epilogue
SEVEN YEARS IN THE NEAR FUTURE
annalise had never really felt like she fit in. everywhere she went she was known as the weird girl. or the girl who had the bad dad. or something like that. she hadn't felt like she really fit in anywhere. she hadn't found her place in the world yet.
but one day she was on her laptop and she discovered this extremely cute boy - oh wait, he sings too?
she loved listening to his covers. so one day she decided to message him on something no one probably ever did - myspace.
it took her five minutes to decide what to say. she hadn't expected him to answer. but he did.
she hadn't ever intended to become friends with him. imagine that! annalise, the girl nothing happens to!!
they did become quite good friends. but that was seven years ago, and today, annalise had bigger problems to think about.
"annalise, please," mandy, a close friend and a girl annalise worked with, begged. she held a hot topic bag in her hand with (apparently) only a few things she bought with annalise's credit card.
annalise groaned. "why can't you find someone else to drag along to this stupid concert? and who's even playing?"
mandy rolled her hazel eyes in her head. "everyone else bailed on me last minute. now c'mon!" she grabbed annalise's hand and dragged her into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
"be ready in fifteen minutes!" she shouted, making her way to the fridge, where cold pizza awaited her.
as annalise got herself ready, her mind wandered to the old friends she used to have; ashton being one of them. she hadn't talked to him in years. she didn't know why but they had just grown apart. she didn't even know if he was still living in mississippi.
if he was, she hadn't seen him around at all. she heard from word of mouth something about a band, but that was nothing like ashton, and she shot the thought way out of the sky, deeming it impossible.
"hurry up, i don't want to be late meeting my husbands!" mandy yelled from somewhere in their apartment. yes, if you can believe it, they even were roommates.
annalise fixed her eyeliner and yelled a "now i'm done," back.
mandy grabbed the tickets (which annalise hadn't even bothered to look at) and her bags and made her way to her small honda. she not so patiently waited for annalise to buckle herself in and get comfortable before she pulled out of the parking lot.
"this is going to be fun," she grinned. annalise just sighed.
+
once they reached the concert hall (it was so big!), mandy finally decided to tell annalise that they were pretty rare tickets.
"we get to meet them backstage!" mandy screamed, her voice going up several octaves in the process. annalise cringed and plugged her ears.
she watched as mandy danced around like a little girl. she couldn't believe she was that obsessed with this band.
they made their way through the crowds of people, finally ending up near security. mandy handed them the tickets and they were given backstage passes with their names on them. security let them through and mandy had to personally thank each one of them.
it was fairly large backstage, so they had to have a security guard escort them to where they'd meet the band.
"right in there, miss," the security guard said, opening a door that had a couple signs on it. mandy squealed and thanked the man over and over again. (hA that's a reference ayeeeeee)
mandy quickly opened the door, taking a deep breath. annalise followed bored my behind, on her phone. she heard some talking on the other side of the room and it wasn't until she heard a voice say her name that she lifted her gaze from her phone screen.
it was...
"annalise!" ashton said in shock. annalise gaped. standing next to him were... no, this can't be.
suddenly she was being hugged from all angles. she could barely even think.
"it's been long enough," michael said, smiling widely.
"yeah, it's like you suddenly dropped off the face of the planet," calum laughed, playfully punching her shoulder.
mandy was extremely confused. "but you... and they - and me... what's going on?!"
ashton slung his arm around annalise's shoulder. "we used to be best friends back in the day," he said, smiling fondly at annalise.
mandy's eyes widened and she looked as if she might fall over, but luke reached out and caught her. and that was when their eyes met.
annalise quickly looked away. seven years later and she was still the same awkward girl that she used to be. she mentally slapped herself.
"thank you," mandy said and luke let go of her, making sure she wouldn't fall over again.
then suddenly all the boys had 8262 questions they had to ask her. how was she. what was she doing. is she single. does she have a dog.
luke stood by mandy, watching the scene before his eyes. he had been silently wishing for this day for years. here she was, looking gorgeous as ever, standing in front of him. he felt his heart pull a little at the thought of all the lost time. he felt in his pocket; yes, it was still there.
mandy turned to luke. "annalise never mentioned you," she said. luke swallowed.
"s-she didn't?"
"no. she mentioned there used to be this really sweet boy she used to like as a teenager, but she never mentioned a name. she was always secretive little twat like that," she said with a laugh. luke tried laughing with her but failed.
he'd made up his mind; it was now or never.
"hey guys, why don't you show mandy around?" luke said over the commotion the boys were making. calum looked at him in confusion and was about to say something but michael smacked his arm.
"uh, yeah, sure," ashton said. when no one was looking he sent a wink luke's way.
annalise was going to follow but luke stopped her. she looked up at him in confusion.
"hi," he said.
"hi," she responded, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"it's been a while," luke said.
"seven years."
there was a small pause in which luke got down on one knee. annalise looked at him surprised.
"don't say anything or make me get up, it might rip my jeans," he said with a laugh. she giggled but didn't respond.
"so i don't know if you remember, but seven years ago i made a promise that i'd come back for you." annalise nodded for him to continue. "and i'm sorry i haven't been around, but i haven't forgotten."
they heard a slight tear as luke tried to switch knees and his eyes widened in horror. annalise was laughing too hard to help him up, so they both just sat on the floor. luke took both her hands in his.
"annie, i - "
just then the door opened again and mandy's head popped around it. she observed the scene before her. "palm reading?" she asked.
annalise and luke just glared at her. "okay, okay, sorry," she apologized, throwing her hands up in mock defense. i just need to know one thing and then i'll leave."
"and what would that be?" annalise asked impatiently.
"what's the wifi password?"
luke turned around with a grin on his face. "marryme215."
THE END
p.s. that's not the wifi password luke
