Shoelaces

Epilogue: End Behavior

Darrion walks through the door, which leaves Haley and me standing in the whiteness. Haley, who looks beautiful even when she's crying, wipes her eyes before walking over to me. She leans her head on my shoulder as I wrap my hand around her waist. We both stare at the door.

"It's crazy that he asks for an extra visit every single time he comes here, right? It's lucky that you're always his host, and you're fuc-" Haley finally breaks the silence to say.

"That's the thing about that soul. He's always chasing," I respond. "And I always let you seem like a saint when I tell him 'no' and you tell him 'yes.'" She laughs softly before we both sigh into each other's embrace.

"Do you know when he's supposed to be back?" Haley speaks up again as we continue to stare at the door.

"I haven't looked into it yet, but hopefully longer than 18 limb years this time." I respond, slowly.

"More wait time for us, I guess. Maybe this time your comedy will be better since you'll have more than 18 years to study."

"Hey! I relearn comedy each time he comes back so that it best fits the type of humor he'll like. 18 years isn't very long."

"As if," she says, and although I can't see it, I just know she's rolling her eyes.

"Is that a bet?

"I think it is," she responds playfully, as I kiss the top of her head. "You know, I almost wish you keep this form forever. Chris Evans, or whatever that guy's name is, is hot," she continues.

"I guess I can keep it," I pause, pulling up my suit sleeve to look at my watch. "At least until Tonya Deveraux gets here. If I'm being honest, I like this form too."

We both laugh.

"I miss him already," she sighs.

"I do, too," I respond. "I just wish I could have told him that-"

"You know you can't do that," Haley replies, pulling out of my grasp so that she can look at me.

"I know. I know. I just hate to see him like this. This is one of the worst that I can remember."

"Remember when he was Mary? And she died when Santiago, whatever his name was then, was in the war? That one was ugly," Haley says with a shiver.

"Oh yeah, that one was ugly," I agree, pulling Haley back into my embrace. "I still wish I could tell him, though. Just to prevent all the pain."

"But he learns so much up here, you know that. If you told him, he would just run through this door without looking back."

I nod my head, then rest it against Haley's.

"And, it shows how much Darrion loves him, too," Haley adds. "At any point, he could have forgotten, forgot all the pain. But he chose to stay, stay with all the pain, just so he could continue to love. He loved despite himself. And once the pain finally subsided, and he realized he would always love him, even without the pain, he finally let himself leave. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Your brain is beautiful," I respond.

"Thank you," she says with her now inflated ego. "And now that we have all this free time, maybe we can-"

I finally cut her off for once.

"Frank, cover your eyes."

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a/n: and that's the end of Shoelaces!!! thank you all so so so so much for reading. the votes and the comments never fail to make my day! i hope you all liked the story and i would love to hear whatever thoughts you had on it!

alright, i think this is goodbye for now! signing off, cheese