His Sunflower

Epilogue

I hug Leo tightly, not wanting to let go. But soon Katlyn tells me I've hugged him enough and it's her turn.

"I still don't get why you're taking summer courses. It's like you don't want to be around me." Katlyn groans.

"What? No. I'm taking summer courses so I can graduate college sooner." Leo says kissing the top of Katlyn's head. "And I'm not going too far. And I'll visit on holidays."

"Why'd you decide to become a lawyer?! Why not get like a business major or whatever. Because then you wouldn't have to go far." Katlyn whines.

"Katlyn, you don't see him telling you not to follow your dream of going to UCLA." I comment, and Katlyn glares at me.

"Yeah, because I'm not graduating yet! I can't go off anywhere! He can! To fricking Harvard!"

"Baby, I really do need to go now. I can't get stuck in traffic."

"Fine. But make sure all the smart girls know you're taken. And you best believe I'm telling everyone my boyfriend's a student at Harvard. On a scholarship nonetheless."

Leo snickers. "Yeah, I knew I liked you for a reason."

They start to kiss, and I look away along with Ethan. "That's gross, I don't ever want to see my brother kiss someone again."

"I don't want to see my cousin kissing my bestie. Gross."

"Massachusetts? Why? Why the hell is it so far away?!" I hear Katlyn cry again.

"Katlyn, it's just like a five and a half hour drive, it's not that bad. I could've gone to Stanford! But I'm not."

"I just don't want you to go away."

"Is it just me, or do you think they're being a bit extra?" Vance asks coming over to walk to me.

"Sort of. But then again love makes you do weird things." I say for Ethan's sake, while signing for Vance's sake.

Ethan's pretty good at sign language and can understand most of what we say, enough to follow conversation, but still likes it when we talk with what we're signing.

"Aren't you sad Leo's going away?" Ethan asks Vance.

"Eh. Kevin's gone, Leo's gonna be gone, you're going off next year, then I'll be gone. It's the way of life. The adopted children mom and dad are gonna get for when their nest is empty are gonna go off to college too."

"What is decide to going to fixing refrigerators? You have to go to trade school for that." Ethan asks.

"Lies! You want to be a neonatologist. Because you love babies. Also want to become either a certified midwife, or an ob/gyn doctor on the side."

Ethan laughs. "Ok yeah you're right. I don't want to fix refrigerator for a living."

As Leo's parents bid him goodbye, making sure he has all of his stuff, average parents sending their kid off to college stuff, Ethan starts fiddling with the hem of his shirt, staring intensely at the ground.

"Hey," I say nudging him in the side and Ethan jumps looking to me. "what are you thinking about?" I ask knowing it'll be something random.

"I just realized, refrigerator doesn't have a D in it, but fridge does. And fridge if the shorten version of refrigerator, so why don't we call fridges like, friger?"

"I have absolutely no idea Ethan. Good question. We should google it sometime." I say, smiling softly.

Ethan nods.

"Gosh dammit Leo! Why couldn't you be like a bitch or something? Because then I wouldn't be missing you so much." Katlyn cries.

"Baby, stop acting like you're never going to see me again. I'll be back for Fourth of July, and then I'll be back for two weeks at the start of August in between semesters."

Katlyn groans. "Whatever. Just be prepared for me to show up a random weekend. I don't want to run into you and your side hoe."

Leo snorts. "Please, I'd go to my side hoe's place." Leo looks at me, then winks, mouthing he loves me, which makes Katlyn smack him.

"Gosh just leave already. Or else I'll never let you leave."

Leo hops in his car, waving bye before driving off, leaving for Harvard.

Katlyn sighs. "Now what?"

"No idea." I mumble.

...

We've been chilling at Ethan's house ever since Leo left, and it seems quite. Which is weird because Leo was usually quiet unless he was with Vance or Ethan.

"Hey, when we move out into an apartment, we're gonna have separate bedrooms right?" Ethan asks, from sprawled out on his bedroom floor as I lay in his bed.

"Yeah, why?"

I don't want to have sex until I'm married, and I don't want to share a bedroom with my significant other until I'm married too. Spending the night with Ethan is fine, but us permanently sharing a bedroom won't work. I just don't want to.

"Can I take your bed? It's really comfy."

"Ok sure. I wanted to buy a new bed anyway, one with storage underneath since I don't think our apartment will be too big."

Ethan giggles suddenly, and I sit up looking down at him. "I just realized, I'm gonna be living without my parents. I don't know how to do a lot of things, like remember my medicine, remember to do my laundry, remember to eat sometimes, remember to clean my bedroom, remember to... I am going to be so lost without my parents! They're literally made to help me remember things!"

"I'll help you remember Ganso." I say. "Plus, I'd probably be doing all the laundry and cleaning and stuff. Because I like cleaning and doing laundry. It calms me."

Ethan shrugs. "Ok Girasol. Ok."

I lay back down. We may still have a year left until we move out, but it feels like it's going to come too soon.

"I just realized, like 9 months ago we were complete strangers, didn't even know the other person existed, then started dating, then broke up, and now we're in love planning on moving out together. How the tables have turned."

I nod in agreement. How the tables have turned. Ethan and I have been a lot of things to each other. Merely acquaintances to acquaintances to friends to best friends to girlfriend and boyfriend to merely acquaintances again then to dating again. But there's one thing I've always been to him through all that, His Sunflower. And he's always been my Dork, my Ganso.

THE END

*****
Well tic tacs,

This is the end of His Sunflower. You may be thinking to yourself, "what? But there's still so much left in the air" or maybe you aren't. Doesn't matter. Because there's still going to be a second book for these two. I have this thing where basically everyone gets two books, so I can't stop that tradition.

Oh, and I'll be gone for like ten days, but when I get back then I'll be finishing up Beautiful Crazy, then starting up the two new books, because BC needs a second book as well. I may or may not do the double publishing thing, maybe just one book at a time, I'm not sure yet. But yeah.