《 ❝And when your heart knows,
it knows. There's no explaining it.
You can only trust it.❞ 》

— The Better Man Project

Five Years Later

THE CLOSET was a mess. Over the years, we'd let our things pile up, dumping various items in there that we didn't know where to put, and never took the actual time to go through it all.

Figuring that I had some spare time, I took it upon myself to sort through all of our junk, deciding what to keep and donate through a lengthy process.

With Troye Sivan playing in the background, I hadn't realized that the morning flew by so quickly and it was now nearly late in the afternoon. Covered in a thin layer of dust and accomplishing one big pile of things for donation sitting just outside the closet door, I was finally down to the last set of items, which were all cardboard boxes of various sizes.

Inside the boxes were mostly old junk that I didn't really need anymore like school textbooks and old schoolwork I was too lazy to throw away. When I reached the final box, it was large and rectangular, nearly making it up to my mid-thigh. Pulling open the flap that looked like it had gone through some damage, I pulled out the contents of the box, two large paintings.

Excitement filled my veins. "Wow, after all these years, these still look brand new," I muttered under my breath in astonishment.

With perfect timing, I heard the front door close followed by, "I'm home."

Staggering out of the closet with the two giant paintings in clutch, I grinned brightly. "Look what I found."

"There's my wife," grinned Milo from ear to ear, pulling me in close as he gave me a kiss on the lips than on the forehead.

"We're not married," I reminded him, singing the words as I rested the painting on the floor while holding onto the top so that it wouldn't fall over.

"Not yet, but we will be." He stared at me with fierce intensity, making my tummy do somersaults as his hand cupped my cheek and whispered softly, "I'm just waiting for the right time."

Reaching up to give him another kiss, I smiled as waves of electricity surged through my body because of Milo's close proximity, nearly letting the paintings fall from my clutches. It's amazing how after all these years, he still had this effect on me, and I don't think it'll stop anytime soon.

The best way to forget that he existed was to erase every memory of him, or at least I tried to. I unfollowed him, took a break from social media during the summer, and even deleted his contact info.

But all it took was one simple swipe and I was back to square one.

"Hello?" I answered curiously, somewhere deep in my gut nagging me to pick up the phone even though it was an unknown number who could've potentially been a scammer waiting to waste my time.

"Hadley?" Shock laced in his tone as he didn't expect me to pick up.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach at the sound of his voice again after a long summer without hearing it, immediately bringing some moisture to my eyes. "I didn't know if you'd pick up, but thank god you did."

"Milo?" I questioned, my brain unable to comprehend what's happening.

"Yes, Hadley, it's me. I'm still in New York, but I called because," he paused, "I miss you, I miss you so much."

Silence followed as he waited for a response, but I was too overwhelmed at the moment, frozen as I didn't know what to do or say next. "I...I miss you too, Milo," I finally managed to say, holding back some emotion in my throat. "But I don't think things can go back to the way they were." You broke me, I wanted to add but held my tongue.

"I know and I was an idiot for letting you go again," he said solemnly. I told myself that I wouldn't let you go the first time, but I did it anyways because I thought it was better that way. But it's not, and I want to make it up to you, to us, give us another chance, Hadley," he pleaded, passion evident in his tone.

"But we're so far away, and—"

"Move to New York with me," quickly blurted Milo so fast that I nearly didn't catch what he said. "Move to New York with me," he suggested, this time repeating it a little slower.

It wasn't easy.

Like I told Milo, things couldn't go back to the way they were once were, as the damage was more severe this time around. At first, we only kept in touch as friends, nothing more. My head still wasn't in the right place to make rational decisions and I discerned the same in Milo.

But eventually, with patience and time to heal, my trust in him grew to be as strong as steel. And even though things never went back to being quite the same, I knew this time we'd last for sure.

Soon after graduation and without a clear plan in mind, I packed up everything and moved in with Milo to New York, struggling at first to make ends meet before finally getting into the hang of things and buying a two bedroom apartment together in Manhattan.

Finding out from Milo that I'd recently moved, Stacey helped me with auditions and soon, I landed a role in the Broadway show Anastasia as one of the main dancers and have been part of the cast ever since. Who knew a girl from a small island like me could make it to Broadway?

After his internship contract ended, Milo also began working as a television writer for a new crime show NBC was producing, What Lies Beneath the Surface. And as for me and Holden, we ended up going on a few more dates after our first, but mutually decided in the end that we'd be better off as friends.

