It's a little bitter sweet being back in my home town. Down the road from where I grew up. Able to look out from my front porch and see my favorite place in a short distance across the street. I've had a lot of time to think, to be alone with my thoughts and to figure out a lot that I need to, to move on to the next chapter in my life.

School let out over a month ago. I'm finally settling into a good routine and have done a few photo shoots for some of the families around the neighborhood. Dad had apparently made friends with the folks of Fairfield as soon as he moved here, and raved about how great of a photographer I was, giving me work as soon as I got home for the summer. Focusing on things that are important, is something my therapist in California told me to do. I needed to remind myself daily that setting small goals will help to achieve a sense of happiness and self worth for every time I met each goal, leaving me to always have something to strive harder for. And so delving into the photography world, getting my name out there, and giving myself more practice, just made sense. After all, I've decided that my plan is to open my own studio after I graduate next year. That is the ultimate goal.

Harry left for another Photography Workshop his Mom signed him up for, and has been gone since a few days after we got home. He's been traveling across Canada, which has made the weeks go by seemingly too slow for me to handle. I know that it's good for us to be apart, to show us that we can live life without each other. Because despite our time apart after everything that happened, we were still very much in each other's lives while we were still in school.

Every couple of days, he sends me a picture of where he's at. The scenery always blowing my mind. Our Country sure is a beautiful place and I can't help but be a little envious that I'm not there with him, experiencing what he is seeing and doing. But I know why I'm not and why I can't be. I am just thankful that he is wanting to share even just a little bit of his adventure with me, proving to me that I'm still thought of once in a while, and a reason to be even more okay with us being apart.

With Harry being gone and not having any friends on the Island, I've been spending a lot of time with Dad. This time, there was nothing to argue about. Nothing to disagree on, or any reason to leave at a moments notice. Knowing this, has put us in a good place. We have been able to just enjoy our time together and everything is comfortable.

We spent a week in Vancouver together the week after I got back from school, for the trial. Having to testify on the stand in front of a judge and the jury was harder than I thought it was going to be. The look on Ryan's face as I spoke out the truth of all he made me endure, gave me chills down my spine. But my testimony did exactly what it was meant to do. Not just to Ryan, but to all of those guys in that house. Ivy ended up pleading guilty to telling Ryan of my whereabouts and in turn was meant to receive a good sum of cash for it, which also, even though she was a victim as well as me, she is getting time in prison for being an accessory to a crime.

Other than Ivy, they all got life in prison. But most importantly, Ryan. That's all that mattered to me. Hearing the judge's words, as he told the court room that Ryan was found guilty of all charges against him and he was to spend the rest of his days behind bars, was the happiest moment of my life. Knowing that it was completely over and I would be free forever, is a moment in time that will forever be a life changing point. Nothing is more satisfying. It's exactly what I needed to be able to move on to anything.

Just as I remember growing up, when big cases erupt, my time with Dad dwindled because he had to focus on work. And a couple weeks ago, this is exactly what happened. I'm usually not allowed to know about these cases in the beginning, because they're confidential, but Dad felt the need for me to know a few fine details of what has been going on in this new case he's been on.

Over the last year, Jenny's Father was being investigated for fraud. That's all I'm allowed to know about this, because it has something to do with the company he works for. But apparently, the investigation finally came to an end, putting her Father in prison awaiting trial, and leaving Jenny's family with nothing because of it. 

Dad decided to share this information with me, because it didn't just end there. Jenny had been caught shoplifting. Apparently this had been an ongoing problem, but her Father had bought her out of getting into trouble, leaving her off the hook each and every time she did this. But this time, her Father being behind bars, she didn't have a way out of it anymore. And now Jenny was serving two months in jail for theft.

It's a weird thought to think of her in a place full of scary women who are more than likely meaner than she ever was. I'm hoping that maybe she will learn a few of her lessons in the midst of being stuck in there, other than why it isn't right to steal. But it makes me smile. It's a reminder that karma will always somehow give you what you deserve for the things you have done, in some way or another.

