Epilogue-2

"Plus, Josh and I will only be two hundred and twenty-one miles from each other now," Zoey added nonchalantly, though I knew she was wanting to say it more excitedly. She was conscious of both Cece and my feelings. "And I suppose you've already memorised all the different traffic routes to get to Cornell," Cece mused humorously. "No, I'm not insane," Zoey rebuffed, though we both knew she was lying. I sighed and stared out on the ocean. This really was the most picturesque place. It was hard to fathom I had been living here less than two years, but I really couldn't imagine any other place being home. I was tied here, in more ways than one, and I had come into my own here. I had found my parents, plural, here, I had found friends here, and I had found Shea. But most importantly, I had found myself. I had found my strength, my voice, and my conviction. I had found my confidence and self-worth. I had found my ambition. I knew I would always come back here. I turned my head towards the houses that were situated along the beach in the distance, one of them being my own. I knew that my dad would be watching me. He, and Mom, had been watching me incessantly, especially these last few weeks. It didn't annoy me, it only made me emotional. Like me, it was really hitting them that I would be moving away. College was real, and I would no longer be with them every day. I pressed my fingers to my lips and blew a kiss towards the house. With his vision, I knew Dad would see me. Not a day passed where I wasn't grateful for both of them. I knew first-hand what it was like to go without, and to have both my parents so present in my life, and so completely there for me was a blessing. Something told me that I would be calling them multiple times a day when I got to New York. When I turned my head back, Shea was walking over to me, the volleyball game seemingly ending. Without words, he held out his hand to me and helped me up from the ground. He was looking at me with a sad intensity, an expression that told me he was memorising everything that was about to happen, and I knew then that the volleyball game had been a distraction. Shea didn't want the whole party to be sobbing and tissues. Though I couldn't promise that wouldn't be how it ended. He held my hand as he led me up the beach and away from the gathering. We walked away from the main swimming part of the beach, to the rougher, rockier surf, where there were scarcely any locals to hear us, or to see us cry. Goddammit, here I go. Tears spilled over and I let out a cough and a spluttering sob as I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry," I wailed pathetically. I was sorry for a lot of things. Sorry for leaving. Sorry to be leaving him. Sorry to need to go. Sorry to cause pain. And then I felt sorry because I wasn't sorry. I wantedto go. I wanted to learn, and stretch my legs, and grow up. Ugh, feelings weighed more than anything. "Shh," Shea hushed me, rubbing his hands up my back. "You don't have to be sorry," he said hoarsely, the emotion like a frog in his throat that he was going to fight to keep contained. "I don't want you to be sorry. Ever." He brought his hand to my chin and forced me to look up at him. I saw how glassy his brown eyes were and it killed me. "I am so damn, crazy proud of you, Sara," he told me sincerely. "Don't you ever forget that." His voice was almost a whisper as he held himself together. "But I'm leaving," I whined. Why I said that, I don't know. We were both well aware of the face. My brain just couldn't compute at that moment. "It's four years," he said, though I sensed he was saying this more to himself than to me. "What's four years in the grand scheme of things?" I knew he was right. College would probably fly by without me even realising. And then when finals came around it would drag on mercilessly. But in the grand scheme of things, four years was nothing. I would be done with college in four years, and then I would find a med school closer to home. But I knew I couldn't give up this experience. It was a part of life, and one that I had been planning for long before I met Shea. But I knew this would be hard for Shea. Tormenting even. I had seen first-hand what Zoey had gone through this last year with Josh away at school. "You know this won't change anything, right?" Shea knew exactly what I was talking about, and I felt him stiffen in my arms. He nodded once. I knew that if he spoke, he was going to fall apart. I honestly wanted him to, so that I wouldn't be the only blubbering mess, and I could feel like I was comforting him for a change. "You're stuck with me, you know," I continued, attempting to sound teasing to make him smile. It worked. Shea let out a laugh as he hugged me once again, even tighter. "Well, crap. Just when I thought I was getting rid of you," he murmured against my hair, kissing my head. I closed my eyes, enjoying this last little piece of familiar intimacy before I stepped out into the big wide world. But, I thought smiling, as I committed his scent to memory for the thousandth time, I knew where my home would always be. ---- But seriously. 25. 5 years I'll be 30. I went to my mum the other day with an existential crisis saying what the hell had I don't with my twenties, and she's like, "completed three degrees, including a master's, travelled, now you're a teacher." Thanks mum. Don't you love it how mother's can just shut you up hahaha. Hahaha, no in all seriousness, one thing I wish I had done when I was younger is look after my skin. If you're still a teenager reading this, get a skin scare routine. I used to sleep in my makeup and everything ick. , the reason I titled this story "Her Legacy" (previously it was just Legacy) is because I wanted to have the option of writing a book called "His Legacy", so this one from Shea's perspective. I also wanted to write a continuation called "Their Legacy" which would follow the three girls to college, but I literally have NO IDEA for a plot at this point. Not saying I won't ever write these books, but at the moment, I don't have the itchy finger for them. Some of my historical readers will be happy to know I've had a story stuck in my head for WEEKS now that I am really excited about. I've been plotting out the story when I've been on yard duty at work and I'm wandering around supposed to be supervising. Well, I am still supervising kids just planning a story simultaneously hahaha. So we'll see how I go having a write of this one and if it's any good, I'll pop it up for you guys to have a read. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR UNENDING SUPPORT, OF ME, MY STORIES, AND THIS BOOK! I know it's a massive deviation from the books I normally write, but this was fun to write. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and you'll come back again soon so binge read it again. Vote and comment!