Runaways and dreamers

Epilogue

~Three months later~

Laughing, Katie ran through the forest, Jace on her heels trying to catch her. Her moods lately would shift between perfectly happy and doubtful. She still had her fear of commitment, but today was one of the good days where she forgot it completely. Katie was in a mood that was still semi unfamiliar to her—one of child-like happiness where all you want to do is smile, tease, and run around like you're playing tag.

Jace didn't mind it, he loved everything she did, especially when she was happy. As long as she was happy, he was. "Too slow!" Katie yelled over her shoulder jokingly as she kept running toward a tree up ahead with low hanging branches.

"I'm just letting you win!" Jace shouted in reply teasingly as he continued chasing after her.

"Sure you are!" Katie called back sarcastically. Quickly, she raced to the tree, grabbing onto the lowest branches and hoisting herself up, climbing carefully higher in the branches.

"Well now you got nowhere to go." Jace chuckled, reaching the tree and pulling himself up. Gaining on her rapidly, Jace climbed up the branches. There were no more branches to climb, forcing Katie to halt her childish crusade of making him catch her. Jace reached where she was, laughing and shaking his head at her, "Well you're definitely much more of an excitable ball of energy today than usual."

Katie cracked up at his description, "That's a new one."

"Well if you're gonna be all over the place I gotta get creative with my description." Jace explained in a humorous tone, subduing a wave of laughter at his own description.

"Got any other descriptions?" Katie challenged.

"Of course I do." Jace winked, "Fiery, strong, amazing, beautiful, unique; best thing that ever happened to me."

Katie smiled, give a small chuckle, absent minded-ly shaking her head and chewing her bottom lip slightly, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Jace chuckled, moving to sit in front of her on the same branch, "It's all true though." Before she could comment, Jace pulled her into a kiss. Pulling back after a few seconds, Jace added, "I'd also describe you as a lion."

Katie leaned back on the tree trunk, laughing as she pushed her mane of hair out of her face. "Okay, well I would describe you as persistent, awesome, and my favorite person."

"Persistent?"

"Yeah."

"Why that's?" Jace questioned curiously.

"Because if you weren't, you would have never even become an acquaintance to me. But yet here you are, my favorite person ever. And my only friend." Katie answered honestly, shrugging.

"We're only friends?" Jace teased, feigning a look of disbelief, "Damn, here I was thinking you kinda liked me."

Katie laughed again, seemingly in a laughable mood today, "I mean, I don't know, maybe, I might." She joked.

"Ha, funny." Jace added with sarcastic humor, "I think you do."

"Do I?" Katie challenged.

"Let's see." Jace retorted, pulling her back in and placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, causing her to smile. "I'm gonna go with yes." After laughing and joking around for another hour or so, they climbed down and headed back to the small house that they were still staying in.