Going Home

25. Welcome to New York

Kat's POV:

It's funny how a five day trip through the country can change your vision on the life you live, the people around you and the choices you have made. Right now, as we are nearing the New York skyline, close to getting home, I suddenly don't want this trip to end just yet.

Ian and I really got to know each other all over again, we got our second chance and I can't help but feel immensely grateful for that. Ian is my high school best friend and crush, and now he's my college boyfriend. There is no way in life I could have been luckier.

Things have happened, secrets have been revealed and all in all, we just got as close as we used to be. But this time there is another feeling involved. This time there's a feeling of love, of spending my life with the one I'm supposed to.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Ian's voice sounds from beside me and immediately brings a smile to my face. He had that effect on me when I was still in high school and he still does now.

"It's nothing really. I was just thinking how many things can change in only a few days." I say as I turn to him, a bright smile showing on my face. "And I may or may not have wished this trip wasn't almost done with just yet. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be freed of this car for more than a few hours, but I'm not ready to leave the company just yet."

Ian grabs a hold of my hand closest to him and gives it a little squeeze. "Then how about I'll take you to on a real date tonight. We kind of skipped our first date, you know."

If possible, the smile on my face widens. I must look like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, but I can't care for it. "I would like that very much, thank you."

Now entering the New York traffic, I take a chance to look out of the window again. We are finally home and I realize not only my vison on life changed, I also look at the city differently. I still love it with all of me, but I love it for different reasons. I used to love the city because it was always alive and you were never alone. It's still alive, and you're still never alone. But as cliché as it may sound, I now love the city because the people I truly love are in there. Madeline, she's my best friend in the whole world. There's Isobel, who I will always love. Giving her up was never because I didn't want or love her. It was just a matter of not being able to take care of her the way she deserves. And finally there is Ian. He's always been here, but I just didn't see it.

When you're young, it's easy to thing everything around you is changing. But from time to time we forget that we, too, change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. All I know, all I've learned the past few days, is that it's okay to be scared of the changes. It's only human to feel that way. But whatever you do, don't hold on to the things in the past. It's an art not to only let go of the things that already happened, it's an art to embrace the changes as well.

Realizing all this, makes me feel stupid. I missed out of so many quality time with my father, only because I was scared to face my past. "Ian, may I please borrow your phone one more time?"

"Sure, what's up? Everything okay?"

I return his worried expression with a big smile of my own. "Everything is just perfect. I just really need to speak to my dad." Ian reaches for his phone in his pocket and hands it over to me. He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, almost as if he's proud of me.

I dial my the digits to my father's LAN-line and wait as the phone rings. As soon as my dad's voice speaks on the other side of the line, tears well up in my eyes. "Dad? I am so sorry for everything. I am sorry for not visiting you ever since I left. I'm sorry for running away from your wedding the way I did. I am sorry that I held onto the past instead of appreciating the things I did have back in Wade Valley. I'm sorry I didn't embrace the changes just because I was scared."

By now, tears were streaming down my cheeks and Ian's stroking my hair. He must have pulled over to the side, because we are no longer moving. I listen as a my dad speaks reassuring and forgiving words. "Honey, it's nothing to be sorry about. I knew you're scared and you have no idea how proud of you I am. The way you dealt with the things on your path. You'll always be my daughter, and I will always love you for that."

With my free hand, I wipe the tears from my cheek. "Dad, would it be okay if I would spend my Christmas break with you, Lillian and Mia home in Wade Valley?"

"We would love it to have you here." He says and I can hear the happiness in his voice.

-

The sound of a knock on my bedroom breaks my stare at the reflection in the mirror. The door slightly opens and Madeline's head pops up around the corner. "A very handsome guy is waiting for you in the living room, you ready?"

I turn to her, a smile on my face. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"You still have a lot of explaining to do and a lot of blank spaces to fill in, but you've changed and I'm happy to finally see a truly relieved and happy you." She says as she wraps me up in a tight hug. "Now go, before I all get mushy and cry on your beautiful, cute new top."

I let out one final laugh before I leave my room and step into the living room. "Hey stranger, it has been a while." I say in a joking matter as I walk up to him before press my lips on his.

He takes my hand and spins me around, taking in my full appearance. "You look stunning, are you ready to go?" I just nod my head and take his hand, leading him out of our apartment and into the city that never sleeps.