Forever & Always

Epilogue

Edited: 02/07/2022

Four and a Half Years Later

The past four and a half years had been nothing short of magical. I had been blessed with more love and support then one could ever ask for.

So much had happened over the past four and a half years.

Firstly, Katie, Noah, Alex, Drew, Matt, Caleb, and I were still extremely close. We actually ended up buying the house that we were looking at all those years ago in the diner. Two weeks after we had found it, Katie and Noah had received their acceptance to Greendale. Luckily, the house was still available, and our offer was accepted by the seller. We moved in at the start of the 2023 and begun university three weeks later.

Surprisingly, Katie and Drew fell in love and have been in a committed relationship for two years. To say that we were all a little shocked when they had told us was an understatement.

Noah asked Alex to be his boyfriend around six months after moving into the house. They are still going strong. This relationship was not as much as a shock to everyone.

Matt was engaged to a beautiful girl named London. They had met at university and had hit it off straight away. She was lovely and we all welcomed her with open arms.

Speaking of engagement, Mike and Sarah had a beautiful wedding three years ago. I was honoured to stand beside Sarah on such a big day. I am incredibly happy to say that I now had two beautiful nieces; April who was two and Amelia who was eight months old.

Julie was doing well. She actually had a boyfriend now. They met at work but were still taking things nice and slow.

Tori was turning fifteen this year. We were still as close as ever and regularly had our girl days when we visited each other.

You might be wondering about Caleb and I, did we stay together?

I am happy to say that we are stronger and more in love than ever before. Like I said, we were born to be soulmates. We were still living in the same room, with all of our housemates. We had even brought a little Golden Retriever named Max. Everything was perfect and I could not wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

"Bianca Jones" a voice from the stage said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Bianca Jones" the voice repeated, making me blush.

Quickly walking on to the stage, I made my way over to the chancellor, shaking her hand.

"Bianca is graduating with a Bachelor of Secondary Education with Honours and special recognition for her outstanding grades. Congratulations" the man said, as he shook my hand.

Oh, yes. There is that too. I had finally graduated after four, hard yet fun, years at university. I had even secured myself a teaching job which was incredible.

I stopped in the middle of the stage so I could get my photo taken holding the certificate.

"Yes Bianca!" a voice screamed which I instantly recognised as Caleb's.

He was joined by cheers from Julie, Tori, Mike, Sarah, Noah, Alex, Katie, Drew, Matt, London, Mum, and her boyfriend Greg.

Yes, you heard right. My mum and her boyfriend were here. We had completely lost contact for three years but have since been working on our relationship. Occasionally, we would meet for coffee, and we would meet for important occasions but that was about it. We tried to fix our relationship but the damage was already done. We would never return to what we had before she left for Africa, but I am happy for her and her relationship with Greg.

The smile spread across my face as I looked out at all of my loved ones standing there cheering me on. There was nothing better or more empowering than this.

Once the graduation ceremony finished, I pushed my way through the crowds as I found my family.

"Congratulations, my love" Caleb said, picking me up and spinning me around.

"You did it!" Katie cheered.

Katie still had another year of her course since she was doing her masters in Exercise Physiology. Noah and Matt had graduated last year, and Caleb and Drew were completing their football scholarships in a few months.

After talking and celebrating with everyone, Mike asked the entire group to jump in for a photo which Greg volunteered to take.

We all huddled together with me in the middle and Caleb on my right.

"Smile" Greg said.

We all flashed our pearly whites at the camera, showing our biggest smiles.

"How many photos are you taking" I laughed as he kept holding the camera up.

"Bianca" Caleb called out.

As I turned around to look at Caleb, my eyes shot down to the most amazing sight; Caleb was down on one knee, holding out the most gorgeous engagement ring.

I gasped in shock, as my eyes filled with tears of joy. I could not believe this was happening.

"Bianca Marie Jones, I love you so much. As soon as you walked through my front door, I knew that I had met my match. You are the person that I want to share the rest of my life with. Will you make me the happiest man in the world? Will you marry me?" he asked, pulling the ring out of the box.

"Yes! Of course, I will marry you" I yelled, jumping into his awaiting arms.

"I love you" he chuckled, sliding the ring onto my ring finger.

"I love you too" I said, leaning in to give me a kiss.

"It is so beautiful" I gushed, staring at the ring in awe.

"Its beauty does not even compare to how gorgeous you are princess" he said, making me gush at how lucky I was to call this man my finance.

"Congratulations" everyone yelled, as they released rose petals into the air.

The action surprised me. It was only now that I realised that Greg was still there holding the camera. I was beyond ecstatic knowing that the entire proposal was recorded.

"You are officially part of our family" Tori smiled, pulling me into a hug.

Everyone here held such a special place in my heart, and I could not be happier right now.

Staring up at Caleb, I could not help but smile during this precious moment. I could not wait for our future where we would get married, buy our forever family home, start our own family and grow old together.

Caleb and I really were forever and always. 

Author's Note: An image of Bianca's engagement ring is located in the next chapter titled 'That is a wrap!'