Epilogue
You
washed away my sad face
You
flooded all my empty space
You
take away life’s heartbreak
And
I know with you, it’s gonna be okay
You’re
rushing through me like water from heaven
I
feel you moving through me like sand in the sea
And
now I feel so alive, so alive
I
know that there must be something here
Cause
you’re all the air in my atmosphere
Finally
I feel complete
Cause
you are rushed over me
There’s
no more blindness
When
I cry, I’m smiling
You
kept me from dying
And
I know with you, I keep on living
You’re
rushing through me like water from heaven
I
feel you moving through me like sand in the sea
And
now I feel so alive, so alive
I
know that there must be something here
Cause
you’re all the air in my atmosphere
Finally
I feel complete
Cause
you are rushed over me
It’s
not enough, just holding on
Before
I met you, I was lost
Now
that you’re standing here, I don’t want you to go
Cause
I know that your love keeps me alive
You’re
rushing through me like water from heaven
I
feel you moving through me like sand in the sea
And
now I feel so alive, so alive
I
know that there must be something here
Cause
you’re all the air in my atmosphere
Finally
I feel complete
Cause
you are rushed over me
- “Rush Over
Me” by the Backstreet Boys
The water had been gray and murky, but now, as the sky began to
lighten, the dark waves began to reflect the shades of orange, gold, and mauve
that stretched across the horizon, slowly and surely pushing away the
star-speckled navy blue of the night sky to make room for the sun. Nick watched its progress from the bow of his
boat, where he stood, leaning against the railing, gazing pensively out at the
vast expanse of water.
So lost in the moment was he that he did not notice Claire coming
up behind him until she was right there.
The silence of the dawn was shattered when she spread her legs wide,
planted a foot on each of the bottom rails, and rose up, shouting at the top of
her lungs, “I’m the king of the world!”
She let out a few whoops as Nick got over his startle and started
laughing.
“Jesus, Claire, I think you just gave everyone in Florida their
wake up call!” he exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.
She giggled. “Florida and Texas, probably. Sorry, you standing at the front of this big
ol’ boat just made me think of Titanic.”
He snickered and stretched his arms out at his sides. “I’m flying!” he cried in a high-pitched,
girly voice.
He felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind and her breath
on the back of his neck as she leaned in close.
And then… “Damn it, you’re too
tall!” she exclaimed suddenly. He
smirked over his shoulder at her, and she said, “I was gonna kiss you from
behind, like Jack and Rose! But you’re
too tall; I can’t reach!”
He laughed. “Maybe that’s
cause we’ve got the roles reversed. I
think I’m supposed to kiss you.
Like this.” He turned around to
face her and pulled her into his arms, lowering his face to meet hers. Her arms circled around his neck, and the
railing dug into his back as he kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her. “That better?” he asked, when they broke the
kiss.
“Much,” she smiled. “Almost
makes up for you making me get up at 5:30 in the morning on my birthday.”
“Hey, quit your bitching, woman.
I promised I’d take you out on my boat sometime, and here we are. Just wait till you see the sunrise – that
will more than make up for it,” he said, turning so that he was standing beside
her at the bow of the boat, facing east.
“I know,” she said, her arm encircling his waist. “I was just kidding. I’m glad you brought me out here. It’s beautiful already, and the sun’s not even
up yet.”
“Hey, I owe you, birthday girl.
I missed your birthday last year, so I had to do something nice for you
this year.”
“Nah, I already told you, we were even for last year. I missed yours too. And I didn’t do anything that special for
your birthday this year either.”
His twenty-fifth birthday had been quiet and low-key – breakfast
in bed in the morning, a movie in the afternoon, pizza – Nick’s favorite food –
at Leonardi’s – their favorite restaurant – that evening, and cake and ice
cream at home that night. Howie had met
him for lunch the day before, and the other guys had all called to wish him
happy birthday – or in Brian’s case, sing
him happy birthday – but on his special day, it had just been him and
Claire. And it was perfect.
“My birthday was great,” he told her emphatically. “And you cooked – that’s special, right?”
She snorted and grinned sheepishly. “Got that right.” Cooking was not Claire’s forte, but he had to
admit, she’d come through that day, fixing him a breakfast that had actually
been pretty appetizing and baking his birthday cake herself. Okay, so the cake had been a bit lopsided and
sort of sunken in the middle… and maybe the frosting did run a little… but it
had tasted good, and that was all that really mattered. She’d even written his name on top in green
frosting. He’d teased her, asking if
she’d been drunk when she wrote it, for the lines of frosting were incredibly
shaky.
“Ugh, I should have just bought a cake from the bakery at the
grocery store and had them put a giant picture of me on the top,” she’d said
with a grin. “God, how tacky would that
have been?”
He laughed. “I would have
liked it.”
“Of course you would.”
“But I would have liked it even better if you would’ve hopped out
of the cake in something festive… you know, like your birthday suit.” He waggled
his eyebrows suggestively and received a light punch on the shoulder from
Claire.
“Happy birthday,” she said, holding up her fist. “Want twenty-four more?”
“Oww,” he moaned exaggeratedly, grabbing his shoulder. “You hit the left one!”
