𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐀𝐆 ✷ rodrick heffley (✓)

epilogue

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chapter: epilogue

[a/n]: we've finally arrived at the end! to be honest, it's a little bittersweet to be ending this book. out of all of the fics that i've written so far, this one may be the one i hold the most pride in. i wish i could keep writing it, but it's natural that it must draw to a close. i hope you enjoyed haley and rodrick's story!
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Haley Buxbaum sits on the floor of her bedroom, toying with the limp arm of a stuffed bunny, grinning at its compliance before killing her darlings and ultimately sorting it into a bin underneath her mattress-bare bed.

Most of her life is packed up by now. 

The memorabilia and photos, captured snapshots of moments in time with her family, all radiant with love and nostalgia. 

Some lingering in their shelves where they will remain until she returns home once more.

She does a quick, careless scan of the room to make sure all of her clothes, toiletries, and miscellaneous products are tucked away in her suitcase, meticulously zipped up, before lifting herself from the floor strenuously.

"You ready to go?" her boyfriend, Rodrick, calls from the hall, peeking his head into her bedroom. "Or have you decided to stay here? See what good ol' Plainview has to offer for another four years?"

"I think Harvard would be pretty upset if I bailed on them last minute," Haley chuckles, her voice carrying less and less conviction with every word as she takes in what she's about to leave behind. "I'd love to stay, though. Even if it was just for an hour or two. Right here." She scoffs at her hesitance. "Crazy. All these years of wanting this very thing and right as I'm about to go, it gets a little too difficult to say goodbye."

"That's natural," Rodrick assures her. "Or, probably. I dunno. Not like I'm doing the same."

Haley smiles at him and gestures for him to take the place next to her inside her room. 

"Planning on working on some music while I'm away?"

Rodrick nods in confirmation. 

"Yeah. You've known—— I'm no scholar like you are. Sure, being around you has expanded my vocabulary, but let's all face it: I'm never gonna be college-smart."

Haley shakes her head ruefully, her eyes drooping in sadness like a puppy's. 

"You are college-smart, Rodrick. High school doesn't make you feel like it, but there's so much more freedom to college. You're doing this because you're not interested, and that's okay, but there's no use telling yourself you're not good enough."

"True. Thanks, Haley." He kisses her on the head, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders, absorbing some of her bittersweetness and melancholy for his own. "You promise you'll visit lots?"

"I will, of course. We talked about this—— remember, I'm going to your gig in December for the holidays," Haley promises.

"Not enough," Rodrick complains, more in sadness rather than hostility directed toward his girlfriend. "What about the one in November? What about then?"