"We should hang these up somewhere in the apartment," I said after taking a short trip down memory lane, still in awe of how it all happened and how far we've come since then. "You know, you never explained your painting to me," I hinted, eyebrow raised as I set the painting to rest against a nearby wall and resting my hands on my hips.

"I did, it just popped into my head," he defended innocently. Giving him a skeptical look, he gave in a bit, "Okay, fine, I might've gotten some inspiration from someone."

"Who?"

"You, Hadley." He continued to bore his deep gaze into my soul. "It's true, I really didn't have a vision for what I was painting, but I guess I knew what I wanted to paint all along but didn't know it."

He pointed to the girl standing in the middle of the field of white lilies, "I guess I subconsciously painted you without even knowing myself until I finished it and took a step back and looked at it clearly."

A smile played at my lips as my cheeks turned an extremely light tint of pink. "Why am I holding a red flower and not a white one?"

"Because you have my heart and I love you, Hadley," uttered Milo with a soft grin, his eyes dilating with infatuation.

"You're such a cheese ball," I teased, stepping into his body and wrapping my arms around his torso as I buried my face into his chest, trying to hide my giant smile and tomato colored cheeks.

"It's true though, I love you." He placed a kiss atop my head, his lips lingering as he said those words that made my heart race thousands of miles per hour.

"I love you too."

∞

BLOWING OUT A SIGH of relief after finishing up a long day of rehearsal and an evening show, as I twisted the key and pushed the front door open, I flipped the light switch on and saw Milo's shoes sitting on the rack next to the doorway.

"I'm home," I called out, reading a text from Bree about her bridal shower happening next month back home in Hawaii. Noticing that the lights in our apartment weren't on, I said, "Milo?"

I walked over to the kitchen counter that sat next to the doorway and saw a note scrawled onto a sticky note: Go into the living room and follow the path.

I placed the note back where I found it and shuffled into the living room. Battery-powered candles lit up a path of fake rose petals. Following Milo's instructions, I walked on the path set up and ended up in front of the bedroom door.

I slowly opened the door and found the bed sprinkled with rose petals and a picnic basket placed on top of it all.

"Happy anniversary, Hadley."

Milo held a bouquet of pink roses in his hand, grinning at me with that cute smile and deep dimples that I adored. He handed me the bouquet and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hugged me tightly to his body by my waist, giving me a kiss.

"Happy anniversary, Milo," I said, feeling all of the drowsiness that burdened me minutes ago slowly slip away as we slightly swayed. "You're way too good of a boyfriend for me, you know that?"

"You're way too cute to be my girlfriend, did you know that?" He replied, both of us grinning from ear to ear.

We both lightly laughed and I glanced over at the picnic basket. "Is there food in there?"

He chuckled, "Yes, but let's take it outside."

I stopped him as he made a move to grab the basket. "Let's just stay in here for a little while. It's a bit cold out there."

His eyes grew dark, dilating as he leaned in to kiss me. Starting slow before deepening the kiss, Milo's lips trailed from my lips, to my cheek, then to my neck, placing each kiss tenderly, expressing his adoration.

"I love you, Hads, so much," he whispered in between kisses as he made his way down my neck.

"I love you, Milo."

∞

"CALM DOWN, AVA. Everything's going to be okay," I assured her as she frantically paced back and forth across the wooden floor of her apartment with Hunter in San Francisco where she taught second graders at a nearby elementary school.

"Everything's not okay, Hadley. You're sick and tomorrow's your last day before you go back to New York with Milo," she said solemnly, the two of us the only ones in her apartment as Hunter and Milo went out for Hunter's bachelor party. "I'm just worried about you and don't want anything to happen to you while you're traveling, your face is so pale."

"I'll be fine. Maybe I just ate some spoiled food today," I reassured Ava as I rested on her couch, slumped back against the soft leather cushion.

"But that doesn't explain the other days when you also threw up," thought Ava, pausing her pacing.

Another sudden wave of immense nausea taking over my body, I raced to the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet. Ava followed swiftly behind and held my hair behind my head so that it didn't fall in front of my face or into the toilet with the contents of my lunch from earlier today.

