Today was the day of the graduation ceremony! I was getting ready in front of the mirror, while Jungkook was doing his hair in the bathroom,  as usual. We only had to have dinner before it was time to move over to the graduation ceremony. I was almost done with my make-up and my hair, when Jungkook came into the room.

"Baby~" Jungkook came behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I glanced back at him to see his hair. He did it different this time. His hair was swept up and looked really nice and neat. It's also been a while since I've seen his forehead.

"Hey, nice forehead," I said, chuckling. Jungkook pouted and walked back to the bathroom to fix it once again. I quickly finished putting on my lipstick and turned around to look for my shoes. I couldn't seem to find them anywhere and was slowly starting to panic. "Jungkook! Have you seen my shoes? I can't find them anywhere...." I said, annoyed. I wasn't annoyed at Jungkook, just annoyed at the fact I couldn't find my shoes.

"They're under the bed, idiot!" Jungkook shouted from the bathroom. He came back and walked over to the bed. He crouched down and grabbed the shoes from under my bed. He put them on the floor in front of me and went over to the bed to sit on it. He laughed and looked at me. I picked the shoes up and placed them on my desk, so I wouldn't lose them again. Jungkook got up from the bed and picked me up. I was slung over his shoulder. "Let's have some dinner," he said, still with me over his shoulder.

"Babe! My dress!" I whined, slapping his back a few times. Instead of letting me down, he put his hand on my , patting it. "Jeon Jungkook! Let me go!" I screamed, while moving and squirming. Once downstairs, Jungkook finally let me off. I punched him and walked away, towards the kitchen. My parents were putting all the food on the table.

"Honey, go sit down and eat," my mom said. She looked behind me to see if Jungkook was there. After mere seconds, Jungkook was sitting next to me. I was sitting on the left and Jungkook was sitting on my right. My parents were sitting opposite of us. We all started eating and we were just talking about the graduation ceremony, when I felt Jungkook's hand on my leg. I slightly turned my head to look at him as he was smirking too obviously. I slapped his hand away and continued eating. 

"Jungkook, honey? Be careful with the teasing, because the girl is a bit moody today," my mom said. I looked at her, frowning. How annoying, my parents always find a way to somehow side with Jungkook. I feel like Jungkook is already a part of our family. My parents always treat him like their son, but instead of me being favoured, they favour Jeon freaking Jungkook. They probably just do it to tease me, but it can get on my nerves sometimes. 

Jungkook laughed and nodded. We continued dinner in peace again. Afterwards, my mom didn't force us to do the dishes. Instead, she told us to go to the ceremony first to meet up with our friends. Of course we agreed. We texted Namjoon and told him we were ready. Only five minutes later, they were standing in front of my house. They dragged us inside the car. Everyone was already picked up, so we drove right to the ceremony. Once we got there, Namjoon parked the car and told us to get out. 

Jungkook got out of the car before me and held his hand out to help me. I took it and carefully stepped out of the car, making sure my heel didn't get stuck in some crack. We safely made it out of the car and were then directed to the gym, where all the other students were waiting as well. Some were playing around while others just quietly sat on one of the chairs. Namjoon led us to some empty seats and we all sat down. 

"I'm so nervous," I said. I couldn't explain why I was nervous, I just was. I didn't like the idea of going up on stage by myself while on of my teachers talked about me. Standing in front of a crowd made me nervous, having someone talk about me in front of a crowd made me nervous, the attention made me nervous.

"It'll be okay, you won't ever see those people ever again," Jungkook assured me, holding my hand. He turned his head to look around at the people, but soon diverted his attention back to me. He cupped my cheeks and looked me directly in the eyes. "Don't be nervous, I'll be right there." His cute face put an instant smile on my face and made my heart flutter. 

"Ariaaaa~"  

I looked around to see who it was. I eventually saw Taehyung dorkily smiling at me. "What's up?" I asked. Taehyung shrugged and continued talking to Namjoon, who was sitting next to him. Suddenly, a teacher stood up on a chair and made an announcement. "Kids! Students! Three more minutes until you all have to go outside and take your seats at the front!" The teacher got off the chair with the help of another teacher. Everyone was getting ready, fixing their make-up, fixing their hair and whatsoever. 

