Isaac POV*
Things have been going great. Better than I thought it would be. I had my doubt at the beginning if this was really going to work. Maybe the hunters would just come back, with backup. But we haven't seen anyone.
The villagers took it better than we thought, too. To be honest, they didn't really seem to care about it either way. But being rejected by the town was never really a concern of anyone. Though, it did feel better to know for sure.
Marx even started making some new friends.
He also started working with us a few weeks ago, and so far he's been doing pretty well. Aside from a few normal mistakes like dropping stuff and stocking the wrong ingredients. But those are mistakes my dad still makes sometimes, even after running the story for over twenty years.
Aubrey also got her job at the bakery and since then has been carefully looking for a place to stay with the salary they get together which turned out to be more difficult than she thought. So far they haven't found the perfect place yet, but they're getting there.
Lukas has been staying with us right now. What was meant to be only a few days turned into a few weeks as my dad never told him to leave. So he's basically been living with us. Which I don't mind at all.
It has led to some pretty awkward interactions with my dad though...
Ava's dad has surprisingly gotten better. Dad thinks it has something to do with my potions as it happened as soon as I started helping him with them.
I wasn't sure what to think of it. It's absolutely crazy to think my first potion was more powerful than my dad's. So I still thought there would be another reason.
Either way, I continued to help him make them, hoping her dad would recover.
It just felt amazing to finally be free and be able to walk around whenever en wherever we wanted to, though that was the case before it felt safer now that there weren't any traps hidden around the forest.
"Alright well see you tonight, dad!" I yelled as I was about to leave the shop. "Alright, be careful out there." He said, not taking his eyes off his work. Marc smiled at us as we left the shop and made our way to the forest.
"Are you sure you want to go back?" I asked Lukas as I walked beside him. He nodded happily.
By now his leg was fully healed and he was feeling a lot better.
"I just want to see it one more time, I did spend most of my life in it." He said. Last night he told me he wanted to go back to the house he escaped to when he was little. I wasn't sure why he did, but he was set on going back.
"Even though I was chased out there and felt trapped for years, it's still special to me." He explained as he walked through the trees I had kind of a hard time keeping up with him. He was a lot more familiar with the woods on this side of town and could maneuver through them much easier.
He stopped, waiting for me to make my way through the bushes. As soon as I was next to him he took my hand and led me back to the house.
"It's where Aubrey came back to," he continued. "So I don't just want to forget about it." I stayed silent as we reached the clearing.
He stopped turning back to look at me. "It's also where we first met. If it wasn't for this place-" he turned back to it, letting go of my hand and walking up to it.
It looked the same as when we left it a few weeks ago. There were a few more eplants growing up it, but besides that nothing had changed.
A part of me was afraid the hunters had destroyed it sometimes we were at the church, but luckily they never did.
I followed Lukas, he stopped a few meters from the front door and looked up at it. I hesitantly walked next to him, not wanting to disturb his thoughts.
"I never thought I would get out of here." He smiled, his eyes fixed on the building in front of us.
"Well, you did," I added as I grabbed his hand again.
He turned to me, looking down at me, tears threatening to form. "All thanks to you." He smiled.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't start that again." I laughed.
"It's the truth-" he argued. I tried to turn away but he grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes.
"If you were there that day, none of this would've been possible." He continued. "I mean it," he asked when I tried to look away.
"I dint think you realize how much all of this means to me. You gave me my life back, you gave me my family back, I don't know how-"
"Alright I get it-" I stopped. He was on the verge of tears, and I'm not sure I could handle it if he started to cry after all of this.
It got quiet as we started at each other for a bit.
"You- you mean a lot to me too." I finally managed to get out. He let out a laugh and pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tightly.
I hugged him back as hard as I could. He let out a laugh before letting go slightly, to look me in the eyes.
He didn't say anything, but I knew what he was thinking.
I lifted myself up slightly, so our lips met. He kissed me back instantly. We broke out in laughter as we pulled away.
"Should we go back?" He smirked. I let out a laugh as I broke free from the hug. I nodded. "Let's go home."
THE END