author's notes: So. Last chapter. I'm a little sad. But I'll write another Twilight Town fic; I promise! Thanks to all those who've stuck with me and continued reading and reviewing. I love you guys!

standard disclaimer applies—

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His fingers tap-tap-tapped on his desk impatiently, and he leaned back with a great, loud sigh.

His chemistry teacher was slowly walking between the aisles of desks, flipping students' tests upside-down on their desks. Hayner saw her glasses slowly slipping down the bridge of her nose. That bothered him.

He didn't want his test back. He just didn't.

Hayner knew that it was going to be horrendous; for Christ's sake, he was zoning out through the majority of it!

His professor flung his test in front of him. Hayner swallowed.

He didn't want to turn it over. He just didn't.

He could already see huge red words printed on the front of the test through the stack of white papers. Probably a 'see me after class' kind of thing.

Olette was going to be so upset with him; he knew it. Hayner could just see her face dropping in disappointment when she asked him how he did. He could hear her defeated voice whispering, "Well, we'll try harder next time, okay?"

He did not want to look at the bold, red letter grade by his name.

Because bold and red was never good.

It was only about two minutes until the end of school. Hayner wiped his clammy hands on his cargo pants and took a deep breath.

Now or never.

He held his breath dramatically and flipped his test over, anticipating a D, at best. His eyes widened at the score. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. But the bold red marker couldn't lie.

It wasn't a 'See me after class.'

It was a 'Great Job!'

Maybe it wasn't his test, he thought quickly. Hayner's eyes flicked to the top right-hand corner of the page, checking the test's ownership. And sure enough, 'Hayner Michaels' was scrawled in tiny writing at the top.

It was his.

And he got a 94.

The bell rang loudly, and Hayner nearly jumped out of his seat. He absolutely had to show Olette. Whipping his backpack over his shoulder, childish grin adorning his face, he sprinted through the mass of students rushing to their lockers.

He clutched his test in his hand as he ran, and although he felt the paper crumpling under his intense grasp, he didn't care.

Hayner's sneakers skidded as he slid to Olette's locker. But she wasn't there.

Where was she?

She had been in history class with him during second hour. She had. Hayner wasn't going crazy now, was he?

Maybe she had gone to the hospital again.

Determined to see her, Hayner threw open the exit doors and raced across the grass lawn of the school's campus, ignoring the shocked faces of his fellow classmates. He couldn't blame them, though. Hayner was acting like a madman.

The air burned his eyes as he ran faster and faster to the hospital, refusing to slow down. His feet stomped against the cement of the sidewalk, and Hayner couldn't help but think that he must be getting in shape after all this running; he was getting a lot faster.

Lungs screaming, Hayner strode into the stark hospital with a confident smile. He waved at the receptionist cheerfully as he practically danced into the elevators. Yes, he knew his way around and yes, the receptionist recognized him.

He pounded his index finger into the shiny silver '4' button repeatedly, refusing to believe that it wasn't going to go any faster no matter how many times he pressed it.

He got a 94. He got a 94. He got a 94!

The elevator doors slowly opened and Hayner bounded out, almost plowing into an elderly nurse as he did so.

"Olette!" he cried as he made his way to room 473. "Olette, you'll never believe it, I got a-"

But his sentence was cut short by his shock of what was in room 473.

Olette wasn't there, neither was her mom.

Neither was Amy.

The hospital bed looked clean, starched sheets folded tightly and perfectly. The pillow was propped up against the headboard, and there were no monitors anymore.

It was clean and white and absolutely frightening.

The only evidence that there had been a frail girl in that horrifying room at all was the small stack of get-well cards piled neatly at the corner of the nightstand.

Hayner felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

And then he remembered- Olette had been called out their third hour class and into the office. The office ladies probably were the ones who had told Olette the terrible news, he told himself.

The news that Amy had died.

Hayner tried to calm himself down, but it was no use. Despite the fact that there had always been a chance that the surgery wouldn't go as perfectly as planned, that Amy would die, Hayner was still shocked.

He sat on the hospital bed and heard the sheets crunch underneath his weight. He released his test, and watched it glide across the smooth floor.

He couldn't believe it.

Olette must be devastated, he told himself.

In trembling hands, he shuffled through the get-well cards, trying to choke down the massive lump in his throat. There was one from Seifer's family, it looked like. One from Pence and his dad. One… from his mom.

Maybe she wasn't as heartless as he thought.

"Just coming back for the cards," he heard a soft female voice and its accompanying footsteps echoing through the hallway.

Seconds later, Olette walked into the room, hair dangling into her eyes. She glanced up and looked genuinely surprised at Hayner's presence.

"H-Hayn-"

"Olette, I'm so sorry," he cut her off as he jumped up from the bed. "I thought… I thought it was going to be okay… I thought everything was going to get bet-"

"Sorry for what?" she interrogated with her hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. Hayner thought she'd have been a little more… upset?

"For your… sister?" said Hayner hesitantly, voice rising in pitch as if it were a question.

"Amy?" Yes, Amy. Shouldn't she be a little bit more serious?

Hayner remained silent.

"Why would you feel sorry? If anything you should be glad; she was just moved to a different room. Not an intensive care one like this." Olette smiled.

Hayner's breath stopped right in his throat. Amy was… alive?

"B-but why did you get called out of class earlier today?" he stammered.

"So I could come and help Amy move to her other room. She doesn't really like all the doctors and nurses surrounding her…" her voice trailed off.

"That's… great. So she's gonna get better?" he asked.

"Yup!" Olette broke out into a grin, white teeth sparkling and green eyes glistening. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Hayner shook his head. Amy wasn't dead, Olette wasn't devastated, and his chemistry test was lying face-up on the ground. With his index finger, Hayner pointed to it.

Olette walked to it and bent down to pick it up. She held it in front of her face, concealing her expression from him. When she lowered the paper, she was nearly speechless.

Her eyes were glowing with excitement, and her grin was even wider than before. She looked absolutely ecstatic.

"A… a 94?" she choked out. Hayner nodded, smiling. "Hayner… I… I…"

He walked a little closer to her, head cocked to the side.

"I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed as she threw herself into his chest in a giant hug. He was thrown back a bit, but wrapped his arms around her anyway and chuckled. "See, I knew you could do it; I just knew it!" she yelled as she squeezed him tighter.

Hayner hugged her back.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Olette, I really couldn't have…" he mumbled into her chestnut locks.

He pulled away from their embrace and stared down into her emerald orbs with a grin. She smiled back at him and held both of his hands within hers. She was positively radiating.

Hayner hadn't noticed how close they were until he felt her warm breath against his face. It smelled like peppermint. Hayner's head bowed down closer to hers, savoring the moment. She slowly stood higher on her tiptoes, slowly, slowly, gently, gently.

Their lips met softly, and Hayner pulled Olette closer to him, drawing her into the tender, warm kiss. He could feel her smiling.

When their lips broke apart, they couldn't help it-

They both started laughing.

A few weeks ago, they had practically hated each other, and here they were, not wanting to leave the other's presence.

"Hey, Olette?" Hayner whispered gently into her ear with chuckle.

"Hm?" she mumbled into his chest.

"Let's go get something to celebrate. Just the two of us."

"That sounds… wonderful," she said as she intertwined her fingers with his, giving them a firm squeeze,

"Sea salt ice cream?" he asked with a laugh.

"Of course."

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FIN

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author's notes: Hurray for wonderfully predictable fluff clawing your eyes out! I hope everybody liked this, I really do. I loved writing this story so much, and I was encouraged by all your reviews. I can't thank you all enough!

Please review with your final thoughts!