Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "Leave the lights on"

In the last chapter: After Arnold and Helga's confession at the prom, all hell broke loose. They were met with less than understanding peers and even though a few started to get used to the idea, most of them did not. Especially Rhonda who may or may not have had a sort of admiration for Arnold that had now vanished completely because he would choose someone like Helga over her. Her nasty words about Arnold was what pushed Helga over the edge and she punched the girl which resulted in herself being suspended until the exams. The principal told Helga he was going to call her mother and inform her of this. Arnold and Helga agreed it was time to tell their parents.

Author's 1st note: Two chapters left…! So weird Dx

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 32: "Fate is a funny thing"

"I've never been scared while looking at Sunset Arms before." Helga admitted as she walked hand-in-hand with her not-so-secret boyfriend.

"You really think they are waiting for us there?"

"Oh, I know it. As soon as Miriam hears that message, she is going to want an explanation immediately… and we live here at the moment, so…"

"At the moment?" Arnold repeated with a confused, crooked smile.

Helga looked back at him. "I'm not sure what's going to happen after this, Arnold, but it's not going to be good. We have to prepare ourselves for the worst…"

"Which is…?"

Helga opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of angry voices caught her attention and she looked at the boarding house. "I trusted you to look after them and this is the kind of message we get from the school?!" Miles yelled, his voice barely contained by the walls of the building.

"I don't know why she would punch anyone, but knowing Helga, the kid probably deserved it!" Phil shouted back. "How about you start acting like a dad for once and find out yourself instead of blaming your old man for everything that goes wrong?!"

"How can you say that anyone would deserve to be punched?! Is that the kind of things you taught my son while I was away?!"

"Some people are just punchbable, Miles!"

Arnold blinked in shock. "I've never heard my grandpa so angry before." He said as he reached for the door handle. He looked back at Helga, waiting for her acceptance. She looked up at him and nodded with reluctance in her eyes, but she helped him open the door anyhow.

The sound of the front door opening caught the adults' ears and they watched as Arnold and Helga walked into the opening to the living room. "There you are!" Miles said in relief and walked over to his son, looking his face over. "Thank God, it's not you."

"Not me what?"

"The one Helga punched." Miles said with venom in his voice and looked at Helga.

"I would never hurt Arnold!" Helga hissed angrily, the hand holding Arnold's tightening in anger.

"That's what I tried to tell you!" Phil said with a groan and sat down on the one-man couch, exhausted from yelling for such a long time.

Miles huffed and turned his back to the blonde teenagers, completely oblivious to the fact that they were still holding hands. "Miriam, don't you have something to say?"

"Let them sit down first, Miles." Miriam begged somewhat tiredly, but she was definitely more awake now than she had been for a long time, the teenagers noticed. "Come on. Let's talk about this call I got from your principal, Helga."

The teenagers looked apprehensively at each other for a moment before walking around the couch and sitting down across their parents. They kept their hands tangled, but hid it between their thighs. They silently agreed that for now, they had to keep things subtle. They waited for their parents to talk, but they clearly expected Helga to explain herself first.

"Ok…" the blonde girl started. "The person I hit was Rhonda."

"Oh, that snooty little brat?" Phil asked and rolled his eyes. "I guess she had it coming?"

Helga tilted her head to the side as if she wanted to say yes, but knew that she shouldn't. "I… definitely tried to hold back." she admitted and sighed. "But I couldn't. The things she said about Arnold just… got me."

"About Arnold? What…" Miles said in confusion and looked at his son. "How are you involved in this?"

How am I not? Arnold wondered and gulped. "Rhonda said some… pretty harsh things about the both of us." He said and looked at Helga who was looking at her lap, unable to face anyone at the moment. "Most of the people in our class did, but Rhonda was the worst."

Miriam frowned in thought. "Why do they dislike you so much all of a sudden?" she asked and leaned forward with her elbows resting on her thighs.

This is it. Helga thought and finally looked at Arnold. "At the prom… At the prom, we… we, uh…" she muttered.

"Speak up, Helga. I can't hear you." Miles ordered sternly.

"We told everyone that we are dating." Arnold said with confidence, lifting his hand to show that it was holding Helga's hand affectionately.

