plus two ⌁ hayes [IN EDITING]

epilogue

« hayes »

"well that was delicious, babe. you've really outdone yourself." nash thanks taylor for the lovely food that was served tonight. everyone else in the room agrees with him, nodding or shouting out some sort of gracious expression. i look around the dining room table and see all of my closest friends and realize just how thankful i truly am for them all.

on my left, we've got jack and emma who are entangled in each other's presence, not even noticing my glance. directly in-front of me is taylor and nash who are currently phased, staring at each other. and on my right, we have jack gilinsky and his new girlfriend kat. they also look a little lost in each other. and right beside me, we have my favourite of them all, who is dazed and fiddling with our fingers that are intertwined. her blue eyes look up to meet mine as if on cue, and she smiles at me. "i know i don't tell you this nearly enough, but i just want to let you know that i'm extremely grateful for you and all that you do for me. you are singlehandedly the most amazing human being i have ever met." i gush, wrapping my arm around her upper back and pulling her closer to myself.

"i'm so grateful for you, babe. i don't know what i'd do without you." she confesses, setting her head gently on my shoulder. i listen in on everyone else's conversation for a bit, confused as to why they're even arguing. nash is gushing over some really cool speaker set but for whatever reason the jack's always have some sort of complaint about the way they sound or how they function.

i peer down at the girl resting her body on mine and just light right up. she's so precious and fragile. she's almost like a porcelain doll that will break if you make any sudden movements. "tired?" i ask her quietly, making sure no one else can hear our chat.

she nods lightly, yawning in the process. "we'll head home soon, alright baby?" once again she agrees with the nod of her head. i lean down and peck her forehead, perking back up when i hear my name exit taylor's mouth.

"well it looks like hayes and autumn are down for the count," she jokes, causing the whole table to chuckle. the vibration of autumn's quiet laugh beneath me is enough to make my heart start to race.

"pretty much," i play along, beginning to caress autumn's shoulder affectionately. nash stares at us lovingly, looking content with the girl i've chosen. him and his girlfriend were never really fond of alicia, not because of anything she did or said, they just simply claimed that she is 'not the one for me' and i never believed them until recently. i know that's true now, because the one for me is snuggled up on my shoulder wearing an ugly christmas sweater.

"we'd better get going," i remark, grinning, "wouldn't want ellen here to fall asleep," i joke, smirking at her. autumn, jack, em and i all dressed up as the griswold family from 'national lampoon's christmas vacation'. autumn and i are clark and ellen and jack and em are audrey and rusty. she sends a playful glare my way, smiling at the same time so i know it's all in fun.

we bid our goodbyes, wishing everyone a merry christmas. nash is the last one on my list to say goodbye to, along with taylor. i give them hugs, listening as autumn yells, "see you at home, bitches," to jack and em.

before i can slip away, my brother grabs my shoulders in a tight grip. i send him a confused look, trying to remove his hands. "we are so happy for you, hayes. i know you're going to hear this a lot in the near future but i want to be the first to say it, congratulations on finding your soulmate." tay smiles in agreement with the weird message. i scrunch my face up, attempting to stifle my laughter. i can hear autumn giggling in the background, which isn't helping my situation.