Tainted Love | ✓

Epilogue

sometimes good things fall apart

so better things can fall together

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

THE SUN SHONE DOWN WITHOUT MERCY, FORCING ME TO SQUINT MY EYES.

The heat was near unbearable, and thick droplets of sweat were trickling down my face. For what seemed like the hundredth time, I lifted my face to wipe at my forehead - using my hand as a mini fan, although it didn't help at all. My skin was burning from the warmth of the sun that was beating down on top of me, and even though I had nearly used an entire bottle of sunscreen that morning, I could still see small, reddening patches all over me.

The town was busy and crowded; everyone having somewhere to be, or someone to meet. I tried to weave my way around the clustered groups of people and tourists, squinting my eyes to see if I could spot the two familiar faces I was looking for. The lingering aroma of baked goods filled the streets, making my stomach rumble. From somewhere, there was a beautiful accordion playing, and I smiled when I noticed a young girl dancing away to the upbeat music.

"Naomi! Over here!"

My head whipped around to try and locate the source of the voice, when a familiar mop of curly hair came into my line of view. Without even thinking, a bright smile bloomed on my face, and with more confidence, I pushed through the flowing crowd to make my way over. As I neared, my smile widened, if that was even possible, when I noticed a small, blue ponytail peeking out from over the partition.

"Toby," I breathed when I was close enough, "Nicole."

They both leaped up, and without thinking, we all engulfed each other in a collective group hug. Their arms wound around me, and mine around them, our squeals and soft laughter filling the air. My eyes pricked with tears at the familiar feeling of their hugs, and to hear their voices in person again, and not just over the phone. We swayed from side to side, ignoring the strange glances from passer-by's.

"It's been a while," I murmured, pulling back to examine their bright faces, "How have you two been?"

Toby hadn't changed much - even if it had been nearly a year. He still had the same, curly hair that he couldn't tame, and his eyes still shone with a bright twinkle. Like me, he couldn't seem to stop smiling either, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as we stared at each other.

"It's been quiet without you," Nicole sighed with a deep-rooted frown, "That, and Toby wouldn't stop annoying me all the time about when you were coming back."

Nicole, on the other hand, had changed a lot. Even though she had kept the same blue hair, she had added other dashes of colour to her hair and it had grown out since we last saw each other. Her ears were now completely filled with piercings, and she had even gotten one on her tongue a few weeks earlier.

Feigning a hurt expression, he poked Nicole in the shoulder, "Don't rat me out like this, you traitor."

My cheeks flushed with a pink colour and I couldn't hide the full grin that bloomed over my lips. After the trial, mother and father thought it would be a good idea if I stayed away from the town for a while. Even though it had been hard saying goodbye to Toby - the person I had spent years growing up with, we both knew I wasn't leaving forever.

"It's okay, I missed you too, Tobes," I chuckled, sidling to his side and threw a hand over his shoulder to pull him closer to me. I couldn't control or contain the excitement and happiness I was feeling in that moment - being reunited with two of the most important people in my life.

"You can take him now," Nicole joked, "He's damaged all my brain cells."

"Can't damage what you didn't have in the first place," he scoffed, and I muffled my laugh when she narrowed her icy eyes on him.

"Okay, okay you two," I held out my hand, "Enough of that. I'm just happy to see you two again - finally."

"How are your grandparents?" Nicole asked with a tilt of her head, "You said something about them being sick before."

"Oh, no they're okay now. It was just a winter bug that they had," I waved her off, "But they've been good. Of course, they started crying when I had to leave which made me cry, but I told them I would go up to visit them more regularly."

"Do they know about everything that happened?" Toby questioned, his voice faltering for a moment. He hated bringing up the topic, even if I reassured him that he could so. To show him I was okay, I leaned a little more into his side and nodded my head.

"They don't know everything - I didn't want to give them a heart attack at their age, but yeah. They knew the main details," I said, gnawing on my raw lip.

"Your parents were telling me you wanted to go visit him," he frowned, and Nicole's face darkened into one of disgust, "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

A year ago, when the trial had taken place, it had taken a few days for the judge to go through all the witnesses of the case. That meant it took nearly a week for the final verdict to come out, but the day it did, was the day I felt liberated. While my family and I, and all of the other families, stood there - hands clutched and waiting for the verdict, I had never prayed harder in my entire life. And then, I remembered, the judge turned to all of us with a sad, yet proud smile and called out GUILTY.

We all seemed to collapse in relief - that this was finally all over. That I, and everyone else, had gotten some sort of justice for what had been done to us.

"Not now, but maybe one day," I mused with a shrug, "I don't think I'm quite ready to face him again just yet."

"It's okay," he soothed, "You have all the time in the world. No need to rush into it."

Igniting the world anew with brilliance, the sun rose with casual elegance. It shone on the lake below; shining its deep depths. The radiant glow scintillated and beamed over the small town. As I gazed up at the man beside me - it was then I realized that even it was because his love was pure and whole, that my missing pieces were finally beginning to reappear. It was because his touch was loving and gentle, yet carried a hint of passion, that my scarred self was becoming soft once more. And it was because he was steady and patient with me, that all my wounds had the time to heal, seal and vanish.

"Enough with this talk!" Nicole exasperated, breaking my thoughts away, while she threw her hands up in the air for dramatic flair, "You're finally back for good, so let's not dampen the mood. Toby and I booked a reservation at your favorite restaurant and if you two want to coddle up and all that disgusting stuff - go ahead, but I'm off to go stuff my face with some food."

In unison, both of our faces flushed red and we looked away - too embarrassed to even glance at one another. After everything that happened with Tyler, I was too hesitant to try anything else with anyone - even Toby. But, he knew that and understood. I knew it wouldn't have been fair to ask him to wait until I ready, because I didn't know when that day would come.

Yet, even still, he had somehow bewitched me with his eyes and love - and while I had gained my freedom the day Tyler was convicted, there was a certain liberty that I felt being caught in Toby's divine spell. In his eyes, were the feelings of my own heart and with that, we became one without anything having to be said.

And if that wasn't some kind of magic, I didn't know what was.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

THE END.