Miriam and Miles looked at the tangled fingers of their children. While Miriam seemed to have to lean back to think about what she had just been informed, Miles kept looking at his son as if he expected him to crack a big smile and tell him it was a joke. When he didn't, Miles looked at Phil who tried to contain his toothless grin. He didn't think much of it at that moment, he was too confused.

"Wait… What are you saying? What do you mean… dating?" Miles asked.

"Dating as in… as in I love her." Arnold said with resolution in his voice, refusing to back down now even though the inevitable condemning expression his dad would soon show him would break his heart.

Arnold's courage was infectious and so Helga looked at her mother determinedly. "And I love him." She told her and Miriam looked at her. Her facial expression was impossible to read and that worried Helga.

"How… How is that… I…" Miles said, stumbling over his own words until he remembered Phil's smile. "Dad, did you know about this?"

Phil shrugged innocently. "Seemed pretty obvious to me! But I know the signs and you don't." he replied and lifted his nose in the air.

Miles shook his head in disbelief and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to contain the anger he felt filling him. "So you have been helping them hide this for how long exactly?"

"I believe I told Arnold that they could come to Sunset Arms whenever around Christmas." Phil hummed thoughtfully. "Does that sound right, Shortman?"

"Uh, y-yes." Arnold replied, hoping his grandpa would stay out from it after this. He didn't need him to agitate his dad any further if this was going to go well. Luckily, Phil seemed to understand the look his grandson sent him and leaned back casually to watch things play out.

"So you've been helping them do this?" Miles hissed and shook his head again. "Incredible… How could you hide this from me?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell." Phil insisted. "And now I think you should talk to your son about this."

Miles looked at the teenagers and their tangled hands. "Would you stop holding hands in front of us?"

Helga frowned. "Why?"

"Because it shows how little respect you have for us."

"How does that - - "

"Let go!"

The blondes let go of each other in surprise at Miles' harsh tone. They looked at each other worriedly even though they were trying to soothe each other at the same time.

Miles leaned back. "I can understand this sort of behavior from Helga, but you, Arnold. You are such a good boy. Why would you do something like this?" he asked in disbelief.

This again? Arnold wondered. "Why does everyone seem to think that?" he asked.

"Because you are a good boy, Arnold." Miles said as he pointed at him. "I know that you were raised well, I know you were taught what is right and what is wrong and this is so wrong! How could you do this? How could you do this to us, to me?!"

"To you?!"

"I have tried so hard to make this family work! Even after I found out about Miriam's drinking, I still wanted nothing more than to give you the family you didn't have when you grew up and this is the thanks I get?!"

"This isn't about you, dad! And stop putting this on Helga! Why does everyone think this is Helga's fault?!" Arnold shouted and stood up from the couch. "I am not some saint! I am not happy all the time, I get sad and angry and lonely too! I make mistakes, but Helga's not one of them! She is what makes this fake family you two have set up bearable!"

"Fake family?" Miles repeated in shock. "What does that - - "

"You don't love each other." Arnold said. "You were both just so desperate to give us a family. A family you thought we needed so badly, but Helga just needed Miriam and I just needed you, dad."

Miles and Miriam looked at each other with somewhat wide eyes though their children wasn't sure why. Perhaps they had already known that all the other wanted was what they themselves wanted. Or perhaps they hadn't realized this unspoken agreement they had made with each other all that time ago.

"I tried…" Arnold started and got the parents' attention again. "I tried so hard… to understand why you left me when I was a baby… I told myself day after day that what my parents did was a good thing, that it was honorable even, but… damn it, it's not enough! I felt so abandoned! I felt like the Green Eyes were more important than me! I know they saved your life and even mine, but what was the point of that when you just left me behind?!"

"We didn't leave you behind, Arnold. We thought the trip was going to be short." Miles insisted with a broken voice, but then he got angry again. "Why are you saying this? Why is he saying this?" he looked at Helga. "It's your influence, isn't it? Arnold never complained about anything until now."

"You're blaming Helga again!" Arnold shouted angrily and Miles looked at him with wide eyes. "This is me talking, not Helga! You put me through hell, not Helga! Helga… Helga makes me happy…" he said and inhaled sharply. "And that's more than I can say about you."

Father and son stared at each other, one with anger and the other with frustration in their eyes. Miles looked away, put his hand over his eyes as if he was in too much pain to look at anything right then. Arnold felt Helga tug at his shirt and he sat down next to her. She put her hand on his back, trying to figure out what he was thinking or feeling, but for the first time in forever she couldn't figure it out.

