Something real

Chapter 10

Endings are really just new beginnings 

After I told Toby I was staying with him in Alaska, his father's condition got worse. He was down to a month. The day before his passing Toby toke him to their favorite pond they use to fish at when Toby was young. He told me they talked for hours and then just sat quietly as the sun set. He told me how he desperatly did not to lose his father. How he'd give anything, to have him stay alive.

He passed the next day, next to the love of his life...

We heard the cries. It had been in the middle of the night. Toby held his sobbing mother. Tears streamed so steadily you could barely tell which ones belonged to who. I called for an ambulence short after that. 

Today was the funral. It was held in a small church down the road. It seemed as if eveyone in town was here. I could quickly tell Toby's father was beloved by all. The kind of guy who would pick up your shift at work or be happy to lend you his tools. The eulogy was like any other you'd hear and then Toby got up to talk. I watched him carfeullly as he stood weakly before the crowd. His eyes looked like they'd given up by now, but there was something is his voice that sounded like his words were supported by nothing but the love he has for his father. 

"My father..was the greatest man I had ever known. We didn't agree on everything, or had all the same interests, but that didn't matter. He always had a way of making you feel accepted..making you feel loved. It's an understatement to say I'll miss him. I will want him every minute for the rest of my life. I'll feel the emptiness his presence once filled, all the time. But he had a wonderful life and a family that loved him. Yes, his life was simple but that's how he liked it. He always told me that less was more and to enjoy the little things. I've tried everyday and following this advice has made me a happier person. That's what my father did..he spread happiness. He did it with such love, such hope. It's what he was best at. I want to be like that one day. I also learned how to love from my father. I saw the way he'd look at my mother and smile at her. He'd surprise her with flowers when he'd get home from work or a fishing trip. He was so good at being a husband and a father. Truly, he's shown me how to live life." 

My tears were nothing compared to Toby's mother's. Who I assumed was a sister or a best friend held her tightly. Toby came and sat back next to me when he was finished. I held his hand and whispered to him.."That was beautiful. I love you." He whispered back he loved me too and squeezed my hand. 

After the burying and the wake, Toby, his mother and I went to his aunt's house. We sat with some other family of his and did only what they seemed they could do at a time like this, they talked about wonderful memories they had. Camping trips, birthday parties, summer nights, bon fires, and everything in between. They talked about the very ordinary life Toby's father had led but they had a way of making it sound extraordinary. 

Days turned into months and before we knew it, it was April 2nd. 

"I'm not sure how you could have left here." I told Toby as we sat by the fire. 

"I'm sorry were you not here for the winter?" He joked. 

"I admit it was freezing but it was beautiful too." 

We'd been avoiding the conversation. The conversation that would determine what happened to our futures. If we's spend it together or apart. In college or not. In North Carolina or in Alaska. I admit I do like Alaska but I miss being back in North Carolina. I never really thought I would. The memories of high school still lived there but Toby had replaced them all with the new, amazing memories of us. A town I had once dreamed of leaving behind one day, now felt more like where I should be. 

"What do you want?" He asked quietly. 

"I want you to be-"

"Alexandra." He said, cutting me off. 

"Fine. I want a college education. I want a beach to walk to. I want to be able to see my aunt and uncle on a more regular basis. And..I want you, but I also want you to get the things you want too." 

He considered this for a moment, watching the fire crackle. 

"I miss the beach too." He said after a minute or so. 

"Toby..I've been thinking about this for a while,"

Which was a huge understatement. I'd been thinkning about this for months now. Thinking of all the possiblities. 

"what if we moved back, I lived with you in your house and we went to college. We would come back to Alaksa for regular visits as well." 

I bit my lip waiting for his answer. A moment later he tunred to me and smiled a real smile for the first time in a long time. 

"That sounds like a great plan." 

Love is supposed to be easy. The easiest thing we can do as humans. Falling in love with Toby, was just that. It came so natural for me, once I could see what I deserved. I guess that's one of the secrets to it. Our love story was filled with a few dramatic moments and rash descions but what we both want in the end is what his father wanted, somthing simple...something real. 

A/N 

This will be the final chapter to this story.This book was shorter than I planned on but I'm happy with how it turned out, I hope you who have read it liked it as well. Maybe one day I'll write something explaing their life after this, or maybe even write this story seriously, as something more than just something online. But thank you to all who toke the time to read this xoxo