It Hurts | ✓

Epilogue

*Five Years Later*

I stepped off the train and scanned the platform. Unable to see properly amongst the mass of people, I made my way towards the exit, hoping that'd be where he was.

I file out of the doors behind the crowd, and make my way out of the station. Stepping into the main foyer, I spot him standing there scanning the streams of people exiting. I see him before he spots me, and make my way over to him as quickly as possible, joy and excitement filling me up.

He sees me when I'm just a couple of steps away from him, and he rushes towards me to envelope me in a tight hug.

"George!" I cry as I hug him back. I gasp softly as colour blooms before my eyes for the first time in a year.

"Hi," he grins after pulling away. "How's university been? Did you miss me?"

"So much," I tell him, because it's true.

"Well, I've missed you like crazy too, and so I want to take you out to your favourite Italian restaurant later tonight. How does that sound?"

"Amazing," I grin. "I'll just get home and settle down for a bit before we go."

"'Course. I've booked for seven this evening, so you should have plenty of time."

With that, we head outside to the car park and he drives home. I rest my hand on his arm, and a peaceful little smile comes over my face as we drive home in a pretty, colourful world.

After a couple of hours at home, settling back in and resting and talking with George, we head off to the restaurant table he's booked.

We get there, and are seated. Whilst looking at the menu, we start to chat about how my family's getting on. My parents are fine, he said. Kacey and Matt are currently in Cyprus on their honeymoon, which she hadn't actually told me about.

Ollie and Becca were living in London, which I did know, because I stayed with them in their house during the Christmas break.

It was when we were already into our main meal that I noticed how quickly the time was flying. Well, they say time flies when you're having fun, I suppose.

It was also when I noticed how weird George has been acting the entire time. I couldn't describe it, but something was definitely out of place.

As we got onto our desserts, I decided to bring it up.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"What? Yeah, course!" He replied. I still was not convinced.

After an hour or so, we finished our meal and George suggested we walk down this pathway to the lake near the local park, because apparently it was supposed to be beautiful this time of year.

We left the restaurant and began to walk. I was glad I wore my converse as it's easy to walk in; I'm not a huge fan of dressing up for things.

The path was lined with trees on either side, which were in full blossom. It was absolutely stunning, and even more so when it was in full colour, the way it was with my hand in George's.

We were walking down the path when I spotted something on the trunk of one of the trees to my right. It was a piece of paper taped on, and on it, in neat cursive, was the word 'Will'.

Two trees along, I spotted another sign. The word was 'You'.

Another sign was taped onto every other tree. I was getting increasingly confused. I glanced over at George, but he didn't seem to have noticed.

The next sign read 'Marry'. My breath caught.

The next; 'Me,'.

What appeared to be the last sign was on the next tree. I stared in anticipation until I got close enough to be able to read the word.

The word was 'Amber?'

I stopped dead. I stared at George, my eyes wide. George looked at me, gave a small grin, and got down on one knee in front of me. He jumped back up suddenly, muttering profanities.

"What happened?" I asked, tying not to laugh.

He muttered something about a stone, to which I laughed.

"Right, I'm gonna try that one again," he chuckled. He got down on one knee again, and commented, "Well, it worked that time. We're halfway there."

Reminding myself of the situation, I had to get myself to breathe manually. My heart was thumping.

George fiddled with something behind him until he held out to me a box, displaying the most gorgeous ring I'd ever seen.

"Will you marry me, Amber Paisley?"

The grin on my face was so wide my cheeks were starting to ache. Tears began to form in my eyes, try as I might to stop them. I couldn't get any words out, so I just nodded profusely. He rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm going to marry George Palmer," I though over and over excitedly.

"Great," he grinned. "I was hoping for that answer. Would have been a little awkward otherwise."

"Oh, I love you!" I cried. That was the first time I'd properly declared that. Of course, I'd said, 'love you', but it wasn't quite the same. The butterflies in my stomach felt like they'd grown twice the size.

"I love you too," George answered, still grinning as much as me. That was the first time he'd said it properly, too. We were never usually too sappy with each other.

I wiped tears from my eyes as George slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Now, here's the part where I perform some grand speech to demonstrate my love for you, but the problem with that is, that's not really my thing," he said, smirking. "But I'll try my best."

I stared in anticipation. He cleared his throat.

"You're actually not that bad."

Taking me only a moment to understand his reference, I laughed, and replied, "You know, you aren't so bad yourself."