-1A/N: THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER. I hope you have enjoyed reading Sarah Javerson as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Please review, add it to favorites, add it to your c2s, and show how much you loved/hated it.
I've never had this much of a response to a fan fiction before. I thought that I would be nothing but happy to end it, but it's really sort of bittersweet. I've been working on this far too long, however, and it's time to end this and all of my active fics so I can start writing new things. The chapter, you will notice, is really rather short. This is because I feel that it is all that is necessary to finish. Sorry, and thanks for your support over the last year.
I don't own the song "Method Acting" by Bright Eyes (read Conor Oberst the Magnificent), the lyrics of which are at the end of this chapter.
And without further ado, please enjoy Sarah Javerson: The Epilogues.
Epilogue: Rory's PoV (Continued from prologue.)
My book, Sarah Javerson, was published about a year later. Despite the short length, it was extremely successful, getting reviews that said things like "not your average sappy teen romance" and "a cross between such acclaimed novels as The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Princess Diaries". Much to my delight, many of the people I met on my promotional travels were older than I was! My book had reached age groups that my editors hadn't predicted, thus becoming a favorite among many peoples.
Eventually, the popularity did die down. However, this is in itself was a relief, because it left time for another important change in my life: my wedding.
It was in Hartford, and my mother, Paris, and Lane were all bridesmaids. Tristan's father and brother were by his side, and though he graciously offered Luke the same respects, Luke politely declined.
The wedding was in a church; Tristan's father was adamant on this point. The little flower girl, my sister Gigi, skipped down the aisle aimlessly.
My father walked me down the aisle, rather to Luke's chagrin. There was, however, a long letter of thanks to Luke that mentioned that though Christopher was my blood father, there would really only ever be one man I could see as a paternal figure.
We wrote our own vows. There is no way to write one's own vows without sounding ridiculous, but it was more intimate that way.
About a year later, my mother had her second child. To our slight disappointment, it was a boy, named William Richard Danes, after his grandfathers.
And my first born? She's due in about two months. Her name will be Lorelai Katherine, naturally. And Sarah nowadays? My husband and I had this conversation just the other day. We were sitting in our new two-bedroom apartment, on a red sofa, facing opposite a flashing television screen.
"So, I finally finished Sarah Javerson today." He says to me. I look at him like he's an idiot.
"I took you three years to read that tiny thing?" He shrugs.
"It's not really my genre. I had a little trouble paying attention." I swat him lightly.
"I'm not saying it was bad." He said defensively.
"Is it?"
"What ever happens to them?" He says evasively. I roll my eyes.
"I'm thinking about writing a sequel. Until then, I can't really say, can I?" I answer. He smiles, as do I. Because we both know that, due to the nature of the story, and due to the inspiration for the two main characters, that there is necessarily a happy ending in their future.
And I guess that's the end of my story, for now at least. Maybe I'll really write again. Maybe I'll go back to college. Really, with the earnings from my novel, and the movie contract I've just signed with Warner, we have enough money to keep us going for a good long while. But maybe, after Lorie is old enough, I'll return to my dream of being a journalist.
Until then, I'm happy to reminisce about how the whole idea struck me that summer I stayed at my grandparent's house, when I was taking a break from Yale.
Fin.
---
Epilogue
"All packed, then?" her mother asks. Sarah nods in reply.
"I'm going to do a quick run through of the house to make sure," Lucinda Javerson decides aloud. Her husband follows her. Sarah turns to Terrance, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Almost zero hour," he says quietly. She nods yet again. There is a short pause before they run at each other and hold each other tight. Sarah reminds herself not to cry.
Leslie could not be here. She was sent three hours ago on a plane to her cousin's house... In Sarah's future hometown. Small world.
"Are you excited?" He asks her. She shakes her head fervently. He looks at her seriously.
"A little," she admits. The new school she will be attending is an infamous prep school that many doctors, scientists, and writers worldwide have graduated from. It is even more reputable, to be honest, than Garwith.
"Good!" he says proudly. Inside he is slightly disappointed that she can even look for a future without him right beside her, because he can't image doing the same. But as long as she was happy, he could be strong as well. She draws back from his embrace.
"I think," she says quietly, "that this long distance thing will be hard."
"Does that mean you want to break up?" He asks worriedly. They hadn't even discussed this possibility before. Had he possibly been naïve in the assumption that they were completely with this relationship?
"No, of course not," she says, shaking her head. "I'm just telling you not to prepare for the best."
"Mm." He replies, not sure how to answer. He wants the best, don't they deserve it? He catches her watching the light bounce off the ring he'd given her sweetly.
"Don't worry," she says. She looks up and meets his eyes. "We're engaged. I'm not about to run out on that." She whispers conspiratorially. He grins. It was true, actually. They knew that, being teenagers, the odds were against them. And they also knew that, being in different countries and both being fairly attractive people, there really wasn't anything to say that they could stay committed for that long. But they were going to try. He had proposed to her last Friday. They told her parents that it was just a promise ring, a "don't forget me" memento. They knew it was more than that.
"It's just a year. After that, I'll graduate and go to a nearby college until you can come back." He assures. She nods. She had two years of high school left, but since he was a year older he the plan had been made for him to temporarily relocate. It was they best they could do.
"I'm still working mom to let me come back to Nana and Granddad's house for winter. I don't think she'll let me, Terr." She say sadly. He shakes hi head.
"Let's not worry about it right now, babe." He says sweetly. Her parents are back, and telling her to say goodbye. He looks at the cautiously, and then kisses her goodbye. He intends it to be a quick, respectful gesture, but she kisses him back, and won't let him break away. When he finally does, she bursts into sobs. He smiles sadly and picks her up and carries her, bridal-style, to her parents' vehicle. He places her inside. In a choked voice, Sarah manages to say "practicing already?" before he closes the door and moves to the sidewalk. He hears her sobs from the car as it drives away. The moving van follows. He watches it leave, and grasps a piece of paper with Sarah's mother's cell phone number in it, knowing it will be about five minutes before he breaks down, calls to her parents to rant and rave in protest, and finally resign to a year-long depression.
For now, however, he's content to reminisce about the day, almost two and a half months ago now, that he first kissed Sarah Javerson as the sun glitters overhead.
Fin.
Method
Acting by Bright Eyes
There's
no beginning to the story
A bookshelf sinks into the sand
And a
language learned and forgot in turn
Is studied once again
It's
a shocking bit of footage
Viewed from a shitty TV screen
You
can squint at it
Just snow and static
To make out the
meaning
And keep on stretching the antenna
Hoping that it will
come clear
We need some reception
A higher message
Just tell
us what to fear
'Cause I don't know what tomorrow brings
To
light with such possibilities
All I know is I feel better when I
sing
Burdens are lifted from me
That's my voice rising
So
Michael please keep the tape rolling
Boys keep strumming those
guitars
We need a record of our failures
Yes we must document
our love
I have sat too long in my silence
I have grown too old
in my pain
To shed this skin
Be born again
Oh it starts with
an ending
So thank you friends for the time we shared
My love
stays with you like sunlight and air
No I truly wish I could keep
hanging around here
My joy is covering me
Soon I will
disappear
It's not a movie
No private screening
This
method acting
Well I call it living
It's like a fountain
A
door has opened
We have a problem
With no solution but to
love
And to be loved
So I've made peace with the fallen
leaves
I see their same fate in my own body
But I won't be
frightened when I'm awoken from this dream
And return to that
which gave birth to me
Gave birth to me gave birth to me gave
birth to me
And the story goes and the story goes
And it goes
on and on and on and on
It's going on and on and on and on