"I think it's time that I leave." Phil said and stood up from his seat. "But I'll be right upstairs with Pookie if anyone needs me." He declared to the teenagers, sincerely hoping they wouldn't need his help, before he walked out of the room.

"I…" Miriam started with a solemn voice. Helga and Arnold looked at her, but Miles kept his face hidden away. "I haven't been much of a mother… I wasn't there for you when you grew up. I… I didn't take care of you. Didn't make sure you were happy or even well-fed. I have made… too many mistakes… to judge you for this."

Helga and Arnold looked at each other in surprise.

"I can see how much you have changed this last year, Helga." Miriam said as she gestured to Arnold. "And I always knew it was thanks to you. I… like this happy girl I see now… It's not a girl I have seen before so I can't be angry with you for what you two have done."

Miles huffed, clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it silently down onto the armrest of the couch. "How can you accept this so easily?" he asked and looked at Miriam.

Miriam took a deep breath. "I am not accepting it. I am… I realize that I just don't have the right to say that what they are doing is wrong." She answered and Miles looked away again. "Helga is my daughter and she has forgiven me for everything I have ever done. I wanted to start acting like a parent after I left Bob, but I still have a long way to go… and so do you, Miles."

Miles whipped his head around to glare at Miles. "Don't you dare compare yourself to me." He warned which caused Helga to frown even though her mother accepted his words calmly. "I may not have been there for my son through many yes, but I was working hard to get back here to him and to find his mother! You had your daughter right next to you, you have every chance to be a good mother, but you ignored her completely. You and I are not the same."

"And good riddance!" Helga said and stood up from the couch. "You're right; Miriam has made too many mistakes to count! For years, I had to take care of myself, walk myself to school, fix my own problems, but damn it, Miriam never stopped trying to get better! She always tried to fix herself, to be there for me when she could! And… And for crying out loud, she at least tried! That's more than could be said about you!"

"How have I not tried?!" Miles asked and stood up.

"How have you?!"

"I tried to make a good family for Arnold!"

"Do you have lead in your ears or something?! Did you not just hear what he said?! He wanted you, not a step-family! He didn't need us, he needed you! He still does!"

"I am right here. What else am I supposed to do?!"

Helga groaned in disbelief, walking around herself as if trying to calm herself down before she punched the stupidity out of Miles' head. "Have you ever tried sitting down with your son and discuss the fact that you and his mother left him alone one fucking year after he was born? Did you ever ask him how he felt all those years when he had to wonder every day whether you were alive or dead?" she asked, gesturing to Arnold. "You haven't, I know that, so don't even bother answering."

"Stella and I had to leave! We had to save the people who had saved not just ours, but our child's life!"

"Oh, swell, so that's a good enough reason to leave your son behind?"

"I think it is!" Miles replied and Helga grabbed at her hair in frustration. "And I came back to him!"

"Yes, after fourteen years! You spent two doing what you set out to do. You saved the Green Eyes, got rid of the plague and the next twelve years you spent looking for a dead woman!"

"I had to try to find my wife and Arnold's mom, I didn't want to come home without her!"

"How could you spent twelve years looking for her?! I don't care how big that dumbass jungle is, one year should have been enough! You should have been more worried about getting back to your fucking kid than finding your wife! Your son was alive here at home, waiting for his parents to return, but have you ever considered that?"

"You little - - "

"No, because your little trip was so much more important than him! You figured your trip to San Lorenzo wouldn't affect him at all because you had left him in good hands, right? Yes, you left him in good hands, but they were the wrong ones! He was supposed to be in your hands, his parents were supposed to have been there for him! All you ever cared about was your wife and your dumbass tripe!"

"Stop it!" Miles warned seethingly.

"You never gave two shits about Arnold!" Helga screamed and got closer to him. "Your child is supposed to be what comes first!"

Arnold refused to believe what happened next. Miles lifted his arm and when his palm connected with Helga's cheek, the force from it made her fall down on Arnold. He held his arms out for her automatically, but he was staring at her as if she was an alien. She hissed as she lifted her hand and put it on her cheek. Arnold observed her, his eyebrows twitching while he removed her hand from her cheek. She looked up at him and the redness that was spreading on her face proved that what he had just seen was real; Miles had slapped Helga.

