Shadows of The Past

Epilogue

A year later

"You sure you got everything, son?" Aunt Rosalie cooed as she stood by Donovan's car. Uncle Emmett stood next to her and held her in his arms as they watched their son pack his belongings and load them into his car.

"I got it, Mum. Relax." Donovan smiled as he packed one more box into his trunk.

The day had finally come for Donovan to leave for college. He was gladly accepted into Stanford University on a football scholarship and was heading down two weeks early to attend a football camp. All of us were here to send Donovan off and the aching feeling of saying goodbye to a loved one was hanging in the air like morning dew.

Mum and Dad were standing near the trunk of Donovan's car in each other's embrace while Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett stood near the front of the car. Leighton was occasionally helping Donovan load a few things into the car but mostly stepped back and watched him with clear sadness in her eyes.

Alec and Heather were (not so) discreetly holding hands and wearing a silly grin on their faces as they paid more attention to each other than to anything else. I wouldn't blame them though, Alec had finally told our parents about his relationship with Heather and apparently, my best friend had done the same in her house. So this meant that they could be more open in public and more importantly, in front of our families. And this majorly meant that the gate of public affection had been opened and wouldn't be closed for quite some time.

I, on the other hand, stood behind my parents. I turned to my side and matched gaze with the most brilliant pair of blue eyes I would never grow tired of. Jace smiled at me as his arms snaked around my waist. He pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on my right shoulder, watching everyone like I was.

Over the year, Jace and I had worked on our friendship and slowly brought it back to where we were before disaster struck. We spent more time together, just venturing into each other's lives and finding out more about one another. We went out more often to enjoy the nature and created beautiful memories that would last for a lifetime.

Jace had amended his ties with my parents and even though my Dad was still a little skeptical about Jace, he had agreed to give him a second chance for my sake. Jace came by more often to spend time with us and to also slowly creep into my parents' good books. My Mum had been really encouraging to the both of us and that was one thing I definitely appreciated.

Jace also became closer to Alec as they trained together for their football matches. Both of them were star players and one of them were definitely up to take on the football Captain's position in senior year. I was secretly supporting my brother more than Jace since I knew how much Alec wanted to be the captain but no matter who got that place, I would be thrilled for the both of them.

Over the summer, I had gotten a job at the beach cafe downtown and to say that I had fun would be a total understatement. Jace made it a point to drop me off and pick me up every day even though we weren't officially together when I first got the job. I was spending everyday making milkshakes and serving pastries, it felt like I was in my natural habitat. I loved cafes and working in one not only cured me of my boredom but also gave me a sense of freedom and independence.

And since Jace was living nearby, he always brought me out to the beach after my shifts and we would spend hours just talking about our day. The beach was also the place he had asked me to be his girlfriend again, for the second time. I had playfully said no and tried to run away from him but that only resulted in me getting pulled into the sea and getting drenched in salt water from head to toe - courtesy to my boyfriend.