Roxie's heart was in her throat and her stomach at the same time. This was the day she'd been dreading for months. Rory was leaving. It was today. Roxie kept hoping that she would somehow wake up out of this horrible day, that she would blink hard enough and open her eyes to discover that it was all some sick hallucination and that Rory would stay. But no matter how much or how hard she blinked or pinched herself or anything, it was still happening. Rory was still leaving.

Her parents (and Brittany's parents) had allowed her to spend the night with him. Blaine had to argue with their parents for a while, imposing her situation on them before she was finally able to grab her bag and dash to Blaine's car. He drove her to the Pierce residence, where she leapt from the car before it was fully stopped, ran in, and collapsed in Rory's now bare bedroom. His possessions and photos and the majority of his clothes had been stripped from his room and shoved in an arrangement of luggage carriers. The sight of it made Roxie crumble, dropping her bag and falling to the floor, a sniveling mess to be picked up by an understanding Rory, who scooped her up into his arms and placed her on his bed. They stayed there for the remainder of the day, aside from getting up for the dinner of Rory's choice. After eating, Roxie crawled back into his bed and curled up next to him as he watched his television for a while. He fell asleep before she did, but she stayed up most of the night, unable to sleep. She stared between the television and Rory's face, looking from the mindless Sham Wow commercial to counting each freckle that now peppered the bridge of his nose. She kissed his cheek every few minutes, ruffling his hair every now and then, and burying her face in the crook of his neck. She wanted to savor everything.

They were up at 7am. At least, Rory and Brittany were. Roxie had already been up and took it upon herself to make a light breakfast. She was exhausted and miserable, but smiled through it. Rory watched her carefully, blue eyes fixed on her as she walked around the kitchen wearing her own shorts and one of his shirts. His eyes began to sting and he blinked it away, hating the pained look in Roxie's eyes. After they ate, they all changed up. Roxie had just removed Rory's shirt when he kissed her gently, shaking his head.

"It's yours," he told her, stroking her cheek before taking the shirt and putting it back on her, smiling as he did the buttons up for her.

Blaine, who already had to go to the airport to pick up a friend who was moving back from England, picked up the three teens an hour or so later with Sam already in the car, after Rory bid a relatively emotional goodbye to Brittany's family, thanking them deeply for his stay. They loaded up his things and got into the car, beginning the drive to the airport in Vandalia. Roxie, much to her disdain, slept the whole way to the airport. Rory hardly minded, however. He knew she was exhausted. He pulled her close in the back seat and let her sleep, kissing her forehead every now and then.

By the time they arrived at the airport, everyone seemed to prefer to take their time. The teens trudged around the area of Blaine's car. Every one of the other three teens seemed to be in a certain amount of pain. Brittany had grown accustomed to having someone around her house that didn't descriminate against her intelligence. Sam had made a wonderful, reliable friend, and didn't feel as though he was prepared to lose that. Blaine seemed to hurt for Roxie; he completely understood how she was going to feel, especially since he knew Kurt would be leaving soon too. He tried his hardest to relate, but no matter how many times he did, he knew it wasn't the same. Kurt would be in New York. Rory was going back to Ireland, to another country. He walked aside her as they trudged into the airport, his hand running along Roxie's back soothingly. Rory, who stood on her other side, stepped away for a few moments to talk to Sam and Brittany, knowing that they needed a moment to themselves.

Blaine took her arm, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Roxanne, I-"

"It's fine, Blaie," she interrupted, staring past him as to not make eye contact, "I'm fine..."

"No, you aren't," he insisted, tilting his head around to look his little sister in the eyes. "I know you feel bad right now... and... you're probably gonna feel worse later..."

"Gee, Blaine, thanks for the positivity," she sighed, looking down at th floor.

"What I'm saying is that... Rory loves you," Blaine added. "Being somewhere that isn't Lima isn't going to change. But if, by some freak chain of events, it does... remember that you're still so young, okay? And making yourself feel worse won't fix anything. Okay?" Roxie still stared down, prompting Blaine tilt her face up to look at him.

"Okay... I understand," she replied softly. Blaine smiled, pulling his little sister in for a hug, embracing her tightly.

"I love you, Roxanne," he murmured into her shoulder, rubbing her back. "You're so grown-up."

