~Chapter 7~

That day, Katherine walked home faster than ever so that nobody could see her crying. She passed Athena when she walked around the corner and up to the apartment. When she got inside, she leaned against the closed door, slowly sunk down and put her face into her lap and cried until she couldn't anymore. She didn't know if she could make it until Monday to leave which hurt that much more because she's never wanted to leave and get back home so much.

A while later, Skylar opened the door and heard Katherine struggling to breathe through her tears. She took off her shoes and went up the stairs and found her balled up with the pillow that Colton slept on the night before. "Was it that hard of a goodbye?" Katherine stopped crying for a moment to give Skylar a nod. "Do you mind telling me how it went down?" Katherine sniffled and then sat up to sit with her feet touching the floor. "Hold on...take a deep breath before you start, I don't want you to have to repeat yourself because I can't hear you through possible mumbling."

"We were having such a good time walking around and talking and then his boss called and told him that he needed to get going to catch the bus to the airport."

"And…?"

"Then he told me that he'd talk to his boss about an arrangement to come see me soon. And then he told me he loved me and told me to close my eyes because he didn't want me to watch him walk away." Katherine started crying again while Skylar rubbed her back.

"What's so sad about that?" Just then, Katherine wiped her eyes and looked at Skylar seriously.

"That's what he told me the last time we were separated."

"Really? Even the part where he wanted you to close your eyes so that it wasn't so dramatic?" Skylar joked.

"No Skylar. The part where he told me he'd do everything he could to see me soon. And I'm not in the mood to laugh, so stop."

"Well then, what will cheer you up?"

"A nap maybe. And one of Athena's famous milkshakes. Could you grab a euro from my wallet by the door and give it to her?"

"Yeah, be right back." Skylar retrieved a strawberry milkshake faster than Katherine thought. When the door opened, she looked over the loft railing and jolted downstairs to enjoy it.

"Oh my gosh, maybe I'll be good after this is gone!" The girls laughed.

"Let's play a card game. Which one do you want to play?" Skylar was walking over to the closet to open the cabinet full of all kinds of games.

"Grab Clue." Clue was a murder mystery board game that both of the girls enjoyed playing all the time. Katherine and Skylar played multiple rounds of Clue until Katherine couldn't keep her eyes open. "Okay, bedtime. I can't take it anymore."

"Goodnight then, I'm gonna go meet up with Liam for a while. I'll be back around 11."

"No later or else I'm gonna come out and find you," Katherine ordered as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush.

"Deal. Bye!" Skylar left with the door shut behind her.

Later on, when Katherine and Skylar had been soundly sleeping, an incoming call from Colton woke them both up. As soon as Katherine ripped the charger from the phone and answered it, Skylar laid back down and fell back asleep. "Colton?!"

"Hey, I just got to the airport."

"Oh, okay." Moments of silence were exchanged.

"I miss you."

"I miss you more."

"I miss you most." The silence made Colton discover that it was two in the morning and he woke her up. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. Go back to bed."

"No, it's okay. I needed to hear your voice."

"I'm right here love, there's no need to worry." In the background, the airport overcon came on and gave out gate information. "Hey, I have to go through security and get on my flight. I'll call you again when I get to Providence. Please go get some rest."

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. Love you."

"Love you too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." They hung up and Katherine laid back down and closed her eyes without putting her phone back on the charger.

Sunday morning arrived, the girls had already started setting up and the coffee pot and the kitchen was ready to go for the first customers. By noon, their day was so busy that Francy had to come and help them.

It was around one o'clock when the unthinkable happened.

"You got table two? They haven't been waited on yet. I need to wipe this table down." Skylar persuaded.

"Yeah, I got you." When Katherine walked out the side door, she saw a man sitting by himself. He looked to be in his lower twenties like her and his face gave off this happy, but inquisitive look. She wondered what was going on in his mind. "Hi there, how are you?"

"I'm doing pretty well, how about you."

"All things considered, I'm good. I could be better, but today's a good day, ya know?"

"Yeah, I understand. I've had my fair share of those days." They laughed simultaneously and then sighed.

"Anyways, what can I get you to drink?" She pulled out her notepad and pen and looked back over to the man and noticed that he was squinting at her. "Sir?"

"No way, I don't believe it!"

"Don't believe what?"

"Well if it isn't the famous Katherine Parker."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm Jacob Davis," Katherine's face changed as fast as Colorado weather. She directed her attention over to Skylar and shared a long stare with Skylar who had stopped piling the dirty dishes from the previous table because she also heard the name that he announced. The fifth individual of The Fantastic Five had made his appearance.

