Chapter Twenty: Finishing the Story

Flipping the final page over, Maya scratched her head and then went back to the last paragraph in the large stack of papers. "Wait…" she said, rereading. "So that's it? That's how it ends?"

"Yeah, that's how it ends—it ends with a new beginning." Riley stirred a scoop of sugar into her mug of coffee and then found her place next to the other girl on the couch. Taking a sip, she burned her tongue, never patient enough to wait for it to cool.

"But it just seems so sad, I mean after all that she just ends up having to start all over. Where's the happy ending?"

Riley laughed, shaking her head. She took the packet from Maya's hands and placed it onto the end table to her left, with the bolded title Chasing the Sun facing upward. "Not all stories have happy endings, Peaches. This one was simply about hope—hope that it's never too late to change your future, no matter how far down a wrong path you may have gone. It's about having the courage to rewrite your own history."

"Hmm…" the young blonde contemplated, trying to understand. It was her first time reading through Riley's work, as she'd been very secretive about it for the last few months, and to say the content was surprising was an understatement. "Should I feel threatened by this? You don't have some unresolved feelings for Huckleberry do you?" She gave a mischievous glance to her girlfriend, having much insecurity about everything she'd just read. "I mean I can't help but notice you and Lucas were in love for like seven years in this thing, is there something you're trying to tell me here?"

Rolling her eyes dramatically, the anticipative author placed her hand on the other's thigh and squeezed. "It's fiction, Maya, it's not real. You and me, that's what's real." She leaned over and kissed the girl's cheek, to validate her sentiment. It was always humorous how quickly Maya would get jealous, even though she had no reason at all to ever doubt. Riley had known Maya was her entire heart for practically her whole life, and she'd been very aware that they were meant to be together ever since she'd been faced with the scare of moving to London all those years ago. It was the exact mirror she needed at the time to see her own self and to see who she needed beside her in the reflection. Saying goodbye to Lucas that day had been hard, as he was her first boyfriend and had been a vital support in her road to adolescence. But saying goodbye to her soul mate was impossible, and from that day forward she swore to make sure she never would have to.

The edgy girl remained silent, still thinking. She knew she was probably overanalyzing, but still the novel had to have come from somewhere in Riley's head, as all art comes from an underlying inspiration. If she were honest with herself, it still blew her mind at all that Riley had chosen to be with her. She was broken, and flawed, and had a difficult time seeing the world with the same spirit as the other young woman did. Every day she questioned why she was so lucky to have been gifted such a ray of light in her life. "Riles?"

"That's my name," Riley joked. "Feel free to wear it out."

Adjusting on the couch, Maya shifted her weight onto the side and turned to face Riley. She pulled up the blanket over her crossed legs and bit her lip apprehensively. "Do you think if Lucas's dad wouldn't have been transferred back to Texas junior year that things would have turned out differently? Do you think you and I would still be here right now?"

This was going deeper than she'd intended. Something in her book had stricken a nerve with Maya, as she could tell her voice had adopted a serious disposition. "Maya…" she held the girls hands, enclosing them tightly between her own. "…of course not. You and I were already together by that point, what makes you think I would have ever changed my mind?"

"I don't know," she looked down, appreciating their hold. "I guess part of me has just always wondered why it was me you wanted? Lucas was the perfect guy, always so kind and such a good person. I feel like that's the kind of person you deserved, you know?"

"Hey," Riley lifted Maya's chin with delicate fingers. "Don't do that, don't ever make yourself seem like less than." Looking into those icy blue eyes, they were beautiful, completely enchanting. They were the only ones she cared to see for the rest of her life. "You have been the most important person in my life since you first crawled into my window. You've stood up for me when I couldn't stand up for myself; You've pushed me to grow outside of my comfort zone, even when it was terrifying; you've let me rest every single one of my burdens on your shoulders, even on the days when you had been carrying your own. There is no one on this Earth that has loved me the way that you love me, or that could ever do a better job of it. It's always been you, it is you, and it will forever be you. From the day we met."

Releasing the other girl's chin, Riley reached forward and took another sip of her coffee—it was cooler now, and more comfortable sliding into her mouth. "Do you want to know why I wrote this story, Maya? Why I had the idea in the first place?"

"Yeah," Maya nodded, "Of course."

