two months later.

Rose

I watched the brush move against the wall, turning it green. Each stroke was different: a leaf, a branch, a petal. They all came together, though, to form a wider picture.

When the four walls were covered entirely, I smiled to myself and admired my work. My painting had gotten better and, in my biased opinion, this was my best yet.

I knew he'd feel this way, too.

Glancing at the clock, I noted that I had only an hour before Sebastian would be back. He left a week ago to return to his cabins and pack up his final belongings.

I knew it must have killed him to sell that place that held so much healing for the both of us, but he chose me. I never even asked him to. He did it on his own.

Sebastian knew I couldn't return to the wild. My heart laid in the city, in the schools and the buildings and the cemetery I now called home. And he wanted to be apart of that home, too.

So he moved in with me.

And the decision was an easy one. "I love you, Rose," he had said. "I'll always choose you."

I smiled at him. I kissed him. I told him that I loved him, too, and those words felt so good.

There was a time when I thought I'd never feel like that again: love, happiness. But I grew to love Sebastian. It was different from the way I loved Caleb, but it was still beautiful.

I stepped into the shower and washed the paint off my cheeks, my arms and my fingertips. I scrubbed my skin clean until there was no green left on me, and the surprise for Sebastian would stay as that: a surprise.

I put on my favourite dress. It was yellow and flowed around my knees, the fabric like silk on my skin. It was also the dress I bought on my nineteenth birthday to wear for Caleb.

I thought this dress deserved its debut.

And tonight was the perfect night.

My hair was curled, my lips shiny and pink, and my skin smelt like coconuts when Sebastian knocked on the door. I didn't let him speak, I only pulled him to me and kissed him as he smiled, wrapping my hands behind his back.

"I missed you," I whispered, opening my eyes to meet his. Those black holes, always waiting.

He grinned. He was so alive, so happy. No longer weighed down by the secrets and the heartbreak that once found a home in our eyes, in our chests.

I tugged him inside and we ate dinner until our stomachs ached. We drank red wine from the bottle and we laughed as he told me about the Purple Woods Inn and how it was being renamed. Now, it was just an Inn.

We smiled at the irony but kept our lips locked tight, not wanting to mention the past on a night like this when we were dancing into the future.

When my heart felt like it was floating and my hand found his, I tugged Sebastian to my chest, holding him close. "I have a surprise for you," I told him.

His lips stretched into a slow grin, hands moving up my thighs, beneath my dress. "Yeah?" he breathed against my neck.

I giggled, pushing him away. "Not that." He groaned and I tugged him to our bedroom, where the door was still closed.

His eyebrows raised. "What is it, Rose?"

I placed my palms on his chest. "Do you miss it?" I asked. "The wild?"

Sebastian nodded, eyes softening. "I do," he said, placing his hands on mine. "But I'd give it up again if it meant being here with you."

I took a step closer, heart racing. "And what if you don't have to?" His eyebrows drew together, gaze shifting to the closed door.

"What did you do?" he asked.

I pushed the door open and watched his eyes go wide. "I brought the wild to you," I said.

Sebastian walked into the room slowly, his hand falling from mine.

The walls were green, thick and thin trees climbing up all the way to the ceiling that was a pale blue, yellow sunlight streaming in through the edges. I painted flowers too, along the bottom of the walls. Daisies, tulips and, of course, roses.

We were standing in our bedroom, but if you let yourself fall, it felt like you were in the wild.

Sebastian turned to me, smiling. When he stretched out his hand, I took it.

"You did this?" he breathed, awestruck and beautiful.

I smiled. I nodded. I held his hand and squeezed it a little tighter, pulling him a little closer.

"For you," I said.

As we stood there, in our little makeshift corner of the wild, I felt my heart begin to beat, faintly at first, then all at once.

And I knew I was home.

thank you for reading, you lovely people.

- alex