When Katherine returned with a glass of lemonade for Jacob, she made sure that each customer's drink was filled and that they were enjoying their food before she sat down across the table from Jacob to catch up with him.

"So where've you been? What've you been up to lately?"

"Well, I have my own business over in L.A., I found myself a woman about three years ago to devote my life to and we are recently engaged."

"That's wonderful news! Congratulations! Are there any chances that you guys have set a date for the wedding?"

"We have, actually. Since we met, she has always told me that she wanted to be a December bride, so we decided that this December fits perfectly."

"I'm so happy for you two. Will you send me an invitation when you get to it?"

"Of course I can!"

"Great!"

"Hey, I've been wanting to ask..have you talked to any of the others in the group recently?" Katherine's face lit up with excitement, for the most part.

"Yes, I have! Liam is currently still here in Parga as we speak, I think Georgia went back finally after what happened when she first got here and.." Katherine swallowed her feelings, trying not to make them emerge, "Colton left last night back home to Rhode Island."

"Well dang, it must've been either a coincidence or a sign from the world that we were all here within the last two weeks." Jacob collected his thoughts for a moment. "I remember one time when I was here, Colton and I got into this scary experience that..." he cut himself off when he noticed Katherine's facial expression.

"That's what I've been saying." The silence after Katherine's statement left Jacob wondering if there was something else going on. Something was renting space in her head and he wanted her to let it out. Ever since they met, Katherine and Jacob have been able to read each other's body language and their words as if they were psychics.

"Katherine, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on."

"Katherine, I've known you longer than any friend that I've ever met, so why don't you cut the crap and just tell me."

"Okay, well, remember when we were still in our close little group years ago?" Jacob nodded his head. "Colton and I sort of...kind of...got closer this summer."

"Oh sweetheart, say no more because I know you're miserable. First off, that's amazing news because I've always known that you two would someday be something more. Secondly, you should go after him."

"What? I could nev-.." Jacob cut her off.

"Katherine, you're a train wreck without the guy. This last summer has made such an impact on your life that being with him everyday has become normal and now that you're not with him, you're not normal. Those kinds of experiences with people are rare and they're hard to let go of. Judging from the time you both were sixteen and that whole scenario went down where he didn't come looking for you like he promised makes this scenario an even more reason for you to go after him instead of the other way around."

"You really think so? What if this time he was actually going to pursue his word?"

"The only way to be sure of that is if you take matters into your own hands." Katherine sat up and looked around. Jacob got her thinking really hard.

"You're right. Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"Okay! I'm gonna go find him!"

"That's the spirit! Now go pack your bags! The next bus leaves in about twenty minutes!" Katherine jumped up and jolted into the kitchen to tell Skylar and Francy what's going on. Although Katherine didn't want to leave a day early, she was so eager to see Colton. Jacob was right, there was no telling to see if Colton was good with his word unless Katherine took matters into her own hands and made sure they'd see each other again.

"Francy, I'm so sorry, but I have to leave. I need to see Colton again."

"I understand. Don't be sorry! Don't ever be sorry for loving the way your heart knows. 'Distance is just a test to see how far love can travel.' Please go gather your things quickly so that we can get you on that bus!"

"Thank you Francy. I love you." She gave Francy a big hug and turned to Skylar who had been awaiting a hug too. "I'm so sorry to leave you earlier than we planned."

"Oh stop it already! This is your true love we're talking about! I can't stand in the way of that! Plus, I'm not going to be alone. Liam is going to be coming to Colorado with me." Katherine disconnected their moment to share her excitement face-to-face.

"No way! Really?"

"Yep!"

"Well I can't wait to see him when I get back!"

"Speaking of..get upstairs!" Right when Katherine put her apron on the hook and left out the main door, Skylar pulled out her phone and asked Liam for Colton's address. Within seconds, she received a message back from Liam and sent it over to Katherine right away.

Up in the apartment, Katherine was throwing her things all around, dropping her toothbrush and knocking her shoes from the loft down to the main level. She finally finished packing her bag, giving her enough time to say good-bye to her cousins--Athena and Mack--and she ran around the corner to Oskar to give him yet another farewell.

"Come see me again next summer, okay?"

"I will. You can count on it!" After that, she ran to the bus stop up the way with Skylar carrying her carry on bag.

As they reached the bus stop just in time, Skylar asked Katherine if she got the message from her. "Yes I did. Thank you again, for everything!"

"Thank you! This summer has by far been the most memorable of the ones before. I'll see you in a few days! Have a safe trip!" Katherine got on the bus and sat in a seat by the window to wave at Skylar. The bus started driving away and Katherine turned around in her seat. The ride to the airport was a long trip, so Katherine plugged her headphones in and fell asleep until they reached the airport.