"Helga!" Miriam cried out and ran to the couch. She sat down on her knees on the floor and grabbed Helga to make her turn around. Her daughter looked at her with glazed eyes, the shock making her incapable of telling them that she was ok. Miriam glared at Miles. "What were you thinking?!"

If the look of pure tremor on Miles' face meant anything, he hadn't been thinking at all. He stared at Miriam as she held her daughter tightly, comforting the girl who wasn't crying to begin with. Miles stepped back and looked at Arnold who refused to meet his gaze. Miles wanted to say something, anything to make this right, but no words came out of his mouth as he simply sat back down on the couch, staring at nothing in particular, wondering how things turned out this way.

All Miles ever wanted was to give Arnold the home he thought he needed and wanted. He wanted to give him a mother figure, a proper family. He felt as if he had done everything in his power and yet nothing had gone his way. It had been so easy to blame Helga for everything, it was easier than realizing that all of this was his own fault.

Miles wished he hadn't married Miriam, he wished he hadn't proposed, that he hadn't even met her. Maybe then, he and his son would still have a chance to reconcile, to get a proper relationship with each other. It was too late now and he realized it all too well when he saw the way Arnold was looking at him.

Silently, Arnold grabbed Helga's shoulders and helped her stand up. She was looking at him as he grabbed her hand solemnly. "I will always…" he started. "always choose Helga over you."

The words rang in Miles' ears, but he did nothing as Arnold stepped around and pulled Helga with him. The blonde girl followed him, but everything seemed to have blackened in front of her eyes when he had said those words. When Arnold had said that he chose her over his own dad, a part of her was so shamefully happy. That was the first time anyone had ever chosen her over someone else, that someone was willing to throw such a precious thing away just to be with her.

The other part of Helga, the part she knew was the strongest, was how ashamed she was of it. She hadn't meant to, but she had pushed Miles to his limit. She wasn't to blame for it all, but she knew that she had provoked Miles. She had tried to make him realize that he should become a better dad, but all she had managed was to show Arnold that Miles was nothing like a good dad. That wasn't what she had wanted, far from it. She hated herself, more than she had hated anyone, in that moment.

It wasn't until Arnold stopped that Helga realized that they had been running and had even reached the house they were officially living in. Arnold put his hand on her cheek and used his thumb to remove a tear she just understood was running down her cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Helga nodded. "But that's not why I'm crying." She said and put her hands in front of her face. She urged herself to stop sobbing so she could speak, but it was as if her entire body was sobbing. She couldn't stop shaking despite the warm weather on this beautiful summer evening that felt like mockery to her.

Arnold caressed Helga's head. "Then why are you crying?" he asked, trying to persuade her to look at him. He wondered if she just didn't want him to see the stinging redness on her cheek.

"Because I just ruined everything… I tried to make him understand, but I ruined everything."

"You haven't ruined anything, Helga." Arnold told her and tried to hold her, but she stepped back.

"Stop!" she begged him. "I have ruined everything! You had a legitimate chance at getting a good relationship with your dad. He came back to you. I know he fucked things up and that he isn't perfect, but he's your dad and you're supposed to try to get a good relationship with him and I ruined it!"

Helga put her arms in front of her face, her hands feeling too small for the job. She felt tear after tear falling down from her eyes, none of them waiting for the other to be done falling before they trickled down themselves. She felt a lump in her throat and she couldn't breathe properly. She had never felt this miserable and so ashamed of herself that she couldn't talk without gasping.

Arnold took a deep breath. He could see that Helga was on the brink of something and he feared what that was. So even though he wanted to, he didn't try to touch her. "I don't think that… Miles and I would ever have gotten the relationship I wished for when I was younger."

Helga sighed. "Miles…" she repeated and shook her head. "Don't call him that. He's dad, not Miles. I call my parents by their name because I grew up hating them. I still call Bob by his name, but I'm trying to call Miriam mom. Don't start doing the same thing I did. This just proves that what I'm saying is right. I don't want you to think you should go through your life without a relationship to your dad. It's not as easy as it seems. He might be a good dad… under other circumstances."

The knot Arnold had felt in his chest tightened at the way Helga was looking at him. "Meeting you… has taught me so many things, Helga. One of them being that… I am too naïve."

