Tainted Happiness {Formerly Returned} (Book 4) (Completed)

Chapter 19

Laura POV
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I was speechless. I'd known that Melanie was bisexual and had a thing for Kait, but the last thing I expected her to do was kiss her immediately after she woke up. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw my best friend kissing her back.

"They both hid this the whole time." I mumbled, shaking my head.

"Well, I think it's cute!" One of the doctors commented, hearing my mumble to myself.

"And they can't even tell any of us are here." I muttered.

"Laura, just let them be. After all that those two have been through, they deserve happiness." Rose said, walking into the room.

"But this is absurd! My Spanish teacher and my best friend are sucking each other's faces!" I said, walking out of the room, red faced.

"Look! There is nothing wrong with it! Nobody else seems to have a problem with it, just you!" Rose yelled.

"I hope they know that everywhere they go they'll get ridiculed for it!" I yelled, storming down to the cafeteria.

"Among the Moroi maybe, but Humans find this sort of thing acceptable! They may even be accepted among the Moroi as well seeing as how those two are treated liked goddesses. People might figure that since it's okay for Kait and Melanie to be in a lesbian relationship that it's okay for them, too. Look around you! Things are changing, Laura! We proved that when Kait came back from the Otherworld. We proved that when we discovered Dave returning from the dead. Nothing will ever be the same again, Laura. Nothing." She ranted.

"Maybe I just don't deserve to be here then." I said, turning toward the hospital exit.

"Where are you going?" Rose demanded.

"Away. It's obvious that my views are too old-fashioned for you guys. I'll call a cab and go back to my mom's house." I said, walking out of the hospital, leaving my best friend and her girlfriend behind.

Kait POV
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Melanie's kiss came to me as a shock. The last thing I'd expected from her was that.

"Mels, there's people here." I mumbled a few minutes into our make-out session.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Rosa." She said, embarrassed.

"Mels, you have nothing to apologize for." I whispered.

I looked around and saw half of the hospital staff standing in my room.

"You took me to Princeton Plainsboro?" I said, recognizing almost everyone in the room to be my co-workers.

"I figured that's where you'd want to be." She replied with a smile.

"You know me well." I said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Someone's missing." Melanie stated, as Rose rushed into the room.

"Who?" I asked, concerned.

"Rose, where's Laura?" She asked.

"About that. Laura, um, left the hospital all pissed off." Rose replied, with a small chuckle.

"What did you do to her?" I asked Rose with a sigh.

"I didn't do anything. I actually tried to get her to stay. She was all pissed off because of you two now being in a relationship." Rose explained.

"Why? That doesn't seem like her at all." I replied.

"I have no idea."

"Well, she's always been very flighty when things don't go her way. I'll deal with her later. I'm fairly sure I know where she's going anyway. She'll be shocked to find that it burnt down a few years back." I said.

"Her mom's house burnt down?" Rose asked.

"Unfortunately so. When Laura was Awakened, a group of Strigoi went to her mother's house one night and burnt it to the ground." I explained, "They haven't put anything up to replace it yet."

Once everyone left, Cuddy began my discharge papers. I didn't really have anything with me, so packing up was a breeze. I was just about to leave when someone knocked on my door.

"You have a visitor." Rose observed.

"I can see that. Come on in." I said, hesitantly.

"I-I just wanted to come by and say hello." My ex-husband said when he walked in.

"Thank you. For everything. If it wasn't for you, I don't even know what would've happened to me. Don't think this means I forgive you, though."

"You're welcome. I meant what I said back in the Otherworld. I won't pursue you anymore. My time with you has been over for a long time and I now recognize that. Now it's Melanie's turn. I'd still like to be friends, however." He said.

"I'd like that, too. And I now see what you meant when you said there's someone back in the Living World waiting very patiently for me. Somehow I think she has been for a long time." I replied.

"While we were in the Otherworld, I found a piece of myself that went missing after you killed me when you were Strigoi." He added.

"What's that?" I asked, honestly curious.

"My humanity. I may be the only one of my kind, but that's still no excuse for how I acted. To a point, helping you saved me." He explained.

"We saved each other. Now, I need to get out of this hospital. God knows how long I've been here. So, I guess I'll see you around." I said

"Yeah. I'm going back to East Harbor in an attempt to beg for my job back. I'll let you know if I get it."

"I hope you do. You deserve it. You've had that job for a long time."

"I- I'll let you get out of here now." He said, leaving the room.

I wasn't sure whether or not to believe him when he said that he wasn't going to pursue me anymore, but this time I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"I've been in this hospital long enough. Come on, Mels. Let's head home. I haven't driven my truck in awhile." I stated.

For once, I actually felt very good about the future. It was a wonderful feeling that I hoped would stay.

We're not suppose to go into life knowing who we are. We're supposed to find that out along the way. All the twists and turns and forks in the road make you who you are. Every little thing you do, every little thing you see, every little thing that happens to you, it all has a purpose whether or not you know what that purpose is. That purpose, well, it's your job to interpret what it is. You just need to roll with the changes and make the most out of each and every moment because you never know where the next twist in life is going to take you. Preparing yourself for the changes doesn't work, take my experiences as an example. I always knew that I'd somehow wind up divorced and dating the love of my life, but the last thing I expected was who the love of my life turned out to be.

That night I found myself unable to sleep. I sat up thinking about everything that happened to be over the course of about fifteen years and who stuck by me for the entire time. There was only one person I could think of. I rolled over in bed and found that person silently sleeping next to me and I knew she'd never leave me for any reason whatsoever. My Melanie would be there all night and when I woke up in the morning.

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Author's Note

So, the Tainted series is finally finished. Yes, this is the last chapter of the last book. It's depressing, I know. I'm sad to see the series end, but don't worry. I'm in the process of figuring out what will come next. I don't want to just abandon the whole thing completely. I thought about maybe doing a prequel or a few novellas about some of the characters. Another idea was doing a spin-off series of Tainted. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet. I'll let everyone know when I decide :)

For now, I'd enjoy it if you shared your favorite parts of the Tainted series in the comments :) feel free to share moments from all four books.

~Kait