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom for a second," I heard Taehyung say. He soon disappeared and was out of our sight. I was nervous for him, because there is a high possibility he's gonna be late for the ceremony. It's not like Taehyung is the most punctual out of us..

Minutes had passed and the same teacher told us to go outside. The door was opened and everyone streamed out of the door together with their friends. I held Jungkook's hand tighter and followed everyone else out of the door. People were cheering and clapping when we came out. Luckily, we weren't too far behind everyone else, so we found a row for 9 people. We all sat down and paid attention to the dean, who was talking about how proud he was of us and what not. Very interesting, I know. 

I noticed Taehyung still wasn't back, so I worriedly looked down at my phone. I sent him a quick text to ask him where he was, but a few seconds later, he came back with an uncomfortable smile on his face. He quickly took his seat and waved at me. I let out a sigh of relief. 

The speech took longer than anyone wanted to. By the time he finished his speech, it seemed like people were only clapping because it was finally over. Some were even yawning. I, myself, was already yawning two minutes into the speech. Every year he repeated the same old speech about how proud he was, what he did to help the school, what the school has helped him with etc etc. It's honestly too boring to go into any further. 

"Now, I will call up groups of three to five students to come up," the dean started. "Please clap as loudly as possible and cheer on our students. First up...." The dean called up five students. The named students got up and walked over to the stage. They stood next to each other in a line and looked at the teacher who walked up to the microphone. He started giving a speech and talked about each individual student. It was funny to see how he tried to insert a few jokes, but horribly failed. It wasn't funny, but everyone laughed because of his awkwardness after he realized no one thought it was funny. 

Like this, everyone slowly was called up. I felt like forever had passed. I honestly thought everyone already got called up, until I realized no one of our group has been called up yet. My attention was diverted back to the front.

"I'd now like to call up 9 students, sitting in the fourth row. Please come up Kim Namjoon, Jung Hoseok, Kim Seokjin, Daisy Aurora, Jeon Jungkook, Kim Taehyung, Jung Aria, Park Jimin and Min Yoongi," our teacher said. We exchanged glances and got up to go over to the stage. We were confused, because the dean told us earlier they would call up three to five students, but we were obviously with 9 people. Eventually, we were standing on the stage in a line, crammed and nervous. The stage was way too small for more than 6 people to stand in, yet here we were - standing on this tiny stage with ten people. 

"You all must be wondering why I called the nine of you, huh? Well, let me tell you something. In the ten years I've worked at this school, I've never seen such a big group being so close with each other. The nine of you seem so dedicated to your friendships and never have I seen any of you alone. You're always with another person from your group and you're always nice to the people around you. At first, I only saw a lot of bickering between the girls and the boys of this group, but somehow they grew closer. It was like you hated each other one day, and you were best friends the other day. A while ago, I had never seen such hate between two students of mine, Jeon Jungkook, Jung Aria. I have no idea how you two got so close, but I'm glad you did. There was always a thick and heavy tension in the classroom when you two fought, so I'm glad that disappeared. I just wanted to call you all up on the stage to point out your special friendship. The nine of you are so strongly connected, it's hard for other people outside the group to interfere with that. I hope your friendship lasts long and stays this strong, even after you go to college. Thank you for listening," the teacher finished.

I looked at my friends and felt blessed. I never knew people outside our group thought like that. I didn't even know we stuck out that much to be noticed by a teacher, but I'm very thankful our teacher gave this speech. It made me realize how thankful and grateful I am for having my friends by my side all the time. I know our friendship can improve more and we can get to know each other more, but for now, I can't get happier than I am right at this moment. The time I've spent with them has to be the best period in my life. I hope we grow closer, become better people, stay together through thick and thin, help each other to become the best version of ourselves and just stay together for a long time. They are definitely worth holding on to and I don't know if I will ever want to let them go. 

We were back in our seats and the dean finished his last speech. He told about the drinks and snacks they prepared and told us to have a fun time here. Everyone scurried to different places. A lot of people were taking pictures. 

I spotted my parents and ran up to them, with Jungkook following me. "Mom! Dad!" I smiled and jumped in their arms. My parents laughed and patted my back while hugging me. Suddenly, Jungkook joined the hug. I was stuck inbetween my parents and Jungkook. I tried to squirm out of the hug and succeeded. 

