Epilogue That Summer

I'm convincedno one loves their job as much as my boyfriend. Even when I was working at my favorite bookstore, I don't think I smiled nearly as much as Wes does whenever I pick him up from his summer job tutoring kids in our old neighborhood. He's been working with them all summer. Some sessions are online, but most are in person. Just watching him interact with children makes my heart ache. And also makes my stomach tingle with the need to have babies with this man. Desperately.

Not only is Wes having a good time, but the kids love him. I've never seen kids so happy after having a two-hour tutoring session. I used to hate tutoring when I was a kid. I would dread it every week because Connor was always the smarter twin. But Wes manages to make all the dull parts of my life scream with color, and I have no doubt that he does the same for them.

The car door barely closes behind me before one of the kids he's been working with all summer runs right up to me.

"Nora!" he screams, stopping in front of me.

"Hi, buddy!" I match his excitement and drop down to a crouch so we're eye level. "Did you have fun with Wes today?"

His cute mouth turns into a frown. "No. He made me learn fractions!"

"Fractions are fun. Aren't they, Wesley?" I ask, looking up at him as he bounces Leo's little sister on his hip. God, I'm never going to get over him with kids. He beams at me as Mia uses her tiny little grabby hands to mess up his hair. He's completely unaffected, like holding the baby is part of the job.

"Fractions are the most fun, Leo. And if you say that again, we'll do them for the rest of the month," he explains. Jesus. I love the bossy side of him even more. I want him to boss me around like that.

I give Wes a thumbs up as if to say, ‘Good job,' and he rolls his eyes at my teasing. I turn back to Leo. "Don't worry. He doesn't mean it. He says that to me all the time. But tell you what?"

His little eyes light up. "What?"

"I always get my way. All you have to do is give him that adorable smile of yours, and he'll crack like a baby," I say, ruffling his hair.

"Awesome! Thanks, Nora," he says, flashing me a smile. His r's still sound like w's and I'll never get over how adorable he sounds when he says my name.

"No problem, little dude," I say, standing back up. Leo grips onto my hand as we start walking back up the front yard. "Are you ready to go, Wessy?"

"You let your girlfriend call you ‘Wessy'" Leo manages to get out through his fit of hysterical kid-giggles.

"Your mom still calls you sugar-plum, so you're not one to talk," Wes says, full-on arguing with a kid. Leo makes an angry grumbling sound, and I have to hold in my laughter as his mom shakes her head. "Besides, that's my future wife we're talking about. She can call me whatever she wants."

"Your wife, huh? Does she know that?" Leo's mom asks, grabbing the baby from Wes as he picks up his bag.

"She does now." Wes's gaze clashes with mine, his cheeks the cutest shade of pink, and I have to keep all my composure not to melt right now. "We'll see you guys next week. It was a pleasure as always."

We exchange goodbyes, and I get a sloppy kiss on my cheek from baby Mia. All of the families Wes gets to work with are so nice and beautiful in their own way. They even treat me like I'm helping with the tutoring when I just come to pick Wes up most days. There's been the odd time where I help out if there's younger kids if the mom is alone. This is the perfect job for Wes, and I'm so lucky to be able to watch him flourish.

He leans over the console when we get in my car, curling his hands in my hair to kiss me. "Hi, baby."

"Hi," I whisper, his lips still against mine. My stomach does a weird dip thing like it does every time, and I pull back. "Good day?"

"Even better now that I've seen you." I laugh as I reverse out of the driveway and get onto the road. He slips his hand comfortably on my thigh like it belongs there.

"You saw me this morning when we woke up," I reply, quickly glancing at him to find him already looking at me.

"I'm a needy man, Nora. I'd spend every minute tethered to you if I could."

"You've got to suck it up because I've got to help Cat move the rest of her stuff in, remember?" He lets out the most dramatic groan at that. "Come on. We've just got the rest of the stuff today, and then we're done."

"You better be," he grumbles, rubbing his thumb against my thigh. "I want to take you out tonight. Just me and you."

"Just me and you," I repeat, my cheeks hurting from how big I'm smiling. "I like the sound of that."

