by Izzy Daniels
“Brooke, I love you. I’m so in love with you. You rescued me, physically, emotionally. My self-loathing was destroying me, but now, I’ve never felt this healthy before,” Emma says. Tears spring to my eyes. I’ve fantasized about her saying those three words to me over and over. I take a second to collect all of my thoughts.
“Emma, you say it’s me who rescued you, but it’s the other way around,” I tell her. “I was wandering a hollow and aimless life before I met you. I’ve felt rejected and more lonely than I could ever describe. You’ve never been anything but accepting of me. It’s like the moment I met you, I finally started living. Loving you has been the best part of my life so far but being loved by you is an adventure I can’t wait to go on.” She ignores the tears falling down her cheeks, hand tightening on mine. She gives her head a little shake.
“We rescued each other.”
Epilogue
One year later...
“Baaaabe!” I holler for the third time from atop the kitchen counter in our apartment. I glance once more at the clock above the stove. “Brooke, we have three minutes or we’re going to be late!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” She yells from down the hallway. My head falls back in exasperation. That’s not the first time she said that. Finally, she appears at the end of the hallway, wringing her hands.
“Oh, B, you look beautiful.” Of course, she always does. “You don’t have to be nervous. He loves you and he’s been excited to see you for months,” I tell her as I slide off the counter.
“Em, it’s been so long since I’ve seen my brother. I’m just anxious. I’m sorry I made us late, ” she says as I draw near.
“You didn’t. I lied. We still have ten minutes. I wanted to make sure I had enough time for this,” I reveal as I take her cheeks tenderly in my hands and place a kiss on her lips. “I love you. I’ll be right by your side. It’s going to be great. I promise.”
“Mmm. I love your kisses,” she murmurs and returns her lips to mine. The kiss almost deepens but she pulls away abruptly. “Besides, if it goes terribly wrong at least we’re hopping on a plane tomorrow and not coming back for six months.” I laugh at her earnest expression.
“True.” I say. “Come on, let’s do this. I want to meet your nephew. It’s my birthday present.” Not my only one, actually . Paul sent me a beautiful set of luggage and a promise to come visit us in Italy for Christmas. Brooke made me a scrapbook with pictures from all the dates we’ve ever been on. She included pictures, receipts, ticket stubs, quotes, and the lyrics from Jailhouse Rock. Best birthday ever .
Brooke sighs but lets me lead her downstairs to the jeep. She’s still looking slightly freaked out as I drive to the restaurant but this is a really good thing for her. On our second road trip last year, we went to visit my mom’s grave in Maryland. I talked, wailed, begged, and shouted in the cemetery but Brooke was exactly where I needed her, right by my side. When we got back home, she decided to reach out to her family. She didn’t want to be standing at anyone’s grave with so many things unsaid. Her brother has tried very hard to be in her life again since they started talking. He told her that having a child of his own changed him and that they’d lost too much time already. I wholeheartedly agreed. Tonight will be the first time they’ve seen each other in six years.
What Brooke doesn’t know is that after dinner, I’m taking her over to Jack and Morgan’s for my ‘surprise’ birthday/going away party. We found out I got accepted into the culinary arts study abroad program a month ago. We’ve been so excited. We spent weeks shopping around for an apartment, studying the area, and reading every travel book in the library. Brooke is going to do her whole semester online so her timeline for graduating won’t be disturbed.
Before we met she was used to seeing new places alone and I was used to never going anywhere, but now that’s all changed. After Italy, we still have the whole world and I want to see every inch. So we will, side by side.