A sunset with you

Chapter 39 (Last Chapter)

Taehyung

I got her favourite coffee and a drink for Jennie as well. There was also a flower store so I got two bouquets and returned to the hospital. When I arrived, I saw Jennie sitting outside on the bench and staring at the ceiling. Did Hailey say something that hurt her? What happened?

"Hey, why are you here?" I sat down beside Jen and handed her the drink and flowers but she shook her head. "What's wrong love?"

She doesn't say anything and instead, she starts crying. She leans against my chest and hugs me tightly. 

"Tae, Hailey." 

"Hailey what?"

"She-" I pull away from Jennie and rush inside the room, hoping that my assumption was wrong but unfortunately, my guess was right. Hailey lay in bed, her body covered in white sheets. I make my way over to her and pull down the sheet over her face. I can feel the tears flowing down my face and I don't try to stop it. I know I promised her to never cry if something happened but I couldn't help it.

My best friend is dead. I hear Jennie's footsteps approach me from behind but I don't hide back my emotions. 

"Tae, we need to inform her mum."

I look up at her red eyes. How can I call her mum and tell her that her daughter is no longer with us?

"I can't. Ask the hospital to call. Please." She nods and leaves the room. I hold onto Hailey's hand tightly which is now cold as ice. I knew you were stubborn but didn't expect you to be this stubborn. Why would you leave me like this? I had a lot to apologize for. I have many incomplete promises. How? How could you just leave this easily?

My dear Hailey, Please forgive me and maybe, maybe in another life, we will meet again. If we do, promise me to walk into my life with that pretty smile on your face and I will never let it fade. Ever again. 

Rest in peace love.

Three years later

"HAILEY!" Jennie screams at the top of her lungs. Abby and I were in the living room painting. Abby wanted to paint like me so I brought her everything she needed for it and now she and I spend most of my time painting together. She and I rushed towards the bedroom from where her scream came from. 

"What happened?"

Jen was on the bed and I could tell she was furious but there were tears in her eyes as well. I can't tell if she is mad or sad.

"She bit me!" Hailey was in her arms, drinking milk. "Why does she have to be like you?"

"Woah, kids in the room Jen." I laugh and join them in bed and even Abby hops in between us and I cuddle her. "Even though she bites like me, she looks exactly like you. Besides, it was an accident and it only happened once so stop teasing me about it."

"What happened once? You bit mama?" Abby asks.

"Yeah, this one time Mama was annoying me and I took her arm like this," I took Abby's arm, "and bit like this." I gently nibbled on her soft thin arms making her giggle.

"Mama if Hailey is done drinking milk can I play with her?" Jennie looks at Hailey whom she failed to put to sleep and lets out a sigh. She nods and covers up her breasts and follows Abby into the living room. After she makes sure they have plenty of toys to play with, she comes back to the bedroom and lies down on my chest.

"Are you okay?"

"Exhausted but yeah. I am alright." She goes silent for a few minutes and I assume she fell asleep but suddenly she sits up straight. "I just remembered. You said you would show me your most recent painting which was a secret all this time but you never did."

I started working on a painting a few weeks ago and I never allowed anyone to see it or come into my art room when I was working on it because it required a lot of concentration. The reason I didn't show it to Jennie was because I didn't know how she would take it but I realized that I should show it to her eventually so I think I might let her see it today.

"I will but on one condition," she nods. "Promise me that you won't misunderstand."

"Okay."

My art room was right in front of our bedroom and it was ALWAYS locked. I had the keys and no one else was allowed in there unless it's Jennie but she too wasn't allowed in there the last few weeks. I open the door, allow her to walk in and close the door behind us.

My painting sat in the middle of the room, covered in a white cloth, ready to be revealed. 

"It's been three years and I wanted to do this for a long time but I couldn't. Even though it's too late, I decided to do it anyway." I remove the cloth revealing a portrait of Hailey. Not our daughter Hailey but my ex Hailey. I started to realize that her memories were starting to fade, the way she looked, the way she smelled, everything. So before it was too late, I wanted to paint her and if Jennie was okay with it, have it in the gallery as well. Not for sale obviously.

"Tae, this is beautiful. I am sure she would love this."

"She made me promise that one day I would paint her but I never got the chance to. I had to do this before it was too late. You don't mind this do you?"

"Of course not. I love it. You should hang it up in the gallery so that everyone sees what a gorgeous girl she was."

"I wanted your permission before doing it."

"You don't need my permission for something like this. I don't mind at all." She hugs me tightly as we stare at the picture in front of us. "Do you miss her?"

"I miss my best friend, yes. I wish she could have lived to see our Hailey."

"Yeah, they would have loved each other."

"Yeah."

We sit down on the floor, leaning against the wall, my arm around her waist. I look at Jen and think about how we made it. Finally. After years and years of confusion, heartbreak, marriages, relationships, deaths, everything, we finally made it. Look at us now. Living a happy life, with two pretty girls and successful careers. 

We made it Jen!

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Thank you so much for reading my story. I apologize for disappearing at times without updating. It was because I gave up on writing halfway but this one time I logged into my account and saw that a lot of you supported my work and it inspired me to start writing again.

I hope you guys stayed till the end and loved my story. 

Please leave a comment so that I can learn and improve my writing. 

Thank you so much.

Much Love,

Dee.