After the feeling died down as Ava rubbed small circles on my back, I slid down against the bathtub on the floor, trying to calm down and take in deep, calming breaths. With major concern evident in her expression as she squatted beside me, Ava asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, maybe I ate some bad sushi earlier," I replied tiredly, instantly feeling all of my energy dissipate. Ava wore a nervous look as she stared at the ground, thinking about something she didn't want to say. "What is it?"

"Could there be any chance that you're pregnant?" She glanced up at me as she still wore a nervous expression.

I thought about it for a moment but quickly brushed the thought off, "No, I highly doubt it. We're always safe."

"Well, when was the last time you had your period?" Ava questioned.

"I..." and that's when all the adrenaline and trepidation hit me, "oh shit, I don't remember."

Ava sprung up and began rummaging through a cabinet above the sink before taking out a box.

"Are you...?" I questioned, wide-eyed as I stared up at her, wondering why she had a box of pregnancy tests in her bathroom cabinet.

"No, it was just a scare, but that's not the point," she waved it off. Placing the test in my hand, she looked me dead in the eye, "Take this. I'll step out and call Milo while you're in here."

"No, I—" I panicked as she cut me off.

"Hadley," she placed her hands on my shoulders, "we won't know for sure unless you do this. And I'm sure we'll both feel better knowing the truth whether it's positive or negative."

She gave a quick tight hug before shutting the door behind her as I heard her call Milo through the thin walls of the apartment, saying that something came up and that he needed to come back quickly.

A minute later, I came out of the bathroom and closed the door behind me, Ava's head whipping to the side.

"So, what did it say?" asked Ava nervously.

"I-I don't know, it still needs more time." I took in deep breaths as I tried to steady my incoming nerves, settling down on Ava's couch.

Twenty minutes later, Ava and I still sat on the couch, neither of us daring to move as the both of us were apprehensive to get up and go into the bathroom to check the results. The front door burst open as Milo's eyes frantically searched the living room before rushing over to me, squatting down in front of me, Hunter closing the door behind him.

"What happened, baby?" He looked up at me through his thick lashes, cupping my cheek, to which I leaned into his hand, as his eyebrows were pulled together.

"I took a pregnancy test and..." My eyes darted away to the wooden floor.

"What did it say?" I could see Milo's tense posture as he pulled my gaze back to him with his finger, although he tried to remain calm.

"I don't know, I didn't want to check since you weren't here, and..." I paused, tears beginning to well in my eyes as I was overcome with a tornado of mixed emotions. "Milo, what if it's positive?"

He reached up and placed a tender kiss on my forehead, closing his eyes as his lips lingered for a few seconds. "We won't know unless we look."

He stood up and held out his hands to me, which I took as he helped me up. Ava and Hunter stayed in the living room as Milo and I walked to the bathroom, slowly opening the door and turning on the light.

After both of us took in a deep breath, I turned to Milo as I prepared to lift up the tissue I used to conceal the test. "You ready?"

He nodded and I removed the tissue, feeling my entire heart palpitate through my whole body. My hands began shaking like crazy as I covered my mouth, reading the results: two lines, one very prominent while the other was much lighter but there nonetheless.

"Oh my god," Milo whispered under his breath as I felt tears pricking my eyes. I turned to him, afraid that he'd run out any moment or say that he wasn't ready either.

But instead, with a proud, ear to ear grin, he said, "I'm gonna be a dad." He jumped up and down, cheering loudly with his hands in the air as he shouted again, "I'm gonna be a dad!"

The pit in my stomach started to close and my worries melted away. A bright smile formed on my lips as a few tears spilled, laughing at the news and Milo's reaction.

He hugged me tightly and then began kissing me all over my face as he held my face in his hands. "I love you, Hadley. I love you so much."

I stayed silent as I savored the moment, unable to form any words as my eyes closed in bliss at his reaction.

"You're going to be the best mom in the world, Hadley," assured Milo as he rested his chin on my head, still keeping me close in his embrace. He paused for a few moments before saying, "You know what I realized after the whole James and Nicole thing all those years ago?"

I waited for him to continue, wondering why he would suddenly bring that up at a time like this. "That whole mess was a blessing in disguise because from the time I saw you walking towards me on your first day at Berkeley, and the ups and downs we've been through, I knew you were it."

I had to remember to breathe as Milo pulled away slightly and stared down at me with such intensity, burning holes into my eyes.

"You're it for me, Hadley. There's no one else I'd rather be with than you."

THE END