Bonus Chapter
‘About You’
— The 1975
Scott
“Do you know why I brought you here?” I ask her, looking down at the beautiful pink dress she’s wearing.
I told her to dress nicely, but she exceeded nice.
She looks extravagant, like a priceless masterpiece that could have its own museum exhibition.
I brought her to a private rooftop dinner, overlooking the city.
“No, I don’t,” she replies, biting the inside of her cheek. She picks up her glass of water, taking a sip.
“I know we haven’t been together for that long, but there’s something I need to tell you,” I explain, giving her a huge smile.
“What is it, Scotty?” she asks.
I pull out a small velvet box from my pocket, and I watch her eyes widen.
“This isn’t an engagement ring,” I explain, seeing the panic drain from her eyes. Neither of us are ready for an engagement, but this means so much more than that.
“I can’t promise life will always be easy. I can’t promise we won’t argue. But I can promise I’ll never walk away without fighting for us. This is a promise to you.”
I open the box, revealing a heart-shaped diamond ring.
I slide it onto her freshly manicured finger, then look back up to see her face.
She runs her thumb over the tiny heart, staring at it like she’s afraid it’ll disappear.
“You’re serious?” she asks. I see the tears welling up in her eyes.
We have only been together for eight months. It all feels so sudden, but oh, so right.
“I’m so serious, Butterfly,” I tell her, giving her a huge smile. I lean over the table and kiss her.
“I love you, Scotty,” she tells me, giving me the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. I just wish I could frame it and put it on my ceiling so it could be the last thing I saw before I fell asleep every night.
“I love you, Butterfly.”
As we arrive back at our penthouse, I stop in front of the door, blocking the entrance so she can’t pass me.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Before we go inside, be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For you to be the happiest girl in the world.” I smile at her.
I open the door, immediately being greeted by a puppy, but not just any puppy. A golden retriever puppy.
I watch her eyes light up, and she gasps.
“Oh my god!” she squeals, rushing over to the dog. The puppy sniffs her for a second before he begins licking her all over.
“It’s a boy, you can name him. I had Maggie drop him off right before we got home.” I explain.
“He’s perfect,” she whispers. “I’ll name him Weston.”
She turns to me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
“I love you!” she says.
“I love you more.”
Every story has an ending. Ours just happened to be the beginning.
We rewrote the pages she published, the ones that we thought were set in stone—but they weren’t.
Love was stronger than years of guilt, heartbreak, and longing, and somehow, we still found our way back to each other.
This is the future I dreamed about for so long.
Maybe all this time, we were never lost.
But now there is no distance, no fear, no almost. There is only us. No longer In Between.
Letter from the author
Wow. I’m sitting here crying because I finished my first novel on a random Thursday at 4:20 pm.
This has been my biggest dream since the first grade.
My parents always thought I would be a great author.
My dad told me the strongest part of my writing was my dialogue.
My book could be better. It’s not perfect.
We all start somewhere. As the Forever, Maybe series continues, my writing will grow stronger.
I hope you fell in love with my characters as much as I love them.
The creation of this book started on January 5th, 2026.
I wrote 5-10 pages a day. It was hard multitasking, writing a book on top of my schoolwork.
My strong suit in school has always been English.
I passed English with a 100% in the last trimester before school was over.
I wish this story could go on forever, but every story has an end.
I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
With love,
—Madilyn Schuman