Another Wave of You ✓

Epilogue, Part III

P A R T  T H R E E

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     She was right there.

     Theo's heart was beating like crazy.

     When he arrived at the small town, he didn't know what the hell to do. He should really start thinking his plans through, because he'd been making rash decisions lately that left him feeling like a complete idiot. But he regretted nothing — because he was here, breathing the same air as her, not thousands of miles apart anymore.

     So he texted Travis out of all people — he couldn't believe it, either — because he knew Daisy would be out of town already, and he was afraid Jeff would tell El that he was here, whether intentionally or not. That boy did have a runny mouth sometimes.

     Out of pure damn luck, he replied, and with one vague sentence:

     TRAVIS: Meet me at Bond Beach tomorrow at five. She'll be there.

     If that wasn't enough to get him into a near panic attack, he didn't know what would.

     All day he stood himself in the mirror and practiced everything he wanted to say to her — which usually resulted in him scolding himself, backing out of his own reflection and occasionally letting out frustrated sounds that did not sound quite human. He gripped the sink below him, head hung low, with the low static of television in the background.

     How do you face the person you've loved and always have?

     You can't, a quiet voice in his head answered.

     So when he made his way to the beach, he steeled every bone of his body, the walk to the beach familiar and daunting at the same time. His fists were clenched, his body was taut and his jaw sharp — but as soon as the soles of his shoes hit the sand...

     ...his heartbeat slowed down. They felt so soft underneath, a similar feeling to when a warm blanket was around you. Then he saw the crashing waves, loud and clear, and the soft chirping of seagulls above, and a sudden calmness radiated over him.

     Nature never had this effect on him. He was in awe; the months he stayed here apparently also made him attached to the place itself — because now he felt a sense of stability. That, as much as the world kept changing around him, there was a place that always stayed the same. One place that truly felt like home.

     Home...

     That was when he saw her.

     The first thing he noticed was the hair. It'd always been short, but now it was a bob haircut, the ends of it just barely reaching her shoulders. Then the sundress: he hadn't seen it before, but it didn't look so new, more like something vintage she'd borrowed from the grandmother. At last her figure, the entirety of her, was fuller than when he left her — a good sign. She was eating healthy and regularly, then. But there was one thing that hadn't changed.

     Her eyes... still the same shade of brown, warm and welcoming. Like a cup of coffee on a winter's day. Still had that curious spark, with the doe-eyed look she was giving him; like she saw him and saw more.