yay4yana

Finding My Way

Epilogue: Ben's P.O.V.

I walked along the lone path through the cemetery and stopped at the two graves I intended on visiting.
I placed three white roses on the first grave, and placed five red roses on the next one: one for each year we were married. It wasn't fair that I had lost her so early on. We were supposed to have more time together.
I missed Aly so much. The way her eyes sparkled, her contagious laugh, the way she would look at me like she was completely in love; I missed it all.
I sat down and thought back on our life together. Everyone thought we were just foolish kids, getting married at 18. But we knew we weren’t; we were young, but we knew exactly what we wanted, and that was each other.
We had gotten so much done, experienced so much in the five years that we were married. I proposed to her at graduation, and we got married within a few months. After the wedding, we took two years off before college and backpacked across Europe together. We went sky diving, we flew in a hot air balloon, we went to Alaska to see the Northern lights, we went to the White House, and in the last year of our marriage, we went to see the ball drop in Times Square. We even learned how to beat box.
Aly believed, after what happened to Loretta, that it was possible for anyone to die young. She was afraid that she wouldn’t get done all of the things she wanted to accomplish in life. And she wanted to live not only for herself, but for Loretta. Thinking back now, it was crazy, almost scary that she thought that. It was like she knew. 
So after we got married, we embarked on a journey to accomplish her bucket list. She made me write one too, but we were going to finish hers first. We never did get to, but we came close.
Aly even got a role in a movie. She was one of the main roles, and she was so excited for it to come out. She wouldn’t tell me anything about it, and insisted we went to the midnight premiere. But on the way home from the last day of filming, it was storming out really hard. Her car hydroplaned and flipped over. And just like that, within fifteen seconds, the love of my life; my beautiful wife, was gone forever.
I’m 46 now, and I haven’t remarried. When Aly and I said our ‘I do’s’ we promised each other “for as long as we both shall live.” To me, that means that my love will always be devoted to her, whether or not she is here to return or receive it.
And I’m going to spend the rest of my life doing just that. And I’m going to devote my life to Aly and to Loretta. I’ve already finished Aly’s bucket list, but now it’s time for me to finish my own. I need to do this for Aly. I need to do this for my undying love for her.
I stood up from the grave and looked at it sadly, seeing her beautiful face so clearly, her extroardinary beauty frozen in time, as if she were really in front of me.
I love you Aly, forever and always. 



So, what did you all think?
Are you surprised?
I tried to foreshadow Aly's death a little bit,
so if you caught on beforehand, then you're awesome!
I hope you all loved this story as much as I did.
Thank you to all of my amazing readers who stuck with me,
even when I didn't post for long periods of time.
Let me know what you thought of it!
I LOVE YOU.

Finding My Way
Song of the chapter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl8SuLBCq3k
Chapter 45: Val's P.O.V.

After about 20 minutes, I started squirming. “Mom, are you almost done?”
She bit her lip and squinted her eyes, concentrating. “Yes! Done! With your eyes.” She laughed and I groaned. It was May 18^th; prom day. I had agreed to let my mom do my makeup, but I didn’t think she would go so in depth! And she wouldn’t even let me see! What if I hated it? I mean, I knew I wouldn’t because my mom knows what I like, but I was so anxious! I just wanted to see it.
She’d been helping me get ready all day. She painted my nails earlier and threaded my eyebrows, she learned how from her roommate in college, and now after finishing all of my makeup, she was doing my hair. She curled the ends and pinned it up in a low, intricate side bun, finishing it off with a beautiful, sparkling hair clip.
My mom was lightly misting hairspray on my hair so it would stay in all night, when I heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” I called.
I heard my bedroom door start to open. “No!! Stay out there I’m not ready yet!”
My mom laughed. “Done! I’ll go keep him occupied, put on your dress! We'll be outside.” She said as she slipped out the door.
I stood up and examined myself in the mirror. I looked beautiful. My mother had done a wonderful job on my hair, and my eye makeup matched my dress perfectly. I put on my silver heels and stood, loving the height they added.
I quickly slipped off my robe and stepped into my dress. The pastel colors swirled beautifully around the dress as I spun, examining my appearance in the mirror. I smiled and felt satisfied. I put my phone, lip gloss, and ticket in my silver clutch purse and headed out to find my date.
 
Ben’s P.O.V.
Aly walked outside, her heels clicking, and I was mesmerized. She was beautiful, and her dress looked beautiful on her. My light pink bowtie matched her perfectly and I was glad. I handed her the bouquet of roses I had ordered. They were a very pale pink color, and it darkened to a deeper burgundy color around the edges. She put them up to her nose to smell them and smiled, her mom snapping a picture without her noticing.
The sun was bright and illuminated Aly. Her hair glistened and sparkled like gold, her eyes bright and noticeable from the intricate makeup.
“Thank you; they’re beautiful.” Aly said and smiled at me. The rest of the drama club would be here soon for pictures and I was sad I wouldn’t get more alone time with Aly.
“That’s funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you.” I smirked at her and she laughed.
“How do you manage to make the corniest things sound charming?” She smiled up at me and I felt my heart accelerate. Even after four months of being with her, I would never get used to the way she looked at me, or when she said ‘I love you.’ I got tingles every time.
“Wow, no cocky comeback? I’m shocked.” She smirked and I rolled my eyes, stepping closer to her.
“You look amazing, Aly-cat.” I said, tilting my head and kissing her. She smiled into the kiss and pulled awat, pecking me lightly again, giggling. She switched her bouquet over to one arm and intertwined her fingers with mine. “Thank you, Benny-boo. You’re lookin’ pretty good yourself.” She paused. “We should take some pictures before the others get here.” I nodded and her mom set us up in different positions on her porch, under the tree, next to the pond and on the wooden swing in her backyard.
We put on our matching ray bans and took some silly pictures, too. Her mom wanted her to make a scrapbook of senior year, so we were taking a lot of pictures lately.
Everyone else came and we all took pictures together: all the girls, all the guys, and all of us combined. Then we all left in the limo that we all chipped in to rent. It was going to be a fun night, and I couldn’t believe I got to spend it with the girl of my dreams.
 
Val’s P.O.V.
We arrived at the hotel and we all piled out of the limo. Roxy latched her arm around mine and we walked to the door together and waited for our dates. She took Brett, who was walking up to us with Ben. Ben rested his hand softly on my lower back, guiding me into the hotel where our prom was being held.
The night went by so fast, and I couldn’t believe how quickly senior year flew by. So much had changed. So much had happened: Danny, Loretta, Ben, the play. It was all so overwhelming looking back on it now.
“May I have this dance?” Ben held out his hand, interrupting my thoughts. I grinned and took it, walking onto the crowded dance floor with my boyfriend.
Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion was playing and everything, for the first time in a really long time, felt perfect. This was the happiest I’d been in a while, and I owed it all to Ben.
I leant my head in the crook of his neck and closed my eyes, enjoying our last dance of the night. I loved wearing the heels; I was almost Ben’s height in them.
Neither of us spoke at first, and the silence was beautiful. Just being with him made me feel safe; it made me feel good.
“So, after we finish school, where do you want to go first?” Ben spoke quietly, referring to my list.
“I don’t care.” I said, picking my head up and looking him in his grey/green eyes. He looked at me curiously.
I smiled up at him before answering.
 “I’ll go anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”


THE END ♥ 
There will not be a sequel, but there will be an epilogue
that I will be posting in a few minutes!