"Honey, I want to take pictures of you and Jungkook. Maybe your other friends can join too," my mom said, handing me a bouquet of flowers. I took them from her and thanked her. The flowers were beautiful, but the bouquet was so big I was struggling to hold it. I was holding the bouquet of flowers in one hand and wrapped both of my hands around Jungkook's waist, smiling for the picture. After my parents snapped a few photos of us smiling, I decided to pull silly faces. I stood on my tippytoes to reach up to Jungkook's cheek and stuck my tongue out. Jungkook's expression turned from a smile to a disgusted expression. He then joined in on the silly faces. I felt like we had taken enough pictures of the two of us, so I called everyone else over. They ran towards us and hugged us. I could see a few flashes of my parents' camera. 

"Now please smile," my dad said, laughing. We composed ourselves and smiled. The tallest stood behind the shorter ones. Jungkook was right behind me and Daisy and Yoongi were next to me. In the front were; Jimin, Daisy, Aria (me) and Yoongi. In the back were; Jin, Namjoon, Jungkook, Hoseok and Taehyung. We all had our arms around each other and we were smiling. Again, after the serious photos, we did some silly poses and laughed at ourselves afterwards. 

"Go find your parents now, they must be looking for you all," my mom said. Everyone nodded and walked away from the group. 

"Babe, wanne come look for my parents?" Jungkook asked. I nodded and held his hand, following close behind him. My parents went off to get some drinks for themselves. We were searching and searching, but there were so many people; so many family members and friends. It was hard for us to spot Jungkook's parents. We suddenly heard someone calling out for us, so we looked around to see where the voice was coming from. When Jungkook finally spotted his parents, he dragged me over to them. 

"Hello Aria, sweetie! How are you? It's been a while, hasn't it? Is Jungkook treating you well? Is he bullying you? Do we need to scold him?" Jungkook's mom continued to ask me millions of questions all at once. I laughed and hugged her.

"I'm doing great and of course Jungkook's bullying me. He's actually really mean," I said, of course joking. His mother's expression turned serious and she turned over to Jungkook. She obviously understood I was joking, but she still played into it. 

"Did I raise you like that, son? How can you treat this angel like that?" His mom said, acting disappointed. All this time, Jungkook was just sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Son, we need a man-to-man talk later," Jungkook's dad said. Somehow, Jungkook looked nervous. It put a huge smile on my face to see him like that. 

"In all seriousness, Jungkook does treat me well. He's very very nice, you raised your son very well," I said, pinching Jungkook's cheeks. Jungkook's face turned red and he turned towards me to pinch my cheeks as well. We started to play around like this, while his parents were just smiling at us. Jungkook was about to tickle me when I stopped him. 

"Your parents, ," I mumbled. Jungkook stopped what he was doing and turned back to his parents.

"Anyways, were going to look for your parents and catch up. We'll see you two around," Jungkook's mom said. They walked away and Jungkook turned right back at me again. He started tickling me and teasing me, trying to get his revenge. 

"Okay okay! Stop! I'm sorry! P-please stop, people are watching.." I muttered. I walked backwards, away from Jungkook, and accidentally bumped into someone. Jungkook's eyes widened, which confused me. I slowly looked behind me and saw someone who I never expected to turn up at this place. I felt regret, because I turned around. I didn't want to face him. Not today, not ever. I was lucky to not have seen him after we broke up, so this ruined everything. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there..

"Sorry," I quickly apologized. I was about to go back to Jungkook, but my wrist was grabbed. I internally groaned and turned around. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes, but I couldn't care less. Why would I? 

"Hey, Aria. Can we talk for a bit?" He asked, his face full of sadness. It didn't do me anything, though, but I wanted to hear him out. I wanted to hear what kind of bull he had to say. I wasn't really interested in what he wanted. I couldn't give a . I know I shouldn't hold grudges against people for so long, but I don't have any reason to forgive Mike. He could've tried to at least stay friends with me after our break up, but he just disappeared. I don't know what he's been doing in that time, but it sure didn't seem like he wanted to be friends with me again. He didn't even ask for my forgiveness, so I'm not even going to try. 

"Speak," I coldly said. He let go of my wrist and let out a sigh. 

