The next morning, the girls woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 am. "Cass, wake up. You have to get dressed so we can catch our flight," Mercedes said.
Cass grunted and pulled the covers over her head. "It's too early. I can't function this early," Cass said to her friend.
"Fine. I'll deal with you in a minute," Mercedes told her. She went on with her business of getting dressed.
A few moments later, A.J. and Nick walked into the room. "Mercedes where are you babe?" Nick yelled to her.
"In here sugar!" she yelled back to him from the bathroom. Mercedes came out of the bathroom in a comfortable looking pair of jeans and an equally comfortable t-shirt.
"You look comfy. Cass awake?" A.J. asked.
"No, not yet. Wanna help?" Mercedes asked him.
"Sure, why not?" He went over to her bed and sat down on the edge. "Sugar pop. It's your love monkey. Wake up. Your gonna miss your flight," He said in a quiet voice.
"Hey baby. I wasn't expecting to see you before we left," She said as she up in bed and gave him a hug.
"Surprise. I'm going to go with you to the airport too. So get up or you're going to be late!" A.J. started to pull her out of bed and she reached back, grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. When she was dressed, also in comfy looking clothes, all four of them left for the airport.
"Our flight is tomorrow afternoon. I'll call you before we leave. We can meet at the airport if you want," Nick said.
"OK, I'd like that. What time is your flight so I know when not to use the phone?" Mercedes asked him.
"Hello...earth to Nick. What are you looking at Hon?" She asked him. He was looking in the rearview mirror at something.
"Those two," He said.
She turned around to see what he was looking at. When she did, she saw that Cassidy had her head on A.J.'s shoulder. They looked very happy together.
"Awww...how cute. Ya know they really hit it off. From day one, they liked each other a lot," Mercedes said.
"Yeah. It's like they were meant to be. Oh, by the way, the guys said they would meet us at the airport. They stayed out kinda late and couldn't get up this early."
"Wimps," Mercedes said as she laughed.
When they got to the airport, it took them 30 minutes to find a place to park. They got the suitcases out of the trunk and walked up to the waiting area until the plane was called.
"It's only 7 o'clock so we won't have to wait long. Do you want me to call you when we land?" Mercedes asked Nick.
"Yeah, that would be cool. Then I could get some more info about my flight." He said.
"Hi guys! Glad we didn't miss you," Kristin said.
"Yeah, we were afraid they might have started to board you guys already," Leighanne added.
"Well, you made it just in time," Cass said.
"Now boarding flight 269. Please go to the boarding area. Thank you," came the announcement over the intercom.
"But I guess we won't get to stay very long. Oh well, we got to see you some," Suzanne said. She gave both girls a hug goodbye. The rest did the same. Nick was the last to hug Mercedes.
"I'll see you on a day. Call me when you land, OK? Do you have my cell number?" Nick asked her.
"No, I don't," Mercedes told him.
Nick wrote the number on a piece of paper and handed it to her and she put it in her pocket.
"I'll call as soon as I land," She promised him.
Next to them, A.J. and Cass were saying their good-byes.
"I'll miss you. I know it's only 24 hours but I'll still miss you," Cass told A.J.
"Me too. You have my number, so call me as soon as the plane lands."
"OK, I will. Later love monkey."
"Bye sugar pop."
With that, the two girls got on the plane.