Warnings: Swearing/language, angst, a slap in the face
Word Count: 1.8k
"Congratulations, Temple University Class of 2020!" When you stood up and threw your black graduation cap in the air alongside your classmates, reality finally sank in. You were a college graduate, which meant you had to start all over again and build new relationships wherever you went next. And Nolan wouldn't be a part of it.
As soon as the ceremony was over, you made a beeline for your parents, but your best friend, Kayla, stopped you. "Congrats, Y/N!" She hugged you tight, and you squeezed her just as hard. "Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. I'm so proud to be your best friend." She tugged at your pink and blue and cherry and white cords. The colors clashed, but at least it lightened up your black graduation gown.
You forced yourself not to cry and tugged on her cherry and white cords in return. "Aw, Kayla, I'm proud to beyour best friend. You're summa cum laude, too, and you're going to be the best veterinarian!"
She blushed. "Thanks! I just wish you were coming with me to UPenn."
Both you and Kayla applied to their graduate program, you for history and her for medical school, but only Kayla got in. You were on the waitlist, but NYU notified you of your acceptance into their program yesterday. All you had to do was send in the deposit, and your time in Philadelphia would be over. It was time for new beginnings, and Philly felt empty without Nolan, anyway.
Nolan was your best friend since you were little. You were devastated when you had to leave him behind in Canada to go to Temple, but as luck would have it, the Philadelphia Flyers drafted him the next year. He was supposed to go first overall, and while he was disappointed at first, he rebounded awfully quickly. When you asked him that summer on the lake why he wasn't sadder, he had said, "Because I'll be closer to you."
Your friendship continued for the next three years, but you fell in love with Nolan along the way. A few months ago on Valentine's Day, you told him you loved him while at his apartment watching movies, but he didn't say it back. He actually didn't say anything to you at all. You left in tears and hadn't seen him since.
Kayla brought you back to earth. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. If UPenn doesn't admit you through the waitlist, they're fucking blind. You're the most qualified candidate they have!"
"I doubt that, but thank you. See you tonight!" You squeezed her hand before making your way over to your parents.
"Congratulations, honey!" Your mom hugged you tight.
"Thanks, Mom." You kissed her cheek.
"We are both so proud of you, sweetheart!" Your dad, normally cool as a cucumber, had tears running down his face, but he was smiling, too.
Your mom almost grabbed the diploma out of your hands, but she caught herself and asked: "May we see the diploma?"
"Of course!" you said, and they gathered around the diploma, eyeing it eagerly. You watched them huddle around the diploma, eyeing it eagerly, and you couldn't help but smile.
Someone tapped you on the shoulder, and when you turned around to see who it was, all of the air left your lungs. It was Nolan, bouquet of red roses in hand. Luckily, you had enough common sense to drag him away from your parents.
"Y/N," Nolan breathed. "I...wow, you look..."
You slapped him across the face, and a red patch bloomed on one of his cheeks from the force of the slap. "How dare you show up here after going MIA for three months? You had no right to do that!"
"You're right, and I'm sorry, but please just let me explain."
You were so flustered that you said what was on the forefront of your mind: "I'm moving to New York in the fall."
Nolan's mouth fell open. "What? You can't do that!"
"I can do whatever I want. You don't have feelings for me, remember?" you sneered. "And you wouldn't have let me walk out of your apartment if you did..."
"The only reason I let you go was because I was so shocked you felt the same way as I do about you!" You winced, both because you weren't used to Nolan raising his voice and his confession. He loved you. Those were the words you wanted to hear for so long, but it was too late.
"I can't do a long-distance relationship, not after I've seen so many fall apart." Kayla had a particularly nasty breakup with her long-distance boyfriend who transferred to UCLA, and they only lasted three months after he left. You were not about to make the same mistake and ruin your lifelong friendship with Nolan.
Nolan set the bouquet on the ground and took your hands in his. When you worked up the courage to look into his eyes, you saw love and adoration. "I'm sorry I let you walk out that night; I'll regret it for the rest of my life. But you have to know that I love you, Y/N: I always have. Please, Y/N, I'm begging you, stay and give me a chance. UPenn— "
"Put me on the waitlist, which might as well be a rejection," you interrupted him. "Do you think this is a joke, Nolan? This is my life we're talking about! NYU is my only option because I want to go to grad school right away, and I won't enter a long-distance relationship, even for you. You have to respect that."