"I wanted to apologize once again. I'm so sorry for hurting you, for breaking your trust and for ruining our friendship. I honestly had no reason for cheating, but it's just something that happened. I can't do anything about it now. I'm so sorry, can you please forgive me? I'll do anything."

"Thank you for apologizing a year later, but I'm not gonna forgive you. I don't want to talk to you again, so please don't bother me. Just move on with your life. It didn't seem like you were bothered for the past year, so just keep on living your life. I'm living perfectly fine. Don't waste your time and my time again." I my heels and walked away. Somehow, there was no trace of Jungkook behind me. I thought he would be standing there, listening as well, but he disappeared. So I went around to look for him. After making multiple circles around the whole crowd and still not finding him, I started to panic. I asked around, but no one had seen him around. I started to panic more, because I couldn't find any of my other friends either. People were slowly leaving and I was still panicking while looking around for my friends and family. How could they just disappear like that? That's not even possible.. Jungkook was behind me when I was talking to Mike, so I don't understand why he left. 

I went back to where we were sitting earlier and let out a big sigh. Some of my classmates came up to me to ask me if I was okay and I just weakly answered with a "I guess." They didn't ask any further and just let me be. I was confused and sad. 

I sent some of my friends and Jungkook a text.

Aria (to Jungkook): I'm lost.. Where are you? Where is everyone? 

Aria (to Taehyung): Kim Tae, where are you? I can't find any of you...

Aria (to Daisy): I'm alone, Daisy.. I don't know where y'all went so please come back and pick me up. 

Aria (to Namjoon): Namjoon Namjoon! Where are you? I can't find any of you. You didn't leave, right? 

Aria (to Mom): Mom Mom!! Where are you? Where is Dad? Did you two leave? 

I sighed and looked around one last time before giving up. I can't believe I lost them. Either they left me here, or they're just hiding and joking around. This is not funny at all, because I had a little panic attack earlier. Why would they leave or hide, though? They would never pull off such a joke.. 

After another hour and some forcing from my teacher, I decided to go home. One of my classmates was kind enough to give me a ride back home. We've never been really close, but I was thankful for her offer. I thanked her so many times on our way to my house. 

"Thank you again, Jamie. I don't know what I would've done without you," I said, getting out of her car. She rolled her window down and gave me a sincere smile.

"No need to thank me, I didn't mind. Anyways, it was fun having you as my classmate. Have a good life and stay happy! I won't forget you!" Jamie said. 

"Thank you, it was fun having you as a classmate as well. I hope you'll be able to pursue your dream in the fashion industry. I'm sure you'll be able to! Stay happy as well, Jamie~" We smiled at each other and she drove off. I fiddled with my keys and opened the door to my house. It was dark.. which was weird. Normallly, the blinds would still be open, so sunlight could still come in. Were my parents even home? 

I slowly walked through my frontdoor and closed it behind me. I took off my shoes, as usual, and walked into the living room. It was empty as usual. I turned my head towards the dining table and the kitchen. 

"SURPRISE!!!" 

I got the shock of my life and held my chest, almost falling backwards. There they were.. Mom, Dad, Jungkook, Daisy, Taehyung, Jimin, Hoseok, Namjoon, Yoongi and Jin.. 

Jungkook came up to me and pulled me in his embrace. "Happy birthday, baby," he whispered. Before wrapping my arms around him, I frowned and froze. It's my birthday? I didn't want to admit it, but I was so confused by the time, I didn't even know my birthday had come.. I hadn't looked at the date for a while and no one reminded me. I can't believe this has happened for the third year in a row. I always get so confused with the time during Summer. I never admit it, though. I've never told anyone I forgot my own birthday. I didn't even know people still celebrated it. The past few years, it was just Daisy and me. My parents would give me a gift, but that's it. Daisy was always the one to insist on celebrating it, but I never bothered. 

"Don't tell me you forgot," Jungkook whispered, only for us to hear. 

"Shut up." 

