“Hey, you guys. Quit sitting around in front of the TV. You have to pack.” Frank told us. I pulled Sara off the couch and we went into the bathroom to put our toiletries together.

“Liv, I don’t want to leave.” Sara grumbled. She slowly packed her bag.

“None of us wants to leave, so you’re not the only one.” I tried to comfort her.

“I can’t believe it’s all over. It seems like it was only days ago that we got the phone call from Donna.” Natalia said, joining us.

“ I know, doesn’t it?” I said. “ We still have a few days to enjoy though. We can’t get all depressed so soon.”

“We should have a big goodbye party or something,” Sara said listfully.

“Yeah, “ Nati said softly. We continued to pack in silence.

“You know what I’m gonna miss?” Sara suddenly said.

“What?”

“I’m gonna miss no food being in the refrigerator.” She said laughing.

“Fighting for the bathroom,” I added.

“Dave’s snoring,” Natalia said.

“No, I don’t’ think I’m gonna miss that.” Sara said, shaking her head.

“Well, I will. I’m probably not going to cry or anything in the next few days. But once I go to bed and I get a good night’s sleep, I’m gonna feel incredibly depressed.” Natalia said, laughing. We joined her laughter and continued to pack out stuff slowly. Dave and Kate heard our laughter and they joined us in the bathroom too.

“What are you guys laughing about?” He asked, sitting up on the bathroom counter.

“We were just talking about what we were going to miss. Nati said she’s going to miss your snoring.” I blurted out.

Nati blushed. “Oh really?” Dave said, turning to her and giving her a winning smile, full of teeth. “Is that all you are going to miss of me?”

Nati’s eyes narrowed and she smiled thinly, as if she knew something we didn’t. “Of course not, sweetie pie. I’ll miss your sugary sweet lips as they seek out mine night after night.” She grinned devilishly. Dave looked nervous as Natalia slammed her bag on the counter and left the bathroom. Sara and I looked at each other as if we couldn’t believe what we had just heard.

Dave sat there uncomfortably, already anticipating our questions.

“What the hell was that all about? Dave?” Kate tried to get his attention. She knew something, I could feel it.

“Well, um, I don’t know.” Dave tried to lie.

“Bullshit,” I said. Sara and Kate stared at me. “I know you’re hiding something. We can all pretty much figure out that you two are together. We just want to hear it from you.” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

“Well, I guess then, its true. We’ve been together for a while.” Dave said, sighing.

“Scott and I saw you together a few nights ago. When you guys went out to dinner at the Chinese restaurant.” Kate said.

“KATE! Why didn’t you tell us?” Sara asked.

“We figured there was a reason why they didn’t want anyone to know, why they were being so secretive. We decided to keep their secret for them.” Kate explained.

“Well I’d like to know why you kept it a secret,” I said to Dave.

Dave looked at us and breathed deeply. “We had decided to keep it under wraps because of the fans. I had figured Dad would tell us to stay apart anyway. We had been told before to keep our own personal relationships under wraps or to not have any at all. Dad told us a long time ago.” He acted as if he said this directly to Kate. She looked like she was going to slash his throat.

“Well I can understand why keeping the secret from the fans, but why from us? We wouldn’t do anything to you guys,” I said.

“Well at the time we were getting together, a lot of things were happening with you guys. You were fighting over Scott with Kate. Scott was pissing Kate off. Clint was getting mad at you. It didn’t seem like the opportune time to tell all the happy couples around us that we were happy now too,” he said sarcastically. “And then when everything evened out, we just didn’t tell you. We didn’t think it would stay a secret as long as it did,” he said, looking nervously out the door.

“Where’s Natalia?” I asked, as if reading his mind. Sara got up and brought her back to us.

“Dave just told us,” Kate said. Natalia looked at Dave. It wasn’t a look of anger, just a look of relief.

“Finally,” was all she said.

KATE

“Countdown to tour ending.” Clint said. From what I have heard from Liv, he’s a sweetie, but God, can’t he keep from reminding us every five minutes? It’s not like we don’t know already.

Sara rolled her eyes and sat down next to me. “Here Kate,” and she handed me a piece of a chocolate bar. “You look like you need this more than I do.” she sighed.

“Thanks.” I said slowly. I started out of the tour bus window at the highway around us. Tonight was our last show. Then it was all over.

“What are we doing tonight?” Natalia asked, sitting down next to Dave. He slipped an arm around her shoulder, just as casual as can be. It’s a good thing they came clean about their relationship now. We’ve only got a few more hours left and I know they would want to spend it together.

“Natalia, do we always have to do something?” Bob said impatiently.

“No. But it’s our last night together. It has to be memorable. We can’t just stay in and watch movies.” she said.

“She’s right.” Scott agreed. “We should do something, something good.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s great, but what do we do?” Clint asked. We sat in silence.

“Movies?” someone said.

“No, I want to be able to talk to you guys.” Sara said.

“Go to the mall?” Bob suggested.

“No, we’d have to be careful because of the fans.” Dave answered frankly.

“Amusement park?” said liv.

“Same problem.” said Natalia.

We sat and thought. I couldn’t think of anything else except how much I was going to miss Scott. It had taken us so long to find each other and keep it that way. We belong together. Fate, I believe brought us together. I’m not afraid to say it, not at all. I love him.

“I’ve got it.” Scott smiled. He had the most beautiful smile and the cutest teeth. I was going to miss seeing his beautiful smile when I woke up in the morning.

“Ok, so what’s your brilliant idea?” Natalia asked him.

“Let’s have dinner. But not ordinary dinner. Let’s find the fanciest place in town. We can get dressed up, in dresses and suits. We can go, just the eight of us, and have dinner, go dancing. It will be great.” His eyes lit up with excitement. Oh his beautiful blue eyes; I could get lost in them forever.

“Scott, your a bloody genius! That’s just so, perfect!” Natalia clasped her hands together and giggled.

“The girls can do the show, then take a taxi back to the hotel and get ready,” Clint said.

“Yeah, then you guys can meet us back there, get changed, and we can take a limo to the restaurant.” Sara suggested, getting excited.

“But do you think it would be ok with your parents?” I asked the boys.

“I hope so. I think so. They have to understand. It’s our last night together. You girls are going back to the East Coast, we’re going home to the south.” Dave said. Natalia laid her head on his shoulder.

