Epilogue
TYLER
W e’re back in Destin, Florida, on vacation. Our first vacation since we’ve been together officially. Life has been good to us lately. Noah just opened the homeless shelter a few weeks ago, and we’ve both been getting ready to start school in a few weeks for the summer semester. When I look at us now, I see how far we’ve come. I couldn’t be more proud of us.
The night sky is littered with stars, a full moon shining brightly and lighting the way for us as we walk the beach, the frigid waves lapping at our shins. Noah looks at me with a bright smile, then suddenly stops in his tracks and holds me close to his body. Our chests press together and so do our foreheads.
“Who am I to you, Ty?” he whispers, and it’s barely audible over the crash of the waves against us.
“The love of my life,” I say without hesitation. “My bestest friend. My everything.”
He presses his lips to mine softly, and it’s like I’m on a fucking cloud. My body feels light, and I swear I’m dizzy from a simple kiss. But then he sucks on my bottom lip and my blood heats immediately, and I grab the back of his neck and hold him to me. My tongue teases the seam of his lips, and when he opens up for me, I tangle mine with his.
Kissing Noah Milner is a spiritual experience, one I never want to stop experiencing. I don’t believe in God, but I believe in him . I believe in everything he represents in my life. Love, laughter, friendship. Strength and resilience. Vulnerability. And I’d be happy worshipping him forever. I can’t believe I get to call him mine. That all my dreams finally came true.
“You’re all of those things to me, too,” he whispers against my lips, then cups my face as he pulls away from me slightly to look into my eyes. “All of that and more.”
I don’t say anything as tears sting my eyes. This moment feels like more somehow. Like we’re baring our souls to each other right here under the moonlight.
“What if I want more with you?” he asks, and my eyes widen. “What if I want it all?”
“What do you want?” I ask in a small voice, scared that if I raise it, it will ruin the moment. Pop this bubble we’ve put ourselves inside of.
“You,” he says softly, squeezing the back of my neck. “Marriage, kids. Everything .”
“You mean that?”
“I mean it,” he tells me. “It doesn’t—” He breathes in, and the hand on the back of my neck starts to tremble. “It doesn’t all have to happen right now. But I want it.”
“I want it too,” I reassure him.
Noah lets go of my neck and takes a step back, causing me to frown. He reaches into the back pocket of his jeans, and when he drops to one knee in front of me, I gasp. My heart squeezes tightly in my chest, and there’s a knot lodged in my throat. I can’t seem to breathe past it, and my body begins to shake. I trap my bottom lip between my teeth to keep it from wobbling, but it’s pointless. I have no control over myself right now.
“Tyler Levi Hayes,” Noah says softly, grabbing my left hand. I look down at him and squeeze. “I’ve wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. From the first conversation we ever had, I knew you’d be the most important person in my life. I’ve wished for you for a decade, on stray eyelashes and shooting stars. I’ve relied on cross my hearts to bring you back to me. But I don’t want to rely on anything anymore. I want to know that this is a sure thing. That nothing will come between us ever again. So will you please seal this promise between us? Will you marry me?”
My heart skips a beat, then three more, and the tears begin to spill down my cheeks. His hand trembles in mine. He seems to be holding his breath, looking wildly between my eyes and my lips. Searching for something—I just don’t know what.
“Please?” he asks softly.
I nod. “I’ve wished for you too, you know.” I pause, and my breath hitches. “For ten years, I’ve wished for you. For sixteen, if I’m being honest. I just didn’t know what it meant back then. But I do now. And I don’t want to waste another moment. I want it all—the house, the kids, us. So yes, Noah, I’ll marry you. It’s us forever—us against the world. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“It’s always been us.” He grins.
He uncurls his hand from my grip and brings the ring up toward my finger. I eagerly thrust my hand toward him, and he chuckles. But when he slides it onto my finger? I feel butterflies raging inside of me—in my belly, in my chest. There’s nothing quite like it, knowing he’s mine, truly mine, forever.
And I’m never letting him go.