"fuck you!" i say handing the controller to anthony as brady laughs.
"you suck ass!"
"anthony was the one that taught me how to play!"
"he clearly didn't teach you well enough because like I said, you suck ass!"
"ay, you're really gonna regret saying that!" anthony says.
i hop off his lap and sit on the couch next to austin, who was watching youtube.
"you know, i'm really gonna miss you guys" he says.
"we'll most definitely miss you too! thank you for being the best half brother anthony could ever have!"
"thank you for being the best girlfriend my half brother could ever have!"
anthony and i left tomorrow to catch a flight to the bahamas!
anthony and i have gotten so close to both brady and austin. although the both of us will miss them, anthony will definitely miss them more.
he's always felt guilty for not knowing about them earlier, even though it's not his fault.
i look over at anthony as he stands up and cheers because of him winning while brady stood up and fist bumped him with a frown.
i was super proud of anthony! he'd dealt with so much and he's finally happy. first his parents' divorce, then his psycho dad, then living with his brothers and mom for three months, now seeing his half-siblings he never knew about!
"don't fuck with me or my girlfriend ever again lil bruv!"
"bruh i'm only a year younger than you!"
"but you're two years younger than me!" austin says placing his laptop beside him and rushing over to tackle brady, who jumped on top of anthony.
the three of them muck around with each other as justine walks into the room and stands beside me.
"i'm gonna miss anthony a lot. i kind of think of him as my own son too"
"yeah. he'll definitely miss you too"
anthony also kind of sees justine as a mother-figure to him.
i kind of like justine now but for the first week of staying here, she was so unnecessarily cold. for the last two weeks, the was fine though.
"anthony must like you a lot"
"yeah, he loves me"
"that's very confident of you"
"i know. he's the only man that's ever loved me enough to make me feel that way"
"man? that boy's only eighteen" she says as i shake my head.
"he's a man in my eyes"
anthony gets up and walks over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
"i forgot to ask, have you finished packing yet?"
"no sir"
"let's finish then!"
"bet"
we walk away from the gaming room and go down the hall to the room we were staying at.
i walk towards the mirror and straighten up my crop top as anthony stands behind me and wraps his arms around me.
"you're hot"
"nah you're hot"
i turn and place a kiss on his cheek then sit on the floor, him sitting beside me.
we start to fold the rest of my stuff and put it in the suitcase.
"can i keep these?" he asks holding up a pair of my lace underwear.
"um sure. what for?"
"you know, if you ever come to my house and need back up for when we get nastyyyyy"
"bet"
he sends a wink over, making my heart flutter.
i was excited for these nine weeks to end.
we both finish packing my stuff and get called for dinner and justine had made pasta (🤤🤤🤤).
"so explain what happens over there" she says, asking about the house in the bahamas.
"well this time the house is located on a private beach. it was a little pricey but the fact that there was 20 people staying there made it cheap" anthony says
"last time we didn't wanna go out and get stopped by fans but this time we'd only be going to the beach, to restaurants and cafes for food and those cute markets to get shell jewellery and stuff" i add as i grin.
"it'll be so fun" he says, grinning back at me.
"aw. yous should definitely send us pictures!"
"yeah of course!"
•
"thank you for letting us stay here. it was really fun getting to know yous" he says as they all group hug.
i pull my phone out and take a photo of justine, anthony, brady and austin.
"come on, you're apart of the family too" justine says to me.
that was the nicest thing she's ever said to me this whole trip!
i put my phone away and rush over to join the hug.
i was really gonna miss them.
"anyway, we gotta dip. we'll definitely be back though!" anthony says.
"yeah of course!"
we say our final goodbyes, grab our things and get ready to catch the flight to the bahamas.
the cool thing was that everyone's flights were matched up, meaning all of our flights would land in a span of two hours!
•
"hails, wake up!"
"huh?"
"we're here! we're in the bahamas babyyy" anthony exclaims.
i jump up excitedly as anthony laughs.
we both grab our carry-on luggage, exit the plane, walk out of our terminal and see the people who had landed before us, which was everyone except for hannah, michelle, nessa, griff and jaden.
"omg look!" avani calls, pointing to us as everyone turns around.
"holy shit!" sam practically shouts.
seeing his face in person for the first time in a year made me tear up.
i let go of my luggage as we run towards each other.
"i missed you so fucking much sam! so so so much!" i say as we pull each other into a hug.
