Tragedy ✔️

Chapter Forty Seven

Chapter Forty Seven: Together We Can Conquer Anything
Sophia Crawford

A FEW MONTHS LATER

I walk with River hand-in-hand to our usual lunch spot. Ana and Cole were already seated, looking at the two of us with huge grins on their faces.

A few months ago when I announced that I was seeing River, I have never seen Ana so happy. She was happy that I have moved on from the accident and that I have forgiven myself for what happened that night.

She was beaming. "I will never get used to seeing this." Ana says, nudging Cole with her shoulder. "I called it all those months ago. I told you they were secretly seeing each other but Sophia kept denying it."

"You say that all the time you see us walking over." River says, smiling at her.

"I know." Ana says. "I just wanted Sophia to be happy and now she finally is. I can see that you're different too, River. She changed you."

"There's no denying that fact." River nods, plopping down on the ground. "She did change me and I couldn't have been more grateful that she did." He looks at Cole. "I'm sorry that I haven't been very pleasant since everything went to shit. I have pushed you away, but that only worsened things." He says to Cole.

"Hey man... you were going through some shit." Cole says. "I am just sorry you had to go through it alone."

Ana nods. "You could have come to us," she says, "we would've helped."

"I know." River says. "But I was drowning in grief and I didn't want to pull anyone in with me."

Ana shakes her head sadly, but she was relieved that someone has helped him out of that grief. "But you're here now," she says, "that's all that matters."

I sit down beside River, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "He changed me too." I look at him. "And yes, I did lie to you all those months ago. When River and I were miraculously absent that day, I was with River, and he was with me."

Ana claps her hands together. "I knew it!" She turns to Cole. "I told you."

Cole rolls his eyes and focuses his gaze onto me. "But why didn't you just tell us, Sophia?" Cole asks. "You could have told us. We wouldn't have judged you."

"I was drowning in some grief of my own too. I didn't want Ana to think that I moved on from Daniel too quickly." I shrug. "And besides, River and I were having troubles of our own at the time. We didn't get along all the time, so we had to work through that obstacle first. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to get my hopes up, but it doesn't matter anymore. We're together now."

River kisses my cheek, right against my scar.

I feel my cheeks heat up immediately, but this time it wasn't of embarrassment, it was because the gesture was so sweet and River never failed to make me blush.

I don't hide behind my hair anymore.

I chose to wear my scars like armour. I wore them with pride.

The scar is not a reminder of what I lost anymore.

It was a reminder that I can conquer anything.

"So, River..." Cole starts, looking at River who was chewing his apple. "Are you going to prom?"

River nods. "My aunt's making me go because she has to go, so I don't really have a choice in the matter."

Cole turns to me and I nod slowly. "Someone did ask me. ..I'm going too." I tell him, seeing River frown in my peripheral vision.

• • •

River and I were walking side by side when I hear him clear his throat beside me.

I look at him, knowing what he wanted to ask me. "I think I'm ready to go to prom too. That is if your offer still stands, of course. If you don't want to, I'll completely understand-"

"I'd be honoured to escort you to prom, Sophia." He says, taking my hand in his. He lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles, the gesture sending shivers cascading down my back. That's how we walked the rest of the way; hand-in-hand and in comfortable silence as the sun warmed us as we walked.

It was perfect.

When we stop at my house, I turn to look at him. "Are you sure you want to be my date to prom? I still have these ugly scars and I don't want to embarrass-"

He leans in, places a sweet kiss against my lips and pulls away.

It completely caught me off guard and my cheeks reddened immediately.

"Yes. I want you to be my date to prom. I wouldn't want to go with anyone else. I want you to be my date to prom. I want you. Just you."

When he presses his lips against mine again, I started to feel genuinely okay.

I felt safe with him and with him I finally knew how to be okay again.

River was my present, and my future. River, the bad boy who let nobody close enough to know his demons. Little did he know that I'd be the one to help him face the most terrible of demons.

We conquered them together.

Together we can conquer anything when we're side by side, that is.

He showed me to be happy even when it felt like I wanted to break into a million pieces. He showed me that life isn't fair sometimes, but we were alive and that's all that counted. He showed me that there was always an outcome.

River needed someone to lead him away from the darkness and I needed someone to help me see the light again. And I did, when his lips were pressed against mine. That's when I felt true happiness again.

River showed me that there was light at the end of the tunnel. He was my light this entire time, and I was the one who led him out of the darkness.

The both of us needed each other to conquer our demons, and we did, together, side by side,-hand in hand, through our fights and everything else in-between.

We conquered them together and we will conquer anything else together too.

Our tragedies brought us together.