Corren's Fight

Epilogue

Winter

It was Christmas Eve, and everyone had gathered at Jem's house. He bought a huge tree that took hours to decorate- which Emily had dragged me into of course. She had a lot fun with it though. Jem and Kim had been dating exclusively for eight months and they were crazy about  each other. It was nice to see Jem get his own piece of happiness. Jason and Harper were in the kitchen bickering about the winter formal at school. Harper had recently become the head of the school's dance committee. Gabe, aka Snakebites, was dating some girl from his art class who he brought to the party. She was nice and fit right in with the group. Megan and Noah were cuddling in front of the fire in the living room. Audrey was at the Christmas party too and brought Avery who was now a year old. Jem almost cried when he held his niece. My mother was in rehab still, but sent me a letter every week updating me on her treatment and asking me how things were. She accepted the fact I wanted to stay with Jem and finish high school here. For that I was grateful.

I leaned against the wall, taking in the decorations all around the house. It looked like Santa's elves threw up all over the place. The fireplace was lined with nutcrackers, the stair rail was wrapped with holly and lights. Mistletoe hung in every doorway and wreaths were strung up on every door. Gifts were stacked around the trunk of the Christmas tree and Jem had a Santa hat on his head. Either Kim had sweet talked him into it or he had too much whiskey. Something told me it was a bit of both.

Emily popped up by my side with a Santa hat on her head. "Hey there, handsome." She pecked my lips. "Why so lonely?"

I chuckled and pulled her close. "Just taking in the scenery. You and Kim did great."

"It's a little thing called skill." Emily cracked her knuckles for more effect.

I laughed. "Feel like opening presents a little early?"

Emily smiled. "Definitely. Hold on a sec." She ran over to the tree, picked up a gift and hurried back over.

I jerked my head to the front door. "Come on."

There was snow outside, so Emily and I dawned our jackets before heading out to the porch. Emily wanted me to unwrap my gift first. It was wrapped with green wrapping paper with a red bow on the top. I tore open the present. It was a new lacrosse hoodie, exactly like my old one that Emily was holding captive at her house.

"I know how much you love lacrosse and I felt bad for always keeping your hoodie. So I wanted you to have one, but I wanted to be able to still keep the one I have at home. I figured we could trade off whenever mine loses your scent." She bit her lip.

I smiled and kissed her. "Thank you, Sweet Heart. I love it. Now your turn. Close your eyes."

Emily did as told. I walked behind her and reached into my pocket and pulled out a necklace. It was a firefly pendent on a silver chain. I put the necklace around her neck and moved her hair over the chain.

"Okay, now open your eyes."

Emily looked down at her neck and made a tiny gasp. "Oh, Corren! It's beautiful! I love it! Thank you!" She turned around and hugged me.

I tucked her hair behind her ear. "Merry Christmas, Emily."

"Merry Christmas, Corren."

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." I said with pure honesty.

Emily silenced me with a kiss.

I didn't know what the next chapter in my life held, but I felt ready for it. For the first time in a long time, my life was back on track. It didn't matter what came next. Life had worked itself out. I trusted that it would again. Even in my darkest hours there was always a light. All I had to do was hang on. If Scott was around, maybe he would've said I'd done good. I thought so.

A/N:

And they lived happily ever after. The end :)

The third book in the series is called Avery's Anorexia! You can find it on my profile! Once again, thank you all for sticking with me and reading this book from start to finish <3