"i missed you too hailey!"
i wanted to cry from how happy i was!
i pull away from sam and as he goes and hugs anthony, i begin to hug everyone else.
syd, benji, jeyjey, josh, payton, jackson, noen, avani, talia, sterling, elmo, & chase.
"this sounds really stupid but can you go kiss anthony, all i can think of when i look at you two is the breakup!" jeyjey says with a pout, making me think back to it too.
•flashback•
"listen, i love you, i really do but-"
"you're breaking up with me?" he interrupts, already reading my expressions.
"let me talk, please"
he sighs and nods.
"my parents saw the video that got leaked and i kind of figured this before but they really don't like you anthony! there's this stupid group chat they have on facebook where they find out about the things your dad does in the streets and automatically assumed that you were just like him. and then when they saw the video of us passing out, they thought you were the one that made me do it but when in reality it was me!"
my face was already wet with tears.
"they called me today and told me that they want me to break up with you and they're basically forcing me to. i really don't want to anthony, i really really really don't want to. i love you with my whole fucking heart but we can't be together, not right now at least"
anthony had tears rolling down his face.
his dad was right, he was vulnerable to me.
the only times he's ever cried since ages ago was because of me.
but i've never cried as much as i have ever since i've made up with him at vidcon so i guess i'm vulnerable to him too.
"anthony, we're-"
"come on, let's try and work something out!"
"there's nothing that could help anthony, i'm sorry. we're over"
more tears flow down anthony's cheeks.
"at least give me one kiss goodbye"
i was trying to avoid all physical contact with him but i was most definitely gonna miss his kisses.
the both of us stand up and connect lips for the last time.
the kiss was so passionate and amazing that i never wanted to pull away but i do once we hear sobs. we turn and see jorge literally crying his eyes out.
everybody listened to our breakup but i think they regretted it because of how sad they all looked, most of them with tears in their eyes.
no one knew what to say until elmo decided to speak.
"you guys, um, should pack for tomorrow. i think we're all done except you both. we'll help you two"
•flashback over•
that was probably the saddest time of my life and i'm not even capping.
i walk over to anthony as he pulls away from payton.
i grab his hand and bring him in towards me, then lean up and connect my lips with his.
"naw perfect!" jorge says with a clap.
i pull away from anthony as he grins.
josh looks up at the big screen.
"it says jaden, griff and the girls should arrive in an hour"
"let's sit at the charging stations in their waiting bay" sterling suggests as we all agree.
as we all sit down, we talk and get to know each other all over again. i swear we've facetimed nearly every single day this year yet i feel like we've all missed so much.
josh bounced his knee up and down nervously as i smiled.
"nessa's probably nervous too"
"you think?"
"of course. she really likes you"
"and i really like her"
"aw"
if only anthony and i fell for each other the way they did. our love was so complicated yet theirs and everyone else's were simple.
i turn towards anthony, who sat with noen, elmo and syd. i turned back towards josh, avani and benji and continued the conversation.
we all talked and caught each other up on things until we see people walk out of the terminal.
we all stand up excitedly.
a minute goes by and we finally see hannah, nessa, michelle, griffin and jaden!
"oh my griffin is sexier in real life" talia says as avani, sterling and i laugh.
the four see us and rush over, nessa running straight to josh and hannah running straight to elmo.
holy shit it was cute.
michelle, jaden and griffin rush over to the rest of us as we all hug.
"i missed yous! how were the past three weeks?" i say getting to jaden.
"they were okay, like it was so weird to party out without you guys!"
"how many parties did you throw?" anthony asks with a laugh.
"like 100!" griffin cheers.
griffin had finally graduated! jaden, anthony, hannah, michelle, nessa and i thankfully graduated too! we've all gotten in to our dream colleges, even anthony who doubted himself so much!
things were gonna be so different once summer was over. on the bright side, i'm going to be at the same college as anthony, sam, jaden, griffin and avani! on the down side is that i'm gonna miss seeing michelle, nessa and most of all, hannah's face every single day!
i was really scared of the future. how was i gonna do in college? how was i gonna do in my job? how was i gonna do in marriage? with who? am i gonna still be with anthony? will i marry him?
"babe, let's go!"
i wake from my 'slumber'.
"the bus is here"
he takes my hand and pulls me up, then places my suitcases on the trolley his stuff was on.
he holds my hand with his left and pushes the trolley with his right.
