Forgotten // hayes grier a.u.

Epilogue

Violet's POV

Summer was coming soon. The sun was beating down on me, and beads of sweat started to form on my forehead. I wiped them away with the palm of my hand.

I was walking to the river in the forest, the only cold spot to cool down. I sighed. The forest is different.

Everything's different now. The town is more quiet, but they don't forget.

No one forgets. Even when my class has graduated from high school.

I'm the girl with the dead best friend. The "criminal" boyfriend. The alcoholic father.

They think I regret everything. They think that I shouldn't have been so damn curious, but I don't care what they think.

I'm in love with Hayes. Why would I regret that?

The walk is longer than I remember. I pass by Hayes's grandparents house, and I smile.

I touch the Polaroid of Hayes in the back pocket of my shorts.

It's merely a memory. I haven't seen him in so long. I was just visiting since my freshman year of college is over.

Hayes? He stayed local. A state college. I went up North in Virginia.

A tear slides down my cheek. I wipe it away quickly.

I see the flowing river, it sparkled underneath the sun. The sound of it hitting the pebbles was my favorite sound.

Amanda and I used to come down here all the time.

We've all moved on from it now. There are some days where she's gone from my mind, and then she's there all the time.

She may be gone but she's not forgotten.

Nash is in prison for life without parole. Which isn't okay, because Hayes was going to get a death sentence before I saved him. It isn't fair.

I sat down near the edge, just close enough to run my hand underneath the cold water.

Someone wrapped their arms around me, which made me jump and almost fall into the river.

"Oh my god!" I flinched, and he laughed. The same beautiful laugh I loved hearing, like the river hitting the pebbles.

I turned to face him, and he had a shining smile on his face. I really had to resist the urge to kiss him right there, but we'd both end up in the water.

"HAYES!" I scream, jumping up and tackling him to the ground in a hug.

"VIOLET!" He screams just as loud, hugging me back.

He presses his lips against mine, and we both smile into the kiss. It's all teeth but we don't care because we miss each other so much.

"I missed you." I say when we break apart.

"I missed you too." His hands cup my cheeks. We sat there, I was on his lap and he was just holding me.

"Why did you go away for so long?" He says sadly, his voice cracking a little.

"Hayes... I've missed home so much. I'm commuting this year. Every three months." I said, he smiled and hugged me.

"Then this makes this so much easier." He said, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"I was wondering...since we're older..." He paused. "Move in with me."

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Yeah! We can...we can stay at my grandparent's house! We'll be together, we'd have a future together." Hayes exclaimed.

"Future together? Like marriage?" I asked.

"Of course I want to marry you. Not now, obviously. We just finished college-" we both laughed.

"After college?" I asked.

"After college." He confirmed.

"So that's it then? You'll move in with me?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yes. I'll move in with you." I smiled.

He held me for a little longer, we were watching the sun set, and we thought about the future.

This would be a moment I'd never forget.

~.~
A/N: epilogue :((
Hope you guys enjoyed the book as much as I did. A lot of you have asked for a sequel, but I'm not going to write one. Sorry, but I didn't see myself continuing this story and I only see the story as a whole in one book. Hopefully this epilogue gave you some "closure" with the book ending.

So if you have questions, I'll answer them, but as for now:
•YES VIOLET AND HAYES ACTUALLY LIVE TOGETHER
•YES THEY GET MARRIED
•YES THEY HAVE A FAMILY

SSOTD: Suburbia by Troye Sivan

I love you guys so much. Thank you all that read the story, voted, and commented- everything! I love all your support with this. Thank you.