You End, I Begin

July 2014

“Yes that’s great news, thank you very much,” I said into my phone. “Yes I look forward to it, thank you again, bye.”

“What was that?” Joel asked from where he was laying on my bed.

“That was someone from a company I applied for a job with a few weeks back,” I told him. “They just called me to say they been looking over my application and my portfolio and that they really like me and have offered me the job. They don’t even want to interview me or anything!”

“What! That’s amazing, Abs,” Joel grinned, standing up and hugging me. “Where is it? What’s the job?”

“It’s a junior writer position, which is what I’ve wanted for so long,” I smiled.

“Seriously?! That really is so awesome!” he hugged me tighter. “Is it still here in LA?”

“No, it’s not actually,” I began, as Joel pulled away so he could look at my face. “It’s in Phoenix.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, their office is in Phoenix,” I nodded.

“So I guess you’ll be coming home?” he half smiled.

“I guess I will! Wow,” I sighed. “I honestly never thought this would be happening, me going back to Phoenix, I mean.”

“Did you not want to?”

“Not when I was still in high school or the few years after I left. I honestly never thought I’d go back,” I told him. “But then again, I never thought I’d get you back either.”

He nodded and didn’t say anything for a few seconds when suddenly I saw his eyes spark with even more excitement.

“You’re gonna need somewhere to live there, right?” he asked.

“Of course I am, jeez, I didn’t even think about that,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “I guess I’ll have to start looking for a place.”

“No need,” he said.

“What?”

He dug through his pocket for a few seconds before pulling out his wallet and then opened the small pocket in it. He then pulled out a key and the smile on his face grew wide.

“This is for you,” he said, holding out the key.

“What is this?” I asked, as he placed the key in my palm.

“Our house, or your house, or whatever.”

“I don’t get it,” I said, holding the key flat in my hand like it was covered in germs or something.

“The house. The house that I told you I’d buy for you and me and our family. I promised, and here it is,” he told me.

“Are you serious?” I asked, completely shocked.

“YES!” he laughed softly. “Don’t act so surprised, when have I not stayed true to my words?”

“I should have known,” I smiled. “But how did you afford this?!”

“I saved a bit, I knew how much you always wanted it, I can’t even count how many times you dragged me to sit go and sit and look at it from the outside” he smiled.

“Wait, I’m so confused, you bought a house!? For me?! When?”

“I bought it about 3 months ago, it went up for sale and I drove past it one day when you weren’t here and saw the for sale sign so knew what I had to do,” he explained. “It’s been killing me keeping it a secret from you but I knew I had to wait for the right moment to tell you. This is seems pretty perfect really.”

“Joel, I can’t believe you did this. I can’t accept this.”

“Yes you can, it’s all yours, so enjoy.”

I stood there, looking from him to the key I was still holding out in my hand. I was in complete shock that he had actually bought a house. Finally my gaze fixed on him and I smiled.

“No it’s not, it’s ours,” I told him. “I can’t move back to Phoenix and live in a house you bought without you. It’s ours and always will be. I love that house and want to live in it forever with you.”

“Then here’s my new promise, me and you are forever. I want to live this entire adventure with you, and I will,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around me and looking down at me.

“I like the sound of that,” I told him, pressing my head to his chest as he held me close and tightly.

“You and I were always meant to be,” he said, quietly.

This was my moment I never wanted to change. Me, Joel and our future, no matter what it would be.

I realised now that there were three different versions of me. There was ‘high school Abby’, when I’d kept my head down and was a bit of a loner, if I’m completely honest. Then there was ‘LA Abby’ when I really let go and become far more sociable. And now there was this version. I wasn’t completely used to this version yet, but being around the people who loved me and having Joel was better than I thought it would be.