Page 60 of It Must Be Fate

“Where will you go?”

“Back to the next place.” He smiles. “I only came here for you, ladybug. This isn’t where I belong.”

“Is it… is it okay for you there?”

“It’s paradise.” His smile broadens. “I told you, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m at peace.”

We stare at each other for a long, quiet moment.

“Thank you for meeting me here,” I tell him. “You saved me.”

He shakes his head, those dimples flashing once more. “You saved yourself.”

Time comes to a standstill, the only movement the leaves as they fall from the trees and flutter slowly down to the ground around us.

Finally, I whisper the truth. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

He understands that I don’t just mean right now.

He tilts his head to the side and grins. “It’s not goodbye, bug. I’ll always be here for you if you need me.” He squeezes my hand once more. “But you don’t. Not anymore.”

I feel something pull at me, something telling me to give in.

But I can’t release his hand.

I can’t be the one to let go.

“Give Phoenix a hug from me. Tell him I miss him. Tell him—” His words catch in his throat, emotion working its way into his voice. “Tell him I’m proud of who he grew up to be.”

Those words break me. It’s unfair that I should see Astor again when Phoenix hasn’t. I know he also needs his brother.

But there’s a reason it’s me. The thing with Phoenix is, given the choice, he would always choose me over everyone else, even his brother.

“I will,” I promise.

The pulling gets more insistent.

I blink, my eyelids getting heavy again.

They open with difficulty and close easily.

“Don’t fight it,” Astor tells me.

I open them one final time, for one last look at my friend.

“You’ll keep an eye on us?” I ask.

It’s a selfish request.

But he smiles. Again.

Always.

My eyes close and I let his hand go.

Right before I drift off, I hear my guardian angel answer, “What do you think I’ve been doing these past fifteen years?”

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