Page 15 of Oblivion

The sound of my name is louder this time. I turn again, but the sea of people is too thick to see anything.

“Samantha Hartley, where are you?”

Slowly rising to my feet, I turn fully around, pushing up onto my tiptoes to peer through the crowd of people that is gradually parting to reveal…Drew.

The moment he sees me, a polished smile stretches across his lips. After spending the summer working alongside each other, he rushed to my side when my dad got sick, helping to take care of my mama and supporting me. His parents were amazing, making sure Mama slept and that we both ate and had clean clothes.

Despite his classes at Harvard starting, Drew flew home every weekend and sat for hours at my dad’s bedside, holding my hand and assuring me over and over that everything would be okay.

Even after Dad came home from the hospital, Drew still flew back each weekend. But instead of sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a sterile room, he took me to dinner or the movies. And now he’s here, in the airport, shouting my name.

“Drew?” I call. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t go to California,” he says, closing the distance between us until he’s close enough to take my hand in both of his. “I let you leave once before, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. I have loved you since we were eleven years old. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted or needed. We’re perfect for each other, and I know you know it too. I know this might seem sudden, but if you think about it, this is always how things were meant to be with us.” Slowly dropping to one knee, he lets go of my hand, pulls a box from his pocket and opens it, holding it out for me. “Will you marry me, Samantha? Will you be my wife?”

Stunned, I stare down at him, one knee resting on the floor, excited, expectant eyes looking up at me. Around us, the crowd of people is hushed, all waiting for me to answer, and I see the judgment in their eyes with every moment of time that passes.

I wish we were alone, not surrounded by strangers, but as I look down at Drew, I see my entire life laid out ahead of me. We’ll get married, I’ll go to Harvard, we’ll have some kids, and I’ll look after them while Drew follows his dreams into politics. My life will be easy and predictable and normal.

Drew might not be exciting or insane. It might not be a grand love story, but look what happens to that kind of love. Look at Starling and Sebastian, Clay and January, and Hunter and Bunny. Love like theirs implodes, and the fallout isn’t pretty or nice. It’s destructive and painful and messy.

I was going back to Kingsacre hoping that I could fix their mess, but why is that my responsibility? They made this mess, and even if I do manage to fix them, I still don’t have a place in their world. This is my world. Here, where my future makes sense.

“Yes,” I say, nodding my head. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

PART 3

THE END

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Not the actual end…Keep reading.

10

EVAN

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