The Prince and the Bookworm

Epilogue

"The Prince had found his bookworm." Sadie Johnston read out loud, a fond smile of remembrance etched across her face. "And the Bookworm had found her prince."

Sadie sighed contently, an elation rising inside of her. It had taken multiple years, but she had finally finished her book. The Prince and the Bookworm was her pride and joy in life, her biggest accomplishment. It was a story not only about how she fell in love, but also how she came to figure out who she was as an individual. It was a part of her life that she would never forget. And now, she would be sharing the story with anyone who picked up her book and decided to get lost in the pages.

"The end." She said with finality, glancing over at her one person audience. Her husband, Dallas, scooted closer to her on the couch and pressed a kiss against her cheek.

"I remember it like it was yesterday." He murmured, resting his head in the crook of her neck. Sadie chuckled softly, closing her book. She ran her fingers over the title that was displayed in bright gold letters.

"I do too." She agreed, resting her head against his. "It's funny though. In some ways it feels like that was way more than seven years ago."

"I wouldn't have changed it for the world." He replied fondly, closing his eyes as an intense feeling of nostalgia washed over him. "Even if it took forever for you to come to your senses." He whispered into her ear.

Sadie raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me? You're the one who waited forever to be honest about how you felt. We could have avoided a lot of drama if you had just grown a pair a little sooner."

Dallas let loose a deep laugh. To this day, it was one of her most favorite sounds in the world. She loved nothing more than to make him laugh like that.

"What can I say? I was scared of losing you." He said as he sat up straight and reached over to grab the book out of Sadie's hands. He glanced down at the cover, which was a picture they had taken together shortly after they had started college. He was giving her a piggy back ride and there was a grin on his face that reached all the way up to his eyes. Sadie had her arms wrapped around him, her eyes closed, and her lips pressed against his cheek. Dallas looked like he was the happiest man in the world and Sadie looked like she had never been more in love and at peace.

It was definitely one of her favorite pictures of them.

"Well you didn't." She reminded him, tapping the photograph on the cover of the book. "In fact, it wasn't long after that picture was taken that you decided to put a ring on it."

Sadie glanced down at the gorgeous silver and rose gold ring that still took her breath away every time she accidentally glanced at it. Even though she had been wearing it for four years now, she still found herself amazed by how beautiful it was.

Dallas had proposed to her during their sophomore year of college. Both of them had ended up going to the same university a couple hours away from the town they grew up in. Neither of them wanted to stray very far from home and they didn't want to be separated either.

Sadie was majoring in English, while Dallas was getting his bachelor's in marketing. Even though they went to the same school, they were having trouble making time for each other. Their class schedules were constantly clashing and Sadie was working a part-time job to make ends meet.

A frown fell across Sadie's face as she thought about how much she hated that year. It had felt like they were slowly drifting apart, not being able to make time in their busy lives for each other. Sadie had almost convinced herself that it was best to take a break while they finished college when Dallas decided to take her back home one weekend for a visit.