“Well, someone go ask Dad. We need to know if we can do it. Cause if we can’t we have to think of something else,” Bob said, putting his hair into a ponytail.

“Well, let’s tell Sheila first. She can talk our Dad into letting us. I mean, its not like we’re gonna do anything stupid, but just in case,” Clint said.

“Hey Sheila? Could you come here for a minute?” Scott called her over to us.

“Sure honey. What’s the matter? We’re almost at the hotel now,” She told us. We explained our idea to her. She listened attentively before she said anything.

“So you want me to talk your father into letting you go out to dinner on your own?” She asked us, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah, we were kinda hoping that,” Bob said.

“Well it sounds like a harmless enough plan. Why don’t you ask him yourselves?” She suggested.

“Well, you just have such a wonderful way of putting things. We though he’d be more receptive to the idea, if you told him,” Scott smiled charmingly.

“It’s not really my job to be asking him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you all had dinner. I’ll run the idea by him and then tell him to talk to you guys further about reservations and whatnot,” Sheila smiled.

“Thank you so much Sheila!” Clint gave her a hug.

“You’re welcome, honey.” She went back to the front of the bus to talk to Frank.

NATALIA

“Our last performance. We have to be good, you guys.” We huddled before going onstage. Kate and Liv looked like they were about to cry. Sara was silent as usual. I felt like the only one keeping the group together.

“We are Nine Lives. This experience has changed me so much. I’ve loved every minute of it,” I said, fighting back my own tears.

“We are Nine Lives. I’ll never forget any of this as long as I live,” Olivia said, face getting flushed.

“We are Nine Lives. We’ve had good times we’ve had bad times. And we’re better because of it,” Sara said, wiping her eyes.

“We’re Nine Lives. And we always will be,” Kate said, smiling.

We hugged and prepared to give the last performance of our first tour.

SARA

Frank came up to us when we were waiting for the taxi to pick us up.

“Girls, girls. I’m glad I caught you. I just have to say that was one of the best performances I have ever seen. You all have changed to much in these past few months, and I know I’ve been rough on you a few times, but I’ve done it because I think of you as my own. I really hope we can work with you again. I’m sure the boys would agree with me.” Frank told us quickly.

“We’ve done so well because we’ve had great mentors to help us along the way.” Kate said.

“Yes, we can’t tell you how much we appreciate all the guidance and patience you’ve shown us.” I told him. Natalia and Olivia nodded their heads in agreement.

“Thank you Sara. That’s very nice of you to say that.” Frank smiled. Our taxi pulled up and he helped us into the cab.

“We’ll meet you back at the hotel. Can’t wait to see you!” He called after us.

We sat in silence for the ride home. I don’t know about the other guys, but I want tonight to be perfect. I’ve felt so bad that I’ve pushed Bob away these past nights since our ‘consummation’ of the relationship. I didn’t prepare for it to happen so early in the relationship, I just love Bob so much and it felt like the right thing to do. I need to tell him I love him, tonight. Tonight is the last night I am spending with him. It has to be perfect. Nothing can ruin it.

Our cab dropped us off in front of the hotel. We grabbed our stuff and scampered through the lobby towards the elevators.

The elevators took so long to take us to our floor. “I hope to god the elevators don’t break down.” Natalia said under her breath.

“Oh, god. Natalia! Don’t jinx us like that!” Kate said. But the elevators stopped on our level perfectly and we ran to our rooms.

“First shower!” Nati and Liv shouted. They giggled as Kate and I scowled.

“Fine, Nati, you can have the shower. I’ll pick out my stuff.” Kate grumbled. Our adjoining rooms were coming in handy as we raced back and forth to see what outfit looked good.

“Kate, should I wear the blue thing?” I asked her, shuffling through the closet.

“Let me see it.” She said. I showed her the dress and she shook her head no.

“It’s got a stain on it. What do you think of my black halter top dress?” Kate asked.

“It’s too short, you really shouldn’t go for the porn star look tonight.” I said.

“No, you’re thinking of the wrong dress. This one is black satin halter top with a mesh covering and little blue flowers on it. It goes down to about the tops of my feet if I wear the strappy heels.” She described her dress to me.

“That’s perfect. Wear that. I was just afraid you were gonna wear what you wore to that St.John’s dance.” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Oh please. I have more class than that. Let’s just hope Scott doesn’t get to happy and starts sucking on my shoulder like that other guy at the dance.” Kate said. I laughed and felt a little bit better.

Liv came out of the shower first and so I ran in to take mine. I shaved quickly and miraculously received no nicks. I washed my hair and got out, spritzing on some fruity smelling after shower body spray from Bath and Body Works.

I could hear muffled shouts outside the bathroom. “Hey, what’s going on out there?” I shouted.

“Nothing, I just can’t find my other black shoe!” a frantic Liv shouted to me. I looked behind the toilet and saw the shoe right where I though I had.

“It’s in here with me, don’t worry.” I told her.

“Oh, thank god. Now come out so I can get changed.” Liv banged on the door. I came out in my bathroom and Liv quickly ran in behind me.

I prepared to sift through my closet once more. “Hey Kate.” I called.

“She’s in the shower now,” Nati answered me.

“Oh, well, could you help me? I can’t decide what to wear.” I started to get frustrated.

“Sure.” Nati came in and began to do her hair in the mirror in our room.

“How about this?” I asked, holding up a bronzy gold satin dress.

“You’re not tanned enough.” She told me. My mouth dropped. “It’s true! If you wear that, you’ll look even paler, trust me.” She came over to the closet and took out my green embroidered dress with the shawl. I had just bought it two days ago.

“You have the perfect eyes for this.” She smiled at me. “I’ll curl your hair for you. It’ll look lovely.”

“No, that’s ok.” I shook my head.

“Nonsense. It’ll look great, not big bologna curls, just waves. Don’t worry, trust me.” She said.

“Natalia, last time I trusted you, you put makeup on me too look like a prostitute. Remember that?” I said, squinting.

“You looked good, shut up. Now just trust me more than you trusted me that time. Go change in our room. Then I’ll do your hair for you.” She told me. I brought the dress and a pair of pantyhose and underwear with me and got changed. I quickly showed it to Nati.

“It’s perfect. Except for one thing.” She came over to me and snapped my bra-strap.