He chuckled and gave me a kiss before pulling away. Everyone else came up to me and gave me hugs and kisses as well. I felt loved. They bombarded me with 'happy birthday's and presents. Taehyung gave me a huge rilakkuma plushy, Daisy gave me a very pretty notebook + a polaroid camera + a book I've wanted for a while. Besides those presents, everyone joint in on buying a beautiful rose-gold Michael Kors watch for me. I was so so so thankful for their gifts, and I still am. I can't believe how spoilt I was on my birthday. I didn't even need all those things. Especially the Michael Kors watch, which must have cost a lot. I felt so guilty for accepting it. I did not deserve so many gifts. Just food would be okay. Despite my guilt, I was still very grateful. How could I not be with such loving people around me? 

"Honey, this is our gift to you," my mom said. She gave me a box, which was quite heavy and wrapped in wrapping paper. I put it on my lap and teared the wrapping paper off. It was a beautiful laptop. 

"Oh my god, you didn't have to.." 

"We thought it would be nice for you to have your own for when you go to college." My dad smiled and gave me a kiss. I hugged them tightly and thanked everyone else by almost squeezing them to death. I was so blessed to have beautiful people around me. I couldn't wish for more on my birthday. Their presence alone was enough. 

"Babe, come upstairs with me for a sec," Jungkook suddenly said. I agreed and he walked behind me, having his hands on my waist. He led me to my own room and sat me down on my bed. He then went to the bathroom and came back seconds later. He was holding something behind his back. 

"Don't tell me you're also going to give me a present after what I just got? I still can't believe you guys bought me a watch..."

"Well, you need some time realization, baby. But anyways, I just bought you a little something. It's not that much, but I hope you'll like it. I put a lot of effort in finding it and even asked Daisy for some help." Jungkook crouched down in front of me and smiled. He wasn't crouching down to ask me to marry him, no no, don't get the wrong idea. He was just crouching down to get to my eye level. 

"Thank you for putting effort into it. That alone is already enough," I said, smiling. He got the thing from behind his back and put it in front of my face. It was a big blue velvet box. That could only mean one thing.... it was expensive. I already didn't want to accept it. Why do people have to spent so much money on birthdays?

"Here you go, be careful," Jungkook said. I took the box from him and almost didn't want to open it. I eventually did, because Jungkook looked eager. I carefully opened the box and gaped at the sight. It was a beautiful necklace with a matching ring. They both had diamonds and I was scared I was gonna break both by just holding them. So I just stared.

"J-Jungkook...."

"Yes, baby? Do you not like it? What's wrong? Why are you crying? Babe?" He worriedly looked at me and tugged a few hairstrands behind my ear. 

"It's beautiful.. I'm just taken aback. Why would you spent so much money on me? You know I don't want you to buy expensive things for me. Why do you spoil me? Please don't do it again," I muttered. I was so emotional. I didn't even know how Jungkook got the money to buy these for me. I felt so bad. I didn't want him to spent money on me. I just wanted him and that would be enough. I didn't need material things to know he loved me. Just his presence was enough. I wiped away tears that had fallen and smiled. I slung my arms around Jungkook's neck and nuzzled my face in his neck. 

"Because I love you. I want you to wear something I gave you, so I can remind myself I'm not living a dream and you can remind yourself I love you lots. Just accept it, okay? I promise I won't buy you expensive things anytime soon, but just accept this. Please?" He was my hair and leaving kissing in my neck. It tickled, but I loved it. 

"I will. Thank you so much, Jungkook. I love you, with no beginning, no end. I love you more than you could possibly imagine, Jeon Jungkook. Thank you for everything you've ever done for me, thank you for staying in my life and thank you for being such a beautiful human being." I hugged him tighter and felt like I never wanted to let go. I wanted to melt in his arms and never let go. I felt at peace in his arms.

"I should be the one thanking you. You didn't leave me when I was being an . You stayed. Until now. I'm so thankful and lucky to have you. Please don't leave me, I won't be an again, I will treasure you forever," Jungkook said, almost sounding desperate. How cute of him to think I ever want to leave him. I feel like I should be the one asking him to stay with me and not leave me. 

"I'm not leaving, Jungkook. I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, so don't worry. Just stay yourself."

"Thank you, I love you." He reached up and locked our lips together. The kiss felt more passionate than usual. I could feel his whole heart pouring into the kiss. This must have been the most passionate kiss we've ever shared. I liked it a lot and I didn't want to pull away, but we eventually did. We had to breathe. 

