"That's almost the last one," Erin said, tossing the bag into Steven's car, adding, "boy, you sure brought a lot of shit on vacation."

"You have no idea how much baggage we brought," Steven replied, making Erin chuckle.

But there was one bag still missing from the group. Laura's bag. A bag she had hid for a reason, to delay the inevitable, stall for time, stay a bit longer. Okay, she hadn't really hidden it, and it was just a backpack, but she was keeping it close with her so her parents didn't get to decide when the car was fully packed. If anything, the bag wasn't hidden, but Laura sure was.

She was currently with Hannah, sitting under the animatronic tropical parrot display inside the hotel, something her folks didn't even know existed, so she knew she was safely tucked away for a bit at least. She was laying on the display ledge, her head in Hannah's lap as Hannah gently stroke her hair from her face.

"I don't want to go," Laura whispered.

"I know, sweetie," Hannah said, "I don't want you to go either, but we know this would happen. Every vacation has to end."

"...I can't...I can't go back to my life without you. My boring little room and my chess club and my studies. I need you."

"You'll have me. You can call me, you can e-mail me. We have ways of communication. We could even write good ol' fashioned love letters through the mail!" Hannah said, making Laura smirk.

"You're a sappy dork, I love it," Laura said, and Hannah leaned down and kissed her. Laura happily kissed her back. After the kiss broke, Laura slowly licked her lips, as if to savor Hannah's taste, before adding, "you know, if you'd told me that I'd find a girlfriend by going on vacation, I never would've believed you. I was SO shy, and SO scared about who I was, and you just...erased all of that. I feel like such a complete person now."

"I'm glad," Hannah said, gently stroking Laura's cheek with her knuckles, "you deserve to."

A few guests walked on by, and the parrots overhead started chatting, being motion activated. After a small pause, Laura sighed.

"I'm scared," she said, "what if...what if it doesn't work? What if, ten years from now, like...what if you meet someone during now and then, or decide you like boys, or-"

"First of all," Hannah said, "liking boys? That ain't ever happening, so no worries there. As for the first part of your fear, well, I suppose anything could theoretically happen, but...I'm crazy about you, Laura. Like, absolutely crazy about you. I don't see anything changing that, not even distance, definitely not time, and certainly not the two put together. I guess I can't say I know the future or what might occur between then and now, or heck, even between now and college for us both, but..."

Hannah sighed and smiled as she looked at Laura's face, her bright wide eyes staring up at her.

"I'm 16 now. I'm going to be getting my license soon. I have long winter breaks, long summer vacations - granted I'm not forced to do something with my folks - and that means, once I get my own car and can drive by myself, I can come visit you. And I absolutely will. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this work because...like...I don't know if you noticed, but my parents aren't happy. Your parents don't seem that happy either. They seem better than mine, admittedly, but still. And I think it's because people our parents age settled. They found what felt comfortable enough, not what felt right. You feel right. That's far more important."

Laura wanted to cry. She never would've expected anyone to talk so sweetly, so romantically to her. It was like she was in some sort of romance novel.

"...as far as I'm concerned, you're my person," Hannah said, "and damn it all if I'm gonna let anything change that between now and then."

"You'd really put in that much effort over me? I'm not that interesting," Laura said.

"I'll be the judge of that," Hannah replied, leaning down and kissing her again. As their lips touched, Laura wanted to cry. She didn't want to come on this vacation, and now she didn't want to go home. She wanted this moment to last forever, just herself and Hannah, right here under these robotic birds, eternally lip locked. That, to her, was a life worth living. Meanwhile, as Steven got Jasmine buckled into the car with her device playing cartoons on it, Gayle was nowhere to be found. In actuality, Gayle was in the hotel bar, sitting and drinking. A long road home lay ahead of them, and she'd be damned if she was gonna face it sober. She heard the stool beside her pull out and glanced to see, of all people, Sasha seating herself.

"What are you doing here?" Gayle asked.

"My sister is flying in today, told her to meet me here, since she's staying at this hotel," Sasha remarked as she ordered a drink.

"Wow," Gayle said, "she's staying here willingly? We didn't have a choice."

Sasha laughed as she set her purse down on the bar top and sighed, pushing her hair back behind her. Gayle finished her drink and then ordered a plate of cheese fries for them to share.

"...are you okay?" Sasha asked, "cause the last time I saw you, you were feeling rather uncertain about yourself, and your life, and then you never called me back which, not gonna lie, kinda hurt. Thought I was past feeling that way at this point in my life but I suppose, with the right person, it can still sting."