“I think you can live without this for one night. It looks kind of stupid with spaghetti straps.” She told me. I could always count on Nati to tell the truth, whether I wanted to hear it or not.

“Oh, well, I can change that later. My hair might take a while.” I sat down at the foot of my bed while Nati turned my straight hair into a Marilyn Monroe look-alike do. When she was finished I did my makeup and slipped on my shoes.

“Do I look perfect? Or do I look perfect?” I modeled for Kate when she came out of the shower.

“Oh, no, you’re not vain.” She joked.

“Come on, how do I look?” I whined.

"You look exquisite, dear. Simply charming, Bob won’t know what to do with himself.” She smiled.

“Well hurry up. You still have to get dressed and stuff.” I shouted at her. Kate took her dress and went back into the bathroom. I skipped over to Nati in Liv’s room.

“Can I see your dress?” I asked her.

“No. Everyone must wait.” She said as she applied her makeup. “Oh, ok.” I sat down on the bed. Olivia came out of the bathroom wearing a low cut red silk dress with black lace over it and an empire waist.

“Oh, Liv.” I said, stunned. “You look fabulous.”

Olivia beamed. “Thank you.”

Natalia turned around and smiled at Liv. “You do look lovely.” She squinted. “Where have I seen that dress before?” She wondered aloud.

“What are you talking about? You mean the dress?” I asked. Natalia nodded. “Was it in a catalog?” I asked Olivia. She just shook her head and kept on smiling.

“Was it in a magazine?” Natalia looked at the dress. Olivia shook her head no.

All of a sudden, Natalia looked like she was having a heart attack. “Oh my God!” She shrieked. “What?” I jumped.

“It’s the busty dress! From Cherry and Webb! You know, the dress for David from the Bangladesh Boys! Bon Voyager!” Natalia was shrieking and laughing so hard, her body shook.

My eyes widened. “Is it?” I asked. Olivia nodded. “I went back to buy it the next day with my mom.” She smiled.

Natalia held her sides with laughter. “Oh wait till Kate sees it. It’ll be like old times! All we need is Maria seeing someone she knows and Kate and I singing Britany Spears in the White City Plaza parking lot!”

I laughed so hard I had to sit down on the couch and watch some TV.

“Ok, so you can get ready now.” Olivia told Natalia impatiently.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting my dress.” Natalia went into the bathroom. Liv put on a pair on black velvet shoes and sat down next to me.

“Do I really look ok?” She asked.

“Olivia, you look absolutely, um, absolutely...” I had to laugh.

“Oh come on, I don’t look that bad.” She said.

“No of course not. I just can’t get over it. You look so good. Our little girl’s becoming a woman!” I said, putting my hands up to her cheeks.

Kate came out of the bathroom and modeled for us. “How do I look?” Her long sandy blonde hair sweeped her shoulders and the dress fit perfectly.

“Oh Kate, it’s wonderful. Very pretty!” Liv told her.

“Same to you, too.” Kate did a double take. “Is that...?”

“Yes, it is. You missed when Natalia realized it too. She was having a spaz attack.” Liv said. “Oh god, Liv. Well it looks very nice. You look like Rose from Titanic.” She said. Liv’s hair was permed like always in curls and pinned to the top of her head.

“Where’s Natie?” asked Kate, slipping on her strappy black shoes.

“Getting changed. She won’t let anyone see her. She says it’s a surprise.” I told her.

“I hope she looks presentable, you know, no black Goth stuff.” Liv said.

“I think she’s smart enough not to do that.” Kate said.

“Probably.” We all sat down to wait for her.

“What is taking her so long? All she had to do was put on the dress! She did her makeup and hair out here!” I said, staring at the bathroom door. To my surprise, it opened.

“TA DA!” Natalia popped out of the bathroom and showed off her dress. She was wearing a black dress with a red maroon lace-up bodice. Her sleeves were black lace sorcerer type, and the skirt was black satin with lace over it.

“Oh my god...” Kate said slowly. She got up to get a better look.

“Natalia...” I coughed out. I was speechless.

“You look...” started Liv.

“Like I’m going to a funeral?” Natalia laughed.

“Actually, you look good. It’s not that bad.” Kate said.

“I hope you are being sarcastic, Kate.” Said liv.

“Oh thanks, Evita.” Nati sneered at Liv. “Do I really look horrible?” she asked us.

“The dress is, dramatic. But the makeup is nice and your hair is very pretty. You can pull it off very well.” I touched the reddish brown waved hair. “It’s,” I searched for the word. “Smoldering.”

“Thanks. You guys all look lovely too. The guys are gonna melt when they see you.” Natalia looked at us. She sat down and strapped on a pair of black velvet platform disco shoes. When she stood up, she towered above us.

“Natalia! You’re taller than Alex!” Liv said.

“I know, but I’m not much taller than Dave in these. He’ll live.” She said as she touched her hair in the mirror.

“Are we all ready?” Kate asked us.

DAVE

“Have you seen my bottle of Tommy Boy?” Scott yelled to us.

“No, I think you finished it last week. You can use some of my Nautica, though.” Clint said, handing him the bottle.

“Oh, thanks.” Scott said, dabbing some on.

“I’m so nervous about tonight.” I said to my brothers.

“Oh, Dave, chill out. It’s gonna be fine. Finish getting dressed.” Bob told me as he buttoned up his dress shirt.

“I just don’t want to look stupid. I want to look good for Natalia.” I told them.

“Dave, you aren’t crushing over her anymore. You two are together and from what I’ve heard, you’ve been around the block once or twice with her.” Scott told me grinning.

“Who told you that?” I said, furrowing my brow. “It’s a lie. She’s not like that, Scott.”

“I know, ok, don’t get so tense. It’s just a joke. Don’t worry about Nati, cause I know for a fact she loves you more than life itself. And if she didn’t she probably wouldn’t have stayed with you this long.” Scott told me. “Now hand me my tie.”

I handed it to him and began to spray on come cologne. “How do you know she loves me?” I asked him.

“Kate told me. Natalia tells her everything I guess.” Scott said.

I grinned enormously and began to gel my hair. Clint came over and began to gel his hair too. He was wearing a black suit with a vest and a reddish maroon patterned tie. He looked very preppy, as if he was going to go swig sherry and smoke a few stogies. I laughed at my little joke.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” Clint nervously ran a hand over his face.

