Finding Finley ✔

15

Darby

I've been inside Kit and Ellie's apartment before, but never further than the kitchen or living room. Now though, I'm standing inside of a little nook located between the living room and a hallway that leads towards their bedroom. 

On the wall there are pictures, so many pictures. 

There are photos of Kit and Ellie on beaches, hiking the grand canyon, smiling in front of monuments, posing in front of state park signs, one of Ellie on Kit's shoulders at a music festival, and even a couple of them screaming on a roller coaster. 

There are a few pictures from their wedding, and I have to take a minute to admire how perfect and happy they looked that day. Ellie's platinum hair is in a long fishtail braid and hanging over her shoulder, her white lace dress fitting her body and making her look angelic. In the pictures from their wedding, Kit always has his eyes on Ellie and a smile on his face. 

Beside their wedding pictures is a picture of Kit down on one knee in a garden, Ellie's engagement ring placed in the box he's holding. Ellie's hands are covering her mouth, but you can still see the smile in her eyes. 

They look so happy in all of the pictures.

I keep scanning the wall and notice that in the middle of it all, there's a blown up picture on a canvas of Kit holding Ellie in his arms while he lifts her off the ground. Ellie has her face buried in Kit's neck so that you can't see her smile, but I'm sure it matches the one on Kit's face in the picture. Ellie is wearing a blue dress that reminds me of the unusual color of her eyes, and Kit is wearing a tux so I'm assuming this was taken at their senior prom. Underneath the photo it says "Our best night yet." 

"Finn took that picture. Prom wasn't long after his surgery, so we were a still a little sentimental and happy to be celebrating something as simple as prom." I jump at the sound of Ellie's voice behind me. I had been so mesmerized by the wall of pictures that I had forgotten all about where I am and why I'm here. 

I know about Kit's tumor and I know that Ellie and Kit are perfect together - the ideal couple - but seeing it all laid out like this makes everything more validated. It also makes me jealous. You can see how much Kit loves Ellie every time he looks at her, and vice versa. Why is it so hard to find someone like that? Someone that would put you first and never dream of hurting you. Someone who just loves you and you just love them in return. 

"You guys look so happy." I reply as I turn my attention back to Ellie. 

"We are." She takes a seat at the small table in the nook and I do the same, trying to stop my hands from trembling. Ellie makes me nervous. 

"So, I guess Finn has told you what happened." It's a lame start, but I don't really know how to begin. 

Ellie keeps her eyes on me and her face expressionless. "He's told me some stuff." 

Okay, so she's going to make this hard on me, "Okay. So I guess I'll just start from the beginning. Has he at least told you about my mom and step dad?"

Ellie nods but offers nothing more.

"Then you know that my parents don't help me at all financially. I had to take out loans to pay for classes, and since living in the dorms only makes your tuition cost more, I live here." This is where the story is going to get complicated, so I take a deep breath and try my best to maintain eye contact with Ellie, not wanting to appear weak or like I'm seeking pity. I just want to explain myself. 

"My boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now, paid my rent. I met Josh when I was a junior in high school and we started dating later that year. Josh is from a very wealthy family and he knew all about my family situation so he agreed to use his trust fund to pay for my rent. The car that I had was also a loan from his family, it wasn't mine." I pause and watch Ellie's face as she takes everything I just told her.