"I was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at a blank screen for hours—thoughtless, idealess, and frustrated. Then you came home; you threw your leather jacket on the hook, looked at me and just smiled, one of your genuinely natural and intoxicating smiles. Happy—you were happy to be home, and I was happy to be the one you were coming home to." Tugging slightly on the plush blanket, Riley moved it so that it would cover her long legs as well. She could feel Maya's cold feet beneath the cover and positioned her body closer to warm them. "I thought of how any other way of life would never feel as good as that. How no matter what choice I could have made in the past, what journey I would have taken, I would have never been as satisfied or as complete as I am with you, in this apartment, in this moment of our lives. So I started writing about it…I started writing about a missed opportunity—about where I'd be if life had taken a different turn. You read it for yourself; it didn't work out for me, Maya. Nothing would have worked out until I'd found my way back to you. Back to my home."

Letting out a deep breath, Maya's heart felt full. Her mind was at ease. Everything she'd ever wanted was next to her on a comfy couch, with no intentions of ever leaving. Since being a child she'd labeled herself as the person that gets left, but now it was finally time to wipe that label away from her forehead—Riley was here to stay. Forever. She held onto the girl's arm and guided her head down atop her lap. Running fingers through the long brown locks, she admired how soft they were, just as everything else was about Riley. "You're going to change the names, right? I mean as much as I love the idea of being famous, I'm thinking I'd prefer to remain anonymous in this one."

"Well yeah, I'm going to change the names." She nuzzled her head more comfortably into the resting place. Eyelids felt heavy, despite the coffee, as she'd exhausted all energy into writing lately, but Riley was determined to stay awake in the company of the girl she loved for as long as possible. "It's just the first draft, I used the names so that it would be easier for me to get into each person's perspective. But I'm definitely going to change names, and go back to add more backstories to develop the characters. I need to make sure the readers know them as well as I do."

"...And honey, you know I'd never be caught dead in a Smackle outfit, right?"

The girl let out a scoff, taken off guard by Maya's never ending sarcasm. "Not even for a Halloween costume?" she teased, poking her side.

"Not even if it was the last clean outfit on the planet," the shorter girl reiterated.

"Well there goes every single fantasy I've ever had," Riley cracked up, snuggling back in.

Enjoying the sound of the girl's adorable laugh, Maya leaned her body over and kissed Riley, deepening it until her brain kicked in again with more questions. She hesitated. "There's just one last thing I don't completely understand."

"What's that, Peaches?" The brunette let out a yawn, though she was disappointed to have their entanglement interrupted.

"Well everyone in your book is obviously based on people you know…except for one—why Lexi? Who is she?"

Riley looked up, meeting her girlfriend's glace. "I made her up," she winked. "In a world where you and I weren't together, I still wanted you happy. I wanted to know you were taken care of, and that no matter what happened to me, you'd have someone that loved you and was there for you."

Squinting her thick brows, Maya continued stroking her hair. "But why did you have to end up alone? If you created this person for me, why not just create someone for you as well?"

"Maya," Riley's voice was growing lower now, harder to fight slumber. Her body was relaxed and head was light. "Don't you get it? In any world where you and I aren't together, I'd rather just be alone. There is no one I could ever write that makes more sense for me than you," she whispered, fading out, and relinquishing to all fatigue.

Seeing the eyelids beneath her slowly close for the final time, she watched as Riley's chest would rise and fall. She had enjoyed reading the girl's story, and was incredibly proud of her for what she'd accomplished, however, she was entirely thankful that it was simply that—a story. Fiction. So easily it could have been real, she could have been living a totally different life, strung along by their missed opportunities. But for some reason the universe had taken care of them—brought them together by fate, allowed them to grow through friendship, and then solidified their bond through love. It was surreal, a one in a million chance that everything could have pieced itself together so perfectly. However, if life had taught her anything it was that hope was certainly not for suckers, and she'd luckily placed every ounce of her hope in Riley's hands a very long time ago. Careful not to disturb the sleeping young woman, she stretched her own body out and rested her head against the side of the couch, wrapping a single arm around her girlfriend, and focusing her eyes forward on their bay window until they could no longer remain open. She listened to each breath Riley took in and released being lulled, until finally her own matched the same rhythm—exactly as it had been their entire life, if one was to meet their dreams, the other was sure to follow—For when lightening struck the sky, thunder would never be far behind.

A/N: That's it, guys! Hope you've enjoyed. I'm sorry if the ending wasn't what you were hoping for, but it's how I had envisioned it so I wanted to stick with it, despite whatever upset comments may follow *sweats nervously* haha. I also apologize that it took so long to update the final two chapters, but as I had mentioned, I wanted to do them in unison so that you could go right into the conclusion :)

I have enjoyed this little adventure with you guys, thank you for reading!

-Lauren