Two Steps Behind

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Elizabeth slung her teacher bag over her shoulder, full of things she needed to work on over break. She had to catch up on her grading before the second quarter ended in a few weeks and she had to do report cards. She turned out the lights and closed the door to her classroom. She waved to a couple of the teachers as she walked down the hall. Jenny caught up to her and started walking alongside her.

"Big plans for Thanksgiving?" Jenny asked.

"Nothing big, just me, my mom, Eddie, my friend Angie, and her kids," Elizabeth answered with a shrug and a smile. "But I'm excited. It's the first time I've spent a holiday with my mom in a while."

David had always had reasons why they couldn't go home to visit for Thanksgiving or Christmas so Elizabeth always had to make up excuses. Everyone knew the real reason now, no more secrets between them, but it no longer mattered. This would be the first holiday she'd had with her mom in over four years.

Angie had become manager at the coffee shop, and with her pay increase, she finally kicked Jake to the curb. Elizabeth said good riddance. She was far too good for that jerk. They were in the midst of a divorce and she was staying with her mom for now. But between her salary and the child support she should definitely get from Jake, she should be okay to get a place of her own down the road.

"Are you guys having dinner at your moms or at your

place?" Jenny questioned.

Elizabeth smiled, "At our place."

Four months later and it still delighted her to say "our" anything. The first couple weeks after the incident had been hard. Elizabeth had struggled with knowing she had taken a life. She would have done it again in a heartbeat to save Eddie, and she knew the world was a better place without David in it. He would have just kept coming after them, possibly hurting others along the way. Even if he had been locked up, he would have gotten out eventually. He would have always been a dark cloud hanging over their heads. Him gone was definitely for the best. But it was still unnerving to know her hands had stopped someone's heart from beating, no matter how awful they had been.

Eddie had been by her side every step of the way, and she didn't pull away from him this time. Instead, she sunk right into the relief and comfort he provided her. She had started talking to a therapist and that helped. Eddie had been so supportive of this journey she was taking to get her mental health back on track, and she was feeling like she was, if maybe not whole, at least mended back together. Eddie seemed to fill in all the cracks and wash away all the horrors of her past.

She had lived with her mom for a while after, but she and Eddie saw each other every day. She often slept over at his house or him at hers, finding the nightmares didn't come when she was sleeping safely in his arms. They hadn't spoken of moving in together, though she'd thought about it a lot. But wasn't it too fast?

One day, Eddie brought it up, bringing voice to their concerns of if it would be rushing things, and they both wound up laughing. How could it be too fast when they had loved each other for what felt like forever? No two people could ever know each other as intimately as they did when they moved in together. There was nothing they hadn't seen or didn't know about each other that would be an issue.

So, that's what they did. Her mom had been overjoyed. It wasn't like Elizabeth had much to move and he had everything a house needed so it was quick. She simply moved in the next day, Gareth and Jeff showing up to help haul her boxes. The transition to living together had been so easy. She still loved waking up to his face every single morning and falling asleep in the safety of his arms every night.