Epilogue: The Bridesmaid

The sound of Dan saying he loves me makes me want to forget the article, to forget the separation, to ask him to be mine. I don't doubt the truth of his words, no matter how the article wore down my trust. It would be impossible not to believe him with the desperate way he kisses me, as though he's been longing for this. It's familiar because I've been longing too.

His hands trace a fervent path up my back and into my hair. My hands grip his shoulders firmly, not letting him break away as I try to forget the mistrust and the heartbreak. I want to make up every lost second, I want to lose myself in him. Abandon the job search, the idle plans that fill my calendar, and forget the existence of anyone else because this is all that matters.

I know now, how empty and hollow my days are without him. The directionless way in which I drifted through these months were proof-alone. Job-less, boyfriend-less, and roommate-less, with only my own despair for comfort. I think before I met Dan I was living in a bubble of sorts. I spent my days dreaming rather than doing. I pledged myself to a man who would never love me back and to a job that would never provide any real sense of fulfillment. It was easier to imagine what life could be rather than to take action.

It's not that he's the destination I had lost the route to. But rather, he was my compass. The crucial guiding light I needed to create a spark to trek on again. With him, I can believe in my own ability.

I'll never admit it but in a way, I needed that article. I needed to see the archetype I could so easily be painted as. It was a wakeup call to stop being the supporting role and to start being the star.

Tomorrow, I'll begin again. I'll go on an interview, for anything, just to put myself out there. I'll write down everything I want in a job. I'll donate all my bridesmaid dresses and let them become long forgotten relics of the past.

But for now, I'll bask in this new light in a Brooklyn loft on a cloudless afternoon. So void of feeling I was these last few months, I need to be lit from within and reinvigorated. My porcelain skin will glisten in the new warmth of this love.

I'll say everything I'm thinking at this very moment in words, someday. Someday soon, but for now, I let my lips on his, my hands in his hair, my skin against his, say everything I cannot.

Up until today, being jobless provided me with a crippling fear and an intense mountain of regret. But as my sleepy eyes flutter open, I suddenly feel like quitting was the best thing I ever did. Because now, I can stay here languidly lounging between the sheets without awaiting the piercing trill of my alarm.

"Stay," Dan says languidly into my ear as I shift between the sheets, reading my thoughts. I wasn't going to leave but hearing him ask me to stay makes my heart flip over again.

"Alright," I make it sound like I was reticent. I feel a quickening in my chest as his hands maneuver me so I'm facing him. I take in the expression on his face, the intensity in which he's gazing at me, and recognize not saying I love you will be harder than I thought. I force my eyes shut, blocking out the lovelorn lens I'm certainly gazing at him through. The darkness is a solace from the chasm of emotion opening within me. A happy sigh escapes me as he presses a kiss to my forehead.

As his lips retreat, I drift back to sleep.

It's the last day in November when the sun emerges from what seemed like a hazy sequence of weeks. It feels like love all over and I know I can't wait another second to say it as Dan's hand rests in mine. I tighten my grip on his hand as we walk through the park, letting the feeling flow through our entwined hands.

I come to a halt when we reach the bend in the path and I feel Dan turn to face me, checking that something isn't wrong. What he finds I'm certain, is me looking at him like I've just seen him for the first time all over again. The heat from the sun radiates upon us and I smile up at him.

"I love you," I watch as his face scans mine, looking for reassurance when he seemingly finds it he lets himself smile back at me. It's the courage I needed to dispel the vulnerability that crept in the second I spoke.

"I love you too," As he leans in, we're interrupted by a stray autumn leaf falling from a tree above, he ignores it and lets it glide past us as he murmurs against our lips. "But you already knew that."

I nod and press a grin to his mouth, only letting it fade as his tongue skates gently against mine. He ends the kiss on a chaste note, re-entwining our hands. He looks over at me with a wry expression. "You know, I love you so much that I won't even complain once about the girliness of all the paintings of tutus and ballet slippers we're about to observe."

"Technically, I think you did just complain," I admonish teasingly, "But I'll ignore that part and simply say I love you, again. Despite all your pretentious taste in art and your horrid taste in button-down shirts."

"You love my pretentious taste in art," Dan counters, kissing me again. "It's what drew us together. Because you, Blair," He pauses to kiss me once more. "Are just as pretentious. If. Not. More." He punctuates each word with a peck that makes me smile and glare all at the same time.

It's not a romantic statement, per se, but somehow it makes my heart swell tenfold.

"Come on," I link our hands once more and begin to drag him in the direction of the museum. "Let's go put our pretentious tastes to good use at the exhibition, then."

"If you insist," He looks a little crestfallen as he withdraws his lips from mine and lets me lead him away from the park. But he tightens his grip on my hand, squeezing it, and I watch a smile of love and hope cross back over his face. I think I'm sporting the same one.

So we walk on a sun-drenched path leaving a trail of effervescent joy, hand in hand, and I wonder how on Earth I went so long without knowing this happiness. And as we retreat further into the depths of Manhattan, I think I finally realize where I'm headed.

End :)

I thought a lot about how I wanted this story to end and I always came back to the same idea of an optimistic yet slightly open-ended happily ever after. I know the 27 Dresses movie this story was inspired by had a much more traditional ending but writing that would feel forced. I didn't want a neatly tied off story, I instead wanted to set them off on a new journey as a couple, both working together to reach their career and personal goals. I actually had this ending rewritten for a while but wasn't sure if I would eventually re-work it. After many re-reads and slight tweaks, I decided this is the right ending. I hope you all liked it.

Thank you all for reading this story and sticking out the long hiatus! You all really encouraged me to come back to this story with your kind words and gentle reminders. I really appreciate you all.