Epilogue 1
Charlie
Six months later
“Marisa’s moving back to the city.”
I glance up from where I’m filling two mugs with coffee, finding Dillon staring down at his phone, wide-eyed. “What?”
He glances up, his brow furrowed. “Jack. He said Marisa messaged this morning, telling him she will be here in a month. She’s got another job at the hospital, and she asked if she could stay with him until she found a place.”
My eyes widen comically. “She wants to stay with Jack?”
Dillon’s mouth curves. “I can see why you’d think that’s the most shocking part. I wouldn’t want to live with him either. It’d be as bad as living with Barrett.”
I snort. “Worse, actually.”
Jack and I are mostly fine these days. I don’t think I’ll ever actually be friends with him…At least, not in the same way Barrett and Dillon have become friends—even if their love language is sniping at each other.
About a month after Dillon and I decided to give things another chance, Jack apologized to me, but he seemed to sense my reticence. He and Dillon are still friends, and he always gave me space when we hang out, which I appreciate.
“How do you feel about it?” I ask Dillon, coming to his side and setting his drink down. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, his thumb stroking the skin of my upper arm, considering my question.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. It doesn’t really feel like we’re friends anymore,” he confesses, looking at me. “What about you? I know we’ve talked about it in our couple sessions, but we didn’t really consider the possibility of her coming back.”
We’ve spent the last six months learning to trust each other, as well as accepting friendships with people we’ve been intimate with in the past. While Alec and I aren’t particularly close, he’s become a permanent fixture in our lives.
But Marisa…
I was semi-friendly with her before she left, enough to extract her from that party when she felt like she had no one else. We also weren’t together then, and it didn’t seem like there was any way forward for us.
Now, my first instinct is to minimize my reaction, to diminish how I’m feeling and bury it down deep. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that locking all those feelings down, negative or otherwise, doesn’t help anyone.
“I trust you,” I murmur. “And I know you’ve been honest with me about your history. I’m kind of terrified that her being back will bring every doubt and insecurity I have roaring up to the surface. I know those thoughts aren’t just going to go away. And it’s not actually about Marisa. Not really.”
Dillon turns, his palms cupping my face. “You’re perfect the way you are, Charlie. And one day, that voice in your head, the one that belongs to your mother, is gonna be so quiet that you won’t hear it anymore. Not even a whisper.”
He presses his mouth to mine in the gentlest kiss, but it’s not enough for me, and I deepen it, tangling my hands in his hair and tugging him closer. I feel his lips kick up in a smile, but he gives as good as he gets, dropping his hands down to smooth them over my curves.
“Thought we had plans today,” he pulls back enough to murmur, his lips swollen and wet.
“We do,” I agree, leaning forward, stealing another kiss.
“Come on, then.” Dillon grabs my ass, letting out a rough groan. “If we don’t go now, we’ll never leave. And I love our Saturday mornings.”
He wasn’t wrong. After we decided to try again, our first “date” was a walk through our usual market, the salty breeze ruffling our hair.
His hand clutched at mine the entire time until our palms were sweaty and my fingers had cramped.
Dillon didn’t let me go, not even when I bought a chocolate-covered pretzel, just leaning over so he could keep stealing bites.
It’s midmorning by the time we finish our coffees and make it to the market. It’s busy today, and Dillon immediately entangles our fingers as we weave through the crowd.
“You hungry?” he asks after a while, eyeing the food trucks.
I look in that direction before shaking my head. “Not yet. I actually kind of wanted to find a new mug or two.”
There’s the slightest pause. “For my place? Or yours?”
I don’t look at him as he squeezes my hand so tightly that my fingers ache. “I was thinking…” I say slowly, “maybe our place?”
Dillon stops walking, yanking on my arm to pull me around to face him. “You serious?”
“Well…” My cheeks heat at the intensity of his eyes. “It’s been six months, and I was thinking that it might be nice to start looking around. We could find something a little bigger than your apartment, and something that’s ours. Right from the start.”
His throat bobs on a rough swallow. “I’d love to do that,” he says huskily, and my smile widens.
“You mean it?”
Dillon wraps an arm around my neck, tugging me into his body. “Fuck yes,” he breathes against the top of my head. “I know you haven’t been exactly happy living with Kayla, but I wasn’t going to push. Not until I knew you were ready.”
He’s not wrong. The dissent between me and my parents means that tension has spilled over into my relationship with my cousin, who is firmly in the camp of, “It’s been six months, and you’re with Dillon. Don’t you think it’s time to let it go? Seriously, Charlie. I’m sick of listening to it.”
