You're My Home (completed)

Epilogue

Epilogue

"You're getting married?" Willow shrieked, in a flurry of astonishment and horror.

Rachel had to hold the phone away from her ear. Wincing, she said into the receiver, "I know, I know. I'm the last person you'd expect this from."

Willow mumbled a few incoherent words, then said, "That's not what I mean! It's just so fast!"

Rachel nodded, bumping Collin in the kitchen. Or rather, he bumped into her. Collin dipped his head and placed a trail of smiley kisses on her neck. She swatted him off.

A little breathlessly, she said into the phone, "In angel terms, it's really not so fast. He's waited most of my life for this."

She could practically hear the gears turning in Willow's mind. A knock came on the door.

"Oh, I have to go. My parents are here."

She pressed the end button and shoved her cell into her shorts pocket. Collin had already opened the door, and to Rachel's surprise, her parents were all smiles and hugs.

"Wait, you know each other?" she asked, her nervousness about seeing her parents obliterated. Tammy, Rachel's older sister, strolled in with a four-year-old clinging to her hand. She greeted Collin like he was a good friend.

Rachel's mom turned an affectionate gaze on Rachel and brought her swiftly into an embrace. "I've missed you, baby!" There was a little catch in her voice.

"I missed you too, Mom..."

Her dad was next up for a hug, and Rachel's face was muffled into his shoulder.

"Of course, we know Collin!" her mom was saying. "He's such a doll. Good job snatching him up, Ray."

Collin shrugged innocently. "I had to ask your parents before I married you."

Rachel's dad bellowed a laugh. "He asked us if he could date you and one day marry you. That was...what? A few weeks ago?"

As it turned out, Rachel's parents weren't as disappointed in her as she'd thought. After a while of talking with them, she realized that her mom had been serious in all her voicemails and emails. She missed her daughter. Apparently, she really didn't care about the whole college dropout situation. She just wanted her daughter back.

***

In the months that followed, the spark in Collin's eyes started to fade. His usual zest for life was given a hard kick. Rachel watched as the sadness he carried with him each day slowly took over.

His kisses were soft and absentminded. Sometimes Rachel would force him to kiss her longer so she could get him out of the dark prison inside his head. He reminded her that this is what he wanted, but it was hard for her to believe it.

Collin's gaze was often far off, and Rachel was taught a good lesson. She learned how to love even when loving was difficult, even when the man she fell for was slipping away. A new man was taking his place—a man with responsibilities and weariness.

When Collin wasn't working, he was journaling. Collin said that the letters God wrote him were becoming harder to read. To Rachel they were just blank pieces of nice paper. She imagined that soon that's what they would be to Collin as well.

Besides journaling, Collin also spent a lot of time painting. Rachel didn't know he could paint, but looking at his hands one day as his mind went elsewhere, she could understand. Collin painted a massive mural of God's eyes. He said it was the one thing he couldn't let himself forget. Everyone was drawn to the painting, the rawness of it, and the depth of emotion in the starry eyes. Word spread, and after what seemed like no time at all, people wanted to buy the painting. Collin wouldn't sell it, of course, but a career as an artist gave him new hope.

Collin was gradually becoming like everyone else, in a sense. For the first time in his life, he needed sleep and food daily. He developed slight acne, which really made him angry. He needed to shave and needed to work out to maintain his physique.

Collin still spent his nights at Matt's place, but Rachel found him on her couch one late afternoon. He looked up at her grimly. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry. I haven't been spending time with you. It's just...I'm losing all of it. Every memory of my old life is fading, and I can feel that I'm close to the end. I won't remember any of it soon."

His head bowed and Rachel jogged to his side pulling his head into her lap. The sound of him weeping was a sound Rachel never wanted to hear again.

She promised she'd keep his old life a secret from him when he forgot completely. His memory was wiped clean in a matter of days after that. He would never be exactly the same as before, but the sparkle had returned.

Every once in a while he'd drift off mentally, as if trying to recall something that just wasn't there. Occasionally, he'd have a vivid dream about bright colors that didn't exist and a pair of eyes that held realms of infinite knowledge.

In response to either of these, Rachel would give him a sad smile. She knew he didn't regret it though, and that was the thing that baffled her.

***

Rachel and Collin were married that year under the giant tree in the glen. It was a small event, consisting of only close friends and family members. Willow was Rachel's maid of honor, and Tammy was happy to be a bridesmaid.

Matt agreed to be Collin's best man. Oddly enough, the two of them had become quite close since Collin's confession. Matt had always loved fantasy creatures. Maybe that was the reason for it. Rachel's dad was Collin's groomsman. He couldn't have been happier about the marriage.

When Rachel walked down the center path between rows of white chairs with some of her favorite people watching, she saw that look on Collin's face. It was the same look he always gave her. It was the look that said 'I love you' without words. It was the look that said 'you're beautiful'.

Rachel supposed she'd just have to get used to being wanted, and that wasn't such a bad thing.

The End

Please support my writing by buying this novel for $.99 on Amazon. Comments are appreciated! If you'd like to leave a comment on the Kindle addition of this book on Amazon or if you'd like to buy it, you can find it as Under The Same Stars by Holly Slattery. Thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed it!

- Holly