We Were Lightning (Landslide Book 3: Violet)

Epilogue

Hello lovely readers! Here is the epilogue I promised you all. I hope it lives up to expectations. 

Enjoy!

Epilogue: Three Years Later

I leave my class and step out into the warmth of spring. It's been a daunting year trying to get my life together. I finally decided on my major my sophomore year after taking more classes. I found myself drawn to criminal justice after taking a 100-level course. I wanted to find a place in the world where I could be the help someone who is in a similar situation as me. I wanted to work to get those people help and be the person that will believe them. I don't want any more families on the run because of abuse. Ever since I fell into this major, I have found a place that I feel confident and comfortable, but I never would have thought to take a course in criminal justice without a nudge.

Senior year came fast and with it came so many changes. Some good, some bad, but they all worked out in their own ways. After my freshman year, my family moved back to Elmsfield. My mom hated how far she had to drive to see me, and Tyler missed me just as much. Our house in East Clemmons held too many memories for them, and I'm honestly surprised they stayed there for as long as they did. It was scary, and uncomfortable, and the image of my dad falling to the ground in front of the house flashed before my eyes every time I came home. I was happy when my mom told me the news, and even more happy when we finally made the move right before school started back up again.

My mom found work at a small corporation in Wallbury thanks to a shining recommendation from her employer in East Clemmons. It was a nice change of pace. Tyler's friends from the time we were here still remembered him and they picked up right where they had left off. The transition back was easy.

I started working at Barks N' Recreations again. I didn't have to pay to live on campus anymore which saved me loads in student loans. The hours I worked at Barks N' Recreations as well as the money I received from my federal work study helped me save enough to get an apartment. An apartment that I split with Emery.

We moved in together when she started graduate school at Ardsford two years ago for a masters in clinical psychology. She no longer qualified for housing on campus and couldn't afford to live alone. Some people had thought we moved too fast; "what if you break up? Then what?" But a part of me knew that we wouldn't. Sure we had our fights, but never did we go to sleep angry. We stayed up all night if we had to talking things out. Neither of us ran from the other or tried to leave when we were mad. If we needed a minute alone, we asked for some space. But we always, always came back together and talked it out. The time we spent apart and the mistakes we had made allowed for us to grow and communicate with each other better.

We're still learning, but after living together for two years, it had gotten a lot easier. And I have fallen more and more in love with her every day.

After my class, I make my way over to the row of apartments that are right off Ardsford University's campus. The apartments were situated on the town line of Ardsford and Shorecliff, which is perfect for me. It's a short walk to class, a short walk to the beach, and a short walk to work. I didn't have to pay for a car, not that I really needed one anyway cause Emery had one I could use.

I walk into the three story, clean, brick building. My keys jingle in my hand as I trot up the a set of stairs that are to the right of the front door. The apartment—302—is close enough to the stairs that it's convenient, but far enough away that it's not too noisy from foot traffic. It wasn't my idea, to be quite honest. Emery didn't feel safe on the first floor, which I don't blame her. There's always some horrible news story about break-ins and sexual assaults that happen on first floors of buildings that she just didn't feel comfortable. And I would do anything to make sure she felt comfortable. So, here we were, close enough to an exit and high enough up no one would really bother us. We didn't have to suffer through the sound of people living above us, but I didn't necessarily like having to climb all those stairs to get to my girlfriend and bed.