Epilogue
Stolen
Two weeks after I came back here in Brooklyn, I’m back at Java Jones, working, like I had before, like nothing has changed. But nothing’s the same now, either. No one is the same, especially me. And as I look at the small crowd of people gathered to hear me sing again, I smiled. “Who among you had experienced an epiphany?” I asked. Only a few raised their hands. “Well, I should raise mine, too, because not long ago, that epiphany happened here, right in this café. I’m not going to go into details because there are many people involved but you should know that the greatest thing about it was…it was all about love. That’s it. That’s all there is to know.” I turned towards my new family and grinned. “So, I’ll just sing it instead, because that’s what I’ve been doing ever since, right?” The people yelled yes. “Now, without further ado, I will sing to you the song—”
“Wait,” Simon interrupted and I stared at him in disbelief. “You always sing to us,” he said walking towards the stage. “Why don’t you step down the throne for a moment and let somebody else sing for you?”
I have no words so I just gave a what-the-hell-are-you-doing glare. But he was grinning like an idiot as he stand beside the stage, Jordan stood next to him. What is this idiot up to?
“Come on, Flo. Step down for a moment,” urge Jordan.
I sighed. “Fine.” I looked at the people and they were smiling. “I think you planned this thoroughly, yes?” I told Simon while I stepped down the stage.
He kissed my cheek—which caught me off guard—and then said, “Go stand with them.” And I watched him climb up with Jordan. But I did what he told me and walked back to where my friends are. They were smiling meaningfully.
“What is happening?” I demanded.
It was Jace who spoke. “Something that idiot came up with just to please you and made us all his accomplices. But you know what? This is not even worth it. You can still run if you want to.”
“Jace!” Clary exclaimed. “Why are you always ruining things?”
“Do you feel ruined?” he asked Clary.
“What do you mean?”
“If I want something ruined, you should be the first one to know what ruin means to me.”
And then Clary’s face flushed.
It’s good that everything’s back to normal—no, it’s better than the normal and it’s still going to get better. But for now—
“I swear if Simon embarrasses me, I’ll leave,” I grumbled, standing between Rae and Amy.
“No, you won’t,” Rae said.
“He won’t,” Amy seconded.
I sighed. “We’ll see.” All eyes are on the small stage. Simon is now sitting on the stool where I sat a moment ago, while Jordan sat behind to him. Simon picked up my guitar as Jordan sat behind the drums.
“Alright,” Simon said and I unconsciously sighed at how beautiful his voice came out from the microphone.
“Here you go.” I heard Sebastian say.
