"GWEN!"
I sniggered and burrowed deeper inside the closet. Yes, I was in a literal closet. Why? Because my very large and very angry boyfriend may just yet kill me.
"GWEN YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS HERE RIGHT NOW OR GOD SO HELP ME I WILL KILL YOU I SWEAR!"
His voice was getting closer and I tried not to breathe, or really just move at all. If he found me, I'd be seeing the inside of a coffin sooner than later.
Unfortunately, I was clearly not still enough because the cupboard door was wrenched open and I was dragged out. I looked up into Dev's glaring face and struggled not laugh. I failed miserably and ended up snorting into his chest. This did nothing to improve his disposition and he gave me a little shake. Saying nothing, he proceeded to frog march me into his dorm's living room. Still keeping a firm hand on me (I tended to run away) he motioned angrily to the ceiling
"Why" he asked, fighting to keep calm "Is all my stuff taped to the ceiling?"
As I trained my eyes to the ceiling, I tried so very hard not to laugh. Because belts, shoes, plates, cups, shirts and a couple other odds and ends were on the ceiling, looking oddly as if gravity had been reversed. I watched as one piece of tape came loose and, as if in slow motion, his soccer ball came crashing down to the ground...and on his head. He yelped and let me go, but it didn't matter. I was laughing hard enough to be incapacitated.
I should've run when I could've because the rest of the evening was spent getting tickled and other, similar such dying.
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Ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Gwen?"
"Gabby?"
"Gwen!"
"Gabby!"
"I'm pregnant!"
"Gwen?"
"Hello?"
"Gwen?!"
"Hello? It's Devon speaking, who is this?"
"Hi Dev, it's Gabby. Where's Gwen?"
"I think she just fainted"
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From: Cornelia Whitfield
To: Devon Whitfield
Hello little brother,
I hope you're doing well. I hope Gwen is too. I know this postcard says I'm in Malaysia, but I'm posting it the day I'm leaving, and I'm very well likely in Bangkok right now. My internet isn't steady so these are what you'll be getting for a while. Helium says hi too. She also says that you should hurry the hell up. It's been five years.
Lots of love,
Corny
ᴥ ᴥ ᴥ
"Gwen"
"Yes, Dev?"
"Gwen, look at me"
I took my glasses off from the bridge of my nose and frowned over my thesis at my stupid human boyfriend. Devon Whitfield was still the child he was when he was eighteen and his eyes were currently alight with the same childish twinkle that, I'd come to learn, signified that he was about to do something very brave and very reckless.
"What is it?" I sighed, getting ready to deal with whatever craziness he had lately come up with.
"I was thinking..."
"Ah that's never a good sign" I said drily and he scowled at me.
"Stop being crabby"
"I have to finish this Dev! I'm getting graded for this!"
"You're always getting graded for something or the other"
"And so are you"
"Yes, but I don't get crabby over it" I raised an eyebrow
"Last week you sulked because-"
"Not the point. Gwen! Stop distracting me!" he looked agitated and I softened.
"Alright, alright" I said, holding up my hands in a gesture of peace "Tell me"
"Okay, I need this to be perfect, stand up"
"Dev-"
"Come on, Gwen" he begged and I huffed, gave in and stood up.
"You happy now?" I asked, surlier than ever.
"Very. Now stand there" he said, directing me to a spot in the middle of our living room. I sighed and did so.
"Now what-Oh hell no"
Because in the five or so years that my stupid human boyfriend was my stupid human boyfriend, Devon Whitfield had never once got down on one knee.
"Is that a diamond?"
"Whinny, you're ruining the moment and my knees hurt" he whined. That was definitely a diamond.
"Dev! What are you doing?!" I was freaking out. This wasn't happening.
"Gwen stop." And then before I could babble anymore,
"Gwenwyn Lou-Ann Taylor, by all that is good and holy in this damn world, will you be my wife? Justsayyes." he rushed the last few words together, as if I would ever dream of saying anything else.
"Yes. Oh gods yes" I said, and he slipped the ring on my finger. I pulled him up and hugged him.
"Gwen?"
"Mhmm?"
"Don't get mad but...I got the whole thing on tape."
"Devon Whitfield you little shit"
"Shh, don't swear. It's on tape"
Thwack!
