Epilogue
TATUM
Laguna Beach is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to.
I’d only ever been to one beach before in Seattle, but it was along Lake Washington, so it wasn’t nearly as stunning as this.
Blue water, sunny skies, and the ocean breeze, with an abundance of flower gardens and palm trees.
An entire month in this paradise with the girl that I’m head over heels for.
Maeve’s family rented out this beach house for the summer, a white brick oasis overlooking the ocean with an entire pool and jacuzzi attached.
There are stairs leading right down to the beach, so you really only ever have to leave if you need groceries.
Otherwise, everything you need is right here.
We’ve been here for a few days already, and each day has consisted of tanning on the daybeds and night walks on the beach.
After about seven months of being together, Maverick and Mateo have finally warmed up to me, a different reaction compared to the last time we’d seen each other.
Maeve really wasn’t lying when she said it would be nonstop competitive beer pong games, but it was entertaining to watch the three of them taking it so seriously and getting into a fight every other round.
“Hey,” Maeve’s voice pulls me from the sun setting over the waves, the sky illuminated in hues of orange and pink, “where’d you go?”
Her arms wrap around my shoulders from behind as she presses a kiss to my neck, and I twist to look down at her as she falls back on the balls of her feet. Freckles dot her nose in the summertime, her skin tanned from the sun, and her cheeks slightly pink.
“I’m right here,” I assure her, leaning down to peck her full lips.
“I was calling your name, but you didn’t answer.” She fake pouts as she speaks. “Where is your head at?”
“It’s with you,” I whisper, bringing my hand up to caress her protruding lips with my thumb. “It’s always with you.”
Her faux sulking disappears as a smile takes its place. She takes my hand in hers as she moves it further back to cup her face, and she leans into it for a second as she blinks up at me.
“I have something to tell you.”
My heart skips at that.
“Okay,” I rasp.
“I got accepted into medical school.”
As much as my heart feels like it plummets into the depths of my stomach at her words, I hold the tiny smile on my face for as long as I can without it twitching.
This is it. This is the part where she tells me that she’s moving across the country away from me.
This is the hard part. My jaw clenches as I swallow, the smile growing tighter as I struggle to find the words to say.
I have at least two years left at Cedar Grove to get my master’s. I’m stuck in Pennsylvania for that much longer, whereas she could possibly be going anywhere. She’s that smart and incredible; any medical school would be lucky to have her.
“That’s…” I trail off, struggling to find the right thing to say so I don’t seem as flustered as I feel, “That’s amazing, Maeve. I’m so proud of you.”
She pulls my hand from her face, cocking her head slightly as her gaze narrows just a bit. “Aren’t you going to ask me which one?”
I don’t want to.
“Yes, of course, I was just…processing,” I tell her, squeezing my fingers around her hand that clasps mine. “Which one?”
“Johns Hopkins.”
“Johns Hopkins,” I repeat. “Johns Hopkins?”
She nods, her pink cheeks darkening as she bites back a smile.
“T-that’s in Baltimore,” I say, thinking out loud as I put the pieces together. “That’s only four hours away from Pittsburgh.”
Her head bobs along with her hum of agreement, and she’s practically buzzing with excitement as her hands slide further up my arm to grip onto my bicep.
“Exactly,” she continues, “which means we’ll only be four hours away from each other. We can make the commute on weekends, right? We can make this work.”
A breathless laugh escapes my mouth as I tug her toward me, wrapping my arms around her and crushing her head to my chest, where she lets out muffled giggles. She can probably hear how fast my heart is racing right now, but I don’t care.
“Of course we can make this work,” I tell her, burying my face into her neck as I speak. “Four hours is nothing. That’s nothing to me. This is… This is perfect. You’re perfect.”
“It’s just obstacles, right?” she mumbles into my chest.
“It’s just obstacles.”
There was a tiny part of me that had been worried about this news for months now.
I knew it was coming eventually, and the unknown was nearly debilitating.
The question hung in the air for so long about where she would possibly have to move.
I hadn’t realized how tense my body was feeling before this point.
Like my nervous system was constantly on edge, just waiting.
Now I feel like I can actually take a deep breath.
“Johns Hopkins is amazing, Mae.” I free myself from her neck as I speak, kissing the top of her head. “You should be so proud of yourself. That’s a huge deal. I mean, one of the top-ranked medical schools? That’s incredible.”
“Yeah? You’re proud of me?” she asks in a small voice, peeking up at me through her lashes.
“I am proud of you, yes,” I say, “but you should be proud of yourself.”
She purses her lips. “Hmm, I guess I am pretty proud of myself.”
“You guess?”
Maeve laughs, throwing her head back as the smile overtakes her features. “I am. I am proud of myself, okay?”
My chest feels full, my heart, as I look down at her. Her cheeks are lifted into the happiest smile I’ve ever seen on her, and it almost looks…relieved. She looks free and maybe like she can finally breathe again, too. God, I love her so much like this.
“It’s only for two years,” I murmur, taking her hand in my clammy one, “I’ll finish my master’s and then come to Baltimore. Find a job somewhere, and then when we know where you’ll get placed for a residency program, I can work toward my doctorate.”
Her smile falters as she blinks weakly up at me. “You’d just…follow me around? Tate, I don’t want you to limit yourself because of me. You shouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t see it like that at all.”
Pulling her hand away, she sighs, “Tatum, you’re like insanely smart. You cannot limit which schools and jobs you can get into because you’re following me around. You could get in literally anywhere. You could probably have any job you want.”
She’s trying to put distance between us as she takes a step back, but I don’t let her. My tall figure looms over her as I take two large strides toward her, clasping her face between my palms as I take a steadying breath. Hoping my face is as pleading as I feel right now.
“For my entire life, since I started any kind of school, that’s what my focus has been on.
I put my entire existence into getting the best grades and being the smartest kid in any class I was in,” I explain meticulously, my voice wobbling as the nerves threaten to strangle me.
“That was the most important thing to me, but it’s not anymore.
There are amazing schools everywhere. Jobs are everywhere.
I don’t care about that. You are not everywhere.
There’s only one you, and I want to be where she is. All the time.”
Maeve’s chin trembles are her eyes water, her lip quivering as she sniffles quietly. I catch some stray tears that slide down her cheeks with my thumbs.
“All of the other stuff isn’t going to matter to me if you’re not there,” I continue. “They’re just…added bonuses. You are my only focus.”
“But what if you end up resenting me because—”
“No,” I say, cutting her off, shaking my head down at her as I do. “No. I will not resent you. If I don’t end up with you, Maeve, I’ll only resent myself. I’ll hate myself for losing you.”
“Clark,” she whispers.
“I l-love you,” I rasp, “I’m so in love with you, pretty girl.”
Her eyes close at the nickname, more tears streaming down her cheeks. When she opens them again, a slow smile lifts the corners of her mouth.
“I’m in love with you, Tatum, and I… I have to be honest. I got accepted into two medical schools…” she pauses, gauging my reaction, “and I took the one closest to you.”
The sun is almost completely set now, the moon peeking out just faintly and casting everything in that dusky haze. Big brown watery eyes, pink cheeks, and freckles… This version of her is painted on my heart forever. In my brain, forever. My sweet girl.
And then she’s hugging me again, and it only solidifies my choice.
I would follow her to the ends of the earth.