"I know," He said, "but I'll be back. It's not like it's going to be forever." He answered.
"Make sure Justin doesn’t get in trouble too, will you?" She said, moving closer to him as he put his arms around her. "you know how he is. Sydney wouldn't deserve the kind of heartbreak he's capable of bringing."
"I will." He answered, and his gaze drifted to Justin and Sydney, who were playing basketball against JC and Chris. "But if the kid's smart, he won't do anything." He added, wondering how long Justin's resistance would last. He'd seen Justin break an astounding number of hearts, and he hoped the kid had enough sense to understand that Sydney was better than the rest of them.
"I win!" Sydney said, grinning as her last shot sunk into the basketball perfectly.
"You mean we win," Justin corrected.
"Sure." She answered, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Syd!" Joey called from the front door. "You got a phone call!"
"Alright!" She called, jogging into the house. Justin watched her leave, and JC and Chris both watched their friend's eyes and wondered what he was thinking.
"What do you think of Syd, Justin?" Chris asked, dribbling the ball around.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked.
"I mean, like do you think she's special or do you think she's the greatest girl on earth, etcetera," Chris replied.
"Oh, yeah, she is." Justin answered. Chris nodded.
"That's cool. You're lucky you found such a great girl." Chris said, hoping that Justin would get the drift, but doubted it.
"How can one day go by so fast?" JC said with a sigh, sitting on the couch later on that evening. Sydney bounced into the couch next to him, a bowl full of popcorn in her arms.
"I don't know. Here." She stuffed some popcorn into his mouth.
"Hey!" He started, but his words were muffled by popcorn, and he began to chew it.
"Silence at last!" She joked happily, making JC grunt with disagreement. "Will you and the rest of the guys still keep in touch with me?" She asked.
"Of course. Do you think we wouldn't email you because Justin is your boyfriend?" JC said, "think again. We'll bombard your mailbox with emails." He joked.
"Great." Sydney said, rolling her eyes. Her thoughts settled on Justin, and she wondered how they both would deal with the distance that was between them.
"You're going to miss him." JC observed.
"I don't know how you can tell what I'm thinking before I even say it," Sydney said, grinning as she shook her head.
"It's just one of my many incredible talents." JC joked. "Where is Justin, anyway?"
"He's in the kitchen, arguing with Chris over something."
JC grinned, "they're always arguing."
"I can tell." She said dryly. "What are you watching?"
"I don’t know, I had just sat down when you came to bug me," He said, "just kidding!" He insisted when Sydney socked his arm.
"Fine you win, you get the bottom bunk." Justin said, his expression annoyed.
Chris whooped in triumph, "Yes!" He said, grinning. "Well, time for me to go to bed, see you later, Kiddo. Don’t stay up too late, we're leaving really early tomorrow," He added, grinning knowingly at Justin.
"Oh shut up and just go to bed," Justin said, hiding his grin. He got up after Chris left and went to go find Sydney. He saw her on the couch, next to JC. She said something, and he tilted his head upward, roaring with laughter. I'm going to change, he thought to himself, admiring the way her profile was softly outlined. He wasn't going to break her heart.