“No, man, no. You just look like you’re going to so smoke some stogies and swig sherry with your golf buddies Preston and Gerald the third.” I told him, grinning. Scott was brushing his teeth and he choked on his toothbrush.

“He’s right man. You look, so, so preppy.” Scott said, laughing.

“What’s so bad about my clothes?” Clint asked. “I like them.” He tugged on his vest and smiled in the mirror. He looked at my pinstripe suit and yanked my chain wallet.

“At least I don’t look like I’m the junior Mafia. Nice cane and bowler hat.” He said mockingly.

“You do look like you’re stuck in the swinging 40s.” Bob said. Bob was looking normal, so I couldn’t come up with any snappy comebacks. He was wearing a plain black suit with a charcoal gray dress shirt and a light moss green tie. It looked good actually.

Scott was wearing a double breasted black suit with a black satin stripe on the sides of his pants.

“Man, you shouldn’t be talking.” Clint playfully hit Scott. “You look like you’re going to get married.”

“Well hopefully I hope to get married, someday. Live on a farm with horses and cows and perhaps a pig or two, and maybe three or four children, preferably two boys and two girls, and hopefully be miles away from my three incredibly embarrassing and annoying brothers who have nothing better to do than make fun of each others clothing.” He said, all the while fixing his hair.

Bob looked stunned. “Wow, Scott. I know how hard it was for you to think all of that up on the spur of the moment like that. Tell me, did it hurt?”

Scott sneered at him and threw a pillow at him, but it missed and hit Clint instead.

“Hey! Watch the hair, jerkoff!” He said, putting his hands up to his hair to shield it.

“Oh, I’m so incredibly sorry to have moved one of the six strands of hair on your head. I apologize.” Scott said dramatically.

“Well, I guess, I’ll let it slide this time.” Clint said, smiling slyly.

“Is everyone almost ready to go? Let’s call the girls and see if they’re ready.” I said, sitting down on the bed next to the phone.

“Ok, dial away.” Bob said, fixing his hair.

“Who should I call first?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Knowing them they are scuttling from room to room.” Scott said. I dialed the number to Kate and Nati’s room.

“Hello Panda King restaurant, can I take your order?” Kate’s voice came on the phone.

“Hi Kate. We're ready, are you?” I said, laughing. I heard muffled laughter on the other line.

“Oh! Dave, hi. Yeah, we’ll be down in ten minutes.” Kate said, giggling.

“Ok, bye.” I said.

“Hold on!” There was a pause on the other line. “Nati says she’d like the cream of somyoungi.” Kate said, obviously trying to keep from laughing.

“Ok, wow, tell her she can has as much as she’d like when we get to the restaurant. Bye.” I hung up the phone.

“What was that about?” Scott asked me. “I could hear laughter.”

“Oh, Nati told me she’d like the cream of somyoungi. They’re gonna be downstairs in ten minutes. Let’s go.” I said to a stunned Scott. I picked up my walled and cane.

“Don’t forget your hat.” Clint said, putting it on my head.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” We left the hotel room and entered the elevator to go to the lobby.

“Am I the only one nervous?” Clint asked, voice almost squeaking.

“Clint, I thought you went through puberty already.” Bob said. He grinned. “Sorry, man. No, don’t worry. I’m just as nervous. It’s gonna be great though. Don’t worry. Just, you know, CHILL.” Bob said. We left the elevator and stood waiting in the lobby.

The elevator dinged, which meant the girls were here. The beginning of our night.

“This is it.” I mumbled under my breath. I couldn’t wait to see the girls all dressed up.

First out of the elevator was Kate in a black halter 70s dress with embroidered blue flowers. She looked at Scott and smiled. Her eyes looked glossy. I felt bad that they had only been together a few weeks and they have to leave each other so soon. Kate raced to Scott and he threw his arms around her.

“Damn I’m glad I wore waterproof mascara.” She said.

“Scott’s glad he wore waterproof mascara too.” Bob said smiling. Kate laughed and playfully hit him.

Next came Olivia in a red dress with black lace covering it, a very low neckline, and a high waistline.

“You look like Rose in Titanic!” I blurted out. She laughed.

“That’s what Kate said.” She answered me. Her gaze shifted to Clint beside me. Her face got a bit red and her eyes were glossy now too. She kissed Clint on the cheek and stood beside him.

Next out was Sara. She looked very pretty in a green embroidered dress with an embroidered shawl. Her hair was wavy and she was wearing tall shoes so she could reach Bob.

She walked over to him and hugged him, trying to fight back the tears. But a tear ran down Bob’s face.

“Am I making you cry?” Sara asked him.

“Yes, thank you.” He said, hugging her again.

I guess I looked a bit nervous because Kate came over to me. “Natalia’s coming down in a second. She said she left something in the room.”

I nodded my head and waited patiently for her. Soon enough, the elevator dinged again and Natalia came out of it in a rush.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I took so long. I needed to...” She stopped talking and slowly walked over to me with a huge smile on her face. She was looking stunningly beautiful, in a medieval sort of way. When she came over to me, I noticed she was two inches taller than I was.

“Um, did you grow? Or did I shrink?” I asked her. She laughed and showed me her five-inch platforms.

“I can go change them if you want.” She whispered.

“No, I like taller women.” I said, smiling sweetly.

“Besides, you are tall enough to dance with me, now.” Bob said.

“Not if I can help it!” Sara said, smiling.

I took Natalia’s hand and kissed it. She blushed.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you blush, my lady.” I said.

“I only blush when handsome gentlemen in zoot suits kiss my hand and call me my lady. But I like it, so don’t stop.” She whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek.

“The limo’s here. Let’s go. Frank and Sheila already know. We told them we were leaving on the way down.” Liv told us. We walked out to the limo and got in.

CLINT

We sat at our table, chatting while waiting for our food to be brought. We sat at a round table, so everyone cause see everyone else. We were all happy, laughing, drinking, chattering silverware. We sat like this: Kate, Scott, Nati, Dave, Sara, Bob, Olivia, Me.

I sat staring at the couples- Scott and Kate only found each other recently. They realized their love for each other after they had hated each other.

Sara and Bob were the classic couple. They were compassionate, loyal, and nurturing. They were perfect for each other.

Natalia and Dave were best friends who just happened to be seeing each other. Even if they weren’t going out they would still get along wonderfully.