"Come here, I'll put these on for you," Jungkook said. He got the necklace out of the box and put my hair on one side. He was struggling so much, so I decided to help him. I held my hair up and leaned down. He succesfully put the necklace around my neck and went for the ring. "Give me your left hand," he ordered. I listened and put my left hand out for him. Before sliding the ring onto my finger, he glanced up at me and smiled.

"What? You're gonna propose to me?" I joked. 

Jungkook chuckled. "Not now, but in the future I will, baby," he surprisingly said. I felt myself turn red. I didn't expect him to answer like that... I thought he would say something like 'In your dreams', but it wasn't anything near that. 

He laughed and slid the ring onto my finger, "You're cute, baby, really cute." He got up from his crouched position and sat next to me. I got away from the edge of the bed and leaned against the headboard. Jungkook soon joined me. He pulled me on his lap and cupped my face with his hands. He looked me directly in the eyes, making my heart beat faster than ever.

"I meant what I said. And college is not gonna seperate us. I'm gonna visit you lots and we'll watch movies together and eat together. We'll still be friends with everyone else and you and I will still be together," he said, "Okay?" He patiently waited for my reply.

"Okay, I believe you."

"Good, let's go back before the others start thinking weird things," Jungkook chuckled.

"You're the one thinking weird things!" I got off of him and walked out of the room. Jungkook followed behind me and laughed. He grabbed my hand from behind, leaving me wondering how he managed to do it. When we got downstairs, everyone eyed us suspiciously. They were eating and laughing, until we came down.

"I see you have some new jewelry~" Daisy teased. I ruffled her hair and walked over to the other side to sit down as well. Jungkook sat next to me and started eating. Daisy wiggled her eyebrows at me and only I noticed. I kicked her under the table and started eating. Mom made delicious food as always and everyone was happy to eat here again. They loved my mother's cooking and if it was possible, they would come here every day. I didn't allow them to. I need my privacy as well, you know. 

"Ahh, I'm so stuffed! Thank you again, Aria's mom!" Hoseok beamed. He rubbed his tummy and smiled out of satisfaction. 

"I wish I could come here more often, if only a certain person didn't forbid me to," Taehyung said, side-eyeing me. 

"Who are you side-eyeing? Come fight me, Kim Taehyung," I said, of course joking. Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook laughed at me for trying to act tough. I was confused for a second.

"Baby, we know you're not that tough," Jungkook said, patting my thigh. 

"We thought you were, but you're just a cute ball of fluff," Taehyung said. 

"Says the person who looks like a walking fluffball! I am tough. Mom! Tell them I'm tough," I said, looking at my mom. She shrugged and continued eating. I was defeated. I couldn't save myself and no one was planning on helping me. How disappointing.. 

We continued eating while joking around. Mom and Dad joined in as well. We had a lot of fun and shared a lot of laughter. This is such a memorable day. First, we officially graduated and second, we celebrated my birthday as well as our friendship. I felt happier than ever. 

Night has fallen upon us and it was time for everyone to go home. It was very unfortunate, because we were having so much fun. We forgot about the time and went on until midnight. It was around 3am when they decided it was time to leave. 

"I don't know what I'll do without you guys.. seriously," I said, while they were putting on their shoes and coats. They stopped in their tracks and looked up at me.

"You can't be sad. You don't have to deal with not being with us. We're gonna be with you forever. Through college, through life after college. We'll even attend your wedding!" Taehyung said. He came up to me and give me a big and tight hug when he saw I was about to burst into tears. "Please don't cry. We'll never leave each other. You, I, Jimin, Jungkook, Daisy, Hoseok, Namjoon, Jin and Yoongi will stay friends forever. I promise. I can't imagine a life without any of you," he said, assuring me. We eventually ended up in a group hug. I was in the middle, stuck and barely able to breathe. It felt nice, though. Not the barely being able to breathe part. I'm talking about being embraced by all my friends. It felt really nice. I almost felt empty when everyone let go.

"Thank you for coming today, thank you for the presents, for being my best friends, for being amazing people and for being here," I said. They gave me hugs and kisses before leaving. Now it was only Jungkook and I. Oh, and my parents who were already asleep. Jungkook and I went upstairs and decided it was time to sleep as well. We ended the day with smiles and laughter. Today was a very good day. By far one of the best days I've had. Absolutely no negativity (except Mike, but let's not count him in).