The Girl Who Read [And the Boy Who Kissed Her]

e p i l o g u e

The Girl Who Read [And the Boy Who Kissed Her]: epilogue

❝Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.❞

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

She rubbed her upper body that was clad in his hoodie. She twisted and twirled the silver band with the diamond stud around her fourth finger. The metal was cool against her skin as the memories burned into her brain once more.

It had been his birthday, his nineteenth. Their families were squashed into the rounded corner booth at Frankie's diner and stuffed their faces with different, various brunch foods. Spencer's brother's wife was obviously pregnant, as her plate was piled with foods of different arrangements, her stomach slightly bulging. Her smile was glowing, her husband rubbing her neck softly. Skylar sighed at the action. You could feel the love radiating off of the couple. It was simply magical. She glanced at Spencer, who sat beside her, his hand in hers. She wondered if they'd ever have a family together.

His eyes were breathtaking; the hazel eyes seemed to swirl with sudden spots of gold. His eyes seemed to be twinkling with laughter, a dimple popping up on his right cheek. His coffee brown hair was so soft and curled a little over his eyes. He had slight shadows of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His smile was everything to her. His teeth as white as the snow, his lips, the lips that caressed hers every so often, would turn in a giant, heart warming grin. He caught her eye and winked.

She felt her heart flutter, the same flutter as always, and looked back at her food, flustered.

She ate in silence, listening to the two families chitter and chatter over random nonsense. Everyone soon finished their meal, waiting for the check.

Beside her, Spencer stood up. Still holding onto her hand, his fingers now intertwined with hers. She looked up at him, with a sort of pride. He was hers. She was his.

"Thank you all for coming. I wish I could say something more than what I'm about to say, but I can't." He looked directly into her eyes, and whispered to the table, "I'm... I'm leaving, tomorrow, for the army. I enlisted a while ago, and... I don't want to leave any of you, I really don't. I'll write as much as I can. I'm sorry to kill the mood."

Her heart was being jabbed by blunt-edged knives. Her throat clogged up, and her stomach tossed and turned and flipped. She let go of his hand and got up from the table.

"I'm sorry, I-I need to go."

She ran in a blind rush to the bathroom in the diner, her head pounding and her heart being ripped up and clawed. She heard her name being called but she ran regardless. Tears blurred her path but she didn't care. Arms wrapped around her waist just before she reached the bathroom and she kicked and pounded on his chest, knowing it was him by the masculine smell of cologne. She broke down in his arms in the diner, tears soaking his chest. He was leaving her.

He drove her to his house in silence, and they spent the time they had left with each other in the tree house.

She was curled in his lap as she cried loudly, tears wracking her body in sobs. He attempted to muffle her tears by stroking her hair slowly, shushing her softly.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She screamed out, letting her emotions finally run free, hitting him on his solid chest.

"I'm so sorry baby, I... I'm so, so sorry."