And then there was Olivia and I. We were both scared of losing each other and that drew us closer together. We questioned our motives, thought of different ways to live together, but we always returned to our first thought of being together.

I sat there pondering our future together when Olivia tapped me on the shoulder.

“Are you ok? You have this distant look in your eyes.” She said to me, putting a hand over mine.

“What? No, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” I told her, smiling.

Kate and Natalia were fighting about whether or not Hanson was a good band. “They get my respect cause they play their own instruments and write their own music, but otherwise, they suck!” Nati said.

“Right, whatever. Well, I wouldn’t be talking, you listen to Marilyn Manson.” Kate said, flipping her hair.

“What’s wrong with Marilyn Manson? He’s not afraid of what people think of him. He has a good message about being who you are. He’s cool.” Nati said defiantly.

“Well, he’s no Taylor Hanson.” Kate said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Thank god for that. We need less singing, brother, teenybopper groups in the world and more people who do what they want, not what their parents tell them to do.” Natalia said, taking a sip of her coke with lime.

“Hey Natalia?” I began to say.

“Yes, Clint dear?” she answered politely.

“Are you aware that we are a singing brother teenybopper group?” I asked her. Her face turned red and Kate laughed.

“Oh shush. But you guys rock out so much harder than the Hansons. It takes balls to rock out behinds the keyboards, as Dave has so cleverly shown us,” She said.

“Oh just shut up. You're beat. Live with it.” Scott said. Natalia sneered at him and started a conversation with Sara about ladybugs.

We sat there waiting for our food and talking about the past few months with eager voices but sad hearts. None of us wanted to leave. Having this goodbye dinner was just putting off the inevitable.

“Penny for your thoughts, Clint?” Bob asked me over Olivia’s head.

“Oh, just thinking about when its all over, what were gonna do with ourselves. Why?” I asked him.

“You just looked so, um, distant. Like you were staring at something far away.” He told me.

I turned to Olivia. “Hey Liv?” I tried to get her attention.

“Yeah, what is it? Is something wrong?” She asked with concern.

“No nothing’s wrong, I was just wondering. What did you think of me when you first saw me? Like, what were you thinking?” I questioned her.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked, squinting.

“I just do, I was just wondering about it.” I answered shyly.

“Well,” she began, “I don’t remember exactly what I was thinking, but I think it was something along the lines of you looked very preppy, or something like that. You slept a lot, I didn’t get to talk to you. Why? What did you think of me the first time you saw me?” She asked coyly.

“The first time I heard of you was when dad was telling us about you four opening for us. Scott had a magazine and we were reading about you.” I told her.

“Really? What did you guys think of us?” she asked, suddenly excited.

“Well I remember Scott saying that all girls on the east coast are vivacious, beautiful, and enthusiastic, whatever that’s supposed to mean.” I said, looking at Scott.

Olivia whipped around to look at Scott. “Yeah, what did you mean by that, Scott?” she said in an offended tone.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” He asked, unaware of our discussion.

Olivia explained to him our conversation and he gave me an evil look.

“All I meant by that was that I was really looking forward to meeting you and I was sure we were going to have lots of fun.” He said, smiling charmingly.

“Yeah right Scott. You weren’t thinking with the right head at the time.” Dave said.

“Shut up Dave. At least I didn’t have to ask for our permission before doing anything.” He said. Dave rolled his eyes.

“So Dave, if that’s what Scott thought of us, what did you think of us?” Sara asked him mischievously.

“Um, well, uh...” he started.

“Go on Dave, enlighten us.” Bob said with a sly smile.

“I wouldn’t be so happy Bob, you’re next.” Sara said, poking him in the chest.

“I was thinking about not saying anything stupid. You know, just trying to be cool.” He said.

“Well, you knew that wasn’t going to last long.” Bob said, smiling. Dave glared at his brother.

“What did you think of them Bob?” Dave asked.

“Well, first of all, I though Scott was reading a Porno magazine when I first heard of you.” He said. Sara looked shocked and playfully hit him in the stomach.

“OW! But then you guys seemed cool. Natalia scared me a bit, she was so damn straightforward. Kate had the porn star thing going on. Sara was looking like she was too important to be associating herself with me. And Liv was just kind of throwing herself at Scott.” Bob told the group truthfully.

The girls stared at him looking truly shocked.

“If I wanted to hear the blatant truth, I would have asked Natalia, Bob.” Sara said, sneering.

“Hey, you asked me! Now I want to hear what you thought of us.” Bob said.

“Yeah, let’s hear what you thought.” I chimed in.

“Well, first time I met you, I felt like I was being eyed like a piece of meat.” Sara said. “And I’m pretty sure Kate said she felt Scott was undressing her with his eyes.”

“I did not!” Kate said.

“Oh, yes you did, cause I was there. I heard you.” Natalia said nodding her head.

“Oh, whatever.” Kate answered, rolling her eyes.

Dave turned his eyes to Natalia. “What did you think of us?” He asked her.

“Do you want an answer like Bob’s? Or do you want a nice one?” she asked.

“I, uh,” he started laughing. “I want the truth.”

“Ok, well first I didn’t think that we were good enough to open for you. Then when Olivia threatened suicide if we didn’t play with you, I realized at least we had some eye candy if we got bored.” She said, grinning.

“Oh! Well, you’re a regular female equivalent of Scott, now aren’t you?” Bob said.

“Yeah, right. I thought that Bob tried way too hard. I thought Scott was inconceivablely horny. Clint was incredibly moody and either had mono or liked to hibernate. And honestly, I thought you were gay,” She said, pointing at Dave.

“You what?!” Dave said, eyes wide.

“Well, honey, you do have the tendencies. You dress well, you’re sensitive. You can cook, you like Titanic. You play keyboards.” Natalia said, nodding her head.

“SO!?” Dave said, still surprised.

“I don’t know, I just thought you swung that way. But we know now you don’t. Unless you’re bi., She said frankly.

“No, no, no I’m not.” Dave said quickly. Scott and Kate were laughing all throughout Nati’s confession. Bob and Sara were trying not to laugh. Liv was shaking her head and giggling.

“Natalia Rosa, you certainly have a way with making a guy feel loved.” Scott said, gasping for air.

