Welcome to the Gold Coast

                                    

                                              
Rikki and Cleo arrived at the cafe around a few hours later that afternoon. They quickly located Bella and waited for the band to finish their song.
                          
"Hey you guys." Bella hopped off the small stage. "Is it that time already?"
                          
"Yup. 4:10 on the nose." Rikki answered with a grin.

                          
"And the moon comes up when?" Bella tied her hair back into a ponytail as she spoke.
                          
"Six," Cleo spoke up. "Plenty of time to get the apartment ready for a night in."
                          
The three girls had moved into an apartment together right after graduation. Bella and Cleo were taking a few classes at the local community college while Rikki was focusing all of her attention on running the cafe full time. Zane had decided to attend a prestigious business school on the other side of the country, leaving Rikki to run their business.
                          
For months Zane had tried desperately to convince Rikki to take him back but she had refused. Eventually, he had given up, but he never seemed to fully recover from the breakup. Deep down, Rikki felt that Zane's decision to go so far away from school was more about losing her than a desire to learn business, but she had let him leave without saying a word to stop him. Nowadays they spoke on the phone fairly often, and their friendship was slowly repairing itself. Rikki hoped they could be friends even if their relationship had gone stale.
                          
"Great." Bella grinned. "I'll tell Nate we're out of here."
                          
Rikki was giving a few last instructions to the night manager of the cafe when Will pushed his way through the beaded doorway. "Hey Will!" She called to him. "Bella's talking to Nate right quick. You coming by the apartment tonight?"
                          
"What?" Will blinked his eyes distractedly. A second later comprehension spread across his face. "Tonight's a full moon."
                          
"Damn straight it is." Rikki smacked him playfully with her clipboard. "I mean, we aren't expecting any excitement or anything but I still think it's a good idea to be as careful as possible and stay out of the moonlight-" She paused, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Will. "Are you ok?"
                          
Will tried to make himself focus, but he was lost in his head. "I'm fine," He lied, still deep in thought. He checked his watch. "Tell Bells I'll call her later to check on you guys."
                          
"Didn't you want to talk to her now?" Rikki's brow furrowed. "She's just over there-"
                          
"Ah, nah." Will hastily picked up his backpack and tossed it over his shoulder. "Be safe tonight, Rik."
                          
Rikki watched Will as he made his way towards the door. There had been something in his voice that seemed really off and she couldn't help but wonder if he really was ok.
                          
TIME SKIP
                          
That was the longest flight Nash ever had. He flew many times before to visit his grandparents in Tennessee, and even one time to Europe - but 20 hours of flight? dammit, he really needed to flex those legs. At least he had a plane buddy for the whole time: a girl named Emma. She was so beautiful and nice and he had a great time sitting next to her for these long, aching 20 hours.
                          
He wasn't sure about moving to Australia, but he had a feeling that's gonna be epic - especially because he already had one friend to meet, a girl named Cleo Sertori.
                          
When his dad told him that his future coworker has a daughter around his age, Nash wasn't expecting too much. But they started talking, and before either of them noticed, they talked for weeks before Nash left New York. He couldn't be more thrilled to finally meet her.
                          
The four family members got out of the airport, waited for a cab to pass by, to take them to their hotel.
                          
Nash couldn't believe it's really happening. He is really Australian today! Weeks of preparations, and still he never knew he would feel like that - excited, yet helpless. That was the day his life was about to change forever. At least that's what he thought.