"Arnold - - "

"No, let me finish." Arnold pleaded and looked away. "I grew up, imagining my parents to be like superheroes who were out there saving the world… but not because I believed they were. It just seemed easier than dealing with the fact that they left me… Still, I was naïve. When Miles came home, I… I thought we would be a family. That I would finally feel what it was like to play catch with my dad, go to the movies, eating together… all those things never happened. Not before… or after he met Miriam. And yet, I continued to hope that would change." He looked back at her. "If I never met you, I might have spent my whole life believing he would change for me… and people just don't change."

Helga's lip quivered at those words. She inhaled sharply and took one swift step forward and enveloped him in her arms. "I changed… I changed because of you…" she whispered and hid her face in his shoulder, letting him feel the hot tears strolling down her eyes. She sniffed and looked up into the sky that had turned five shades darker since they came outside. She inhaled his scent before leaning back to look at him. "Your dad can change too." she said and let her hands fall away from him. "You have to give him the chance… You should… You have to choose him over me."

The knot Arnold had felt snapped at those words. He stared at Helga, his mind trying to comprehend what she had just told him. He didn't understand, he truly didn't understand or perhaps his heart was interfering with his brain. It wouldn't let him understand the meaning behind Helga's words even though he was looking her over, trying to look for answers to what he was asking her. He didn't want to ask her this question. There was nothing in the entire world he wouldn't do for her, but this question he didn't want to ask her. But he did.

"What are you saying?" Arnold asked in a low voice, something akin to a whisper.

Helga put her hand on his neck, holding it tightly as if she wanted to pull him into a hug, but was holding herself back. "It… It made me… so happy to hear that you would choose me over your dad… So incredibly happy…" she said and inhaled to get the broken sob out of her voice. "But I can't let you do it… I have learned something from you as well. I have learned to put others before myself and that's why I'm telling you to choose your dad… You only have one dad, Arnold."

"I only have one Helga too!" Arnold tried and put his hand over her wrist. "I don't understand what you're saying. Why are you saying this? Please don't say this!"

Arnold's words cut through Helga like a knife, but she forced herself to keep looking at him. "I love you so much… so I have to do this for you. I will go with my mom… and you will stay with your dad." She said.

Arnold started to shake his head in her palm, his other hand coming up to hold her wrist as if begging her to stay. "No." he begged and shut his eyes tightly. "No…"

"I have to do this. Try and understand - - " Helga said, but Arnold pulled her to him in a bone-crushing hug with a sob that sounded like a broken record. She gasped at his strength, but wrapped her own arms around him.

"No, no, no. Why are you doing this?" Arnold asked, holding her securely in her arms, making sure she couldn't turn her words into actions.

"Because it's the only way." Helga answered and put her hand on his head, trying to seem as if she had no doubt in her mind that this is what she wanted. She wanted to do what was right and she believed that this was it, but it felt so terribly wrong.

"After everything we've been through… I-I said I'd protect you, isn't that enough?"

"It's not about whether it's enough. I have to… I have to give you the chance to be with your dad. There's no way he is ever going to forgive you if you stay with me so I'm - - "

"I don't care! I don't care… I don't want his forgiveness and I don't need it."

"You think you don't now, but someday you will regret it." Helga insisted and found her resolve again. "Someday, you're going to wake up and realize what you've thrown away."

"What could I possibly have to throw away?"

"Your chance to be with your dad! It's what you wanted your entire life."

"I don't want that anymore. I don't need him. I just need you, Helga, please don't do this…" Arnold begged and tightened his hold even more.

"You don't mean that… You were miserable without your parents, I know what it did to you to be without them for so long. He's here now, Arnold… you have to be with him, you hear me? You-You have to do this for yourself, not for him." Helga said and pulled away from him to look at his face. It was tear-stained, but she tried to wipe the tears away with her hands. "You have to do this for me too… Let me do this for you."

Arnold's teeth clenched as he grabbed at Helga's hands, silently pleading with her to stay. He wanted to tell her not to leave, that he truly needed nothing more than her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He saw the agony she was going through by offering him this. He saw how much she wanted to do this for him and how it pained her to do so because she didn't want to leave him anymore than he wanted her to leave. If she could do this for him, he could do this for her.

