đź“– EPILOGUE
One Year Later
Avery's POV
The campus looked different now.
No banners, no countdowns, no chaotic senior-year energy… just quiet paths lined with trees that seemed to laugh at memories.
I walked with a coffee in hand, my favorite oversized sweater, and Ethan's hand tucked firmly in mine.
"Remember when Jordan tried to juggle graduation caps?" I asked.
Ethan laughed, the deep, steady laugh that had survived a year of my chaos.
"I do," he said. "I think he's still banned from public performances."
I grinned. "Good. Some things shouldn't improve."
We passed the library — our library — and I stopped. The building looked exactly the same, but somehow, it felt smaller.
"Can you believe all of this happened here?" I asked softly.
He squeezed my hand. "Yeah. And that none of it would have mattered if we weren't honest with each other."
I leaned into him. "I'm glad you stayed."
"I'm glad you didn't let me leave," he said, and kissed my temple.
Ethan's POV
A year ago, I was terrified of the future.
Jobs, relocation, expectations… everything seemed like a trap.
Now? Now, I had a job I loved, friends who didn't let me disappear into myself, and Avery — the girl who had turned chaos into comfort.
We stopped at the quad, where Jordan and Maya had apparently decided a picnic was a good idea.
"You're late," Avery said, smirking at me.
"Traffic," I lied. She rolled her eyes.
"Anyway," she said, grinning, "I can't believe we made it."
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "We didn't just make it. We thrived."
She laughed. "You keep talking like a motivational poster."
"Maybe," I said, "but it's true."
Her hand found mine, fingers intertwined.
"So," she said, tilting her head, "what's next?"
I kissed her, soft but certain, forehead to forehead.
"Everything," I said. "Everything we choose to build together."
And I meant it.
Avery
And so we walked forward, not afraid anymore.
We were messy, chaotic, and perfectly ours.
Graduation was behind us. The future was ahead. And we had learned that the best things weren't things at all — they were people who refused to let you go.