Page 73 of I Always Will

Hailey was crying in earnest—they both were. This was everything she’d ever wanted. For seventeen years, she’d dreamt of this moment, she’d hoped that somewhere out there, Alexandria still loved her the way she loved Alexandria, and now, here they were. In love. Happy. Together.

“Even after that,” she agreed, slipping her hands inside Alexandria’s coat, her palms finally finding her soft body again, her fingers wrapping around her waist and pulling her in close. “You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

“Your mirrors must be broken.”

She breathed out an incredulous laugh, her head falling forwards until her forehead pressed into Alexandria’s. This moment was even more perfect and beautiful than she’d imagined it would be. She’d never felt euphoria like this before.

“Can I kiss you?” Alexandria breathed, her voice wobbly, and Hailey’s heart exploded in her chest.

“Yes, please.”

Alexandria moved in slowly—partly cautious, partly deliberate. She was savouring every moment, taking in every breath, sight, scent, touch, and inch of Hailey that she could. And Hailey knew, in that moment, that Alexandria had spent every second as long as she had thinking about them, wishing for this moment, hoping they’d find their way home.

Their lips brushed and Hailey had never felt so alive in her life. It was electricity, it was peace, it was home. It was life itself held in the space between their lips, hidden in the ways their breaths danced together, unfolding in the touches of their skin. This was being alive and neither of them had been alive for seventeen years.

Alexandria tipped forwards and pressed a full kiss on Hailey’s mouth. And it was waking up. It was the very essence of being falling into place. It was the meaning of life and love and happiness. It was the refuge from sadness and pain and the very reason you made it through all of that.

It was the Davis-Daleys. Home. Together. Forever.

When they pulled back, they were both panting too much for only having kissed but neither seemed concerned or embarrassed. Alexandria smiled at her and Hailey had never seen her look more herself than she did right then. For twenty-four years, Hailey had held the key to unlocking every hidden facet of who Alexandria was. She was delighted to see it still fit the lock.

“There’s something else,” Alexandria whispered, gesturing to the bag the box of CDs had come from.

Hailey raised her eyebrows in question, moving over to it when Alexandria nodded her on.

She pulled out another gift box, this one slimmer, wider. She placed it on the sideboard, beside the CDs that were still causing her stomach to flip every time she looked at them, and slid the lid off.

How had they ever given up on this? How had they ever thought they weren’t meant to be together?

She laughed and cried and took Alexandria’s hand, the box in her other. “Come with me.”

Hailey led them through the house to the kitchen. She ignored her staff, none of them seeming surprised to see her happy and crying and holding Alexandria’s hand—maybe she had been more obvious than she’d thought. She located her backpack and placed the box from Alexandria down beside it. She pulled out a package and handed it to Alexandria.

Alexandria looked at her puzzled but tore open the wrappings.

As she took in the contents, holding it tight in her hands, Alexandria sobbed and laughed and shook her head. “We bought the same frame.”

Hailey nodded, wrapping an arm around her back. “We bought the same frame.”

Alexandria placed the two packages beside each other and looked at them like a proud parent gazing at her newborn child. “We bought the same frame…” she whispered again.

Hailey nodded before pulling her in for another kiss. And beside them lay two well-worn, carefully framed copies ofThe Contract of the Davis–Daleys. Preserved, protected, and loved twenty years later.

Epilogue

Ten months later

On September 7th, four days before Hailey’s thirty-sixth birthday, they were in Scotland. They’d arrived in Edinburgh—a place that has always been home for Alexandria but that was so much more magical with Hailey beside her—yesterday, spent one cosy night together with Dan, Esme, and Farid, and they’d all gotten up ridiculously early and hiked up to Arthur’s Seat.

The views were breathtaking. Alexandria had run simulation after simulation of this day—how the weather would be, how many signs of autumn would be in the air—but now that they were here, she knew she’d never really cared about the weather. They’d gotten a beautiful, crisp, cloudy morning, and, somehow, the view was already filled with the first flushes of autumn. But none of it really mattered.

This day would be perfect no matter the weather.

As Daniel and Esme stepped back, removing the makeshift dressing room they’d created around her, it occurred to Alexandria that she was wearing a dress that wasn’t white and Hailey would be wearing a suit that wasn’t white, and neither of Susan’s children would have white dresses at their weddings.

She wondered whether her mum still cared about that. Susan would probably still have liked to see Alexandria in the traditional white dress. Instead, Alexandria was in a perfect mix of greyish blues that matched the setting and the day and her personality beautifully, and she’d never felt happier.

Daniel grinned at her. “Ready?”

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