“No,” she said. “Don’t try to recreate a version of her that doesn’t exist anymore. She’s more now. Sharper. Softer in the places that matter. What she really wants is to feel known. Loved. Safe.”
I absorbed that; let it sink in deeply.
“Do something that feels likeyou,” Remi said. “Like the life you want with her. Show her youseeher, every jagged edge, and you love her because of them, not in spite of them.”
She nudged my arm. “Make her feel like she’s home.”
Goddamn if I didn’t feel that all the way through me.
I looked down at my coffee, lid twisted off, steam rising slowly. “You always this good at giving away your favourite person?”
Remi smiled, the kind that ached a little. “Only because she's finally found someone who deserves her.”
I didn’t say anything after that.
Didn’t need to.
We just sat in the sun for a while, listening to the sounds of kids down the block and the distant hum of a world still turning.
And I knew exactly what I had to do.
CHAPTER 81
AVA - YES
The courtyard behind the clinic had never looked like this.
Soft lights were strung from the fencing to the old trellis arch, casting a golden glow over the gravel path and flower beds we’d tried, and mostly failed, to keep alive over the summer. A blanket of candles flickered on every surface, their flames dancing in the breeze like they were already celebrating.
I stepped through the back door, my hand still damp from drying it on my jeans and froze.
Harlan was standing under the archway. One hand in his pocket, the other holding something behind his back. He was wearing the shirt I liked, charcoal gray, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and his smile was a nervous, crooked thing that made my heart forget how to beat.
“Oh my God,” I breathed, taking a step forward. “What is this?”
“You tell me,” He said, voice low. “You helped build this place. And now, maybe… we could build something more.”
I blinked hard, not trusting my vision. “Harlan…”
“I’ve stood in front of reporters, badge in hand, under fire and full of fear. But I’ve never been more terrified and yet so sure of anything than I am right now.”
He dropped to one knee.
My hand shot to my mouth, useless at holding in the gasp.
“Ava, I’ve loved you since the day you marched into my life and made me question every rule I ever lived by. You’ve made me braver, better, and more honest than I ever thought I could be. You’re my reason. My anchor. My goddamn heart.”
He pulled out a ring. Simple, stunning, exactly right. Exactly me.
“I don’t want perfect. I want real. I want mornings with too darkcoffee and nights where you fall asleep on top of your notes. I want the arguments, the laughter, the chaos, and everything in between. I want you. Forever.”
He held out the ring. “Marry me.”
I was already crying.
I dropped to my knees in front of him and threw my arms around his neck. “Yes,” I whispered, my voice shaking with joy. “Yes, yes, yes, God, yes.”
He laughed into my hair, pulling me closer, the ring still clutched in his fingers between us.
