(sorry the epilogue took a while. I couldn't decide which I wanted to be the bonus scenes & which to be the epilogue. but I think this one is a nice way to conclude! enjoy some nacy <3 HARRY & DELILAH ARE IN THE BONUS SCENES, OKAY, CALM DOWN Y'ALL, DON'T KILL ME.)

epilogue

-NATHAN-

IT WAS TRUE that my last girlfriend was senior year of high school, and it had only lasted about four months before I enlisted in the army. My hope was that she would still be there, that she'd support me. I had liked her a good year before I even got the nerve to ask her out, so I was practically head over heels.

She didn't want the stress that came with a military boyfriend, though. When she found out I had enlisted, she dropped me like a hot potato.

I sort of swore off girls, then, I guess. Even if I hadn't, I was stationed in the Middle East too often to try to date. I was out of the game. I'd never been exactly smooth with girls, but I had my fair share of romances. When I first came back home, I waved away Mom's comments about me finding someone. It wasn't like I would be home forever, and I didn't want to burden anyone with the stress.

Then I saw Lacy.

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

And if that hadn't given me a mission, the fact that she was with my sister's disgusting ex did. I sat idle for too long when Delilah was trying to convince everyone nothing was wrong, and I couldn't sit idle any longer.

First, it was kind of just that: me feeling the need to get Lacy away from the monster. Save the damsel in distress, so to speak, though it seemed Lacy could take care of herself. Maybe it was a military instinct to be the hero, but being the hero didn't seem important after we started talking and I got to know her.

Then I just wanted her. I wanted her smile and her eyes and her lips and her laugh, and I wanted it for myself. He didn't deserve to have her, and frankly, I wasn't sure I deserved her either. But I knew I deserved her more than he did.

I think it really hit me one night when she called me crying. It was late at night, maybe two in the morning or so. I almost missed it, almost was too tired to hear my phone. However, her trembling voice and panicked breaths struck me wide awake.

"I would've called Delilah, but I didn't want to wake her since she's only been out of the hospital for a couple weeks and I didn't want to worry her, a-and I didn't want to wake you either but--"

"Hey, hey, Lacy, slow down," I murmured groggily, propping myself up on my elbow. "What's going on?"

She explained what he had done to her. Yanked her by the hair and threw her against the wall. He found out about Delilah and Lacy going to report him, and he'd been blinded with rage. She started telling me how many times he'd hit her, but she stopped and sounded like she couldn't continue. Then when he had stormed into the bathroom, she grabbed her phone and made a run for it out the front door.

"Where are you?" I asked, already out of bed and pulling on my shoes, then tugging on a jacket, not bothering to put on a shirt or change my pajama pants.

"I-I don't know, some intersection..." She was still breathing rapidly as she found a road sign and told me what it was. "Nathan, what if he followed me? What if he gets here before you do? Oh my God..." She trailed off when hysterical sobs took over her.

"Just stay on the phone, okay? I'll be there as fast as I can." I tried to be quiet maneuvering through the dark house, clicking the front door softly behind me. "You should've called the police, Lacy."

"I wasn't thinking," she admitted between sobs. "It happened so quickly and I just thought of calling you."

I think my heart skipped a beat. "Well, I'm glad you did... but you could've gotten him arrested."

"Do you think I could still call when you get here? Would they still go to the house?"

"Most likely. Domestic violence calls always get checked out." I frowned while pulling onto the main road. "The only this is, you might have to go back to talk to them."

She was quiet a long moment, only mere sniffles sounding through the speaker. "Would you go with me?" she whispered.

"Of course," I answered with utter honesty. "I'm not going to leave you alone, Lacy. I promise."

I wasn't just talking about tonight, but every night to come.

I would always be there for her.

-LACY-

I DIDN'T BELIEVE decent guys existed. All of the ones I'd encountered over the years had been arrogant sexists, simply dating me for my looks. Once in high school, a jock I had a crush on for months asked me to prom. I found out later it was only to raise his chances to win Prom King.

Nathan was different.

Nathan was genuine and sweet and adorable. He was protective yet his tough front was just that--a front. He was a giant teddy bear that put others before himself. It helped that he loved his family to pieces, and it helped that he was amazing with children. He was unreal, a fictional character in a novel or movie.

I'd always preferred the fictional boys.

I stood on the side of the road, one arm around my middle while the other held my phone to my ear. I'll admit I should've called the cops, but I'll also admit that Nathan somehow felt safer. Even if I had called the authorities, something in the back of my mind convinced me that Nathan would've gotten to me first.

I tried my best to give him a clue of where I was. I hadn't paid attention when I ran out of the house; I just ran. I didn't even have shoes on. A thin tank top and pajama shorts was all I was wearing, and I was freezing. The cold air was nipping at my skin, the breeze that occasionally blew by provoking more goosebumps to rise on my arms and legs.

I didn't have a sense of how far I ran. To be honest, my eyes had been blurry with tears and I was just worried about getting away, putting as much distance between us as possible. He had gotten bad before, yes, but tonight was remarkably intense. Apparently, he had a friend that was an intern at the police station, and he'd alerted him when he saw his name on the packet.

Stupid friends always sticking up for each other.

How could you possibly stick up for someone like him?

The only thing frightening me now was that he would find me. Well, and Nathan's reactions when he saw me. He had never used his fists before until tonight, and there was a cut on my lip and by my left eye. I'm sure it was bruised by now, if not bruising up. I didn't want to think about how much worse it could've gotten if I hadn't run.

