the fall • s.m.

60 • epilogue pt. III

warning: this is literally the longest chapter i have ever written. enjoy!!

// margot kate franklin //

almost two years after the wedding...

"Please tell me you're almost home. I'm literally dying to see you."

I laughed, looking out the window of the car. It was raining a bit, but even bad weather couldn't bring me down tonight. I've been away for two and a half weeks, and I'm finally coming home. And by "coming home," I mean coming back to my husband, who's been in an empty house for way too long without me to annoy him. I was so excited to see his face again.

"Should be about...ten minutes," I told Shawn. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God. You have no idea how much I've missed you," he replied.

"Probably not as much as I've missed you," I told him. "But, it doesn't even matter because in ten minutes, we won't have to miss each other anymore."

I could picture his smile in my head, his perfect smile that got to me every time, and smiled to myself.

"I can't wait. I may even be making you dinner," he said, and I gasped.

"You are not."

"But I am."

I grinned. "Now I'm like, a thousand times more excited."

He laughed. "I knew you would be. See you soon, babe."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."

I hung up and was still smiling as I looked out the window. We've been married for almost two years, and together for about seven (wow) and I'm still happy as can be. I mean, I think he is too. Not everything is perfect all the time, but no couple is perfect. We always get through everything, because we just have to. And sometimes it's really not easy, but for every bad moment, there are a hundred more amazing ones. And those amazing moments are so worth it.

Even though it sucks, the time we spend apart always reminds me how thankful I should be for him. And I think it's sort of cute to see him be all sad about me being gone. Like this morning, he sent me a picture of him laying in our bed, next to the empty spot where I lay, and he said "our bed is empty like my heart when you're gone," which made me laugh. And then I sent him a picture of me laying in my hotel bed, wrapped up in blankets, and said "it's cold without you to keep me warm." This started a whole chain reaction and made me miss him a lot more. We're such losers, but that's what I like about us.

When I realized I was back on our street, there were butterflies in my stomach. I don't know why, but every time I see him after a long time of being away, I just get a bit nervous. Like, you feel like maybe the flame has gone out a bit because you've been apart for so long. But, that never actually happens. If anything, the flame burns even brighter because you're finally back together and the ache in your heart finally stops. It's a wonderful thing, honestly.

After a few more minutes went by, I was home. Home. Such a beautiful word that I never truly appreciated before. Before him. Before I knew what a home truly was. Home was a bit tricky when I was growing up, but now, home is everything. Home is my favorite thing.

I got my bags out of the car and headed towards the door, only minding the scattered rain coming down on my head a little bit. At the door, I set my stuff down and knocked loudly. The doorbell's been broken for way too long, and one time, we tried to fix it and didn't succeed, so now it's just broken forever I guess. Who really needs a doorbell anyways?