Epilogue - "I'm Bartender Slash Cocktail Expert For The Night"

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Fast Forward - Seven Years Later

Leaning closer to the mirror, I picked up my pearl button earrings and carefully slipped them in. I took a moment to look at my reflection staring back at me. My hair is already curled, ashy blonde spirals falling all around my shoulders, hairspray coating them to make sure they stay all night.

I'm wearing a tight black dress that has a sweetheart neckline and goes off my shoulders. After staring at my shoes for about twenty minutes, I decided on red suede heels with an open toe and criss cross straps. But I'm not putting those on until the last minute.

It's New Year's Eve and I'm almost done getting ready. Ashley is hosting a party tonight at her and Brandon's house–yeah, they stayed together all this time and got married about three years ago. Since the end of sophomore year, those two have been together and I don't think I've ever known such a happy, lovely couple.

Ashley's also three months pregnant with their first child and it honestly brought me to tears when I first heard the news. My best friend, pregnant, with the love of her life's child. I'm so eternally happy for them.

It's almost seven-thirty, so I open up my jewelry stand and reach into a few drawers to grab something. I picked up a pearl bracelet and slipped it on my wrist, then I swiped on some red lipstick that perfectly matched my heels, making the application as crisp as possible. I dug through a couple more drawers, but found nothing else appealing. So I went to close the last one that I briefly opened until I noticed something. A messily folded piece of paper shoved in the back. 

I knit my eyebrows together in confusion, as I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled it out.

Upon unfolding it, I gasped.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I loved you. I always will.

I hope you end up to be the happiest girl in the world, wherever you go in life.

Chase

"Oh my God," I muttered to myself, rolling my lips into my mouth. My eyes tore away from it, not being able to bear the feelings any longer. 

The note. The note that Chase put in my box of things after we broke up. I honestly forgot about it– I just stuffed it in my jewelry box that day and never looked back.

I rested my hand down by my side, clutching the note and taking a few deep breaths. Then I lifted up my left hand and stared at the large diamond on my ring finger, watching it sparkle at every angle. A smile tugged at my lips, and every time I looked at the ring, I felt myself glowing.

It's a daily, constant reminder of how happy I am now. No matter what I've been through in the past, it all led up to this.

"Babe! Come on, we gotta go!"

A voice shattered my thoughts. I heard footsteps thumping up the stairs suddenly. I sucked up my tears, hoping that my makeup wasn't smudged, and put the note down on the dresser.

I'm not sure what it was about the note that made me so emotional, but it struck something in me. Maybe because all kinds of memories came rushing back out of nowhere. I wasn't prepared to relive high school in a matter of twenty seconds.

I leaned my hand onto the dresser and tried to look casual as I stared at the doorway. "Are you ready? We gotta... what happened?" Eric popped in our room, coming over to me with concern. His eyebrows crinkled and he put his hands on my arms, gently rubbing them with his thumbs.

I shook my head, swallowing hard. "Nothing, nothing. I just..." I breathed, looking up at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Linds," he cracked a smile. "But we gotta go. Or else we'll hit traffic and never make it," he spoke quickly, kissing my cheek and then disappearing.

Taking a deep breath, I put the note back in its place and slipped on my heels before going downstairs. Eric and I said goodbye to Bella, our four-year-old golden lab, and then we left for the party.

Long story short, Eric and I have been engaged for quite some time now. Our big day is only five months away– Saturday, May 14.

I can't wait to be married to him and to finally call myself his wife. I can't wait to start a family with him. To wake up in the mornings with him right beside me, knowing he's my husband. To come home from a long day of work and see each other again. Eat dinner together, home-cooked or take-out. Go on cheesy married-couple date nights.

I can't wait to start our new life together.

After about a twenty minute drive on the highway, we made it to Ashley and Brandon's house. The good thing is everyone that I love still lives relatively close to me. We're only about twenty minutes from my parents, twenty minutes from Ashley and Brandon, an hour from Melissa and her soon-to-be-fiancé, and thirty minutes from Brooke and her new boyfriend.

