Epilogue
(Nico's POV)
I looked across the aisle at her.
Ella had to be the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, even if she didn’t think it. She was beautiful in a different, more real way, one that only she could pull off.
Her dress moved in the light spring wind, a flattering sheath that fell over the best parts of her body. Her hair was short, growing out, but I didn’t mind. The smile on her face and the flush in her cheeks were enough to make anyone forget that she was sick.
When she saw me looking, she smiled even brighter and then turned away, blushing. She watched and listened as the minister spoke.
I almost forgot that we weren’t the only two people in the world.
I looked to where Jodi and Mike stood, hands clasped between them, exchanging rings.
And then they kissed.
And I wanted to run over to Ella and hug her, and kiss her face in every spot one might think of. I wanted to hold her close and make her know that she is loved.
But this wasn’t our day.
So I waited until the reception, where everyone was congratulating Jodi and Mike. I found Ella, and we kept our distance from the couple, knowing that we more than anyone else there would be the ones who needed to see them the least.
Because Australia was now my home, and Jodi and Mike were like family to me.
So when Ella and I watched Jodi and Mike have their first dance, I stood behind her, my arms wrapped around her shoulders. She hung her arms off of mine, her hands on my forearms. And I made her feel loved, because she is. And I didn’t say anything cliché like, “That will be us someday,” because maybe it wouldn’t be and I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t deliver.
But I knew what I wanted, and that was to be with her. And I could imagine a future with her, and I think she could do the same.
While I stood there, holding this remarkable girl in my arms, I thought about how lucky I was. If I was never assigned to her hospital room, I would never have met this amazing girl who changed the course of my entire life by asking me to take her to Australia.
Even though she explained to me that her days of making bucket lists were long gone, because every day in and of itself is a bucket list, I had the bucket list to thank for Ella. If Ella had not made that list, I probably never would have met her, gone with her to Australia, and learned to love her the way I do.
The bucket list was now a thing of the past, though not forgotten, and I was looking at my future, our future ahead of us.