“Oh, shut up, Scott. Just cause I got the impression that Dave was gay didn’t mean I didn’t like him. Even if he was gay, I’d still probably be best friends with him.” Natalia snapped.

“Yeah, she thought you were horny. I wonder where she came up with that.” Sara said to Scott. Scott made a face at her and drank his Sprite.

Our food came and we miraculously dropped the subject of first impressions. Why did I bring that up anyway?

Our dinner continued quietly. We ate hungrily because of the concert. Everyone seemed to be enjoying his or her dinners. No one was snapping at anyone else, anyway.

Scott called over the waiter and asked him to bring a bottle of wine. Yeah, right as if Scott could actually pull that off. He doesn’t even look 16.

“I’m sorry sir, unless you think I’m stupid, you are underage. Can I bring you a soft drink?” the waiter said coolly.

Scott scowled and ordered us all sparkling white grape juice, because it looks like champagne. The waiter went away to get it.

“Nice try Scott. You really thought he was going to fall for you being 21?” Sara said.

“No, but I figured I might as well give it a try. At least we got the grape juice.” He said, shrugging. The waiter brought us the drinks and Scott stood up to make a toast.

“I’d like to make a toast.” He began.

“No really? We all thought you were standing up to catch a breeze.” Kate said laughing. He gave her a look and continued.

“To our tour. I know sometimes we haven’t gotten along, sometimes we’ve wanted to kill each other, sometimes we’ve enjoyed each other, and sometimes we’ve even loved each other. But I think I speak on behalf of my brothers and I when I say that without you four, our lives would be pure ‘Misery’.” He said, smiling.

“Oh god, that was a really bad joke.” Natalia said, wincing.

“To Nine Lives.” Scott said, triumphantly. The eight of us clanked glasses and laughed giving halfhearted salutes of “To Nine Lives, To Nine Lives”.

Kate stood up. “Now I’d like to make a toast as well,” she glanced at the group.

“At the beginning of this tour, I wasn’t sure or not if we had made the right decision, agreeing to participate on the tour. But I know now that if we hadn’t nothing as wonderful would have happened this summer as being able to play with you four has. To the Moffatts!” she said, raising her glass into the dim light.

“To the Moffatts, To the Moffatts.” The glasses clanked again and we all settle into our seats as the dinner was cleared.

“This was a lovely idea, I’ll remember it forever. Toast to Scott! For his wonderful idea!” Natalia said, raising her glass.

“To Scott!” We agreed.

“Ah, thank you, thank you. But without Dad’s consent and Sheila’s wonderful words of persuasion, we wouldn’t have had it. To Dad and Sheila!” Scott said.

“To Dad and Sheila!” the group agreed again. The waiter came by again and refilled our glasses of fizzy fruit juice.

“To the waiter!” Dave said, scaring him away.

“To the waiter!” the group said, giggling. We became silent once more.

“Clint? You have been so incredibly quiet tonight. What’s the matter? Are you feeling ok?” Kate asked with concern.

“Yes, I just, um. Can I say something?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Well, I’ve just been thinking a lot over the past few days and I’m just realizing that every moment we laughed, every moment we cried, every moment we fussed and fretted about each other, thought about each other, has contributed to the inevitable development of us as a whole. Will we ever see each other again? Probably at some big public function or something like that. We might see each other on TV or hear our music on the radio and remember a funny thing we once did or something we once said, but that will be it. However I, for one, will remember each and every moment of this experience, both good and bad.” I looked around at the faces of my friends and family, the faces I had grown to love. “I hope all of you will too.” I sat down to end the speech. Olivia put her arms around me and hugged me tight. A single tear ran down my cheek and I pressed my face into her shoulder.

“That was beautiful, Clint.” Sara said, wiping her eyes.

“Yeah man, I didn’t know you could be so articulate.” said Scott with a hint of shock in his voice.

“It happens.” I shrugged.

NATALIA

We sat there, dumbfounded at Clint’s tearjerker of a speech. I hadn’t thought much about finally leaving what I had so fondly came to call ‘the crew’. I didn’t want to leave it all. As I said before, I was honestly going to miss Dave’s snoring.

“Well, I have another surprise for tonight,” Scott said, getting up from the table. Everyone got up to follow him. Dave slipped his hand into mine and we followed them too.

Scott led us to a dancing floor, complete with mirror ball. I stared in wonder of all of this with the slow realization creeping up my throat that like Cinderella’s ball, this would be over at midnight too.

“For us, all of it. We can make requests, dance the night away.” Scott told us, arms outstretched.

“Oh my god Scott, this is so wonderful.” Kate said, latching herself onto his arm. Fuck, when that girl wants to flatter someone, she sure does make every effort to impress.

“So, its up to us? What we want to dance to? This is great.” Dave said. He ran up to the DJ and requested a song.

“What did you ask for?” I asked him.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” He told me, smiling. All of a sudden, the familiar chords of Limp Bizkit’s remix of ‘Faith’ blasted on the speakers. I started to laugh uncontrollably, while at the same time singing along and jumping around in my 5-inch heels.

Everyone joined in, even Liv, although I knew she was wincing against every vibration of those beautiful bass chords and drum beats.

After my tribute was given, Kate raced to the DJ and requested a song.

“Remember this one girls?” The introduction to the Moffatts’ ‘Crazy’ made me grab Olivia and start dancing. Kate was laughing uncontrollably at Bob and Dave, who were singing along to their own voices.

“I didn’t know we sounded so good!” Scott said.

“Oh, baby, you’re even better in concert!” Kate said, grabbing him and leading him to the middle of the dance floor.

“Hold on!” I said. I requested a song to the DJ and he began to play it.

“Hey Scott baby, dance for us!” I shouted to him while ‘Misery’ came on. Scott realized the song and began to laugh.

“No way, not here.” He said. “Oh, come on! Shake that thang our mommy gave you!” Clint said, back to old spirits.

Scott began his strip tease featured in the song. His jacket was already flung over the side of the chair. He took off his tie and put it around Kate’s neck.

“Hey! Look at this tie! It’s the one we gave him at the Manchester performance!” Kate shrieked.

“What? It is?” Sara said, astounded.

“Oh my god,” Liv said.

“That’s so funny,” I giggled. “Hey Dave, do you still have Earl the Christmas Squirrel?”

“Oh my god, that was you guys?” He asked us, wide eyed.