Justin lives basically right around the corner from Eric and I, which I definitely do not complain about because I get to see my best friend all the time. It's like everything just happened to work out as we all got older.

Eric and I walked up to their front door together, grasping each other's hands as we waited for the door to open. We're spending the night at Ashley's, so we don't have to worry about driving home too late which I'm grateful for. I'd feel bad to make Eric drive home after all the New Year's festivity.

A few seconds later, the gorgeous glass door flung open and the sound of Christmas music poured out. Ashley stood before us with a grin on her face, bearing her pearly whites and slightly pregnant tummy.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it!" She yanked us inside her house and engulfed me in a hug.

"And why wouldn't we make it?" I chuckled, squeezing her back.

"I don't know," she brushed it off. "You look amazing!" She twirled me around after she released me from our hug.

"So do you, Mommy," I gushed, gently poking at her stomach.

"I'm not that big yet, just wait 'till your wedding. I'll be huge by then," she laughed and wiggled her eyebrows, then hugged Eric hello.

I subtly got chills when she said "your wedding". It doesn't seem real. But it is and it makes me so, so excited.

"Hey! Our favorite couple is here!" Brandon came walking over to us with a smile, hugging Eric and I.

"But we're already here!" Brooke shouted from the other room as she poked her head out. I rolled my eyes with a grin, and she gasped, running out to us. "I didn't know you guys were here! Oh my God!"

She tackled us into bone-crushing hugs and then dragged her semi-new boyfriend, Paul, over to us as well. I say semi-new because they've been dating for about six months but they live together, so they're still kind of fresh. They're a gorgeous couple though and I love them together. I never really thought her and Eli were going to last too long, but they still keep in touch. Things for them ended a little after we graduated, but at least they don't hate each other's guts.

Speaking of exes, Todd and I are still pretty good friends. He actually doesn't live too far away either, and he has a really sweet girlfriend that he just recently started seeing. He's happy and it's nice to see him as a changed man.

After talking and catching up for a bit, we migrated into the kitchen to mix up some drinks.

"So Ash, this will be like, the first New Year's in forever that you can't drink," I noted jokingly.

"I know," she pouted. "But I'm Bartender slash Cocktail Expert for the night, so that's pretty awesome."

"That is awesome," I nodded with a grin.

"I just want to let you guys know that you have the guest bedroom, and you should probably bring your stuff in before too many people get here," Ashley told Eric and I as she handed me a glass of wine. I sent Eric a look and he ran out to the car to grab our overnight bags. 

Once he came back inside, we trekked upstairs to our room. I took my bag from him and placed it on the floor next to the bed, double checking that I had everything. If not, I'll just borrow whatever I forgot from Ashley.

I felt Eric's hands slide around my waist as I stood beside the queen bed and he pulled me close to him. His chin dug into the crook of my neck, making me smile. His touch can still send chills up my spine, even after all these years of being together.

"You look incredibly sexy tonight, did you do that on purpose?" He said softly into my ear, his breath tickling me. 

"Actually, yes. It was all part of my plan," I smirked, spinning around in his arms and looping mine around his neck. "I wanted to wear something sexy and provocative to get your attention. Then maybe you'd talk to me and ask me out on a date or something."

"Well you certainly picked the right outfit because I won't be able to take my eyes off of you for the entire night," he glanced down at my body.

"I don't mind. You are my fiancé so you're allowed to stare at me whenever you want," I playfully smiled, tangling my fingers in his hair.

"And for that, I am the luckiest man in the world," he said huskily, pressing his soft lips to mine with a smile.

It only took a few seconds of gentle kissing for us to get into a heated make out, but I couldn't help myself because Eric still holds it down as being the best kisser. Ever.

I slid my hands over his shoulders and pulled him closer into me, the back of my legs hitting the edge of the bed. His hands grasped my waist a little tighter and I nearly fell onto the bed and pulled him down with me. But I stopped myself and pulled away breathlessly.

"We better get back downstairs before they get suspicious," I giggled against his lips.

"But this is more fun," he whispered back.

"We have all night to do this though," I justified, looking up into his green eyes. "Right now, our friends are waiting for us."