Arnold nodded slowly, hating himself for doing it. Helga smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Good… Good. Thank you… Be happy for me, you hear? Be happy with your dad." She told him and kissed his temple. She held him for the longest time before she pulled away slowly. She looked down at her wrist and Arnold followed her eyes. They looked at the silver bracelet that he had given her last Christmas. Helga played with it absentmindedly before lifting her wrist to show it to him. "I'll… keep this… if you don't mind?"

Arnold grabbed Helga's wrist and kissed the bracelet. "I want you to." He answered in such a small voice that Helga barely heard it. She showed him a smile that was filled with love and pain.

"Now, I'm…" Helga said and patted Arnold's hand. "I'm gonna walk away and I won't look back… and not… not because I don't want to."

Arnold grabbed at Helga when she was about to turn around, his resolve faltering when he realized how real all this was. She looked at him with adoration before she put her hands on his cheeks and leaned down to kiss him. One last, bittersweet kiss that they would hold in their memories forever.

"I am…" Helga started and felt tears run down her eyes again. "I am so glad to have met you, Arnold…"

"No…" Arnold said when Helga turned around and started to walk away. Her legs seemed steady as she walked, but her upper body was shivering like a leaf in the wind. Arnold grabbed at his own throat, urging himself to breathe properly, but he couldn't. Watching Helga walk away from him and know that she wouldn't come back took his breath away from him.

Helga stopped walking for a moment. She wanted to look back. She wanted to look back so much that it hurt to keep walking. She refused to look back, she knew she wouldn't be able to turn around again, so she kept walking. She kept walking until she reached Sunset Arms and could no longer hear Arnold's cries behind her.

Arnold wasn't sure for how long he had been sitting on the sidewalk when he recognized the car driving by. Miles had stepped out of it and asked him to come inside the house. Arnold had followed him dutifully even though he kept looking back, expecting Helga to come running back any moment. Once they were inside, Miles had explained how Helga had come back to Sunset Arms and told them that it was time to act like adults, make the mature decision and get a divorce. Helga had told Miles to take care of Arnold and be the father he deserved and told Miriam to find a job and that Helga would find one herself so they could find an apartment and take care of themselves. After that, Helga had taken Miriam by her hand, they had said their goodbyes and had left the boarding house.

Arnold never really listened to his father though when he explained all of this to him. He couldn't help but wonder if when he had seen Helga walk away from him with tears in her blue eyes, if that was going to be the last time he would ever see her. If goodbye was the last worth he would ever hear her speak and if that kiss at the corner of his mouth would be their last.

When moving men came to get Miriam and Helga's things, Arnold sat in Helga's room and watched as all of her belongings disappeared one by one. He stayed in there even when everything was gone because it was still Helga's room. This was the place they had played games, jammed, laughed, cried and kissed. The room was empty, but all the memories were there. Soon, Arnold couldn't stand being in the room.

Helga didn't show up for the exams and no one knew what had happened to her or where she was. When Arnold told his classmates what had happened when he and Helga had told Miles and Miriam about their relationship, he had gotten their full sympathy. Sid had even admitted to have been a real jerk to them both and apologized, but Arnold didn't care.

Even though Arnold didn't agree, he had made a promise to Helga and so he never asked if Phoebe knew where she was. But sometimes he would walk aimlessly around in Hillwood, hoping he would stumble upon her the same way they had met such a long time ago. He took the same bus every day, sat in the same seat and looked around to see if she would be there. Sometimes he thought he saw her, but it was never her.

He thought he could hear her laughter when he was in the park, hear the sing in the streets and hear her tell him she loved him when he was alone. He imagined her so vividly and yet the memory of her face faded over time. Her voice became unclear and her smell tainted by everything else. Her touch he remembered though and the feeling she gave him when he was around her. Those he could never forget.

Arnold wondered every day where Helga was now and if she was thinking about him as much as he thought about her. Fate is a funny thing though. Sometimes, if people are destined to, they will meet again.

Author's 2nd note: Not really the end! Well, that depends on you. The next chapter you can either see as the epilogue or as an alternate ending. I know some people like sad endings (I do too sometimes because I love a good cry) so I am offering you to think of this as the ending to this story and that the next chapter could be considered an alternate ending. If you're forcing me to say though then this is not the real ending. The next chapter is the real ending because that is always how I imagined this story to end.

So stay tuned for the absolute final chapter of Leave the lights on! Here, have a tissue in the meantime xD