Dude...Thats Not a Guy

40. Epilogue

Soraya's POV:

It had been the better part of four months. The trial for Adam had been and gone. He was of course found guilty and sentenced to prison for nowhere near long enough as to be expected with our judicial system. But the enforced therapy was hopefully going to help his situation, and the protective order on me should prevent him from coming after me again.

Even if he did it was something I didn't need to worry about for years to come, and instead I could focus on my life. On what made me happy and grow as a person. Since then I had dyed my hair back to it's natural red, even though I was missing the blue I once had and was thinking about going back.

For this second though, my focus was on the people in my loungeroom with me. Willow and Alistair, the cutest couple on the planet, were sharing a single lounge chair as we watched a movie. Willow had decided to start selling art online, and was already becoming quite popular. Alistair had survived the underground fighting ring and promised never to go back, he was now working in a gym, having decided that after he finished school he was going to become a personal trainer and thought that getting the receptionist job at a gym would be a good first step to getting in the door.

I turned my attention then to Xavier and Zeke, the latter sitting on the floor between the former's legs. Xavier was feeding Zeke popcorn every minute or so, between feeding his own face with as much as he felt like. Xavier was happy, happier than I had ever seen him before, and so much more comfortable in his own body.

While it might be expected that someone's grades would go down after running from home, Xav had turned into a straight A student, showing how stifled he was and how much he loved living with the Klarence's. He also got a job and managed to find his sister who we had all seen, to either catch up with or simply meet for the first time. Zeke was still being Zeke, still undecided on his future beyond wanting to spend it with Xav and do something to help kids in the foster system like we had been.

I then looked at the young man laying with his head on my lap, my fingers running through his hair as he had a death grip on my leg. The horror movie was almost finished, which would mean the night would be finished. He had been right about two things four months ago; that therapy was always a good choice and that fear is an aphrodisiac.

Right now I was the calmest I had felt in a very long time, I had come to terms with most of my past and was now working with a therapist on how to overcome my anxiety in the future. How I was going to continue growing as a person.

But I was also feeling extremely hot as Ashton's fingers put pressure on my inner thigh.

He probably didn't even realise he was doing it, too focused on the movie and the reason we were here. Our school baseball team had won the season, and instead of throwing a party with the rest of the team we had decided on a quiet night in instead. It meant we could all celebrate, especially since Ashton's sporting scholarship was still in tact and we had made plans together to move to the college together.

Especially since my own scholarship that I had applied for at the same college had also been approved.

The movie credits began to run and immediately Xavier stood up from his seat.

"Why the rush man? The credits have been on for two seconds." Alistair pointed out.

"What? Finals are next week. I need to get some sleep and study in." He said.

"Boo!" I shouted.

"Thanks for reminding us, asshole!" Willow shouted as well, while all Ashton did was throw a pillow right at Xav's face.

"I thought I was staying with you tonight? You don't usually get much sleep when-"

"Shut. It." Xav cut Zeke off and I started laughing, the other three started laughing with me.

"Go, get some sleep Xav." Alistair said.

"Like you two are any better." Xav retorted, pointing at Will and Alice.

"We've never lied about it though." Willow replied, climbing off of Alice's lap to stand.

"For example, we are going to leave because we want to go and have sex." Alistair said, Willow's cheeks pink as he stood up and took a hold of her hand. "See everyone later." He said, Willow waved as they walked out the front door. Xav and Zeke left next, leaving just Ashton and I still sitting on the couch.

"I should probably go too..." He said, going to stand up but I stopped him.

"Or..." I trailed off as I held onto his wrist, then manoeuvring myself to sit on his lap. "Or you could stay." I said.

"What about Kelley and Dave? They're lovely, but if Dave catches me he will skin me alive." He said, although his hands were already holding my waist as if to keep me from moving away.

"He won't, I promise. But it doesn't matter, they've gone away for the weekend. They won't be back until Monday morning." I told him, he tilted his head to the side.

"Are you sure?" He asked, I nodded.

"Haven't been this sure about anything for a while." I told him, he nodded.

"Okay, tell me to stop whenever you want to stop." He said, I stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

"I will, if I want to. I don't think I will." I told him.

"You say that, but if it gets too much-"

"It won't. You want to know why?" I asked him, he nodded. "Because I love you, Ashton Klarence." His smile was killer, and I was starting to wonder what I had truly gotten myself into. I was far too lucky to have him be my person, to have him for the rest of my life. There was a feeling of calm serenity as he held me, that was what made me think he was the one for me. That comfort... it warmed my heart to feel it.

"You want to know something?" He asked me, I nodded before kissing him gently. He pulled away just far enough to be able to speak, still close enough that as he spoke his lips brushed against mine with each word.

"I love you too, Soraya Kingston."

A/N:

Well, there we have it folks. After six tumultuous years and seventeen brutal days we finally have our conclusion to this rollercoaster ride of a story.

If anyone reading this has been waiting years for this, I want to thank you and tell you that I appreciate you. To those who have been with us for a few weeks, days or even hours, I appreciate every single one of you as well.

Finally finishing this has been a journey and a half, and to say I feel kind of sad it's over would be an understatement. These characters mean a lot to me, and I hope I did them justice (or the best justice I can since most of this book was written 5-6 years ago).

Once again, I just want to thank all of you gorgeous readers for your time. Your choosing of this book is very impactful and important to me.

Thank you.