“Bennington’s,” I say. It’s my favorite restaurant in Alderville. This is all so ... strange. And amazing.
He nods. “We should go together one day.”
I don’t say anything to that. I don’t know what to say. Can we just ... fall into a relationship? I mean, now he’s here with me, and I know without a doubt that I’m in love with him. But ... we’ve been apart so long—for him, at least. He needs to adjust to living in the world again.
We stare at each other for several long seconds. There are only inches between us, and I have so much more I want to say, but I don’t know how.
“I thought about you a lot while I was waiting,” he says quietly. “First a week went by ... then a month, then a few months ... it was ... surreal. I felt like maybe I imagined it all. Like I imagined you. I reread those chats so many times. Then, to feel closer to you, I started reading all those mystery books you love. Ironically, with your mother’s help, I didn’t let myself forget you. But it’s been a long time.”
It had been about a week and a half for me. Butfive monthsfor him.
“University has, as a whole, been hell for me,” he continues. “Now I realize it’s because people were trying to kill me. And others were trying to bully me to make me drop out. I expected to make amazing friendsand connect with cool people. But I never felt really happy, reallycomfortable, until you showed up on my ResConnect. You were like ... this illusion. This weird, brilliant, octopus-obsessed mirage.”
“Weird?”
He leans forward and kisses me briefly. “Weird in the best possible way. But you were always ahead of me. Always out of reach. I didn’t mind waiting to catch up to you.”
“I’m not out of reach anymore.”
He hugs me tighter to him. “No, you’re not. We’re both here now.”
“And I don’t even have a fake mustache like I did the last time you saw me.”
“Which is good,” he says. “Because I don’t want to kiss mustache glue.” He leans forward and kisses me, and then his lips trail down my neck. “Wow, you taste delicious. You should know ... I think I’m in love with you, Aleeza.”
“That’s what you wrote on the watercolor octopus,” I say. His lips are still on my neck.
He chuckles. “So I did. It’s true.”
“How can you be in love with someone you’ve never met?”
“Wehavemet. Many, many times.” He kisses my lips again, like he can’t stop.
“Just so you know,” I say when he pulls away, “I’m definitely in love with you. I’m so glad you caught up with me.”
“Me too.” He kisses me again. And I feel like I always knew that this is how it would end.
EPILOGUE
Of course, Jay and I can’t hide out in room 225 deliriously happy forever. But we do stay there a long time. We even fall asleep in each other’s arms—for real this time. But eventually, we have to face the world again.
The first few days after Jay’s return are very intense for him, with police interviews and meetings with various lawyers. Plus, the media hounds him and his mother nonstop, asking for a statement. I support him when I can, but I can’t be with him all the time. He holds up pretty well, but I know that things are harder for him than he’s letting on.
Three weeks after he comes back, it finally starts to feel like the dust has settled on his legal issues. And the media inquiries trickle to almost nothing. To celebrate, Gracie and I take him to the hand-pulled-noodle-bowl place for some sesame noodles.
“Oh my god, this is good,” Jay says while twirling the thick sesame noodles around his chopsticks.
“Are you finally moving from team sandwich to team bowl?” I ask. Of course, he’s already had every Toronto sandwich he missed while he was gone. Since he’s living back at his mother’s in Scarborough, he’s had Shawarma Delight several times.
He shakes his head. “Nope. Honestly, what these noodles need is maybe ... a tortilla? A Greek pita? Maybe shove them in a baguette?”
I pretend to stab him with my chopsticks.
“Children, children.Behave,” Gracie says, laughing. “I understand Jay forgetting his manners after he was in hiding so long, but Aleeza is ...”
“Aleeza iswhat?” I ask.
“Aleeza is adorable,” Jay says, kissing me on the cheek. He does that a lot. We’re still in the can’t-get-enough-of-each-other phase of our relationship. We laugh a lot. We kiss even more. And we do a lot more than just kissing.