“That was us. We told you we had already been fans of your music!” Liv told him.

‘Misery’ ended and we let the DJ take over the music selection.

“We’re gonna slow it down now, take it down a notch or two.” The cheesy DJ said into the microphone. He played ‘God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You'. “OH NO!!” Sara said, putting her hands over her ears. “It’s the devil’s music!”

“I thought that term was used most commonly to describe my music, Sara.” I said sarcastically.

“God, I hate this song.” Olivia said. Never the less, we danced to the song, because we didn’t want to let it ruin our night.

I wrapped my arms around Dave and noticed my shoes made me too tall to put my head on his shoulder anymore without really hurting my neck. He kissed my cheek and we danced for the rest of the song.

After that intolerable song, ‘Sayin’ I Luv U’ came on. “Wow, you guys, really don’t mind listening to yourselves do you?” Sara laughed.

“I made them put the CDs into the selection.” Kate told her. We danced to the song, singing along to the boys’ melodic voices and laughing when I couldn’t reach their high notes.

We requested song after song, ‘Living La Vida Loca’, ‘When The Lights Go Out’, ‘It’s Gotta Be You’. Hey, I like that song.

“Hey Nati,” Sara cooed. “Would you be terribly upset if we happened to play...Hanson?” Sara asked most politely.

“Only ‘Weird’, cause I like that song.” I admitted. Sara and Kate rushed to the DJ.

‘They’re pulling you towards the dark side, you know that?” Scott told me, drinking some water.

“Yeah, I know. I figure it’s only a matter of time. I’m gonna request a bit of my own music later too, don’t worry.” I said, smiling, nodding.

We danced to ‘Weird’ and I actually enjoyed it.

BOB

I danced with Sara, looking down into her sparkling green hazel eyes and tried not to imagine life without her.

“I’m gonna miss you so much, you know.” I said, tightening my grip around her petite waist.

“I know, I’m gonna miss you, too. How can we keep in touch?” she asked me.

“Well, we can write each other, and call each other. But we don’t have email.” I said sadly.

“That’s ok.” She said smiling. I looked down at her and realized something.

“Sara, you’re not wearing a bra.” I said, whispering into her ear. She turned red and looked towards Nati’s direction.

“She told me not to.” She said through clenched teeth.

“Well, remind to thank her later.” I said with a smile. Sara stomped on my foot and laughed.

“I love you,” she said briskly.

“Ha, ha, I love you too,” I murmured in her ear and held her closer to me as we danced.

The song ended but Sara and I kept slow dancing until Liv pried us apart.

“Ok, love birds. Come on!” she said, instructing us to dance. Natalia had gotten her way and because of it, we were all dancing to Orgy’s remake of ‘Blue Monday’.

“You know what song I miss?” Kate said, thinking hard.

“What song, Kaithlyn Darling?” Natalia said.

“‘Wrong Way’, by Sublime. I haven’t heard that song in so long.” So, we danced to that afterwards.

“Sara, wait here for a second,” I told her as I requested a song to the DJ.

“Is it a surprise?” she asked me.

I nodded. “Yes.” ‘Universe’ by Savage Garden came on.

“This is for Sara, from her boyfriend Bob. He says he loved you and he hopes this will bring back memories.” The DJ coyly bellowed into the microphone.

Sara turned to me and blushed. “Of course this brings back memories. Of rug burns and hickeys and torn clothing.” She said with a smile. We danced to the song, our song. I had always wanted a song to call our own. I had played this once during one of our make-out sessions. It brought back fond memories.

SCOTT

Our night was going just as I had planned. Nothing had interrupted it so far, but knock on wood. I don’t want to jinx the night. Kate looked absolutely perfect, it all seemed like a dream to me. I never wanted to leave her side.

After Sara and Bob had their little ‘memories’ song, everyone was getting thirsty from all the dancing. We called the waiter over to us and he got us some waters.

“Oh!” Said Kate, getting up suddenly from where she was sitting in a chair next to the stage. “Hold this,” she said, handing me her water and going up to the DJ.

“Hey, Liv, remember this song?” Kate said, laughing ‘Bitch’ by Meredith Brooks came on the loudspeakers. Olivia gave Kate a look, Sara and Natalia started jumping up and down and singing.

“I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m a child, I’m a mother, I’m a sinner, I’m a saint, I do not feel ashamed!” Natalia and Kate sung in unison.

“What’s going on?” Bob asked, looking at the girls as if they were meant for a mental institution.

“It’s our theme song, from finals, we all studied together and this was our theme song!” Sara shouted over the strains of feminist music that I could not stand. The girls danced and giggled some more before collapsing in their chairs with exhaustion. “That was fun.” Liv said.

“Hehe, yeah” Natalia said, smoothing back her hair. Clint gave Olivia her water and then slowly crept to the DJ. Olivia was too busy to notice.

“Now and forever you and me together, I can’t believe its true, I’m so in love with you...” Clint sang into the microphone. Olivia stopped, turned around slowly and smiled at Clint. He kept singing the song to her, as she got up and gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Clint, you are so good to me, what do you even see in me?” She asked him playfully.

“I don’t know what I see in you, all I know is that it’s more wonderful than the sun and the moon put together.” He said, looking down at her serene face. She melted in his arms, it was so cute.

I wanted to do something for Kate, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t know what to do for her. Everyone else was playing their favorite songs, but I wanted it to be more special than that.

After Clint’s serenade to Olivia, everyone started to feel a bit more lovey-dovey. That didn’t give me much time to think of something wonderful for Kate.

Natalia was talking to Bob and all of a sudden, she stood up, led him to the middle of the dance floor, and began to waltz with him. But the thing is, the song that was playing was ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’. Why she was waltzing, I don’t know, but they were at the perfect height. Natalia took Bob back to sit down and I joined their conversation.

“See I told you, I’m tall enough to dance with Bob. Ha ha.” Natalia said to Sara.

“Well, it’s not my fault I love the tallest Moffatt.” Sara argued.

“No, it’s just kind of funny that the shortest is with the tallest. I find it funny anyway.” Natalia said matter-of-factly. Sara narrowed her eyes and hit Natalia playfully. “Oh, I hate you, shut up. You guys are so mean to me.” Sara said.

“I’m just kidding Sara, I love you, you complete me! You complete me! I love you!” Natalia did her Dr.Evil impression. Sara started to laugh. Natalia got up to get another drink of water and Dave hurriedly took her seat.

