that back," I winked. "It's warm, and it smells like you. Of course, I'm keeping it."
"Stop acting like a couple and just get back together already!" Kaitlyn yelled from her closet. "We all know you're fucking again."
My cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as Gerald and I looked at each other and laughed. We were hanging out, and things felt like they used to, but we both agreed that we weren't ready to jump right back into dating again.
I opened my mouth to say something again when someone knocked on the door.
"Oh, hi, Ricky," I muttered as I opened it, looking up at him. "Can I help you?"
Gerald came over and stood behind me at the door, staring Ricky down as he leaned against the door, placing his hand on my hip.
"Can, uh..." He muttered, trying to avoid Gerald's glare. "Can we talk?"
I turned around, looking up at Gerald as I pushed him back slightly.
"It's okay," I assured him. "I'll just be right out here."
I stepped out of the room and shut the door quietly behind me as I watched Ricky try to find the words that he wanted to say to me.
"Are you...back together with Gerald?" He asked. "I'm not mad if you are. I understand how much of a jerk I was."
I shook my head, crossing my arms as I leaned against the door.
"No, I'm not," I said quietly. "He's been here for me a lot, though. And we've talked through it. We're not ready to jump back into things."
Ricky nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets, followed by a few more moments of awkward silence.
"Well, I'm sorry for how I acted," he explained. "I took it way out of proportion. I just wanted to apologize before we go our separate ways in a few days."
I nodded, standing up and letting my arms unfold as I bit down on my lip again.
"Thanks, Ricky," I said quietly. "Best of luck to you."
He nodded and bit down on his lip, saying sorry one more time before he left off down the hallway. I opened the door again and walked back in to find Kaitlyn crying on her bed.
"Rachel!" She sniffled as she got up, flinging her arms around me. "It just hit me that you're moving all the way across the county, and we're going to be apart for the first time ever."
I hugged her back, biting down on my lip. It was the first time I'd actually thought about being away from Kaitlyn.
"Don't talk about that," I laughed as my voice cracked. "You're gonna make me cry, too," I said as I rubbed her back.
She sobbed into my shoulder, keeping a tight hold on me.
"I'm moving in with a boy!" She sobbed. "A boy, and not my best friend!"
I looked up at Grady and watched him roll his eyes, which made me laugh.
"Hey, it'll be okay," I said as I pulled one of my hands away to wipe my eyes. "We'll be together over the summer, and on tours. I'll still be working for Gerald."
A few days ago, I accepted a full-time position at Spotify as the Head of Music Business in New York, which is why I decided to move to Manhattan. Gerald has an apartment that's about 15 minutes from mine, so we'll get to see each other again.
"You're still gonna be my best friend," I smiled down at her as my eyes filled up with tears again. "And I'll come to visit you, too," I promised.
"How am I going to manage to be across the country from you?" She said sadly as she pulled away from me. "You've been in the same room as me practically my whole life."
Kaitlyn had accepted a job at the big pre-school in San Francisco as the lead pre-school teacher. She even accepted a huge sign on bonus because she said she could start right away.
"Hey, you forgot that I'll be flying out to LA a lot," Gerald explained as he watched us from my bed. "Rachel will be with me a lot of times. You two can hang out."
"We'll only be apart in distance, but never in heart," I smiled as I hugged her tightly again. "Nobody will replace you."
She went back over and sat down next to Grady, who draped an arm across her shoulders.
"I guess living with you isn't gonna be that bad," she laughed, kissing his cheek as she wiped her eyes. "I'm just gonna miss my best friend a lot."
"I'm not judging, babe," Grady laughed as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "I know it's gonna be a big change for you."
We finally finished packing up our room, and it was going on dinner time, so we decided to order pizza and watch a movie.
"I can't believe we're fucking graduating tomorrow," Kaitlyn laughed as she ate a slice of pizza. "We're going to be real adults doing real shit."
I leaned back against Gerald with a laugh as I watched her, taking a drink of my Gatorade.
"We've been real adults for a while, doing real shit," I smirked. "We just have been living in a dorm for the past few years."
"I can't wait to show you around Manhattan," Gerald whispered in my ear. "It's so beautiful, just like you."
I looked up at him with a small smile, kissing his chin.
"I can't wait to get started with the rest of my life," I murmured, smiling up at him. "It's going to be an adventure."