All those years ago Jamie had been sure about what direction our lives would go, and what was best for me. I’d hated it back then, even if he’d been right. But things were different now.
It was hard to imagine a world in which I could live without Jamie. It had only been hours since he’d left, and it felt like I was having trouble breathing. I wish I could blame the marshmallows blocking my windpipe, but I knew that wasn’t thecase. He was my person. He’d always been my person. Even Leo knew, and that had to mean something, right?
I didn’t have to do this.
I blinked back my tears, unfisted my hands, and pushed against the bench, ready to leave, ready to go find him and fix this. I still had a chance.
But Jack tapped me on my shoulder, pointing through the flames. I blinked, wondering if I was witnessing a fire mirage of Jamie walking in my direction. Now I was just delusional.
Silence crept up on us, and I wasn’t sure if it was because my coworkers had seen him and gone quiet or because the world had fallen away.
It was just him and me.
He got on both knees and held my hand, kissing it. I started to speak and remembered how stupid I looked.
Oh my god, I was going to spray a cocktail of marshmallows and spit at the feet of the man I loved.
A stream of tears fell down my face, probably smearing the light layer of makeup I was wearing. I tried chewing, looking away from him toward where Jackwassitting, but he’d abandoned me. I turned back to Jamie, swallowing, and started the process again.
“Autumn—” he started. “Oh my god, I can’t talk to you when you look like that.”
I sputtered. “You can’t make me laugh, idiot!”
I tried chewing again, covering my mouth with my hand as my jaw worked overtime before finally, finally swallowing the last bit.
He wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled gently. “Hey, sunflower.”
“What are you doing here?”
Jamie’s eyes softened. “I was really craving marshmallows.” He squeezed my hand, and my heart fluttered. “Unless you ate all of them?”
I laughed again, and I swear the tears on my cheek flew from my face. I was a fucking mess.
He looked at me somberly. “I didn’t want to leave.”
He said it as if it was so easy. As if there weren’t a million things stopping him from being here.
“So you came back? Don’t you have to be at work on Monday?” I clutched his hand, unable to let go. I wondered how long I’d have him for. A few hours? A day? Would I have to say goodbye all over again? I didn’t care. I would take what I could get.
“I do. But that leaves us a whole weekend if you’re willing to drive me home. Then I’ll go back, I guess. For a month or so.”
“A month?” I practically shouted, gripping his shoulders. “What about your job? What about Seattle?”
“I don’t care about the job, and I don’t care about the place I’m living. I only care about you.” He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m going to quit and get my ducks in a row. But only if you want me—”
I practically jumped him, kissing him as though my life depended on it. Suddenly, I was standing up, his arms wrapped around me as he deepened the kiss.
“I want you.” I peppered him with kisses. “I want you so bad.”
“Yeah? Well, we can’t do that here,” he joked.
“Please don’t do that here,” Ren said from behind me. I hadn’t noticed he was here. Had they even made it home?
I ignored him and stared at the man in front of me. “I love you,” I blurted. “I think I always have. That sounds so ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
“I think I’m the only one who understands what you mean.”
“You do?”
“I feel like I’ve loved you for my entire life, Autumn. There’s nothing I want more than to make you happy. The moment you kicked my ass in our first debate, I knew I was done for.”
He kissed me again, and we only stopped when we heard cheers and claps. I turned to see every one of my friends, my chosen family, with the happiest smiles on their faces.
