Page 149 of Wonderstruck

I quirked my brow. “How about we just focus onsectionals?”

His hands wre in the air as a laugh rippled out of him. “Hey, you’rethe one talking about moving in together! Excuse me for dreaming.”

Ourlaughs sang with the songbirds as they flew overhead, getting lost in the breeze sweeping around us. I stepped into Finn’s arms, wrapping myself around him like he was the only thing holding me steady. The wool of my scarf scratched against his jacket, but I didn’t care. “We’ve got so much time,” I whispered, letting the words settle in the space between us like a promise.

Finn tightened his arms around me, resting his chin on topof my head. His voice was soft but certain, the kind of certain I wanted to live in forever. “I have a feeling we have every lifetime to do what we want.” As if he needed a moment to think before he said it, he took a breath, before stealing mine. “You feel like a timeless kind of love.”

I pulled back just enough to look up at him, my cheeksburning from the cold—or maybe just him. Probably him. “I’m banning you from saying things like that to me because I don’t know if my heart can handle it.”

His grin spread, lazy and confident, and somehow it wasboth infuriating and impossible to resist. “Your heart can handle anything, Aurora Greene,”

I shook my head, dropping it into his chest as he pulled mecloser, holding me so tight the ground could fall beneath us and I probably wouldn’t have felt a thing.

The sun peeked between the mountain ridges, andeverything turned to gold. The frozen lake shimmered, and after melting into him, soaking up the sun, I rushed down to its shore, yanking off my boots and slipping on my new skates. I was gliding across the ice in no time, and for once the cold didn'treach me. Finn’s laughter followed me, warm and loud, as he stumbled onto the ice, his arms outstretched for balance, his hockey skates laced up on his feet.

I spun to face him, sliding effortlessly, and I couldn’t stopsmiling. My chest felt so full it might burst. Finn was still laughing as he finally caught up to me, his hands finding my waist, pulling me close again.

And in that moment, beneath the endless sky and thegolden light of morning, I knew with everything in me that I’d be okay. I was living my life for me, while honouring the loves I’d lost along the way. And reclaiming the loves that I thought I’d never have the chance to let rule my heart.

I was home, and it had nothing the do with the housesitting behind us, and everything about the boy who was skating with me.

1.I love you.

2.I love you more.

epilogue

six weeks later

“Any updates?”

My head fell back against the wall of my room, tilting it just enough to let my eyes sweep over Finn as he leaned on the doorframe. His presence was enough for me to let go of the breath I’d kept trapped, allowing my lungs to fill properly.

But the longer I looked at him, the more I could see the same desperation swimming in those beautiful green lagoons that had a tight grip on my heart.

I pouted my bottom lip, my hand, and my phone, thrashing against my bedsheets with everything I had in me. It was the only way I was able to ease the pain of being ungodly frustrated and undeniably nervous. “No!” I groaned, before twisting to face him. “I don’t get it, I saw somewhere that the announcement was dropping today!”

Finn’s grunt was fuelled by nothing but humour, his smile stretching across his mouth and deepening his dimples as he hopped over the end of my bed and sank into the space beside me. “I saw that too. But you know how these things are. Things like this happen all the time.”

I angled my head, my eyes pleading. “But she put a green snake in her bio! Rep TV is coming, I just know it!”

Before I could close my mouth, I was scooped up in his arms, tugged against his hard chest as a giggle forced its way out of me.

“You know nothing, it’s all theories.” He said, his hands making their way to my waist.

My head pulled back in shock. “Yeah. Theories you feed me. If anyone is to blame for this beast you’ve turned me into, it’s you.”

“Well, I find you adorable when you’re like this, it’s all selfish really.”

An infectious pain bloomed across my ribs as my legs began to thrash. “Stop, I can’t breathe when you tickle me!” I gasped between laughs, my body crumpling under his.

He grinned, proud and utterly shameless. “I know. It’s my favourite sound in the world.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t deny it. Not when he looked at me like that. Not when I felt like this—full and soft and certain.

But certainty was slippery, and it never stayed for long.

Especially not with sectionals in less than twenty-four hours.

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