Epilogue

The Wedding

I held the picture in one hand and my dad's arm in the other, looking straight ahead. I stared at August waiting at the end of the aisle.

And in his hands, he held a picture of his mom and him.

Both of us, both of our losses, both of our broken pieces, were getting put back together, through us and our love. But also through two incredible women in our lives who actually saw it.

They didn't look up at the sky and claim it was falling.

They looked up in amazement and said, "Wow, how beautiful."

Even in the darkness and the chaos, they saw the one small part that made the world worth saving, worth living in, worth loving.

I walked with my dad and felt like sprinting toward August. We'd had a rough start, a weird middle, and so much laughter that it made my stomach hurt.

We'd have hard times.

We'd have good times.

We'd have disasters.

Wins.

And we'd have each other.

Being with someone who challenged you, who made you question, who made you wonder if it was worth the risk—it was a hazard.

But in the end, love truly did fix it all in the most beautifully messy way.

I didn't remember a lot of the ceremony until I handed the picture over to my dad and wrapped my arms around August. "Wanna fight?"

He burst out laughing. "Hazel, I've been fighting you since the minute I tried to push you out of that tree."

"I thought you were trying to save me."

"Nah, I was saving myself. Figured if I struck first, I wouldn't fall first."

"And did you?" I asked. "Fall first?"

"First." He kissed me. "Last." He kissed me again. "Forever."

"Forever." I grinned against his mouth.

THE END