"I'm getting old.I can't do this anymore," I groan, pulling what I hope to be the last box into the house. I don't know when she got all this shit, but it's just made this whole process a lot harder.

"Put your back into it, ladies," Elle calls, easily pulling a box full of books onto Connor and Cat's new bed. I guess all that dancing has given her superhuman strength.

"Can we have a break now? I'm exhausted," I ask, swiping the sweat that's been gathering on my forehead.

Wes must hear me from outside the room because he calls, "Let them have a break, Catherine. I don't want my girl to be tired. We have plans later."

I smirk at the sound of his voice and the frown on Catherine's face. She rolls her eyes, "Fine."

I swear most of the stuff she "always had" materialized a few days ago. As sad as I am to see Cat go, I know how much she's going to enjoy living with my brother. They're always together anyway, so it makes the most sense. Besides, Elle and I have hung out with June a few times since Elle came back from camp, and she's already seeming to fit in with our dynamic. Still, no one will ever replace the Catherine-sized hole in our hearts.

We trudge down the stairs, laughing about how much more we still have to do before we meet the boys out in the backyard. Wes is sitting on the grass, playing with Jarvis. Connor and Archer are at the table, enjoying the summer sun. Cat slips into Connor's lap, and Elle and I take seats across from them.

"Almost done?" Connor asks.

"Not really," Cat says, biting her bottom lip.

"I don't know why you didn't just do this when classes finished," Connor groans.

"Moving in together during summer would have been hell, and you know that. The heat would get to the both of us, and we'd end up killing each other," Cat explains. She turns to us. "Besides, I needed my girls here to help."

Elle has spent the entire summer at dance camp. She hasn't been in a couple of years, but after fully completing rehab and getting back into dancing full-time, she took the opportunity to stay with Archer's parents in Aspen whilst his mom hosted the camp. I've been driving in and out of Denver and taking flights across the country, working on the film. Working on a real movie set has been an out-of-body experience, and making new friends has also opened up my range of opportunities. With school starting up again soon, I'm taking all the chances I can get to get my name out there.

"How was your summer, Elle? You've not said much about it," I say to her, bumping my shoulder into hers.

She shrugs. She's been insanely private about what happened at camp. Usually she talks our ears off about every single day down there, but she's hardly said a word. "Maybe it's a secret."

Archer coughs, and I turn to him, eyeing him suspiciously. He just twists his hat around, covering himself from the sun. I lean into Elle and whisper, "Oh my god. You totally hooked up with someone at camp."

"What? No, I didn't," she argues, her face turning red. I turn back to Archer, who must know something about what's happened.

He raises an eyebrow. "You sure about that, Harps?" They exchange a look that's too fucking weird to decipher right now. I let my gaze travel down to where Wes is trying to teach Jarvis to jump into circles, and he is not having it. I don't think he'll ever let go of the fact that Jarvis isn't like a dog or that he ever will be. He just wants to snuggle and eat, and there's nothing wrong with that.

He catches me staring at him and grins. "You ready to go, Stargirl?"

"That depends. Where are you taking me?" He's been oddly secretive about today's plans, and I'm dying to find out what he has in store.

"Just follow me, and you'll find out," he says, standing to his feet. He walks over to me, holding out his hand to me. "Are you ready to play?"

"Always," I say, slipping my hand into his.

Maybe I should have known that when he means play, he actually does mean play. He takes me to an arcade in town and I almost beat him at every game. Air hockey is way too much fun with Wes because he gets riled up too easily and then hits the puck too hard. Bowling was a lot harder, but I still won. Part of me is wondering if he's just letting me win for the sake of it.

"Okay," I breathe, trying to catch my breath after the arcade basketball game we just played. "What's going on? You brought me all the way out here to beat you in everything?"

He grins. "That was not exactly part of the plan. I just wanted to take you somewhere close by before the sun sets."

I tilt my head to the side. "Why?"

He doesn't answer me and instead tugs my hand, threading his fingers through mine. I follow him out of the arcade, and we go through the back alley. This isn't sketchy or weird at all. He leads me up the stairs at the side of the building until we reach the empty roof. I look down at the town, confused as to why we're up here before Wes turns me around.

