Love Is...

Epilogue

EPILOGUE (Not even proofread)

LOVE IS... LIFE

'In the end, you will see who is fake, who is true and who would risk it all for you.'

No matter how positively I had left the country a year ago, somewhere in my mind, I was always scared; scared of what might become of Ashton and me; scared of a change of feelings that he might undergo due to the thousands of miles distance between us. There was always a possibility, according to the pessimist in me. But Ashton killed that pessimist with his faith, love, and trust. The killing process included him visiting me about four times in the last one year and me visiting him three times along with the regular phone calls despite of the time differences; and the cute mails we sent to each other once in a while with little notes and pictures.

The pressure of his three exhibitions during the year and me travelling for work had taken a toll on us sometimes. It wasn't all a bed of rose petals as we had our share of fights, the reason of which was mainly the distance between us and the lack of any physical contact between us. It wasn't just the need to make love that we felt and fought upon, it was the frustration of not being able to hold hands, or hug, or just a simple touch that both of us needed pretty badly from time to time. But we overcame it all. We counted months, weeks, and days till I finally came back today at the end of the hectic but enlightening assignment.

The voice of the doorbell ringing broke the train of my thoughts. Knowing well enough about who was on the other side of the door, a smile broke its way to my face and I checked my reflection in the mirror for the final time. And within those few seconds, the doorbell was rung a few more times. Rolling my eyes at his expected impatience, I rushed towards the door and opened it to find Ashton standing at the other side with his hand resting on the door bell.

"Stop it, Ashton." I rolled my eyes at him, though my lips stretched into a huge smile.

He grinned at me, stepped inside the apartment, and shut the door behind him. In an instant, I found his arms wrapped around my waist in a tight grip. Ignoring what I had just said, he said, "You look-"

"Like a zombie?" I finished his sentence for him, raising my eyebrows with a little teasing smirk on my face.

He shook his head with a scoff, and continued, "...like a beautiful zombie."

I swatted his chest playfully while chuckling, but he was quick to stop my chuckles with a kiss. Smiling into the kiss, I grazed his well trimmed beard with my hands and slowly moved my hands towards his hair while he was busy exploring all my perfect and imperfect curves. He looked at me with his intense grey gaze after pulling away from the kiss, and said, "We better stop, or I'll ruin your dress, hair and make-up right now."

Laughing lightly, I snaked my arms around his neck and leaned a bit into him. "I don't mind."

He groaned in frustration, and I rejoiced the satisfaction of having such an effect on him. "No!" He exclaimed, taking a sudden step away from me. "I'm taking you out on a date and that's final."

Smiling at him, I straightened my cream colored knee length dress and asked him with plain curiosity, "Why do you suddenly want to take me on a date?"

He answered with a grimace, "I realized that I have been a terrible boyfriend to you." My shoulders slumped a little as I shook my head, but before I could scold him, he shushed me and continued, "Do you realize that I haven't taken you out on a proper date in our relationship till now?"