Under His Roof

afterword + sequel info

People always say that home isn't a place, it's a feeling. Can that really be true though?

Okay, to some extent, yes. Home is the feeling of being in a place in which one is comfortable. A place in which someone knows they are accepted and loved and cherished, but can that feeling really exist without the place that's attached to it? The people that are attached to it?

Home isn't a feeling. It can't be a feeling, because feelings are feeble and fickle and fleeting and if home were just a feeling, then Kimberly would have no explanation as to why her heart was going through withdrawal. Couldn't she just will herself to feel at home again?

Couldn't she just will herself to feel like she was with Julian again?

Sure, leaving a home is always hard, but leaving with the knowledge that you'll never come back? That's impossible. How can people do that without completely falling apart?

As Kimberly boarded the plane headed for her new life at Brown, she thought about her boarding school. It wasn't particularly special. In fact, she had a majority of her worst times on that campus, inside those walls, and yet, when she thought about the bleak grey of the classroom floors, she felt her stomach twist itself into knots.

She wanted to be back there.

She wanted to be back there with Melitta, with Owen, with Elize, with Cameron, with Aveline. She just wanted to be back there so that she wouldn't have to be reminded of how fast things were moving and how quickly everyone was going away.

Kimberly thought about Julian's house. About that compound that held so many memories, both good and bad. That compound that held her heart because it felt more like home than her own home. In that compound, she had discovered more of herself than she had in her previous eighteen years of life. Julian had allowed her to do that. He had encouraged her to do that, and even though she was conflicted about everything that had happened between them, she couldn't forget that.

She couldn't forget all the times he had made her smile and all the times he had made her forget about everything else that was wrong in her world. The times when she was with him it was as though she wasn't even in her world anymore, she was in their world, and it was a magical place.

~ALL PASSENGERS PLEASE PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR SEATS ARE IN THEIR UPRIGHT POSITION AND YOUR TABLES ARE FLIPPED UP. THE SEATBELT SIGN IS ON SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR SEATBELT SECURELY FASTENED UNTIL WE REACH AN ALTITUDE AT WHICH IT CAN BE TURNED BACK OFF. THANK YOU FOR FLYING SOUTHWEST AND WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT. ~

Kimberly heard the engine of the plane roar to life and she closed her eyes, leaning back into her seat and relaxing every muscle in her body that she possibly could.

What had happened in that bathroom was not goodbye, this was goodbye, and she wasn't ready in the slightest.

✎_ _ _ _ _

>.<

whew...... i wrote this four years ago, so we're just gonna ignore the writing chile..........

BUT WOW. 4 YEARS LATER, thanks for sticking with me bbys:'-)

So I'm not one for long author's notes, but I want to thank y'all for how much support I have received throughout the course of writing this book. It was such a journey.

And the info I know everyone is waiting for: There will be a sequel to this book! Julian & Kimberly's relationship is special to me and I know where I want to take it and that just wouldn't have been realistic in the time frame of UHR. The sequel takes place eight years in the future, and I'm really excited to have their relationship develop in a less toxic enivironment.

Sadly, the complete sequel will not be available wattpad. It is already posted on my radish profile and I will be keeping it there exclusively for a multitude of reasons, but primarily the gross amount of plagiarism that this book has received. It has taken me years to sort out the *multiple* cases of people stealing and taking credit for my work, and it's honestly made me hesitant to put more of my work on here because I don't think I'm willing to take the risk of having my intellectual property stolen so blatantly again (& at least if it's on radish they have to pay me before they steal it lmaoo). THAT BEING SAID, I will be posting a ~3 chapter preview on wattpad, but after that, you will have to go to radish to continue the book, so please, please, don't start it if you'll get mad when it doesn't continue here. Plis.

As a side note though, I do want to mention that I'm considering posting some (much) shorter stories to my wattpad page in the future and may do so, I just need to figure out a system that works for me & will allow me to share my work with y'all while also still having that work protected.

Thank you again for reading UHR, and if you're planning on reading the sequel, it's name is Heartbreaker by Profession and it's on my radish and wattpad profiles now:) (external link) You can expect regular updates every other week (maybe even every week if i'm feeling frisky)

Also, PLEASE STAY HOME IF YOU CAN. PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS REGULARLY AND PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE.  COVID-19 is really not a joke, it IS something that young and (assumingly) healthy people should be cautious and vigilant about. I really want all of us to stay safe and avoid contracting or possibly spreading the virus to people who are more at-risk!

okay, goodbye for good. the book's actually over now. you are all so important to me.

<3

-nabi