Epilogue
The Thursday before homecoming, Landon decided it was time to introduce Lacey to Mom and Dad.
She was going to swing by here before they went to one of the pre-homecoming parties a guy from the team was throwing.
Landon came home after practice and showered, dressing in a shirt that was way too formal for the occasion, and paced around his room until it was time for Lacey to show.
Even from my bedroom, I could hear his footfalls wearing a path in his carpet, and I gave up trying to sew the hemline on one of my skirts and went next door.
“Landon,” I said as I stepped into the doorway, and sure enough, the boy was standing in the middle of his room. He had his hands cupped in front of him, lost in thought until I interrupted. “Take a chill pill.”
“I shouldn’t be so nervous,” he said with a slight chuckle. “It’s not a big deal.”
I arched an eyebrow. “The girlfriend meeting the parents isn’t a big deal?”
Landon swallowed hard. “It is a big deal, isn’t it? It’s a big deal. Especially for Mom and Dad. Especially since Mom’s been wanting me to date Madison my entire life.”
“Hey, I’ll be here as a buffer to curb any Madison conversation,” I told him, leaning my elbow against the doorway. “But I don’t think Mom will bring her up. From what she’s told me, she’s excited to meet Lacey.”
This was Mom practicing with Landon what she was learning with me—letting him make his choices.
I had thought she seemed disappointed about Landon having a girlfriend who wasn’t Madison the other day, but when she got home from work, the first thing she asked me to help her with was tidying up the kitchen.
“I want to make a good first impression,” she’d said.
And it was also the same time she told me she’d made the appointment for the DMV—next Monday, four o’clock. I smiled even now, thinking about the way everything worked out.
I looked at my brother now, whose thoughts were still obviously running a mile a minute, judging by the fact that his eyes never settled on any one place for long. “Don’t be nervous.”
Landon drew in a breath and held it.
“And breathe,” I reminded him.
It was just as he let out a harsh breath that there was a knock at the front door, causing both of us to react. Mom must’ve been waiting close by the door, because her voice came only a few seconds after the knock, warm and happy. “You must be Lacey.”
“Go greet your girlfriend,” I told Landon, stepping out of the way for him to barrel through his bedroom door. I followed closely behind him, stepping into the living room and hanging back, assessing the scene.
Mom was shutting the door behind Lacey, who stood just over the threshold.
She had her brown and blonde hair pulled up by a claw clip with a few strands framing her face, and she had on a pink sweater and jeans.
Her lips were painted red just like they’d been that day I met her in the hallway, and they were pulled into a wide smile.
She looked up at Landon as he approached, and if possible, her grin stretched wider. “Hi.”
Landon reacted immediately by reaching for her hand, pulling her closer.
“Hi,” he returned, and the quality of his voice almost made me laugh.
Gone were the nerves and the anxiety—the way he spoke to Lacey was soft and gentle, in such a way I’d never heard from him before.
Smitten, I thought with a small grin of my own, biting my lip to keep it to myself. Totally smitten.
Landon went through the introductions of Mom, who stood beside them eagerly, and Dad, who hovered in the doorway of the kitchen, before he turned to me. “This is Gemma,” he said, gesturing toward me. “I think—you’ve met her before, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “She helped me out during the whole situation in the hallway with Morgan.”
“It’s nice to properly meet you,” she told me, her voice light. She reached up and rubbed her hand affectionately along Landon’s arm. “Landon’s sister and Hudson’s girlfriend. I knew you had to be pretty great.”
Despite vouching for Hudson a few days ago, Mom still reacted to his name, blinking. “You know Hudson?”
“He’s my cousin,” Lacey replied. “On my mom’s side.
It’s funny, because we don’t have the same last name, but they’re both church-related.
Hudson Bishop, Lacey Churchill. Talk about ironic.
Speaking of.” Lacey turned toward me. “He’s actually waiting outside, if you wanted to go say hi. He’s on his way to Tee’s.”
“Can I go with him?” I asked Mom, pouring as much pleading into the puppy-dog gaze I gave her as I could, even going as far as batting my eyelashes. “I’ll be home by eight, I promise.”
The look Landon gave me was pure betrayal, and it was after the fact that I remembered I’d promised to play buffer.
But he had to realize he had nothing to worry about.
The way Mom reacted toward Lacey should’ve clued him into the fact that all of his nerves had been for nothing—it was clear that Mom was already drawn in.
“Take your phone,” she told me, but she couldn’t keep all the uneasiness from her expression, even though it was clear she tried. “And text me when you get there, okay?”
“I will,” I told her, and then rushed to shove my feet into my sneakers. When I got close enough, I placed a hand on Lacey’s shoulder. “It was really nice to meet you. Hopefully we can chat again soon sometime?”
“Definitely,” she agreed. “We can secret swap about the boys.”
Landon sucked in a breath. “Totally not necessary—”
“Deal,” I cut him off, quickly waving at Mom and Dad as I opened the door.
Even as I shut the door behind me, I could hear Mom’s voice carry through the crack, as chipper as could be. “Well, come in, come in! Are you hungry? I made a few sandwiches…”
And then I shut the door, whirling around to find a blue van parked at the curb, a boy sitting patiently behind the wheel.
It was the same van Hudson had shown up in Tuesday night, but in the daylight, the blue paint on the metal was much prettier.
