The Pact

Chapter Thirty-One: Epilogue

*7 Years Later*

"I can't do this." I breathed, feeling my anxiety get the better of me.

I smoothed my hand down my dress, freaking the f.uck out as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Oh don't be so melodramatic." Chris said, looking at me from the chair in the corner.

I glared at him through the mirror, spinning around and placing my hands on hips. "Tell me again how I've tolerated you for the past seven years?"

He smirked, running his fingers through his perfect silky hair. "Because of my charm and my dashing good looks. It's okay to still be in awe, baby. All the ladies are."

"God, I hate you."

"No you don't. I'm your best friend, where would you be without me and my wonderful advice?"

"Probably not on the verge of doing something idiotic."

But it was true. Since Paxton and I got back from Mexico, Chris slowly but surely became my best friend, and Paxton became my partner in every sense of the word.

It was hard adjusting at first, me being at NYU and him being at Penn State, but we made it work. With a lot of FaceTime calls and constant train rides, we became pros. Needless to say, we were ecstatic when graduation came and we had time together. 

When I came back home, Chris was always there. He was my father's protege, and he proved himself to me that he wasn't the bad guy that I had warped him in my head to be. It took me some time, but I eventually began to trust him, and myself.

Paxton was wary about it at first. For one, he didn't trust him, at all. And also, deep down, he didn't completely trust me with Chris, which I understood. But we promised to take things slow, for both of our sakes, and our relationship grew stronger because of that promise.

Three years later, I was graduating from NYU and he was graduating from Penn State. Flynn graduated from Boston University and decided to stay there, finally deciding to give it a real shot with Madison, who easily followed after him, packing her things up and becoming a city-girl. It was time Madison had some change in her life, and with Flynn by her side, I knew she would be in good hands. 

Aaron and Riley remained together, they even got married. Their wedding was beautiful, and I was surprised, to say the least, when Riley asked me to be a bridesmaid. We had hung out quite often since all three of us were located in New York. Luckily I had Annie there to always save me from awkward moment. I had read Riley all wrong, and I still regret the hatred I felt towards her a few years back due to mine and Aaron's problems. While he and I were never the same, we tried. We were friends, and I was okay with that, because luckily I had managed to move on and give myself to Paxton, the way he deserved.

We moved back home when we graduated, not sure of where we wanted to go, but just sure that we wanted to be together.

So we moved closer to L.A. renting out an apartment and trying to figure out what we waned to do with the rest of our lives.

Paxton had studied sports medicine and had found a job with a physical therapist, gaining some experience from a veteran in the field.

I on the other hand didn't know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had picked journalism as my major, and for a while I struggled. But then I was given an opportunity with a local magazine and from then on it was smooth sailing for us.

It wasn't easy at first, it never has been with us, but we managed.

So here I am, the day of Paxton and Flynn's 27th birthday in some beautiful party hall, not too far from where we grew up, getting ready to propose to my best friend, and freaking out about it.