"I'm...I'm okay," Gayle said, another drink placed in front of her, the cheese fry plate put between them; she added, "thank you."

"You're welcome, figured I'd ask since-"

"No no, not for asking that. In general. Thank you in general. For...for doing the things to me that you did. I...needed that. I feel like a completely different person now than I was when we got here, and I think a lot of is thanks directly to you, and what you did to me, for me. So thank you. Even if you've now complicated my life," Gayle said, making Sasha laugh.

"Happy to help," Sasha said, picking up some fries and eating them; after a minute, Sasha added, "ya know, for what it's worth, of all the tourists we've tried to pick up, you were the best. You were one of the few I was genuinely into as a person, and I realize that makes me sound terrible, like some kind of perverted man who only views other women as a sexual object or conquest of desire, but that's not it at all. I just really like you as a human being. I feel like we connected on a deeper level that I ever could've with those other ones. They all had perfect lives, just wanted some fun. But you, with your grief and your fear and your enjoyment of it all...that made you SO real to me, and that's so much more enticing than the seemingly perfect ones."

Gayle smiled and blushed as she picked up some more fries and chased them with her drink. He stomach would surely be upset for the remainder of the day, but she didn't care one bit. If she'd learned one thing on this trip it was indulge, indulge, indulge.

"Well, thank you," Gayle said, "gotta be honest, I'm pretty grateful that you were my first. I could've done so much worse, but you were so understanding and respectful. You made me feel not just understood and heard, but safe, and that...that just sadly isn't something most women get in a relationship, regardless of the gender of their partner."

Sasha smiled and patted Gayle on the thigh, making Gayle quiver.

"So what's the plan for when you get home?" Sasha asked.

"Honestly, not sure just yet, but it's looking more and more likely that we'll try to see someone together," Gayle said.

"You mean like a marriage counselor?" Sasha asked, smirking, making Gayle laugh as she sipped her drink.

"Yeah, we're gonna fuck a marriage counselor together, that'll really complicate matters," Gayle replied, the both of them cackling now. Back out at the car, Steven and Erin had finally finished loading the bags. Erin shut the trunk as Steven opened his wallet and Erin scoffed.

"Dude, you don't have to tip me at this point," she said.

"Oh, I wasn't," Steven said, "no, um...listen. When I won on the game show, this vacation wasn't the only thing I won. I also won money. I did some calculating based on the distance between here and where you grew up, plus the distance between there and where we live, and of course the cost of traveling all that way - gas and whatnot - and I managed to round out a figure that's completely affordable. I'm going to give you a percentage of my winnings as a charitable donation writeoff so you can go get your sister, then come to us, and we'll help you legally gain protection over her."

"...you're using me as a tax shelter? Oh Steven, you've made me the happiest girl in the world," Erin said, the both of them laughing. Steven pulled out a blank check and then asked Erin for a pen. She looked around on her person for a moment before finding one and handing it to Steven, who took it and wrote out the check. He then tore it off and handed it to Erin, whose eyes widened at the sight of the number on the paper; she bit her lip, then looked up at him and mumbled, "Steven, this is too much."

"It's not too much, it's just enough. Enough to save you and your sister. We'll carry the legal fees, so don't worry about that. You just do what you gotta do, then come to us. Our address is on the check," Steven said, before Erin lunged into him and hugged him tightly, crying. Surprised but not at all put off, Steven smiled and rubbed Erin's back, whispering that it would all be okay. Back in the hotel, Hannah and Laura were still under the parrots, in the same position, holding hands. Laura's eyes were beginning to water. The thought of going home, of not having Hannah around...it really stung.

"I really wish...mmmm," Laura said.

"What, what is it you wish?" Hannah asked, "tell me all your fears and dreams."

"I wish I could just skip ahead," Laura said, "you know? Skip all of this stuff. I don't get any enjoyment from this phase of life, well, outside of knowing you I mean. But still, I wish I could just skip ahead and be in college or be an adult and be working. I wish I could just skip ahead, just a little bit. Ten years, max."

Hannah smirked and leaned down, kissing her, whispering, "it'll come sooner than we think, trust me. Seemed like only yesterday I was 6."

"Don't say that, that's creepy," Laura said, making Hannah laugh as Laura continued, "either way I just wish I could make the future come already. I hate high school. I do well in it, but I hate it. I just wanna be grown up and do whatever I want and not worry about judgement from others."