While she was sleeping, Colton had finally gotten back into the states and called Katherine multiple times, but she didn't answer once. He then proceeded to text her a few times and she still didn't answer. It wasn't long before he thought about how the time change was 7 hours ahead in Parga and she was probably already asleep for the night. What he didn't know was that her phone was turned off and she was on her way to see him. Although, Katherine still had yet to tell him that she was coming. Was she going to tell him or surprise him?

Katherine woke up frightened when the bus arrived at the airport and the driver put the bus into park. She thanked the bus driver for the ride when she pulled her luggage off the shelf near the door. She then walked into the warm airport, bought herself a ticket and went through security.

It was midnight when she ultimately got on the plane. The television screen in front of her seat was very hard to surrender when Katherine couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She decided to catch up on a movie or two when she woke up and maybe snatch a cranberry juice to drink while she enjoyed the movie.

The next morning, Colton arrived to work and immediately booked it to his boss's office. "Sir? Do you have a minute?"

"Yes Colton, what's up?" Both men sat down.

"Well, I just wanted to bring to your attention that I have saved up a week and a half of a vacation period and I was wondering if I could use that time right now?"

"You want to use all of your time for right now? What about these last three months I allowed you to work outside the company?"

"Yes sir, and I have been online every day I needed to be."

"That's what I like to hear! Now, need I remind you that if I give you this time, you won't be getting paid nor will you get any vacation days for the remainder of the quarter."

"I understand."

"Alright then. Do you mind telling me what you're up to?"

"Well, there's this girl that lives in Denver and we go back to when we were in our single digits and I've recently gotten back in touch with her after seven years."

"Say no more, I get it. You want to spend more time with her and all that."

"Yes sir."

"Okay, I accept your proclamation, you've earned the time off. Oh, and before you leave, could you grab me a coffee"

"Yeah, for sure. Be right back."

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit."

"See ya." Colton walked out of his office and made his way to Starbucks.

Katherine was able to watch You've Got Mail before the flight landed. When she collected her luggage at baggage claim, she rushed over to Enterprise to rent a car. After watching so many murder shows, she didn't like having taxis drive her around. While she was in the car on her way to Colton's house, she wanted to make sure that the address was correct. His voice came on the bluetooth in the car. "Well hello! What are you doing on this fine Monday morning?" Despite her desire to surprise Colton, she still persisted on asking him.

"Hey, um, is your house address 18746 North Atlantia Way?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm writing you a letter," Katherine hesitated.

"Oh, okay. Well I can't wait to get it! How's it going in Parga? Is it busy this morning?"

"Yeah, as usual."

"Well that's good."

"Yeah." Katherine and Colton didn't say anything for what felt like a while. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. I asked my boss for more time away from the company and he agreed to give me an extra week and a half! So once you come back--hopefully soon--I can spend it with you. How does that sound?"

"Perfect." Just then, a car honked at Katherine to try to get her to drive a little faster. It blew her cover.

"Are you driving?"

"Yeah," Katherine began to panic as she was figuring a way to explain that one.

"Where to?"

"Um, the market up the way."

"The market in town is walking distance. Where are you really driving?" Colton picked up the drink carrier with the coffees.

"Okay, I'm actually driving to the tree farm."

"Katherine, that is also within walking distance. Where are you going?"

"Fine! I'm driving to the post office to mail this letter with a surprise attached, okay? And before you say anything, the local post office doesn't sell big enough boxes for this gift, so I need to go to the one up the road a little ways."

"Okay, I understand. You don't need to send me anything! You can keep it and give it to me yourself when I see you in a few days or so."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind." Before Katherine had the chance to blow her cover, she hung up. "Hey, I gotta go, Skylar's calling me. I love you!"

"I love you too. Bye!"

Colton hung up and opened the door to the building. He brought the coffees to the conference room where the meeting was about to start and handed his boss his coffee.

"Thanks Colton."

"You bet! Have a good day!"

"You too!"

A couple hours later, Katherine turned onto a long stone driveway labeled "N Atlantia Way". She drove slowly admiring the view around her and as she continued, a large penthouse came into view at the end of the driveway. She gasped at how beautiful the house looked and the windows around the sides made it seem like the Avengers new home base. As she came around the circle near the front door, she parked her car. She waited a few seconds until she turned the car off and went to the door. When she was going up the stairs, a car honked behind her. Katherine turned around to see Colton coming around the circle and parking behind her car.