ten things you need to know / k. hendricks

epilogue

Eleanor

"Eleanor, come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To talk to Kyle! I have to introduce you guys," she insisted and she grabbed both of my arms to pull me up out of my seat. 

"I'm sure he's a good person, but I swear to God, Charlotte, this can't be another one of your dumb setups."

"It's not! Honest to God. But really, you have to come on. I'm sure you two will be great friends," she says and I roll my eyes, yet I still follow her as she leads me to introduce her to her friend.

"Kyle, I've told you about Eleanor, right?" she asks him once we get over to him. 

"Just briefly," he answers, "But hi, Eleanor. I'm Kyle."

I flash him the most polite smile I could have done. "Nice to meet you."

I stood there for a few minutes while the three of us conversed- It was mainly Charlotte and Kyle with me piping in every now and then, but it doesn't matter to me. I don't know her friend, and I'm not going to open my mouth about my whole entire life story the first time I meet someone.

Kyle turns to me, "So, Eleanor, what do you do?"

"I teach U.S. History and Government," I went on to tell him a little bit about my job. I was just finishing up my first year as a high school teacher, and it was incredibly stressful, but I made it through, and I've grown to love it more than I did on my first day.

"Sorry. But where are you from?" Kyle asked me and I raised an eyebrow.

"Boston, Why?"

"Your accent. Sounds different. Nice, but different."

I don't have an accent, Kyle, but whatever you say.

***

"Are you okay, Kyle? You're acting jittery," I stare at him as he's sitting at the counter in my apartment. He's shaking his leg and that's weird because that's supposed to be my thing that I do whenever I'm nervous. What has him so nervous?

"I'm fine."

I just sighed and went back to arranging some things in my kitchen. We started talking about small things, like what he plans on doing in California, how school's going for me, whatever.

I started moving some plates while talking and he interrupted me, and it scared the hell out of me and I almost dropped my plates.

"Send me back to California with a smile on my face."

"What do you mean?"

You chuckled and look down for a moment before looking me in the eyes again. "Be my girlfriend, Eleanor?"

"Is that really what had you so nervous? Kyle, there's no reason to be nervous, because I'd say yes to you every day."

"Sorry, it's just- Wait, did you just say yes?"

"Yes, I did."

***

Kyle

"Oh, my god," I chuckled, "How the hell did you manage to miss that?"

"Don't judge me," she cried, "I'm completely awful at mini golf."

"I can tell."

"You can only tell because you're smart," she refuted.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist, dear," I tell her and walk up behind her. "Let me help you." I put my arms around her to the point where we're both holding onto the golf club. We - Well, technically, I - start to steadily position the golf club and I hit the ball. It rolls on the green course until it hits the hole and plops down inside. 

"Hey! We did it!" she laughs, and I chuckle.

"It's about time."

"How do you even score that?"

"Eh, quintuple bogey. I don't even know if that's the right term, I just now that you are awful at this."

"I really hate you, Kyle," she tells me, but she has her cute smile plastered on her face, so I can't even take her seriously.

"That's unfortunate because I really love you, Eleanor." 

I didn't even think before I said it. It just kind of came out before I knew it, and I couldn't stop it.

But I don't regret saying it, because it's true.

She looks up at me. "I was joking when I said that."

"I wasn't joking."

"Good. Because I really love you, too." 

***

"Kyle? Are you okay?" Eleanor snuck her way into the hotel bathroom. I was standing at the sink and just looking in the mirror.

"I feel like throwing up."

"Kyle-"

"Eleanor, our whole season is on me tonight. The way I pitch is a very big factor in if we end a drought tonight." 

She sneaks her arms around my waist from the side and leans her head on my arm. "Can I be motivational for a second?"

"Of course."

"I have so much faith in you. I know I tell you that every time you pitch, and I do mean it every time, but I especially mean it tonight. One hundred and eight years is on your shoulders, and if I were you, I'd be breaking down and crying. But you're a lot stronger than I am, which is part of the reason why I know you can do this."

"I'm just stressed. If one thing- one little thing- goes wrong, they're going to hate me. If one little thing goes wrong, everybody's going to end up disappointing the fans that have waited years for this... So many people are waiting, Eleanor. We are so close, and we can make it happen, but we'll let everybody down if we don't." I sigh and she looks up at me.

"Kyle, I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but I do know that Chicago will still love their Cubs. Chicago will always love their Cubs. They've loved them for all of the years they were a shitty excuse of a team, and they most definitely won't just stop loving them if you lose tonight. And Kyle, Chicago's still going to love you. I promise."

I look back down at her and kiss the top of her head. "I am so in love with you."

***

Eleanor

"Kyle, I read all of your notes."

He stands up from the couch and walks closer to me. "I said I had to ask you something."

"You also said it's the most important thing you've ever said."

He takes a deep breath and grabs my hand. "I'm so in love with you. I knew you were something special when we met, and I easily just kept falling in love with you and your Bostonian accent, your shitty mini golf skills, and so much more. You have truly changed my life for the better. I know that my team just won a World Series so it sounds like I couldn't be happier, but I could be happier. And if you say yes, if you say just three letters, to spending the rest of my life with me, I will be happier, and I'll keep getting happier every second I'm with you."

I'm crying at this point. I attempt to wipe the tears from my eyes with the hand he isn't holding, but it's just useless because I'll start crying once again.

"So, Eleanor Grace Abbott," he pulls out a tiny black box out of his pocket and opens it up, "Marry me?"

I just start nodding because I'm such a blubbering mess that I can't get any words out. He gets my message and he slides the ring from the box onto the ring finger on my left hand, and I wipe the tears from my eyes again. I take a deep breath to try and calm myself down a bit, and once I finally accomplish that, I just connect my lips with Kyle's. We pull away for a moment and I'm staring into his dark brown eyes, and the only words I can say are the three words that can say so much.

"I love you."