Hard Love

Epilogue

I practically sprint through the airport to where I was meeting Jake. After eight whole, tremendously long, months, Jake is finally coming home. I have missed him so much, so getting to see him now is amazing. Sure we talked basically every day and all that, but I missed being able to see him face-to-face.

I start to slow down once I get to the more crowded part. I gaze through the tons and tons of people, but have no luck at finding Jake.

Where could he be? I look around again, but still don't see him. Feeling slightly upset, I start to walk back toward the less crowded parts. Halfway there, I'm lifted up and spun around. I almost instantly know who it is. "Jake!" I squeal, hugging him tight once I'm put back down.

"I missed you so much," Jake says, kissing the side of my head. I feel a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks, but that's the last thing on my mind. The main thing right now is that the guy that I love is finally back here with me. After eight months, I can finally be held in Jake's arms again. I smile at the thought of finally being with Jake again.

"I missed you more," I say, kissing him on the lips.

"I seriously doubt it," Jake says, kissing my forehead. Am I the only one who absolutely loves it when guys do that?

"Either way, I have so much to tell you!"

"As do I have a lot to tell you."

"Let's go over to my house for hot chocolate then we can catch up. That sound good?"

"Perfect."

~~~~~

I set a hot chocolate on the table in front of Jake and settle into the seat next to him. He puts his arm around me and pulls me closer. The two of us just sit like that, in silence, for a few seconds just taking in everything. "So how was seeing your dad?" I ask, facing toward Jake.

A bright smile comes onto his face and his eyes light up. "It was amazing," Jake says, the bright smile still on his face. "He showed me all of England. It was really breathtaking. I wish you were there to see it and meet my dad. He would have loved you and vice versa. I told him all about you while we were going around England. My dad thought you were the best thing to ever happen to me."

"I think that, too," Jake says, just above a whisper.

I want to laugh at the fact that there is a light shade of pink on Jake's cheek, but I decide against it thinking that would be inappropriate. I kiss his cheek and say, "And I think you are the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you."

"I love you, too." Jake kisses my forehead. The two of us just sit in silence for a few more minutes. You know those special moments where you wish you could just stop time and live in that moment forever? This is definitely one of them. Just sitting with Jake, the guy I love, watching the fire while it's snowing outside. This is the very definition of perfect to me. I wish nothing changed. This is something I want to last forever.

Sadly nothing lasts forever nowadays and we are interrupted. By the power going out. Thankfully, we had a fire going, so it's not like we were now blind. But my perfect moment was over. Great. Stupid power outage.

"Well this just won't do," Jake says, getting up from his spot on the couch. He walks out of the family room and down the hall toward a closet.

"What are you doing?" I ask, following behind Jake.

"To make this all better." Very specific. Note the sarcasm.

Still wondering what he's doing, I decide I trust Jake enough to let him do what he wants. He's a big boy now. And he's responsible. I hope.