“Oh, you’re fine, you big baby,” she’d teased him, planting a kiss
right on top of the shark tattoo on his left shoulder. For a few weeks after the surgery, that
shoulder, along with his whole left side, had been painful to move. But by the end of January, he had recovered
almost fully, and the only lasting effects of the operation were the scars on
his side.
It was mid-March now, and his life was back to normal… or as
normal as it was ever going to get. He’d
had a doctor’s appointment just the other day that Claire had driven him to
personally (“so that you can’t jip again, Mr. Carter,” she’d scolded him
impishly), and all the tests showed that he was still in remission. He knew that the longer he stayed that way,
the less likely it was for the cancer cells to spring up somewhere else in his
body. Once it seemed certain that they
were all gone and not coming back, he would be considered cured. He couldn’t wait for that day, for the moment
when he would walk out of the oncology clinic and away from cancer and all the
horrors that went with it.
It had not all been horrible though. Ironic as it was, the worst thing that had
ever happened to him had led to one of the best things – had he not gotten bone
cancer, he would not have met Claire, who, in just under two years, had become
his confidant, one of his best friends, and now, his girlfriend. His love.
He did believe in fate…
he did believe that everything
happened for a reason. And now he was
confident that they had both been put through as much as they had for one
reason – so that they would find each other.
And they had. And though things
had been far from perfect, it had all worked out, and now they were
together. For the first time in years,
Nick was with a woman who truly loved him for who he was on the inside… not for
how he looked, or how famous he was, or how much money he had. And he, in turn, had finally fallen for a
woman based on who she was on the
inside.
“Nick, look,” Claire gasped beside him, interrupting his
thoughts. “There it is…”
The sun had shown its face, just barely peeking above the
horizon. It was gorgeous as it rose
slowly, its golden rays making the water sparkle and streaking the sky with
rich, warm hues. They stood silently
watching it for a long time, side by side, their arms around each other. From a distance, their bodies seemed to meld
into one, as if they were made to stand so close, as if they were each just one
half of a whole that could only be made when they were together.
And that was how Nick felt when he was with Claire – whole. Complete.
“That was beautiful, Nick,” Claire sighed, once the sun had fully
left its shadowy hideaway, just beyond the horizon. “Thank you.”
“Hey, it’s not over yet,” said Nick. “The day’s just beginning. And now that the sun’s up… breakfast time!”
While she looked on in curiosity, he retrieved a picnic basket
from under one of the seats. Opening its
flaps, he pulled out a blanket and spread it out on the deck of the boat,
motioning for Claire to sit down. She
did, and he eased himself down beside her, once again digging into the basket
to remove the rest of its contents – fresh muffins and bagels, cream cheese,
fruit, and bottles of orange juice. And
when he had unpacked all of this and spread it out on the blanket, he reached
behind his back and scooped up the last item from the basket, which he’d
quickly hidden when she was not looking.
“This is incredible, Nick,” Claire was saying, as she surveyed the
spread of food in front of her. She
grinned at him. “I had no idea you were
this sweet. This is very… romantic of you. The boat and the sunrise and breakfast and
all…” She looked impressed, and he
didn’t blame her. He knew he wasn’t the
most romantic guy in the world; in fact, contrary to what the teenyboppers
might want to believe, he sucked at romance.
But he’d really made an effort to do something nice for her birthday,
and apparently it was working. He was
proud of himself.
“Ah, there’s more,” he said with a wink and presented her with the
bouquet of flowers he’d been holding behind his back. There were a dozen yellow roses there… and a
single red one.
She gasped and accepted the bouquet with delight. “I love the yellow ones!” she exclaimed,
burying her nose in the dozen golden blossoms.
“These are better than plain old red – red’s so… overdone.”
Glad he’d not bought her all red roses instead, he fervently
explained, “I looked this up – yellow means friendship, so I got you
yellow. And red means… red means ‘I love
you.’ So, yeah… a red one too.”
She fingered the soft, scarlet petals of the single red rose in
the center of the bouquet and smiled up at him.
“It’s perfect,” she said.
“Good,” he smiled back in relief.
“I’m glad you like it. Are you
hungry? Want me to peel you an orange?”
“Sure,” she said, “but first I want a birthday kiss.”
Leaning in, he kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Happy birthday,” he said and flashed her his
famous Carter half-smile. “Want
twenty-four more?”
She smirked and bit into a muffin.
“After breakfast. I’m starving.”
He nodded and set to work on peeling that orange. He could wait, no problem. They had the rest of the day. And possibly – dare he even think it? – the
rest of their lives.
He didn’t know what the future would hold. He didn’t know how long they would be
together, or even how long they would be friends. But he did know one thing - whether they went
on as lovers or went back to just being friends, he wanted her by his
side. Because with her by his side, he
felt normal. He felt like himself. And after two long, painful years, he almost
felt like he was back on top again.
Well, maybe that was a stretch.
But even so, his life was finally looking up. And at that moment, if he could spend every
day of the rest of it with her, he would.
It seemed a life without Claire would be like a day without
sunshine. But a life with her would be…
Complete.
“One
word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.”
- Sophocles
The End
Check
out the sequel, By My Side!