"Fine," he huffed, kissing me once more. I smirked at him, then checked myself in the mirror because I needed to touch up my lipstick.

"Thanks for ruining my makeup," I chuckled a little, carefully applying the lipstick again.

He was searching through his bag for something, but his head perked up when he heard my comment. He came running over to me at the mirror, and groaned when he saw a faint red halo around his mouth.

"Are you kidding me? Really?" He whined, grabbing a tissue and trying to wipe it away.

I laughed. "Not my fault– you didn't have to kiss me."

"Red lipstick though? Come on, you know I can't go like, an hour without kissing you. That was a trick," he scoffed angrily, narrowing his eyes at me in the mirror.

I closed the tube and put it back in my makeup bag, turning to him with a smile. "Sorry honey," I said sweetly.

He stopped wiping his mouth and froze, staring at me for a moment. My smile didn't falter as he glanced from my eyes to my lips. Then he shook his head quickly and turned away from me.

"No, not again," he denied. I laughed, shaking my head at him and waited for him at the door.

Numerous cocktails later that were all perfected by Ashley, there were only a couple of minutes until the New Year. We were all crowded in the living room, a New Years special on the TV while we anxiously waited for the countdown. Almost everyone had a champagne glass in their hands, except for Ashley who had a glass of seltzer water, due to being pregnant and all.

Her and Brandon stood beside Eric and I, along with Brooke and Paul. Brandon had his arms wrapped around Ashley, tenderly rubbing her stomach as she smiled blissfully up at the TV. I watched them with a grin on my face, totally in a trance by their love when I heard everyone shouting around me.

Then it hit me that we were counting down to the New Year. The start of the first year that I'd be embarking on a new adventure; marriage.

It dawned on me as the seconds ticked by in slow motion that I wanted to start this year off right.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven. I looked up at Eric, whose arm was wrapped around my waist, and his eyes met mine.

Six.

Five. My eyes flickered down to his lips for a moment.

Four. I started leaning closer to him, still counting down with everyone, but whispering instead of shouting.

Three. My hand went to the back of his neck as I pressed myself into him.

Two. My lips met his.

One.

And by the time everyone screamed "Happy New Year!", we were already engaged in our kiss. We didn't let go for a minute or two either.

When we pulled apart moments later, my lips parted so I could try to catch my breath. I looked up at Eric's eyes and he was already looking back at me.

"That was different," he murmured, noting to my early start on our kiss.

"Yeah," I whispered with a soft smile on my face.

"What was it for?" He asked, smiling back at me now.

My lips tugged into a wider smile, glancing away from him for a split second and then looking back. "Because I wanted a perfect ending to that year. And a perfect start to this one," I sheepishly said, suddenly feeling cheesy at my explanation.

He breathed a laugh and bumped my nose with his. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"Yes, but you can tell me again," I joked along. He just laughed and leaned in to kiss me, making my knees go weak.

In the end, they don't tell you that when you go through your first heartbreak, tears and booze won't cleanse your tarnished soul. The flowers that once grew at the pit of your stomach will wilt. The butterflies you once felt in your veins will turn to ash. Kissing another boy won't always make you feel better. But eventually, you get there. It just takes some time. 

My belief is simple; we have to change ourselves in order to see the change in other things. We have to accept ourselves for who we are before we can get that love from anybody else. And with everything I've been through in life so far, I can say that's true. Coming out of depression isn't easy, but it makes you realize how valuable this one life we have is.

It shows us how short it is, and that we shouldn't waste time on things that don't make us happy. It took a little while, but I changed myself. And once I started to love myself for who I truly was, stopped caring what other people thought, and just did what made me happy, I saw how much better I felt at the end of the day.

So I guess Chase was right. I did end up to be the happiest girl in the world.

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A/N - THE END.

I CANNOT BELIEVE WE HIT THE END OF THIS STORY. THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING AND STICKING WITH THIS STORY. I APPRECIATE Y'ALL SO MUCH UGH. LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS. I LOVE YA LOTS.

Song: 18 by One Direction (this song goes so well with this entire story omg)

Photo: Lindsay's glo-up YAS BITCH

xoxo, sabbbycat