Epilogue
EPILOGUE
PENELOPE
One Year Later
I cram my suitcase with the last of my clothes I plan on bringing with me. I don’t know how I accumulated so much in the last year, but I apparently ordered a lot online. Most of my winter clothes can stay here, so at least I have that going for me. But let’s be honest, I wear flip-flops in a snowstorm, I don’t exactly have a ton of winter clothes. Besides, whatever I had is from high school. But most of that is at my parents’ house.
“I don’t think sitting on your suitcase is the best way to close it.”
I look up at Nick and stick my tongue out at him. “I can’t get it to shut.”
“Then pack less,” he says with a grin.
I roll my eyes. “You try to pack less when you’re going on a three-month trip.”
He walks over to me and pulls me up off the ground, wrapping his arms around me. “Baby, I did pack for a three-month trip and managed to fit everything just fine into one suitcase.” He looks around the room. “You have three.”
I stomp my feet on the ground. “Well, I need to look cute for photos.”
He brushes a piece of hair behind my ear. “You always look gorgeous.”
A blush goes to my cheeks. Even after a year with this man, he still makes me blush with his compliments.
“How many suitcases did you take last time?”
I pout because he knows the answer, we went over this all when we were planning the trip. “One.”
He pats me on the cheek. “Then I suggest repacking. I’m not dragging your luggage all over Africa and Asia.”
He has a point. I can probably downsize quite a bit. Not to mention I need room for anything I purchase.
“And hurry up. The storm is coming in faster than expected, and I want to make sure we get on the road to Denver before the snow starts falling too hard.”
“How much time do I have?”
“An hour. So make it quick.” He brushes his lips against mine and then slaps my ass. Hard.
I yelp. But then clench my thighs together. I found out a lot over the last year, and I really like when he slaps me. I actually really like a lot of the things he does to me.
I unzip the suitcase I worked so hard at getting closed and take everything out of it and get to work. I did this before. I can do this again.
An hour later I am wheeling my one suitcase out into the living room. “I did it.”
Nick is packing up all our passports and documents we need into his backpack. He looks over at me. “I knew you could.”
“Are you excited I ask him?”
He smiles at me. “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Well, you shouldn’t have chosen dare.”
I laugh as I think about that summer night we were playing truth or dare in front of the firepit. It was just the two of us, and he dared me to move in with him. I was so shocked I think my jaw hit the floor. Of course, I said yes.
So I tried to one up him and dared him to leave Ouray with me and go on an adventure. He was hesitant, but I promised him we would wait until his dad passed and then he agreed.
His dad’s health started declining not too long after Christmas last year. Nick did what he could for him, but his dad never thanked him for any of it. I was there for Nick the whole time, comforting him when his dad would emotionally abuse him. It was rough for a few months during the summer, but then his dad magically changed around September and became an entirely different person. He showed gratitude and thanks to Nick for dropping his entire life to spend the last three years with him. Nick cried for hours the night his dad said that. A week later he passed away.
I then got to planning our epic trip. I thought it would help Nick with his grief and knew it would help me with my sorrow of giving up on my dreams. I worked two jobs to pay off my debts and save up as much as I could for this trip. But I also found a job as a freelance travel blogger, thanks to Nick who knew a friend of a friend. It should help pay for part of the trip as we go.
“Is Pen in the Wild ready to relaunch her career?” Nick asks me as he walks over to me.
I nod. “More than ready.”
“This is a big step for us.”
“I think moving in together was a big step.”
He scoffs. “That was easy. Finding someone to travel with is hard.”
“Well luckily you’re traveling with a pro.”
He laughs. “Hopefully you can handle the way I travel.”
I smirk at him. “Type A traveling with type B, please, it’s going to be a nightmare. But I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”
He pulls me into him and kisses me in a way that makes my toes curl and makes me want to delay our trip by an hour.
When he pulls away, I grab my phone from my back pocket and pull him close to snag a selfie. I quickly edit it with some presets on my phone and post it to the gram with a caption that reads, ‘Travel Mode Activated. Pen’s ready for the wild again!’
Nick brings our suitcases out to the rental car he picked up in Montrose yesterday while I mess around with my socials.
I can’t believe this is really happening. That we are setting out to see the world. And I am doing it with my childhood crush who is now the love of my life.
“Ready to go, babe?”
I look around our house to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Our house. It’s still so weird for me to think of it this way. We decided not to sell it and use it as a home base. Nick said he missed New York but has never felt more at home than being in Ouray with me.
I grab my backpack off the couch and turn off the lights. “So ready.”
As we pull out onto the highway, it hits me that this is really happening. We said goodbye to my family yesterday. Mom and Dad were so sad to see me leave. Even though I’ve been living with Nick the last six months, I think they really liked having me home. Wes was beyond excited for us to take this trip. Not just because I needed to get back to doing what I love but because he thought it was what Nick needed for his soul.
We planned our trip to leave the day after Christmas, one year to the date we felt like our lives got a reset. I just call those days leading up to Christmas last year our prologue. Chapter one started when we were allowed to be together.
It also hits me that we have a six-hour drive to Denver. We are staying overnight at a hotel then headed on an early seven a.m. flight to Cape Town.
“We have a long drive ahead of us,” Nick tells me.
“It won’t be as long as the flight.”
“That’s true, but at least I can sleep on the plane.”
I tap my finger against my lip. “Oh, I know, we can play a game!”
He looks over at me with a raised brow. “We cannot play truth or dare in the car.”
“Oh, come on, you can get creative.”
He shakes his head at me. “Not happening, babe.”
I pout, but he reaches over and squeezes my thigh then plants a kiss on my cheek. Happiness I never thought was possible soars through every cell in my body.
I am so ready for my next adventure. And I am so happy it’s with Nick.
The End