Princess & the Player

epilogue one: the long, deep aftermath

This chapter is dedicated to anyone who has ever struggled with depression or PTSD or the recoil from something that changed their lives. I made this an epilogue because the story could stand on its own after the last chapter. But happily ever after wasn't going to be that easy. This is the 4-part epilogue of how they built from that moment on the bench to an enduring, lifelong happiness. -bella

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Maggie's POV:

I loved my ring. I loved Marco. I loved having a safe home with Jeb and Laurie. It was amazing being able to put my key in the door without tensing up. 

So I don't know why things got so dark. 

People expect you to get over things but I just... couldn't. I thought I was OK but then I would find myself crying in the shower or forgetting to eat. Jeb stopped talking, Laurie talked all the time. 

I started obsessing about where they buried Britty and secretly, sometimes I wished it had been me instead.

Every week, the social worker stopped by. I would try to clean up but Jeb would do the most of it. Each morning, I would walk Laurie down to the bus and then climb the stairs back up to our apartment and crawl under the covers until I had to be at the pool for my shift. 

Marco was buried with his last year but he found time for us when he could. He'd pick me up and drive me back to his room and strip me and we'd have sex. That always felt good. It broke through the fog and electrified my body and my mind would go numb with release. 

But it wouldn't last long.

The youngest anyone had become a licensed architect in the US was 24 but she'd started college at 16. Marco was determined to make it before he was 26. 

On top of the 50+hour weeks of work to finish his degree and the design of his concept house for his graduation project, Marco was all over the place. That fall, he'd taken out a loan and worked with Jack and Leanna to expand the West Virginia house. The photographs of the construction looked like a muddy mess to me but he said he was really happy with it for his growing portfolio. Over Christmas, Marco flew to Greece for a month to help build shelters for refugees. He planned an interview blitz for Spring Break. 

He was up against people with Master's degrees and more experience, people who graduated from MIT and Harvard. The idea of it was too much to handle. But Marco wasn't nervous, just completely focused. 

By Thanksgiving, he was only working the Saturday night shift at the bar. He'd arrive at the apartment at 3 in the morning, horny and exhausted. By 9AM, when Nana Scott would pick us up for church, he'd already be gone. 

"There are only 4 firms that have what I need on the East Coast, princess," he'd tell me. 

Just 4 firms that had the variety of practice, the high volume, and the size to get him to his license by his own deadline. He'd sent resumes to the top 20 US Architecture firms in the US but he was focused on those 4. He kept track of his progress with a chart on the wall over his bed.

It all seemed so far away from me. From the crap I swam through like mud every.single.day. We were slipping away from each other and I didn't have the energy to do anything about it. Which sucked because I really did love him. It was like I was watching it happen through a thick glass window.

JJ made Nana Scott put up a tree and we went to the farm on Christmas Day. After opening some gifts and dinner, I started to go crazy inside. Like I just had to get out, get anywhere else. Jacob watched me with so much regret. Nana Scott hated me so damn much. Did they think I didn't know? I'd let Laurie do whatever she wanted with her hair and she'd chosen a short cut and Nana wouldn't stop with the scathing commentary every time she was in earshot.