𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 ~ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫

Epilogue

Epilogue:
Yet They Love Us
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

TW: brief mention of death, very brief

"I think..." Primrose sighed dreamily, her eyes fluttering shut as she rested her head on Stanley's shoulder. Tucked behind her ear was a carnation, a fake one, courtesy of her boyfriend. "I think that.. If I were to die tonight.. I think I would be okay with that."

Stanley paused, his smile faltering as he adjusted his position to look down at her. "Wait, what?"

"I mean.. I'm happy. I'm happy with the things I've done, how I've done them, and I don't have many regrets. I think that's a really beautiful thing that most people can't say truthfully." Pimrose began, a distant look lingering in her eyes as she raised her head to meet his eyes. "I think death can be a really beautiful thing, depending on how you look at it. Death.. death is really only the next stage of life. I don't think it's as final as people believe it to be. We're all just.. moving to our next phase of existence."

Stanley blinked slowly, rolling his lip in between his teeth. Primrose pulled her eyes away from him, inhaling the salty sea air as she let her eyes flutter. "I'm glad I met you in this existence, my handsome Stanley. And I hope to meet you, and Sydney and Dina in my next."

"I'm glad I met you, too." Stanley squeaked, his cheeks dusting pink as Primrose reached forward and rested her hand on his cheek.  "You're not like anyone else.. You're cool."

Stanley's hand instinctively moved to rest on Primrose's waist as she closed the gap between them. She sighed in content as he pulled her closer to his body.

As Primrose pulled away from the kiss, Stanley couldn't help but let his mind wander, barely even registering that she'd begun untying the twist tie wrapped around the bag of whole grain bread.

She smiled in satisfaction as the raised the red tie in front of her. She turned to her boyfriend, holding her hand out to him.

Stanley rose his eyebrows in confusion, but rested his hand in hers without uttering a question.

Primrose grinned, mumbling a thank you under her breath as she took the tie, carefully pulling it around his ring finger.

"What... What are you doing?" Stanley's voice was shaky as his eyes danced over her face. The fading sunlight cast a warm glow across her skin as it began to sink behind the distant horizon. Silence washed over the couple, the only sound coming from the ocean's waves lapping softly against the sandy shore.

Primrose's glossed lips curved into a grin as she flickered her eyes up to meet his gaze. "Oh, my handsome Stanley.. There's nothing to worry about."

Her voice was sweet and airy, drawing Stanley in with every simple word she spoke. Even after nearly a year of officially dating, Primrose still had that alluring aura that put Stanley in a trance. Even after all this time.. she still left him speechless almost every day. Primrose liked to celebrate their anniversary as January 21st, the day they met. She claimed it was because that was the day that Aphrodite allowed her soulmate to waltz into her life.

Stanley's heart fluttered as her fingers delicately wrapped the small red tie around his ring finger, tying  it in a neat bow. He gulped, glancing down at his hand for a split-second. "What's this for?"

"I love you." Primrose answered simply. Stanley's breath caught in his throat as she sighed in content, turning her face towards the clouds. Her eyes brightened and her lips curved into a grin at the sight. "My handsome Stanley, look, right there.. Look, that cloud looks like a frog. I love clouds, don't you? They're so incredibly massive, we can barely begin to understand the sheer.. power they have. Clouds can produce so many lovely things that feed our mother earth.. They can destroy entire towns, forests.. anything.. in the blink of an eye. Yet they remain effortlessly whimsical and graceful. No matter how much the world changes, for better or for worse, clouds remain the same. Hovering over our heads every day.. Watching over us, protecting us, all while being looked over and ignored. Sometimes even ridiculed for 'ruining a good day'  Yet the clouds love us anyway. I think that's really beautiful."