“Awww, get up!” she whined when she got back.

“No, I want to sit down. I always stand.” Dave said.

“You guys fight like an old married couple.” I told them. Natalia sat down on Dave’s lap, and Dave put his arm around her.

“Yeah, well old married couples don’t make out. They are too busy yelling and trying to keep their dentures in.” Natalia said as she took a drink of water. Sara burst out laughing and Dave laughed too.

“Hey! Stop laughing, it feels weird.” Natalia said, trying to stabilize herself on his lap.

“Get up for a second, I’m gonna go ask the DJ for a song.” Dave said. Natalia got up and sat back down in the chair, but not before giving him a kiss. Dave requested the song and went back to take Natalia to the dance floor.

“What song is this?” Kate asked them, getting up. “I think it’s ‘Daphne Descends’, by Smashing Pumpkins.” Clint told her.

Natalia and Dave were dancing on the floor, arms wrapped around each other. Dave was saying something to her, but I couldn’t hear it. She inched her head closer to his and he kissed her on the floor. She pulled away, whispered something and then kissed his neck. The song ended with her head on his shoulder, like she always did.

They came back to us and we tried to act as if nothing had happened. At least I did. Dave, my little brother, he was suddenly looking so much older, acting so much wiser. He had changed for the better on this trip. I’m proud of him. He came over to me and smiled. I’m glad he was so happy.

But among all these feelings of pride and happiness, I still wanted to play a song that really meant something to Kate and I, but I couldn’t seem to think of one. We never had listened to music together really, and one of our songs didn’t seem appropriate.

Clint noticed my distress and came over to talk to me while the girls and my other brothers danced to ‘Hey Leonardo’.

“What’s up Scott?” Clint asked me.

“Well, I have a problem. I want to play a song for Kate, but we have never had a song that really meant something for both of us. And it seems in poor taste to play one of our songs.” I said, running a hand through my fingers.

Clint nodded. “Ok, man, well what did you have in mind for playing?” he asked me.

“I don’t know. Nothing seems special enough.” I said, shaking my head. “Well just try to think. I’ll stall and keep requesting songs.” He said.

“Thanks man.” He patted my back.

I tried to think of a song that we had listened to together, or even a song that just related to our situation. I was sitting there thinking of a song when Kate slowly crept towards me.

“Scott baby, would you dance with me?” she smiled brilliantly and held out her hand for me to take. I smiled slowly and joined her under the dim lights. She looked especially beautiful in my arms as I held her tightly, trying to make the moment last forever.

“You picked this song?” I finally managed to ask her.

“Yeah, I realized that we didn’t even have a song, and so last night I went though a bunch of CDs and I found this one. I thought it was best.” She said, putting her arms around my neck.

The song the DJ was playing was ‘Little Girls Eyes’ by Lenny Cravitz. It was soft, sweet, and perfect for the moment. I never wanted to let her out of my arms. Everything was too good, too perfect for it to end.

But it did end. The song ended and we went back to our group, who had begun to pack up.

OLIVIA

“Wait, just one more song.” I whined. They agreed, for obvious reasons. I went up and requested ‘Miss You Like Crazy’ for all of us to dance too. We each took our partner and headed to the dance floor again for our last dance together.

Clint took my hand and led me to the floor. I couldn’t be happier with him and he finally knew that. Although sometimes it was hard for me to explain myself to him, it was worth it to be with Clint. He was the one keeping me going all these weeks.

“Olivia, where are you my Olivia? You’re off somewhere, dreaming. Come back to me, my dreamer.” Clint said, trying to get my attention. I smiled. He was so romantic.

“I was just thinking about how I was going to miss you.” I said, putting my arms around him and hugging him closer.

“No, don’t think of that.” He said strangely.

“Why not?” I looked at him.

“Because thinking of it brings it closer. Think of something else and you’ll never notice I’m gone. I’ll never leave you. I might not be there for you in person during your life after this. But I will always be watching over you, taking care of you, in spirit.” He kissed me and hugged me closer.

SARA

“Wait, just one more song.” Liv whined. We agreed, for obvious reasons. Liv went up and requested ‘Miss You Like Crazy’ for all of us to dance too. We each took our partner and headed to the dance floor again for our last dance together.

Bob led me to the dance floor quite elegantly. “My lady.” He held out his arm. I took it and began to dance with him on the floor silently.

“I did mean it, you know.” I suddenly said.

“Mean what?” he asked me, confused.

“When I told you I loved you earlier. I wasn’t playing around. I truly madly deeply love you.” I managed to get above a whisper.

“Well guess what then.” He said.

“What?”

He bent down to me, kissed me deeply and whispered in my ear.

“I wasn’t joking either.”

NATALIA

“Wait, just one more song.” Liv whined. We agreed, for obvious reasons. Liv went up and requested ‘Miss You Like Crazy’ for all of us to dance too. We each took our partner and headed to the dance floor again for our last dance together.

Dave and I skipped out onto the dance floor and he took me in his arms. We had both agreed earlier that we weren’t going to be sad until tomorrow. This was coming for a while, we had to take it as it was.

“Hey, you’re shorter!” Dave noticed.

“Yeah, I took of my shoes.” I said quietly.

“Why?” he asked me.

“Because it hurt to get close to you before.” I explained.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I was too tall too put my head on your shoulder without it hurting my neck. I decided to take them off. That way I could be closer to you.” I said, wrapping one arm around his waist, the other around his neck and laying my head on his shoulder.

“Why do you always put your head on my shoulder?” he asked me.

“Because you smell good. I like being close to your neck, it’s easy to kiss you there.” I answered him matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I see.” He said. She kissed my neck and we finished out the dance.

SCOTT

“Wait, just one more song.” Liv whined. We agreed, for obvious reasons. Liv went up and requested ‘Miss You Like Crazy’ for all of us to dance too. We each took our partner and headed to the dance floor again for our last dance together.

As I held Kate in my arms for the last time, all the old memories flooded my mind and I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a few tears. Kate saw me crying and began to cry too.

“Scott, don’t cry. Please don’t cry. It makes it so much worse to see you cry.” She said between sobs. She kissed my face where the tears had fallen and finally kissed my lips. I deepened the kiss even as the tears flowed harder.