Faded Memories

Epilogue

My favourite place to come these days was the beach. Sitting by the ocean, watching the waves gently lap onto the shore, smelling the fresh sea air. It was everything I always dreamed of as a child, to be able to sit here one day as an adult and say that this was my life. That I lived here.

I still hadn't entered the water over the past few months, the fear of drowning having not left me yet. I would visit the beach most weekends with the group, or with my brothers, but I just hadn't plucked up the courage to enter the water... not yet, anyway. I will do it one day, just not yet.

That fear hadn't stayed with Jamie, though, who was currently attempting to jump over waves with his new best friend - Leo. Spending so much time together when Carter and I hung out, it was only natural that they became friends - I was just surprised at how close they actually were.

"Guys," Noah's voice could be heard from the distance of where I was sitting, but I couldn't seem to see him. "Do you think somebody could help me?"

I trailed my eyes over the beach, over all of the people I loved until I spotted him. A laugh erupted from my chest as I saw his head... and only his head. The rest of his body had been entirely buried under the sand, most likely by the most mischievous boys I knew who were currently in fits of giggles in the sea. I shook my head, laughing, but making no effort to go and help him - he most likely did something to deserve it.

"Nobody's coming to help me?" His voice shouted again, slightly higher pitched than before. "Well, you can all go and f..."

"Noah! Children!" Carter bellowed suddenly, cutting off Noah's use of language mid way through.

I laughed even more as Noah's sentence stopped abruptly, before he hung his head low and mouthed a 'sorry' in Carter's direction. I don't think he was used to having children around constantly, but seeing as Carter basically spent most nights at mine due to the lack of adults, it meant that the adults made us babysit in the day while they worked.

I wasn't going to complain though, not when life was this good.

They still hadn't found Ryan. I wasn't sure if they ever would at this point, he seemed to have completely vanished. For the first time in my life though, I didn't care. I don't care where he is or what he's doing, I don't care if he's alive or if he did drown in that river that day. He's out of my life and that's how it's going to remain.

I have people around me who love me, people around me who I love. Nothing could break that bond, not this time and not ever again. We were bonded for life, whether everybody realised that or not, what we had been through these past few months had only brought us closer.

Especially Carter and I.

"Dreaming about me, again?" Carter interrupted my thoughts, a blush highlighting my face immediately because I was in fact, dreaming about him.

He took a seat in the sand next to me, leaving Liam and Joe over at the barbecue to finish cooking the feast for everybody. I rested my head on his shoulder, staring out at the sun that had slowly begun to set. He laced his fingers through my own, chuckling slowly to himself.

"What's so funny?" I grinned, tilting my head to look up at him.

"It's just, I never imagined this past year to have gone the way it went," He began, his voice barely a whisper. "The new girl who showed off running fast in the gym that day, I never thought that girl would have as much of an impact on my life as you actually have."

I lifted my head off of his shoulder then, gently placing my lips on his as I couldn't find the right words to say. I had never felt this way about anybody before, partly making me question whether I ever had feelings for Ryan at all, but knowing that this love, this was different. It was special and exciting and made my stomach do flips.