Is This Safe?

Epilogue

Hope.

Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. Hope is waiting for something that may or may not happen. Waiting for something you truly care about, more than anything.
It's what makes us special as individuals. What you hope for shows what you desire, and if you love it enough, you'll wait as long as you will, even if it'd be your entire life.

For the past few months of our entire lives, it seemed as if nothing was going right. Our past vacations had been disasters with countless adventures, mostly filled with fear and horror. The people we've encountered such as: Joan, Andrea, Mary, Samantha, or even the ones who have passed, Jessie, and Leah, will never be forgotten even as decades pass. They all have stories of their past. And even if they weren't the greatest, they taught us a very important lesson:

Hope and strength to endure our troubles.

I just wonder, will I ever see them again?

I sat amazed on a sofa at the hotel we had originally stayed as I watched all of my friends interact in different spots of the lobby.
Chelsea, who was sitting beside Jordan at the cafe, leaned her head back in laughter along with Jordan who had a goofy smirk on his face. I only presumed he had said something funny, but then, it didn't take much to make Chelsea laugh. Even so, I was glad she had found a guy that cared for her deeply since she had always said she'd be the last one to do so.

Maggie, on the other hand, was sitting at the front desk talking with Colin, who seemed very amused at what she was saying. I didn't know until now that they both had been talking recently, but Maggie and I hadn't been on very good terms lately, until today. I thought it was finally time to make amends for good. I just couldn't bear the thought of losing our friendship so yet again, I apologized, and thankfully, she forgave me.

Then there was Ann who was busying herself on another sofa with a book while drinking some Starbucks Sean had given her. I had thought that very sweet, but at first mention of it, Ann just gave me a glare. That was all I needed to keep my mouth shut, but that was typical for her. One day though, she'll thank me, after all, we are "twins".

I just smiled to myself, gazing at my friends in admiration. I was extremely lucky to have them as my friends and yet, there was certainly no way I even deserved them. They did so much for me, but sometimes I didn't even realize it, especially when they would worry over me. But I couldn't blame them. We all loved each other very much. And yet, we all have grown so much through all of this. We came out more mature, strong, loving, loyal, and hopeful.
We endured this.

Together.

No matter what happened, we seemed to stick together like glue even if Maggie and I had a rocky start until the end. Like for instance, Chelsea had opted to come with me to Canada after the argument and even Ann had volunteered to come with me even if no one else did. See what I mean by their loyalty?
What would I do without them?

Right on cue, all of my friends looked at me, giving me a smile as I smiled back. They really have returned to their normal selves and that made me happy because if they were happy, that made me happy.
And yet, we learned so much. I learned so much.
I learned about loyalty. Sacrifice. Facing your fears. Unconditional love. Trust.

It's hard to be loyal to someone or something who doesn't pay your loyalty back, but even so, you should still stick by them no matter what. It's hard to sacrifice something that you care and love so much about even if it be your own life. It's hard to face your fears when they overwhelm you like a plague. It's hard to love someone even if they don't love you back. And it's hard to trust someone, who had wronged or hurt you. They are hard, but they can be done.

Trust me.

I couldn't believe we were in this very time and space. We had made it. Just like I had said, together. Even if we had several more years of college left, we'd still stick together no matter what. We'd fight for what we believed in and if one of us wasn't our ourselves, we'd do our very best to help them through whatever it may be.
We were strong. We were loyal. We were ourselves.

And no matter what happened or where'd we go, we'd always know we were safe together.

Safe.

That doesn't sound too bad, doesn't it?
That's somewhere I'd like to go, somewhere safe as long as I live.

Is this safe?

The end?