"STOP FRACTURING WHAT'S LEFT OF MY BODY WOMAN"
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"Aunt Whinny?" my little niece looked up questioningly at me. I smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
"Yes Clem?"
"Do I have to wear this dress?" she wrinkled up her adorable little nose. I laughed and motioned for her to be quiet. Gathering up my white dress in folds, we tip-toed to the back. I lifted the heavy bolts of cloth and showed her my shorts and boots. Her eyes widened "Isn't that cheating?" she asked, her little five year old face creasing with worry. I tousled her dark hair.
"Not if anybody finds out" I whispered and reached into my closet. I always carried spare clothes for her and little Atty, and soon enough I'd pulled out a pair of shorts. Then, giggling like we were teenagers, I helped her put them on and we were out in a flash, no one the wiser.
"Now don't tell anyone, you don't want Aunt Whinny to get in trouble-"
"Gwen, are you wearing boots?! On your wedding day?!" my mother looked scandalized.
"No, mom-Oh goddammit!"
"Goddannit" repeated Clem
"No, Clem, it's 'goddamit'-"
"Gwen!"
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A lot of things have changed since I was eighteen
I cut my hair, for one. It was not pleasant, but it really was getting too heavy in the shower and the drain was more often clogged than not. TMI? Alright, never mind. Ignore that.
I also became an aunt when Gabby and Marcellus ended up having twins – Clementina, a little bundle of mischief who was a near exact replica of her mother, and Atticus, who was the smartest five year old I've ever met. And despite what Dev says, I did not faint! Well...kind of.
Ghibli, that little roguish kitten, grew up into one of the laziest cats mankind has ever had the (mis)fortune to witness. She resisted any and all attempts to make her exercise and got fatter and fatter, with possibly enough diabetes to go past her nine lives. At six years old, she was a pretty fat cat. But being so abhorrently idle meant that we could doll her up, put her on a cushion and get her to be main kitty for my wedding. We never heard the end of it from her.
Celia and Cornelia wound up travelling the world, sending us various postcards from various locations over various years. They did, however, turn up on my wedding day, brown from the adventures and in horrible, bright pink Bermuda shorts on top of it. I can't say I minded too much, although mum wouldn't agree. I'm also pretty sure they spent the night with Marcellus' cousins. I didn't ask.
May's book on Wattpad eventually got recognized and in the way things happen, she eventually became a world-recognized author, going on to become rich and famous. We stayed in touch like we always did, through Skype and two am calls. She was my head bridesmaid at the wedding.
And Dev and I...we got married. At the end of five long years with Mr. Moron, the Weasley got hitched. We moved a couple of towns over, to a house near the beach, where I would venture out and collect samples every now and again for some experiment or the other. I became a professor of marine biology in the local college and Dev was a soccer coach and part time Lit teacher in a nearby school.
But some things never changed.
Doors were a passion that never once wavered. I tried to have as many as I possibly could in our little home, much to Dev's eternal chagrin.
I still watched Supernatural, even at twenty seven, and with Season 235 running strong, I don't think that would ever change.
The Mickey Mouse watch stayed on my wrist for many years. It stayed faithful, like my fat, fat cat, although it had seen better days.
I still loved my books and surrounded our door-filled home with them. Dev didn't mind, encouraged it even, because he was just as crazy about them as I was. One book, though, always had the place of honor. It was worn and the binding was crackling, but it felt my fingers upon every so often, a whisper from an old friend. Someday, when I was ready to have little monsters of my own, I would read them these potentially scarring, unfiltered stories. Grimm's it was called and grim so it was.
But maybe, just maybe, when the day comes, I'll tell them a different story – about a ginger girl and dark-eyed boy and the adventures they had together, and, most of all, how the red-head was on the battle front.
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A/N: As promised, the Epilogue.
It's been a wild ride. Thank you for sticking with Gwen to the very end.
This is the very first book that I've completed on Wattpad and I can only thank all those who've taken the time out of their day to read up till this point, to put up with me and my irregular updates, and stupid cliffhangers.
You managed to vote too, and all those votes helped brighten up my day. This story has given me life and helped me through tough times, and the vote count going up helped so much.
You guys matter the world to me and I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel. Thank you all so very much.
Farewell for now but not forever, don't worry!
Courage, dear heart.
Yours Truly, now and forever,
Sage Alastor Node