"Oh, don't worry, they're gonna judge you even as an adult," Hannah said, "I know my parents definitely will."

Laura looked up at Hannah, a sad look in her eyes.

"And that doesn't bother you?" Laura asked, "to know you're gonna lose them?"

"The way I see it is this...either my parents love me and the person I love, or they aren't allowed to be involved in my life. Until then, sure, I'm kind of at their whim, but once I'm 18, I don't care anymore. I'm going to be who I am, and be with who I want, and that's you."

"It's just...there's no guarantee," Laura said, "I know I keep bringing that up, and it must feel bad cause of the effort we both wanna put in to making it a reality, but the truth is you never know what's going to happen in ten years time. Doen't that scare you? Because, well...when I think about it...the idea of you kissing another girl ten years from now, a girl who isn't me...it just breaks my heart."

"Then let me protect your heart," Hannah whispered as Laura sat up on her elbows as Hannah leaned in, holding her face in her hands, "let me protect your heart and prove it wrong. It won't break. If anything it'll only get stronger."

With that, Hannah kissed Laura again, and this time, it lasted a good few minutes, because inside, Laura knew this would be the last kiss they had for a long, long time. Gayle exited the bar and walked past the girls, telling Laura it was time to go. Laura gathered her things and, with Hannah, walked towards the parking lot. Erin was sitting outside on the curb, smoking, while Steven was already in the drivers seat. Gayle got into the car as Laura walked around to the opposite side and tossed her bag into the open door before looking at Hannah. Hannah smiled, both had tears in their eyes, and they hugged. They hugged tighter than either had ever hugged anyone before because they knew that this one had to last a while. Hannah raised Laura's hands to her lips and kissed them a few times, then Laura climbed into the car and shut the door. As the car began to pull away, Laura looked out the back window at Hannah, who was chasing after the car waving at her. Finally, Laura caved, and the tears started coming. Tears of relief, tears of gratitude, and tears of fear.

Because she had every right to be afraid. Ten years, after all, IS a long time, and anything can happen, regardless of how much effort you put into it. Her mother would tell her on the way home that even if nothing ever came of the relationship past this vacation, it didn't make what happened meaningless. It was still a pivotal turning point for both girls, and one they'd remember fondly forever. But this sort of sentiment didn't bring Laura any peace of mind. If nothing else, it only made her all the more certain that things would go wrong. So Laura went home. She went back to her life, to her school, to the girl at her chess club, but now she didn't fancy her at all. All she wanted was Hannah. They would spend hours on the phone, emailing, sending love letters through the mail, just doing all they could to stay in touch no matter what. And then one day, sometime in 11th grade, the calls and the emails and the letters from Hannah just stopped coming.

The way Gayle described it, if her parents really were as bad as they seemed, they likely forbid her from having contact with Laura, and while it was nice to think it wasn't an intentional ghosting, it still stung deep. Laura didn't find interest in anyone else, and all her calls were blocked, all her emails rejected by the mail server, all her letters returned unopened. Laura spent the remainder of her high school years even more isolated than before. She withdrew, she read more, she didn't date at all. She clung tightly to the keychain of Hannah's name, and she often cried herself to sleep holding it. She graduated high school with honors, and went to college to attain a degree in journalism, like she'd suggested she might do. The pain had eased, but just barely. She found other girls interesting, but didn't pursue anything. How could she? Nothing would ever measure up.

There's a reason so many people pine for their first love.

   10 YEARS LATER

The doors to the hotel opened and Laura walked inside, feeling exhausted.

All she wanted to do after such a long trip was climb into the shower and lay down before getting into bed. She stopped at the front desk and plopped her bags on the ground before handing her information over the desk to the clerk.

"Hi," she said, "Laura Walton, I have a reservation, Room 219."

"Alright," the clerk said, running the card and furrowing his brow, "this says it's for two."

"It was, but...they aren't coming. I was being stupidly hopeful," Laura said.

"Alright, well we can easily change that for you then, you'll only need one key card," the clerk said. Even now, the full decade after the fact, despite all evidence to the contrary, Laura still was hopeless enough to think Hannah might come. Might even check in before her. But at this point, her heart couldn't drop any further. She was used to the crippling disappointment. The clerk furrowed his brow and said, "...that's strange. It won't let me cancel. It's saying someone has already called ahead."

Laura's eyes widened. The doors behind her slid open, and she glanced instinctively towards it.

"Laura!" Hannah said.

Laura smiled bigger than she ever had before.