Chapter Twenty:
H

appy
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A sigh left Eden's lips as she stared ahead at the empty space where the treehouse used to be. The bone chilling November air sent chills down Eden's spine as she wrapped Tommy's jacket tighter around herself.

Seven days until the surgery. Seven measly days until she went under, unsure if she'd make it out or not.

Seven fucking days. It seemed impossible that time had already gone by so fast.. How fast she'd lost one of her best friends. It almost didn't feel real. It felt like Woody would just walk through the cafeteria doors at school one day, laughing about how good he'd gotten them.

Tommy searched Eden's face, his heart aching at the distant look on her face. The boy scooted closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her temple. "You okay, princess?"

Eden blinked, tearing her eyes away from the tree and glancing over him. She swallowed, sending him a small strained smile, "I'm okay."

"Are you scared?" He

"To death." Eden whispered, quickly raising her hand and swiping a tear from her cheek before Tommy could see it. Tommy's expression fell as he shot her a look. He tore his eyes away from her, swallowing thickly and inhaling shakily. The thought of losing Eden, the one who may very well be the love of his life, destroyed him.

Eden chuckled quietly, resting her hand on her knee as she nudged him. "Lighten up, Tommy."

"That's not funny." Tommy muttered, his eyes fluttering shut. He didn't even bother to wipe away the hot salty tears rolling down his face. Eden frowned, knitting her eyebrows together as she looped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

The breeze blew Eden's hair behind her, nipping at her skin. Her cheeks became rosy from the cold as she tightened her grip on Tommy's arm, afraid that if she let go he'd disappear too.

Minutes passed in silence as Eden became encapsulated in her her own mind, going over possiblity after possiblity of what could happen after the surgery.

Best case scenario, the surgery bought her an extra five years. Extending her life expectancy to thirty, at best.

Worst case scenario, she didn't make it out of the operating room.

Neither of those sounded exactly.. preferable. Eden would rather live well into old age with Tommy, without the need of constant surgeries just to keep her lungs doing whats they were supposed to.

"What if I don't make it?" She whispered, not meaning to say the words out loud.

Tommy's back straightened as he turned to look at her, "That's not an option."

Eden frowned, "Tommy.."

Tommy's heart ached at the sound of how weak her voice came out. She sounded so.. broken, and Tommy wanted to fix it more than anything. He wanted to make sure she was happy, because he loved her. He loved her more than anything, and he'd kill just to make her smile.

"Eden.." He whispered, knitting his eyebrows together. "Why.. are you looking at me like that?"

Eden sniffled, looking down at her feet. Tommy felt his stomach sink and his heart shatter in his chest. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Eden stiffened, weakly shaking her head. "You deserve better."

"Better?" Tommy scoffed, "Clearly you haven't met yourself."

Eden cracked a grin, raising her eyes to meet Tommy's. His gaze softened when he saw her expression, "Hey, hey.. Are you serious?"

Nodding slowly she pulled her lip in between her teeth to stop its quivering. Tommy watched in concern as he delicately tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Eden.. what do you mean by better?"

"Someone whose gonna make it past their thirtieth." Eden replied, her voice monotone as she looked towards the setting sun. "Someone you can grow old with, be-because I won't be able to do that, e-even if I want to."

Tommy pursed his lips, pain spreading throughout his body as he watched her struggle to hold her tears back. Eden closed her eyes, letting her head fall back. He inhaled shakily as the setting sun cast a golden glow on her tear stained face. No matter how much he hated it, Tommy couldn't deny that Eden was a pretty crier.

Eden's chest rose and fell at a slow pace as she shook her head in an attempt to shake the pain away. "And-and if you think my breathing's bad now, it's only gonna get worse. The surgery's gonna help a little, but-but they can't stop the scar tissue from forming.. And-and.. God, I'm a mess."

Tommy cracked a smile, tears stinging his eyes as she took a deep breath. "You know.. I'm at the best I'll ever be right now, and I can't do shit. I'm only gonna get worse, Tommy.. and I don't want you to see that. I won't even be able to take care of myself."

"I'll take care of you, then." Tommy said stubbornly after a moment of silence. A tear slipped down Eden's cheek and a laugh escaped her lips. Tommy furrowed his eyebrows together as she shook her head, turning her eyes to meet his.

"But it's useless, Tommy." Eden whispered, raising her hand to cup his cheek. Tommy leaned into her touch as she gently rubbed her thumb on the soft skin under his eye.

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, resting his forehead against hers. He shakily raised his hand to lay on top of hers, "It's not useless to me. Not if it's you."

Eden's cheeks darkened as she glanced down at his lips. "I don't deserve you."

"I don't deserve you." Tommy countered, resting his forehead against her forehead.

Eden shook her head, a smile forming on her face as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.

A sense of serenity overwhelmed Eden's body as she trailed her hand to rest on the crook of his neck. Tommy smiled into the kiss as he leaned into her touch, tracing circles on her thigh with his thumb.

Eden's eyes remained closed as Tommy broke the kiss, resting his forehead on hers. He could watch her all day and never get tired of it, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Prettier than even the most breathtaking sunsets, prettier than the fresh snow or the glistening ocean on a sunny day. Eden topped it all, and she always would.

"I love you." Tommy stiffened, realizing he'd said that outloud. He mentally scolded himself as he watched her back straighten, processing the words.

"What?" Her voice was quiet and filled with shock. Tommy's eyes flooded with panic as he frantically searched her face for any sort of clue to what she was feeling right now.

"I-I.." Tommy stumbled over his words, shaking his head. His throat dried as the seconds passed agonizingly slow. "I said I loved you. You don't have to say it ba-"

"Maybe I love you too.." Eden whispered, raising her hand and making a small gesture with her thumb and finger. "Just a little bit."

Relief flooded Tommy as he raised both hands to cup her cheeks. A grin formed on his face as he leaned in and connected their lips. Eden giggled, wrapping her fingers around his wrists as she kissed him back.

"God, I love you so fucking much." Tommy muttered, a lovesick grin forming on his face as he gazed into her sky blue eyes.

"I love you more." Eden whispered, letting her eyes flutter shut.

And for the first time since July, Eden felt purely and utterly happy.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: And thats the end! i hope you guys liked it,,, im gonna miss eden so much it hUrts already :( }

{ Edited: No }