It is interesting that she seems to have decided to blame me for not giving in to them, instead of expecting them to stop their horrible behavior. With the space I’ve had this last year, I’ve learned that without my parents in my life, I have peace.
Hard-earned peace, and I’m not about to risk it by cracking open a door and letting my mother’s bitterness poison the happiness I’ve found. Even to appease Kayla.
In fact, I thought it was shitty of her to ask, honestly.
Dillon pulls away from me, his eyes shining with excitement and…nerves?
I eye him with bemusement, and he looks away, pointing at a stall up ahead of us. “Hey, there are some owls over there. You’re probably due for a new one, huh?”
Distracted, I look over, a smile tugging at my lips. “I haven’t bought one since I moved out, actually,” I admit quietly. “And my other ones are still all packed in a box. It didn’t feel right to put them out in a place that wasn’t home.”
Dillon looks horrified. “They’ve been in a box for over a year? Charlie, those poor animals.”
I shoot him a look, saying dryly, “Don’t worry, I put holes in the lid.”
He shakes his head. “Not such a great owl mama,” he murmurs. “We definitely need to find a home sooner rather than later, then.” He pauses, looking thoughtful. “I actually saw an owl last week that I know you’ll love. Maybe it’s time to start fresh. Buy a new one.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Or I could wait until we find a place. I don’t want to buy an owl just to put it in the box until we move.”
“Or it could stay with me,” he suggests. “Right next to my photo on our nightstand.”
“I don’t know,” I hesitate, and I don’t even know why. Just that it feels a little like bad luck to buy a new owl when we’re not actually living together yet, like I’m jinxing us or something.
“Tell you what,” Dillon tells me, giving me the gentlest smile. “I’ll buy it. It’ll be my owl, but when we do move, I’ll let you choose where it lives.”
Before I can argue, he’s gone, striding up ahead to the stall where I usually get all my ceramic owls from. He’s back within minutes, a paper bag in his hand that he holds out for me with a bright grin.
“Take a look.”
I let out a dramatic sigh, but pull it out without further protest, pulling off the tissue paper wrapped around it.
I gasp as it appears, hand-painted in soft pastel watercolors.
I lift it up to inspect it, already knowing it’s going to be my favorite—although it’s not technically mine. As I shift it around, it rattles.
“What…?” I frown, looking at his blank expression with suspicion.
I twist the owl upside down, finding a false bottom underneath. I pry the seal out, and something shiny falls into my palm.
I look at Dillon, but he’s dropped down to one knee in front of me, his eyes locked on mine, bright with emotion.
“Dillon?” I breathe out. I’m vaguely aware of people stopping around us, watching what’s happening. I’m struggling to process it until I open my fingers, staring down at the beautiful diamond ring sitting in the middle of my palm.
He reaches up, taking the ring from me and holding it up in his fingers.
“Charlie,” he starts softly, his voice wavering, “I never thought that we’d end up here like this.
I never thought this ring would ever see the light of day.
Instead, I believed its fate was to live amongst my socks, a constant reminder of just how badly I screwed everything up. ”
Dillon bows his head like he’s gathering his thoughts, his words, but then he’s looking back at me, eyes wet.
“I’ll never be able to thank you for coming back to me that day, for choosing to give me another chance when you were so out of them.
You are the strongest, kindest person I’ve ever met, and you make my life better just being in it. ”
A wind sweeps through the market, and the icy touch against my cheeks makes me realize that tears have slipped from my eyes.
The owl is still clutched in one hand, the tissue paper and bag lying forgotten on the ground by his knee.
I can’t look away, my breath stuttering in my throat.
My pulse points all thump wildly as Dillon reaches up to take my left hand.
He slides the ring onto my finger, the diamond glittering brilliantly in the sunlight.
“I’ll spend an eternity proving what you mean to me, Angel.
I’ll spend even longer making up for what I did.
I want to start us off right, giving you the promises you always deserved…
forever.” He sucks in a deep breath and then lets it out, closing his eyes for a single second and then locking them back with mine.
“Will you marry me?”
A sob bursts out of me, right as the tears turn into a waterfall, pouring down my cheeks.
The words feel like they’re trapped in my chest, but I don’t need them, jerking my chin up and down.
There’s a loud cry from around us, strangers applauding, and then Dillon’s surging to his feet, sweeping me into his arms.
“I love you, Angel,” he whispers, pressing kiss after kiss to my lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
I wrap my arms around his neck as I tell him, voice choked, “I love you, too, Dillon, and I can’t wait to spend forever with you.”