Soon enough, I heard Nathan's truck pull up. I clutched my phone in my hand, pulling the passenger door open. I kept my head down, although I knew he'd see the damage eventually. It felt necessary to put it off, though. To act like it just hadn't even happened at all.

He slid off his jacket and handed it to me. I didn't bother arguing knowing I'd probably lose. I caught his bare torso out the corner of my eye and my cheeks heated up. I felt guilty for taking his jacket then, but when I told him that he said he didn't mind, that I needed it more.

"Thank you," I whispered, letting out a shaky breath. I still had a bit of adrenaline left in me from running.

"You don't have to thank me. Are you alright?" he asked in an equally soft voice, and I felt his hand fall onto my knee.

I didn't know why that made me start crying again.

"Lacy..."

"I'm sorry," I stammered out.

Nathan was quiet, then asked in a low tone, "You want to go get a milkshake?"

My crying turned into little giggles. "It's almost three in the morning," I told him, wiping my eyes yet still keeping my face angled from him.

"Milkshakes solve problems," he said. "If you want a milkshake, we'll go get a milkshake. There's a diner open twenty-four hours down the road."

How was he real?

He squeezed my knee after I gave him a little nod, then began to drive. I sighed, letting my head rest on the cool window. I was exhausted, every bone in my body weighing me down. But I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing.

When Nathan pulled into the diner's parking lot, the light from the place shone into the truck. I heard him unclick his seatbelt, but then he didn't move and I could feel his eyes on me. I could feel a lump swelling in my throat again. I could feel myself drowning in shame.

"Oh, Lacy...," he whispered, barely audible.

I dared to look over at him. He looked stuck between angry and hurt. I tried to smile. "I'm okay," I told him, a lie I couldn't even bring myself to believe. "It'll go away."

He hesitated before letting his fingers gently trace over the cut by my eye. His cold fingertips were soothing on the developing bruise. Then he grabbed the tip of my chin carefully, as if he might break me. "We have to call the police," he said. "You're not going back there."

"We can't get milkshakes first?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood yet also sincerely wishing it.

He thought this over a moment. "Let's call them so they can head that way, then we'll grab milkshakes real quick. Deal?"

I inhaled sharply, holding his gaze. "Deal."

I found solace in knowing he'd always be there for me.

-JUSTIN-

THE LITTLE BITCH. The nerve she had... The audacity! She'd been lucky she managed to slip out of the house. I was still irate when I came out of the bathroom, but since she was gone, I had to satisfy myself with throwing things. No matter how many plates shattered against the wall or furniture I flipped over, the rage was still burning inside me.

Was having an obedient woman too much to ask for?

Mom had been perfectly compliant for Dad.

I wish things hadn't gotten so complicated. Life was swift and simple before graduation. I had Delilah, who used to be attached to me like glue and did anything to make me happy. Funnily enough, I used to be the same way with her.

But times changed.

When Mom died my freshman year in college, that was the breaking point for Dad. I didn't visit him anymore, not since he was never sober these days. Not since all we ever did was fight, verbally and physically.

Lacy had started out as great as Delilah. Slim, beautiful, always obliging. She turned on me, though. Gained five pounds and got lazy with her outfits. How did she expect me to be in public with her, then? When she was looking like she rolled out of bed and grabbed the first things she could find. I tried to be okay with it at first, but it was impossible.

She was impossible.

Every woman on this entire planet was impossible.

I wouldn't let her get away with running out like that, especially since she'd gone to the police. And for what? All I wanted was for her to listen to me, to understand my side of things. She was just too sensitive, too much of an attention seeker.

I was too angry to try to sleep and wait for her to come back, which I knew she would. I tried to think about where she could've possibly gone, and came up blank. She didn't have family in town, and her friends were pretentious snobs that could hardly be called friends.

Maybe a drive would clear my head a bit, dissipate some of the fog. Maybe I'd even see her walking down the road...

Grabbing my keys, I headed outside, locking the front door behind me.

Then I heard sirens.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned around to see what direction they were headed. It was three in the morning--what were the cops needed for?

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach when the police car stopped in front of my house, an officer stepping out.

She wouldn't have...

"Justin Whitman?" the man asked, peering up at me with his lips pressed thin.

"Yes, sir." I straightened. "Can I help you?"

As soon as the words left my lips, a truck pulled up, and Lacy jumped out. My shock increased when Delilah's brother followed suit.

She was just like Delilah, ditching me for someone pathetic and weak-minded.

What the hell was going on?

The officer stifled a gasp when Lacy stepped into the light of the siren still blinking, though the sound had been shut off. I cursed under my breath, knowing I screwed up. I shouldn't have hit her so hard, shouldn't have left any marks.

The officer didn't even ask her anything. He walked up to me quickly, spinning me around as he pushed me against the front door, yanking my arms behind my back. He told me my rights while putting the cuffs on, then said, "I'm the officer who picked up the investigation on you. I know she's not the first."

I wanted to scream at him--at all of them. But I kept my mouth shut, my teeth gnawing the inside of my cheek viciously.

"Wait," Lacy said quietly when the officer was about to shove me into the backseat.

Everyone looked at her in confusion, including myself.

She came over to me, a sudden fire in her gaze. For the briefest second, there was a flicker of amusement. "Abusers are the second most hated men in prisons," she told me, and it would've been fitting for her to smile but she didn't. "Enjoy getting a taste of your own medicine."

Then she turned around and stood firmly by Delilah's brother, who's name I never did bother to remember.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but I was already being pushed into the car and the door was slamming shut.

Why couldn't anyone ever be there for me?