“I will?” I asked, laying my cheek on his chest and hearing the rhythmic thump of his heart beneath me. It was sure and steady, just like him. And it loved me completely.
“You will. Because you’ll miss me too.” Flynn kissed the top of my head and then we were quiet. And just like always the silence said everything that words couldn’t.
I was determined that my fate would bring me back to him.
There was no other option.
As Flynn held me, my tears dried up, my grief subsided and I was left with only joy.
And when the time came for me to leave, I was no longer broken.
I was whole.
Epilogue
-Ellie-
Many years later…
I left Wellsburg, West Virginia. My car loaded with the few worldly items I possessed. It wasn’t much. A few clothes. My old tattered suitcase.
And Flynn’s sculptures.
I drove to Maryland and started school. My future dawning bright and full.
I was scared.
I was nervous.
I doubted myself every day.
But Flynn never let me give up.
He gave me the strength to keep on going.
So I stayed in Maryland.
And he stayed in West Virginia.
We were separated by miles but had never been closer.
People who shared a connection like ours were never that far apart.
We missed each other every second.
Until the day came and we didn’t have to miss each other any more.
Because I went back to Wellsburg and found him again, just as he knew I would.
And then our story truly began…
THE BEGINNING…