"woah fuck yes, this looks so sick!" jackson hollers.
the bus had curtains, aircon+heating, actual space between the rows of seats so we could stretch our feet. it was pretty perfect.
we all pack our luggage under the bus and hop on.
"babe?" anthony asks as we sit right at the back.
"yeah?"
"are you all good? you seem like you having something on your mind. you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but i just wanna know if everything's okay"
my heart warmed. the thought of ever losing him hurts me.
"no it's nothing big, it's just me overthinking like i always do" i say as he laughs.
"college is so soon and then we get real jobs and then start families and it's all so crazy. i'm not ready to start being fully self-dependent"
"college is a really big thing and we're lucky to have made it in to the same one as each other and even some of our friends! besides, you don't have to be fully self-dependent because you can always depend on us!"
"what i hate thinking about the most is me and you though. like i really want it to be you who i'd start a family with in the future but what if that doesn't happen?"
he grabs onto my hand.
"i've been in love with you since the first day i even looked at you!"
"what, when you were five?"
"yes!" he says as i laugh.
"i'm not going anywhere if you don't want me to"
"holy shit just fuck and have kids already" elmo exclaims from the front of the bus.
"how can you even hear us?" i ask.
"everyone stopped talking so we could all listen to the juicy tea!" michelle says as i roll my eyes with a smile.
"yeah, everything's like a whole ass romance movie with you guys, it's kinda adorable" payton says.
"fax fax fax. i can't wait for the wedding" benji says as anthony and i laugh.
anthony yawns and lays his head on my shoulder as i smile.
"i'll wake you up when we get to the house"
"thank you"
•
everyone whistles and cheers as we walk in.
"this is even cooler than last time!" elmo practically shouts.
first, we all rush up the TWO flights of stairs to choose our room.
all the rooms were the exact same so we just had to decide the placement.
"i suggest anthony and hailey take the two front rooms. remember what happened last time?" hannah says as everyone laughs.
"wait, what happened?" nessa asks.
"yo they were making out and stuff and were loud as fuck!" talia exclaims.
"yeah, hannah's room was right at the end of the hall so we all decided to chill in her room until they shut up!" josh says as they all laugh.
anthony and i roll our eyes and take the first two rooms.
basically, there was this one massive indoor balcony which had all the rooms and bathrooms. we each had our own big bedroom and own nice bathroom that connected with the next person's room. since anthony and i took the first two rooms, we also took the first bathroom.
everyone else finds their rooms and starts to unpack their things into the drawers and wardrobe.
anthony and i's strat was to unpack mine, then unpack his so that we could finish quicker and get to the explore the house ourselves.
•
we both walk downstairs and go down the hall.
game room, theatre room, pool table + table tennis room, indoor gym, laundry room, sauna!
we go into the backyard and see a large fake grassed area, a big pool + spa, large seating area, barbecue and more!
at the front of the house, there was a small seating area, where you could sit and watch the waves of the beach crash from 100m away.
"this is perfect" i say as anthony and i sit.
"yeah, i can't believe it, like the house last year was amazing but this surprisingly topped it by so much!"
"i know right"
he wraps an arm around me as i lean my hand on his shoulder.
"we've been through so much in the past year, it feels really good to finally make it" he says
"yeah" i reply.
"i kinda wish our relationship didn't have to be so complicated in the beginning though"
he looks towards me.
"what do you mean?" he asks (wtf i haven't heard that song in ages!).
"well like you said, we've been through so much. it was a hard time for the both of us. like nessa and josh have feelings for each other and are 99% gonna get together! we hated eachother at first"
"we did but i think that's what makes our relationship so beautiful. we tried so long to make things work and now that they do, we're finally happy and it's a relief actually. yeah we hated each other but now we're so in love it's crazy. it doesn't matter how things start, it's how things end"
"and we've made it to the end?"
"yeah. the end of all the hard times. my dad's in jail, your parents like me, my mother, justine, brothers and half brothers love you! we graduated as captains of the cheer and football team, got into the same college together and get to celebrate with our best friends! life could not be better right now"
"shit anthony, you're so right. i'm sorry for even saying anything"
"don't apologise. recapping the past year felt nice because it's all over"
"yeah. we can finally be happy and successful"
"yeah, we really can"
"i love you t. thank you for being a big part of my happy life"
"no, thank you! and of course, i love you too"
i lean forward and connect lips with him.
he was right. we're finally happy.
•
a/n
wowza this chapter was kind of a recap of the past chapters since my dumbass didn't post for ages (n i'm v sorry about that 🥺)!