My breath catches when I see the sunset. All the colors in the sky have faded into a beautiful pink and red color. The clouds swirl together, the sun hanging low beneath them as they rest behind the mountains, framing our beautiful town. I could stand here forever, taking into account every single part of the sky.

I turn to Wes, and he's already looking at me. "This is beautiful," I whisper. His smile softens. "Thank you."

He just shrugs as if it's no big deal, and he slowly falls to his knees in front of me. My breath hitches. We've had our fair share of public sex, but this is where I draw the line. There could be rats up here, for all I know. Instead, Wes ties up my shoelaces that I didn't notice were untied. I'm wearing the pink Converse he got me for my birthday. No matter what outfit I'm wearing, I find an excuse to put them on anyway.

"These are all the boyfriend perks I need," I laugh when he rises back up.

"What about the other perks?"

I frown. "What other perks?"

"You know, the ones where you're on the bed, screaming out a particular person's name," he muses. I furrow my eyebrows in fake confusion.

"Oh, you mean when I get off thinking about Ryan Gosling in The Notebook."

He rolls his eyes. "Shut up."

I step closer to him. "Why don't you make me?"

Wes's hand curls in my hair, pushing our chests against each other as he kisses me deeply. Kissing him feels like fireworks are exploding. Everything about it is so him and so damn perfect. I grip onto his jacket, needing him as close to me as possible. When he pulls apart, he's got one of the sweetest smiles on his lips.

"Hey, Nora?" His voice shakes, and my stomach dips.

I smile. "Hey, Wes."

"I've never been this happy in my life. Ever. There is not a single moment I can pinpoint that has made me feel as good as I do now. Maybe the day you agreed to fake date me counts as one," he says, his words rushing through me like water.

"Me too," I whisper. "I think my life restarted that day. Like you put me into a factory and put all the broken pieces back together."

He shakes his head. "You were never broken, Nora. There were just cracks, but tell you what?"

"What?"

"You still shined through them anyway," he whispers softly. Wes never fails to amaze me with the words he says to me. It's like there's a part of my brain that he can only activate with his words. He reaches into his pocket. "Speaking of…"

My pulse hammers against my neck as I look down at the black box in his hands. My lips part when he opens it to find a silver necklace with a star on the end, exactly like the one I lost. "So, I couldn't find the original one. I tried looking in your room again, and nothing. Do you remember that time you were in Denver for a whole week?" I nod, remembering how hard that week was without him. "I actually went back to New York to look for it. I know it is stupid because the city is massive, but I had to try." No thoughts are coming to my brain as he lifts the necklace from the box. He pushes my hair to the side, seamlessly clasping it around my neck. "I want this to be a reminder of how special you are."

My eyes are watering now, my lip quivering. "What if I lose it again?"

"That's why I got this." Wes slips off his jacket, pulling his shirt over his head. I'm about to question him before he draws my attention to a star that has been tattooed on his shoulder, the same design as the one I have behind my ear. "This is for you. You're all I need, all the time, forever. You're my Stargirl for a reason, Nor, and it's about time you start believing that."

"Wes," I stutter. "I can't be that for you all the time. My spark might die out."

He laughs, pulling his shirt back on. "You're not doing it for me. You're doing it for yourself, and I'm just a selfish motherfucker who wants to believe that there are parts of you that shine just for me."

I let the tears fall now, in complete disbelief of the man in front of me. "That is the most romantic shit you've ever said to me."

He chuckles. "Don't worry. I'll one-up myself on our wedding day."

I tilt my head to the side. "I think you're missing one vital step there, loverboy." His eyes flash with something I can only describe as mischief as he keeps his eyes locked with mine, slowly sinking down to one knee. No fucking way. "Wesley. No. Get up."

He laughs as if that's a funny joke to make. "Oh, come on. I wasn't going to propose to you on the roof of an arcade."

"Knowing you, you probably would," I say, pushing him on the shoulder. He pulls me towards him, slinging his arm over my shoulder as we turn back to the sunset.

"No, Sunshine. I've got it all planned out," he whispers, kissing me on the cheek.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," I reply.

"Guess so."