I Guess They Never Disappear

XI (Epilogue)

Alana POV

Two Years Later

I finish the end of a paragraph and look up to check the time. Six PM. I've stayed here for half an hour longer than the end of the day, although plenty of my new colleagues are still around in their offices, and I can hear someone on the phone at the end of the hall. It would be easy to stay here and keep working. 

Still, Zoe is waiting for me at home, and we're cooking dinner and dessert together tonight, to celebrate one month of me working at the firm. 

I flip my phone over and see a message from my girlfriend asking if I would mind stopping by the store on the way home to pick up some freshly-baked buns and whatever I want to drink with dinner tonight. 

I message back, telling her that I'm sorry for staying longer than I meant to and of course I'll pick up the things that she wanted me to get. 

On my way out of the firm, I say goodbye to the other new lawyer. She got hired about two weeks before I did, and although we haven't been working together, I'd say we've managed to become pretty good acquaintances. 

The first clients I've had so far are a couple who's trying to adopt their foster child who has lived with them for about three years. Currently, I'm putting together their formal request for the paperwork they'll need to sign. They're going to come in in about a week to go over the requirements that need to be met at their home visit and sign the forms before I pass them along to the judge. 

I honestly hope that their adoption request is accepted. They seem like genuinely nice people who truly love their potential adoptee and didn't join the foster system for poor reasons. 

This is why I'm glad I made the decision to go into family law. I'm actually managing to help real people, unlike some of the other branches of law I could've gone into.

I don't think I would feel as passionate about what I am doing if I didn't. 

People have always, and will always, mean more to me than some nameless corporation. 

When I get to the store, I make my way quickly to the section where the fresh bread is and pick two buns out of the case before I head to the drink section. I find us a couple of fancy sodas (wine would probably be fancier, but that stuff doesn't go well with burgers).

A toast to our successes, as it may be. 

The line to check out isn't too long, and soon I find myself out of the store once more and on the way to our shared apartment. 

Making my way up to the door, I'm suddenly thrown back to a memory, years ago, of walking this path and making my way home to Zoe for the first time. It feels truly surreal that it's been this long. 

This long together and we're still going strong. 

It gives me hope for my future — our future, the two have become intertwined at this point. Not so intertwined that I no longer have my hopes and dreams that are mine and mine alone, but enough that when I consider everything that I hope to happen to me, Zoe is there. Zoe is always there. We're there for each other, and it gives me hope. 

When I open up the door, I notice that Zoe has a large assortment of spices measured out into little bowls. 

"Hi Zoe," I say. 

"Hi love," she says. 

"I notice you got started without me." My tone is light, and Zoe responds in kind.

"You took a while, 'Lana."

I laugh. "Got distracted, sweetie. Can I go get changed really quick?"

"Sure." 

I quickly go change in our shared room, taking off my professional suit and replacing it with one of Zoe's old t-shirts and some jeans we found at a flea market a year or so ago. 

When I get back to the main area, Zoe is leaning up against one of the counters, looking at her phone. 

She smiles. 

"There you are," she says. 

I smile. "I'm ready to help you cook. What do you need me to do?"

"Well, you could mix together the beef and all of the spices to the right of the lettuce."

I wash my hands and go to find a bowl to place the ingredients in. Zoe pours a little bit of cooking oil into the bottom of our skillet and begins to heat it up on the stove. 

We make light chatter as we work, casually discussing our days. I can't, of course, get into much detail with Zoe about the specifics of the case, but I assure her that I'm having a good time at the firm. 

Zoe's been rehearsing all day for her first recording studio session. She's planning on releasing an EP at the end of the year, but the studio wants her to come in for a practice, test recording before she actually goes into record the album.

I'm really proud of her. She's come a long way in the past few years, going from an artist that had maybe thirty people at any given performance (and few who came just to watch her) to someone who has gathered a small following within West Haven. 

Eventually, the pan heats up enough, and I'm pulled from my thoughts. Zoe goes over to another counter space to wash lettuce, chop tomatoes and onions, and mix up the special mayonnaise that she's developed over the years. 

I place the patties into the pan and watch them as they begin to sizzle and cook. The aroma of beef patties and spices begin to float around the room, covering the two of us with the scent of our labor. 

Our dinner finishes fairly quickly after that, and the two of us prepare our burgers before going to go sit down on the couch and eat. 

Jasper wakes up from his nap, most likely because of the smell of meat that is permeating the entire house. He tries to hop up onto Zoe's lap and bats at her plate; for these efforts, he receives a gentle 'go away' and a reminder that he's had his dinner already. 

After dinner, we make our way back to the kitchen and clean up. Zoe pulls baking ingredients from the cupboard and begins to mix up our favorite chocolate cake. 

When I'm done washing the dishes, I join her. At this point, she's pouring it into the pan and wiping little drops of batter off the edges. 

I pull the sugar and butter out of the fridge and begin to cream the two of them together in a bowl. 

By the time the frosting is done, the cake is just warm enough to put it on and we cut our slices once I've spread the creamy raspberry icing all over. 

Zoe and I sit on the couch, eating our cake. It's domestic and sweet and everything that we've come to represent together. 

And I know that we're going to be okay. I don't know what our future holds. I don't know where our story goes from here, but I know that we're going to meet it. 

Together. 

Fin

A/N: Hi there!

I hope that you've been having a good day so far and that you've been doing whatever you need to do to take care of yourself. You're valid and important and you deserve it. 

I had the Jared tea again today. It tasted like a little more of a green tea than before but was still quite good. 

Thank you for all of your support. 

Stay safe everyone, I love you all. 

Your dearest author, 

Angie

Word Count: 1227