He was still wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing this morning at school—the cotton candy sweatshirt with his glasses firmly in place on his nose—and he tilted his head when he saw me, happy expression crossing his features.
The sight of it had my bones feeling two sizes too big for my body, and I crossed the distance between the house and the van quickly.
“News travels fast, huh?” I asked him as I hauled the door open, raising my eyebrows expectantly at him.
“You already told your cousin that I was your girlfriend when we just made up this morning?”
“We never officially broke up,” he pointed out.
“We never officially said we were together, either.”
It was Hudson’s turn to raise his eyebrows at me. “Oh, so you just go around kissing anyone?”
That startled a laugh out of me, one that made Hudson join in.
The van was a bit higher than the average car, and I had to hop a little to get into the seat.
There was an air freshener clipped to one of the air vents, radiating the clean Fresh Car Smell scent.
“Is this it, then?” I asked him, turning around to peer at the backseat.
“The van you and your cousin are fixing up?”
Except it wasn’t the fixer-upper I’d been expecting.
It almost looked fully completed. They’d converted it into a little living quarter, with a small platform bed built in the half where the back doors opened.
A yellow sunflower comforter was draped over the bed, with two yellow pillows popping in the space.
Since the bed was made, I could see the storage underneath.
On one side of the van was a small counter with a mini fridge and even a sink, and the other had a wooden piece hanging from the wall, like it popped out and formed a table.
“It’s really, really close to its final form,” Hudson said, turning to peer at the space along with me. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Does that faucet actually work?”
“Yeah, there’s a small water tank underneath the sink.
The mini fridge is powered by a battery, too.
It’s kind of crazy everything Lacey’s tricked out in this thing.
She really thought it through.” Even though his words were positive, a strange note clung to them, almost like the sight of the van unnerved him a bit.
He quickly shook it off, smiling at me. “Makes quite the vehicle to travel around in.”
“Is this hers, then?”
“Yep. Or, it will be. It’s technically a graduation-slash-birthday present.”
I still didn’t think that the van life was for me, but I could appreciate it for Lacey.
I had to admit, something about her seemed to fit that sort of free lifestyle.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to really talk to her yet, but from what I’d seen of her so far, she seemed bubbly, brave, and badass.
I was glad Landon was dating a girl like her, especially since it meant I’d be able to get to know her more.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Wait, you’re driving her graduation present?”
“It’s just a loan.” Hudson propped his elbow on the steering wheel and peered at me, and I could’ve closed my eyes to bask in the warmth on his face. There wasn’t a trace of the Grim Reaper mask he’d been wearing, no flatness, no malice. Just him. “I was right, you know.”
“About what?”
Hudson reached out and coasted the palm of his hand down the back of my head, gently caressing until he came to the ends of my hair. “Long hair or short, you are still pretty. Still beautiful.”
The words woke up the butterflies in my stomach, and I had to turn my head away so he didn’t get to see my blushing cheeks full-on.
He must’ve caught enough of a glimpse, though, because he laughed. “Did I get lucky and I get to bring you with me to Tee’s?”
I fell into the passenger seat and clicked my seatbelt into place, turning to look at him. “As long as we’re not watching Evil Killer Babies 2 or something.”
“Or playing zombie games. Even though I’m sure Simon will try to convince you.”
“You’d have to show me the controls again.” I thought of the way his hand curved around mine when he’d shown me the first time, and I could remember the exact feeling that’d surfaced then, too.
Hudson must’ve been thinking the same thing. “You just want to hold my hand, don’t you?”
“No,” I said, letting my gaze roam over his face. “I just want to do this.” And I leaned across the middle console and kissed him.
Hudson’s lips immediately curved underneath mine, and the little smile that I kissed caused my heart to thump harder in my chest. The seatbelt cut into my neck, but I didn’t care, pressing as close as I possibly could in the small cab.
Hudson laid his hand on the side of my neck, his cool hand pressing against my hot skin.
The entire world faded out except for the two of us, our pulses racing, our lips pressed together in the world’s most perfect moment.
When we broke apart, Hudson leaned up and pressed one last kiss against my forehead, the tender touch causing my eyes to slip closed. “I think you’re pretty great, Gemma with a G.”
“And I think you’re pretty perfect, Hudson with an H.”
The boyish smile on his face was one I’d think about for the rest of my life. Lopsided, but miles away from the smirk he used to give as the Grim Reaper. This was Hudson with no guard up, no barbed wire keeping people out, and he was beautiful.
I cleared my throat as he started the car up, willing my cheeks to cool down. “But seriously, you’ll have to show me the controls again if I play that game.”
Hudson put the car into gear before looking at me once more. “If you wanted to hold my hand,” he said, reaching over, winding his fingers through mine where they rested on my leg, “you should’ve just asked.”
I held Hudson’s hand between both of mine as we made the journey to Tee’s, excited to see them again, and excited that it was with permission this time.
When I’d met them all for the first time, disappointment had been so heavy at the thought of never getting to this moment.
Of being able to go to a friend’s house without having to sneak out, of getting to sit beside Hudson without any negativity hanging over us.
It wasn’t rebellious to be beside him anymore, but I still felt electric with the excitement of it.
Of finding my own friends, of finding myself, of finally getting to call Hudson Bishop something other than the Grim Reaper and Bridge Boy.
I finally got to call him mine.
Thank you so much for reading!