It was quite a few minutes until the group was able to continue through the airport. They all froze when they reached a certain point, a point where only Rory was able to go. Roxie's face flushed as she stared down the walkway, which lead down a hallway. She shook her head fervently, a choke in her throat, and she almost couldn't breathe.

This was it.

Roxie looked over; Rory was already giving Brittany a tight hug, and moving on to Sam. Roxie choked on a whimper as Blaine gave him a hug, patting his back. Rory moved toward her and she was almost shaking by now. Rory set his hands on her shoulders, taking a deep breath, signaling her to calm down. Roxie drew in a shaky, uneasy breath, a whining noise errupting from her throat.

"Roxie, please, I need you to breathe," he said softly, his face pink.

"Rory, I-I can't... you're leaving, I'm..." her voice trembled, brown eyes full of tears, "I w-won't have you anymore..." Rory immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Shh, mo ghra," he whispered, feeling her sob almost violently against him, "you're always going to have me, I promise."

Roxie cried into his chest. She felt a large hand on the expanse of her back, the other in her hair. He literally surrounded her, keeping her close to reassure her. He didn't want to leave; he had done so much in America, way more than he ever thought he would. But he had a family. He had his parents, his brother, his aunt and uncle, his grandparents. He had to go back to them. Everything he had was in Ireland. And everything Roxie was was in Lima.

"You're going to be okay," he whispered against her forehead, her hair bunched in his hand. He pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers. "I love you so much. I'm always going to love you. It doesn't matter how far away you are from me. I'll always love you."

"Wh-what if... what if you can't come back to America..." she asked him quietly, her breathing having calmed substantially.

Rory took in a deep breath. "Then... if I can't come back... I'll still love you," he assured her, "and... if you move on, I'll understand..." Roxie's hands found thir way to the back of his neck, keeping him close, and he smiled at her.

"You and I, we could be a tough act to follow. Can't you see?"

Roxie sighed sadly, looking into his eyes. There was nothing else she could do but join him.

"If you hold my hand and let the music start, let he curtains part, let the spotlight glow..."

Rory kissed her forehead. Roxie's bottom lip quivered, but she regained herself.

"We'd be a tough act to follow... I know..."

Roxie finally pulled Rory's face down, kissing him hard and deep. She knew it would be their last kiss for a long time, and she dd all she could to make it last. After a few moments (neither of them could tell how long it had been; no matter what, it felt all too short), a voice came over the intercom.

"Flight 223 from London is now unloading. Flight 483 to Dublin is now boarding."

Roxie looked up at him, her eyes weak and puffy from crying. She smiled softly at him, nudging his arm softly. "Go on, Rory. You've got a plane to catch." Rory smiled weakly, pecking her lips before relucantly taking his things and beginning his walk down the long hallway. Roxie watched him walk the entire way, until he reached a corner. He turned back to her, his face now wet and teary. He waved sadly to her, and Roxie felt herself begin to cry again. A small noise coming from her throat, she waved back, her cries worsening as he turned the corner and disappear. The long hall next to his flooded out with people from the London flight, and voices and footsteps filled the huge corridor. But Roxie still felt so lonely.

"Will!" Blaine called to someone in the crowd, waving to his old friend, a boy with chestnut hair and blue-green eyes. He was a family friend, and although he walked directly to Blaine, he could see Roxie crying near Sam and Brittany, who were attempting to console her.

"One moment, mate," he said to Blaine, hugging him quickly before making his way to the younger girl. "Roxie?"

"H-h-hi, Willy..." she stuttered, still staring down the hallway.

He looked down the hallway she was staring at. "Did somebody leave?" She didn't speak, but only nodded fervently again, turning to hug him tightly. Stunned, Will put a hand on her back, soothingly.

"It's alright, it's going to be alright," he told her, "come on, let's put a smile on that pretty face!"

Rory, then, found his seat, sitting down and staring at his hands. He peered out the window back at the airport before muttering under his breath.

"The name on everybody's lips is gonna be... Roxie..."

Wow. It's over! I can't believe that this story is now finished! I honestly just want to thank every one of you who read each chapter, commented, favorited, subscribed, and just took time out of their days to read this silly little story that I've been working on! It means so much to me that you cared about this story! And just to clear up any confusion, I intend to write a sequel!

The final song for this story was "A Tough Act to Follow" from the musical Curtains!

Please leave your parting comments, I would love them!