Nolan opened his mouth but closed it, and you had no idea why until you heard her voice. "Honey?"
You turned around and found your parents standing in front of you, your mom clasping an envelope in her hand. "We got a letter yesterday, but we decided to wait to tell you until after the graduation ceremony." She waved the envelope. "UPenn took you off the waitlist, Y/N. You're in!"
You gasped, "If you're fucking with me right now, I swear to God, Mom..."
"It's true, sweetheart: you got in to UPenn!" Your dad proudly announced. No wonder he had been crying earlier.
Nolan broke his silence. "I understand if you want to go to NYU, Y/N. It's totally up to..."
Before he could finish speaking, you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulled his head down to yours, and kissed him. "Are you crazy? I get to go to grad school with my best friend and be with you. How could I possibly pass that up?"
Nolan breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God, I thought you were going to say no."
You narrowed your eyes. Now that you thought about it, Nolan didn't look surprised when your parents told you the news. And he shouldn't have been able to get into the auditorium without a ticket. "Mom, Dad, do you have something to tell me?"
They looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, honey, but I hated seeing you so miserable without Nolan. And I know for a fact he was just as upset as you were," your mom said.
"Oh, really?" You raised an eyebrow at Nolan.
He cleared his throat. "I might have called your mom last night..."
"Nolan James Patrick, you are such a piece of work!"
"But you love me." You giggled, but he continued: "In all seriousness, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"
"Yes to both." You pulled him in for another kiss.
**********
When Kayla saw you and Nolan walk into the club that night for your real graduation party (you were a simple girl: all you needed was your best friend and drinks), she had what felt like a million questions.
"What, is, this?!" She pointed at your intertwined hands.
"Funny story: five minutes after I saw you, Nolan surprised me while I was with my parents, and, uh..." you raised yours and Nolan's connected hands in the air, "we're together. And by the way, I'm not leaving Philly."
Kayla's eyes widened. "What?"
"I said I'm not leaving. I got in to UPenn!"
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
Kayla hurtled toward you and pulled you into a massive hug with enough force to knock Nolan out of the way. "Oh my God, I can't believe it, we're going to grad school together!"
"I know, it's a fucking miracle!"
Kayla was about to say something else, but she noticed Nolan standing off to the side, smiling at you. "Did you make him beg?" she asked.
"Of course."
"I mean, really beg?"
"Yep," you grinned.
"Good." Kayla turned back around to face Nolan and stared him down. "If you ever hurt my best friend again, I'll make you wish you were never born."
Someone started laughing, and you turned around to find that Flyers goalie Carter Hart had finally arrived. You were not going to make Kayla be the third wheel tonight; it was her graduation party, too.
Kayla turned around, too, and her mouth fell wide open.
"Congrats, Y/N," Carter hugged you. "I'm glad Patty here finally got his head out of his ass and made a move."
It was Kayla's turn to laugh. "I know, right? I watched these two pine after each other for three years, and it was sickening."
"You think that's bad? I had to listen to, 'Y/N is so perfect, Y/N is so smart, Y/N is so beautiful, blah, blah, blah." You and Kayla laughed, but Nolan blushed, his trademark rosy cheeks making an appearance.
"Aw, Nols, are you blushing?" You reached over to pinch one of his cheeks, but he swatted your hand away.
"We talked about this, Y/N," he ground out through his teeth.
"Sorry, babe, I just couldn't resist."
There was a moment of silence, but Carter broke it before things got too awkward. "Hey, Kayla, do you maybe want to get a drink with me?"
You barely suppressed a squeal. You had a feeling they would hit it off, but seeing it unfold in front of you was something else.
"Sure," she said and took his outstretched hand before waving at you.
"Alone at last," Nolan whispered in your ear, and you shivered. "I ordered us drinks while you and Kayla were catching up. The usual's good?"
"You know me so well." You took your mojito off the table and Nolan grabbed his beer, and just like you always did, you clinked glasses before taking the first sip.
"God, I missed you, Y/N. I don't ever want to be apart from you for that long again."
"Me neither. I can't wait to see what this new chapter holds for us."
Nolan smiled, grabbed your hand, and pressed his lips to your knuckles. "To new beginnings, then."