The Key to my HeART

30 Epilogue

H A R P E R

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded of Max.

"You'll see."

We had spent the weekend with his parents in Boston, walking the Freedom Trail, visiting Salem, and exploring the Museum of Fine Arts. It had been lovely. Up until the moment he blindfolded me and drove me around, promising a "surprise." A very small part of me wondered if he would finally exact his revenge for the car horn prank I pulled. He swore he would do nothing as dastardly, but a piece of me didn't quite believe it.

"This isn't funny, Max." But I couldn't keep the laughter from my voice.

When we first got back together, the first week or so was awkward. I still felt lingering hurt despite his grand gesture. Still, I forgave him, and our relationship resumed as though nothing had happened. We'd spent months happy together, playing Fortress Siege, hiking, walking Beretta, and even going on double dates with Tyler and Lexi. Our spring break trip to Boston with his parents had been fantastic so far. My leg bounced excitedly at the prospect of a surprise to wrap it up.

The car stopped, and I heard Max put the car into park and open his door. I sat for a few moments in silence as he crossed around to my side of the car and opened it. A brisk spring breeze moved loose strands of my hair across my forehead. I reached up to move them, but Max caught my hand.

"No removing the blindfold," he said.

"I just wanted to stop my hair from being in my face."

Max helped me out of the car. He settled a hand on the small of my back, guiding me along. I could hear a few cars driving by and some general chatter as people walked by us, but there was nothing to indicate where we were.

Eventually, Max opened a door and I heard a live guitar player singing and strumming a tune. The unmistakable sound of an espresso machine whirred in the background. It smelled like French toast with a hint of chocolate.

"A coffee house?" I said, sniffing the air.

Max's hands landed on my shoulder and he steered me from the door. He stopped me abruptly.

"Ready?"

"I've been ready since you rushed me to finish my lobster roll at lunch."

I could hear him chuckle over the sounds of the coffee house.

He removed my blindfold and I found myself staring at the archer picture I thought had been destroyed. When we fought, I had deleted her in a fit of rage, knowing how much Max loved her. To see her hanging in a coffee house, one not in my hometown, was amazing. Underneath her was contact information for me.

"How...?" I asked, turning to him.

"Let it be a lesson to you about password protecting your laptop. I had your brother dig her out of the recycle bin on your desktop."

"And how did she end up on the wall here? And where is here?"

I looked around. The place was called Beans Town and several college-aged people sat around drinking coffee and working on homework, but that didn't clue me into this place.

"Just a coffee shop near the Massachusetts College of Arts and Design."

My mouth dropped open. Max reached over and closed it with his thumb. "You convinced a design school to hang my work?" I rasped.

"Not exactly. It's just near the college, but I know it's on your shortlist if you get accepted and with a little help from my parents," he made a money gesture with his fingers, "The owner agreed to display your artwork for about two weeks. I just wanted you to see your art outside our town because, no matter where you go to school, your art is always going to hang proudly."

I looked back at the archer. There were other pieces hung along the wall. Paintings and photography mostly, but my piece of graphic design didn't look out of place. She looked fierce and proud, her bowstring drawn back and the mountains seeming to crown her in the background. I'm glad Josh had pulled her from the depths of my computer. Seeing her hanged in all her glory, I realized I took my anger out on her unjustly.

I turned to Max and wrapped my arms around his neck. Our lips touched and I wished we could just stay there forever under the watchful eye of my archer. When we moved apart I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

"So you're my PR guy now?" I teased.

He just winked.

~*~*~

The final blow was mine. Keilne brought her warhammer down onto the Dread King's head. Screams of triumphant filled my ears. The Dread King was vanquished, his body lay in a pool of pixelated blood. Hailif danced around. Gemma sang "We Are the Champions" into her headpiece. Kreuner kept sending a slew of emojis and exclamation points. Grelvene flexed his muscle while I had Keilne pose with her warhammer. The game would sort out our loot in a fair way, so all we had to do was celebrate and get out before the Dread King respawned.

I looked across the Draven's basement. We'd set up two TVs and my console to play together. Max looked over at me and pulled his headset off.

"Finally," he said.

He crossed the room and flopped onto the couch next to me, pulling me close.

"Good job, Keilne." He kissed my temple.

"I couldn't have done it without the aid of the Jell-O Ship. It was a hard-won victory. Our friends were still dancing in-game, dancing right over the Dread King's corpse. It felt good.

"I think I'll have to make something to commemorate the moment. Something epic. Something my PR guy can sell to the coffeehouse."

Max tickled my sides. "As your hardworking PR guy, I think I can make it happen. Just make Grelvene the main focus, Ok?"

I kissed him lightly, feeling butterflies all through my body. I took his face in my hands, turning more toward him. Every inch of me was alive.

"Holy hell!" Kreuner screamed.

I broke away from Max to look at the screen. The Dread King had respawned and was raining blows on us. I pushed Max away and grabbed the controllers. He scurried back to his seat.

"Make out later!" I called. "We gotta run like hell right now!"

Max laughed as he slipped his headset back on. "I love you, Harper, you big nerd."

Thank you for reading my very first completed novel! 🖤

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this story!