Epilogue
Luke
It’s been a week since Harper and I have gotten back from Iceland, and I think we’re both surprised by how seamlessly we’ve been able to become a couple.
It’s not that different from being friends.
We see each other every day and make the same jokes, but now when we’re together, Harper leans into me, or I brush a kiss across her cheeks.
Ava pretended to be grossed out by the public display of affection when she spent the first day with us together, but according to Harper, she was absolutely giddy over the fact that she was right.
Apparently, Ava spent the past year teasing Harper about dating me, which seems eerily similar to my situation with Wes. Wes, however, has yet to find out about Harper and me.
“He doesn’t know?” Harper’s eyes go wide. We’ve been hanging out at my apartment as our go-to spot, since Harper shares a place with Ava.
“It’s not like I’ve tried to keep it a secret. I just haven’t seen him since we got back,” I shrug. “He’s coming over tonight, so I figured we’d tell him together. He’ll be more amused that way.”
“You’re telling him tonight?” Her eyes spark like she’s just gotten an idea.
I don’t know what she has in mind, but I suspect that I’ll like it. “What?”
Her smile broadens. “What if I’m not here when he gets here?”
I cock an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“I’ll hide in your room when he gets here, and you tell him that I saw your text. You can even tell him I set you up on a date with a random stranger because I didn’t feel that way about you. You wouldn’t even have to lie.” She gives me a mischievous grin.
“You want to make the poor man suffer?” I ask, but I’m smiling right along with her.
“He did make the majority of our trip to Iceland very awkward.”
I nod, agreeing. I wonder if I ever would have done anything to admit my feelings to Harper if it weren’t for Wes’s text.
If Harper hadn’t read the text from Wes, she wouldn’t have made me go out with Cassie.
We would have had a trip just the two of us.
I never had any plans to tell Harper how I felt, but I do wonder how spending the week just the two of us might have changed things.
There’s a knock at the door, and Harper raises her eyebrows, asking me where she should go. I motion to my room, and she runs off, a little too excited for what we are about to put Wes through.
I make my way to the door, trying to summon acting skills I’m not sure I possess.
Harper saw the text. She didn’t feel the same way. Our friendship is ruined.
I put on my best somber face and open the door.
“Hey.” I keep my voice low. Luckily for Harper, I haven’t been texting Wes much, so this is the first time we’ve had the time to catch up since I got back.
“How was Iceland?” Wes looks excited until he takes in my face, and his smile disappears. “You okay?”
Wes steps in, and I close the door behind him, moving to my couch, putting my head in my hands. I need to hide my face because I know I’m not a good enough actor to pull this off. I can already feel a smile threatening to break through.
“Harper read the text you sent me about telling her how I feel,” I mumble into my hands.
Wes is quiet next to me. I let myself sit in the possibility that Harper did read that text and instead of eventually realizing she felt the same way, she ended our friendship. The concept feels wrong now. Impossible in every way.
“She doesn’t . . .” Wes stammers, trying to figure out what to say next. I feel the couch shift next to me. “She doesn’t feel the same way then?”
I lift my face just enough to look at him as he sits next to me. There’s worry etched across his face.
“No.” I straighten. I can feel my face go red, because I can so clearly recall when I thought I’d lost Harper.
All I can picture is Harper walking down the streets of Reykjavik, hands in her pockets, refusing to look at me.
Singing her that song crossed a line and forever changed our friendship.
And I didn’t know if that change was good or bad yet.
“But . . . how?” Wes seems genuinely confused.
I shake my head, looking down to hide my face.
I always thought Wes’s teasing was just that—teasing. I assumed he only did it because he believed a guy and girl could never be just friends.
“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know she’d see the text. But I really thought she felt the same way. I mean, you guys are basically already a couple. Or at least, you were?” He lets the question hang in the air like he’s hoping I’ll speak up and correct him.
I glance over to the door of my room, wondering how far we should take this. When I don’t say anything, Wes keeps talking.
“Are you sure? I mean, I’ve seen the way that girl looks at you. And it’s not normal friendship-level stuff. I mean, you don’t look at me like that.”
“What do you mean?” This time it’s a genuine question.
He shrugs. “I don’t know, Harper just seems happier when she’s around you. And she looks at you the same way you look at her. Like you two worship each other or something.”
“Like we love each other, you mean?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m sorry, man. What happened? Is she not talking to you now?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” I keep my face straight.
He blinks. The only interactions he’s had with Harper are because of me. The two are familiar enough with each other, but I don’t think they’ve ever had a conversation without me in the room.
I hear my bedroom door crack open and both of us look over to see Harper step out into the living area. She gives an awkward wave.
Wes looks from Harper back to me, trying to piece it all together.
“Dude, help me out here,” he finally says when he notices the smiles on our faces.
“I read the text message,” Harper says. “And I set him up on a date so he could get over me.”
Wes’s eyebrows are stitched together. He’s still not understanding why Harper and I are smiling.
“Except instead of helping me move on, it just helped Harper get jealous from seeing me with another girl,” I say.
Harper pouts. “Well, you don’t have to put it that way.”
I turn to Wes. “She went out with some British guy to try to get over me.”
“I did not!” Harper’s voice gets a little louder. She moves to stand in front of me and Wes, hands on her hips.
Wes is still looking from me to Harper, only getting more confused.
“Someone just get to the punch line already,” he says.
“We’re together now,” I tell him, but my words don’t do much to dismiss the look of confusion.
“After lots and lots of misunderstandings, we ended up learning that we both feel exactly the same way about each other,” Harper adds.
“Which is—you love each other, right?” Wes asks.
I glance at Harper. We haven’t said the words out loud yet, but I know for me at least, that’s exactly how I feel. I’ve known it for years, and the feeling has only grown over time, even before I knew it was romantic love.
“Yes,” I say, my eyes on Harper as I say the word. Her face goes red, but her gaze doesn’t leave mine.
“Oh. Thank. God!” He exaggerates each word.
His relief that he didn’t ruin our friendship is so significant that he misses the sappy eyes Harper and I are giving each other.
“I mean, I’m sorry the text message made things awkward at first, but you both should really be thanking me for getting you two to get over yourselves and admit your feelings. ”
He gets up from the couch, walking off the emotional whiplash.
Harper comes to sit beside me and takes my hand in hers.
“You love me?” she asks, her voice so brave that I know she already has the answer. She just wants to hear me say it out loud.
“For years,” I say quietly. The smile that I get in return lights up the room.
She looks down at our hands and then back at me. “I love you too.”
I kiss her the same way I have for the past week, but I still can’t get over the fact that I get to call her mine—that we’ve known each other our entire lives and are only now getting this new beginning.
“Hey you two!” Wes says, breaking us from our kiss. “We get it. You love each other. In fact, it’s possible the rest of the world knew it before you did. Now, stop mackin’ on each other and tell me about your trip.” He thinks about it for a moment. “Without all the kissing parts, please.”
In so many ways, this night is like any other night, with all of us hanging out and talking. But I get to hold Harper, keep her heart close, and kiss her goodnight. In so many ways, it feels like this is what I’d been waiting for my entire life.