Hidden Girl

Epilogue I- Cheesy-ness and Art

Auroa's POV

"Remember that story about the soulmates I told you? The one where the body splits?"

"Yeah?"

"I swear you are my other half."

"Do you have any idea how cheesy you sound all the time?" I laugh at Alex and he just sends me a goofy grin.

"Well I mean every word I've ever said when it comes to my cheesy lines," Alex says as he feels satisfied with his answer. I give him a joking shove but he just swings his arm around me. "I still can't believe you made all of these."

"Remember that bucket list I tried to make before I went to England?" I ask Alex as we gaze at the many rich people walking through the gallery and observing every painting. All of them look in awe at the different colors painted across the canvases.

"Yeah."

"Well I threw it out," I say with a small smile. "I'm don't need a bucket list really."

"And why's that?" Alex asks suspiciously.

"Because having you was the only thing that I really wanted," I tell him as I stare up at his face. His eyes have so much more light in them than they did that day I saw him singing More Than This. "One of them was true love or something like that, and I found it. The rest never mattered to me."

"Now that was cheesy," Alex says with a smile as he gives me a kiss on the forehead.

"Eh cheesy can be okay sometimes," I admit as I bring myself closer to him. I decided to wear the same dress that I wore on New Years with the sleeves, even though it is much warmer now. I just love how I don't feel overexposed.

I bring myself closer to Alex. He gets the signal and pulls his arm tighter around me. What we have both been doing absentmindedly lately is when we stand next to each other, we stand as close as we possibly can. We just hate being apart.

"Aren't you two just adorable."

I look away from Alex and see an old woman standing in front of us, clearly here to see my work. Azalea's dad has so many connections that the gallery is packed with mainly rich people, all of them interested in buying my paintings. People are really liking the ones I paint of the local places. I have a whole room in the back full too and Azalea's dad has been bringing certain people back there to check those out.

"Thank you, ma'am," Alex replies politely.

"You're the boy in a lot of the paintings, aren't you?" she asks with an eyebrow raised but a smile on her face. "Which means that you must be Aurora Jacobson, the woman of the hour."

"That's me," I say with a small smile and a big blush. It feels weird to be only 18 and have a gallery and have people buying your paintings.

"I've been to many art shows, Aurora," the lady begins, "and I have never seen such a young woman have so much passion in her paintings. I can definitely see some very dark ones here. May I ask why?"

"When you have an abusive father, a rape, a suicide attempt, I believe you have the right to have a dark period of time," Alex answers the question directed at me with a tone of defense in his voice.

"Well all the light ones were when you came into my life," I say as I nudge Alex with my shoulder.

"And everything is all right now?" the lady asks with concern in her eyes. My heart flutters at the thought of some random woman that I've met actually cares for me. The real people in this world would care though; I just haven't gotten a chance to meet some, but now I do; now that I'm away from him and with Alex.

"Everything is always perfect when he's with me," I say as I lean my head against his shoulder.

Alex laughs. "And I thought I was the cheesy one."

"Hey!" I shout as I punch his shoulder.

"It's okay," he apologizes sweetly with a smile. "We can be cheesy together."

"Well I'll leave you two love birds alone," the old lady says with a nice smile. "I plan to see you soon, Aurora. I'd love to see how you're artwork will grow."

"Thank you," I reply with a blush before she walks away. I'm not sure if it's the part that she wants to see my artwork again or the "love birds" that makes me blush, but I'm beginning to think it's the one that involves Alex.

"Aurora!" I hear a shout and I see the bestest friends in the whole wide world come walking across the room from me.

Sebastian engulfs me in one of his bug bear hugs but doesn't lift me off the ground like he usually does because of the dress. Eric and Derek give me hugs too and Jenny does a sort of squelling-hugging thing.

I look up as Jenny lets me go and I see Azalea standing there with a smirk on her face. She immediately walks forward and gives me a big hug. "You two keep getting cuter and cuter," she whispers in my ear with a laugh.

"Did Sebastian asked you to be his girlfriend yet?" I ask back.

She nods her head and blushes deeply as she pulls away. Sebastian wraps his arm around her shoulder the second we let go.

"Did I hear the name of some gorgeous guy who might be standing near?" Sebastian butts in and Azalea punches him.

"Sure," she jokes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"The thought of you seems to help," Sebsastian says with a smirk and a peck on the forehead before he walks away.

"He's annoying." I laugh after him.

"I love him," Azalea says with a big smile that is just full of love for the idiot.

"The idiots are sometimes the easiest to love," I tell her. "I mean look at Alex too."

"Hey! Speak for yourself!" Alex says as he pops into the conversation.

"I should probably make sure that my boyfriend isn't embarrassing himself." Azalea dismisses herself and chases after Sebastian.

"I was talking to this guy and he seemed really interested in High Fliers," Alex says with a small smile on his face. "I think he might help us get started."

"That would be amazing!" I yell as I jump at him with a mouth open in awe and a hug. "That's awesome!"

"I don't know if we should do it . . ."

"Wait what?" I say quietly as I drop my arms from around his neck and stare up at him in confusion.

"We both know what it was like being apart," Alex says with a small shrug of his shoulders. "I don't want that to happen again."

"We'll be okay in the end," I reassure him and wrap my arms around his waist. He wraps his arms around me and pecks my forehead.

"And if we're not okay?" he questions with a shudder, just thinking about being apart and it not working out.

"Then it's not the end," I finish. He looks at me, still not sure of himself. He needs more. "I always said that love was one of the rarest things to find. If we both found love, being apart should be easier than that, and we will made it through finding love. We'll make it through being apart if necessary."

Alex nods his head and wraps his arms around me tigther.

We may have looked odd, standing in the middle of an art gallery hugging like we never wanted to let the other go, but we didn't care. Everything we have ever done from the day we met has always been for each other and no one else.

We found hope in one another and saving.

"I will forever love you, Hidden Girl," Alex whispers in my ear.

"You better." I smile back as I grip him tighter. "I'll never leave you, I swear."

"Good," Alex replies as he looks straight at my face. "Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you, and I will continue to fall for you every single day 'til the day I die."

"I could do that, sweetie."

"Same here, sweetheart."