Knowing that Ryan is finally where he belongs, and finding out about Jenny, has helped over the last few weeks to find comfort in life. This time alone has given me a chance to heal. To grow as an individual and to see life for what it's really worth, on a scale I was never capable of seeing before. The silence I gave myself at my place at the beach, to breathe in the fine air like I used to and to open my mind, is exactly what I needed. I opened myself up to forgiveness. To really see that everything that's happened to me, happened for a reason. That reason giving me the strength I need to be the person I'm supposed to be—who I am now, and who I will become.

Over time, my heart has mended. I know that there will always be a little piece of my heart that's broken. A part of me that will everlastingly be cracked, but I'm okay with that. I like the idea that I will never be put together perfectly. That for all the ways I've fixed myself, I'm molded in a unique way that will always be my own.

Time has changed everything. I feel like a new person. I see life in a new light. I have found peace in the reasons karma did what it did to me, and I can only hope karma will give me only good things in life now, knowing I have no intentions of ever wronging anyone again. It's taught me the lessons I've needed to learn, and I'm a better person for it all now.

I know that I'm ready to move onto the next chapter. I'm hoping that after all this time that Harry and I have been apart, after all the repairs our hearts have had to undergo, rejuvenating ourselves in ways we needed to, that when we come together again, we'll both want to start over still.

I can only hope that his heart is still cracked in that distinctive way that only my heart would ever fit with his. But with all the alterations I've done to myself, I really should be wondering if his heart would still fit with mine. The shattered pieces of me, where he once fit perfectly, have been assembled piece by piece, leaving a sliver of the smallest damaged fragments dismantled for him to fit with mine, the way I need for someone to, because my heart will never be whole again on its own.

I've decided to sit on my balcony this morning and write. To take in the fine air and allow the sun to dry my freshly washed hair. Writing was a part of the healing process, and although I know that I'm better, it's still part of my daily routine. It's been a good hour that I've been immersed in the words I've written on the pages in my notebook, when something out of the corner of my eye gets my attention.

Harry.

He's leaning on his balcony railing, staring at me with a smile on his face. His hair is longer and looks curlier than ever, and when I smile back, he gives me a small wave. It takes me a few moments to realize he's really there. That he's home. My heart starts to pick up its pace as I take him in, realizing that without even knowing it, I have been waiting for him to come back.  

Although I'm unsure as to how he feels about me right now, and it's what makes this moment terrifying, I throw my notebook and pen to the ground, and run through my house as fast as I can to get to him.

Even if there's no love, there's still a past. There's still a reason to want to have my arms around him, knowing how much I've missed his presence, because in so many ways, he was my best friend. And that in itself, gives me every excuse to be as excited as I am to see that he's home.

I was expecting to have to ring the doorbell to his house and wait for someone to answer, but to my surprise, he's jogging down the stairs of his front porch to meet me. Words cannot express how it feels when he picks me up and spins me around, as I fling my arms around his neck to hug him. When he puts me down, he doesn't let go, only holds onto me tighter, giving me a sense of relief that even after all this time, I'm still what he wants. I can feel it in the way he presses his body against mine, and holds onto me like if he were to let go, he'd lose me forever.

When I finally allow myself to let go and look at him, I feel like I'm looking at a whole new person. He looks rejuvenated and relaxed. Happiness radiating from him in a way I can tell he doesn't feel in the slightest, that the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders. And I know with every piece of me, that he is thinking the same about me. It's clear that somehow we have both grown. That we've left the negative parts of our past, and who we used to be, exactly where they should remain—in the past.

"Hi, Paise," he finally says, breaking the silence between us.

"Hi," I smile.

He takes my hand, leading me to the front steps of his house, where we sit down next to each other. There is so much that I want to tell him, and I know there's much for him to tell me about his trip. I haven't got a clue as to where to start, and so I stay quiet, taking him in. Although it has only been six weeks since I last saw him, not promising anything on either of our parts, it feels like lifetimes have passed and I'm seeing him for the first time—again.

"I think you should ask me out," he says, looking me in the eyes. He looks so serious, so handsome, and I wonder what he's getting at.

"What?" I ask.

"I think you should ask me on a date," he says again, letting out a small laugh.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," I tell him. It's with these words, that I'm taken back in time to the first time I ever talked to him. The day that changed my world for the better. The day that gave me him, in ways I never thought I would ever experience anyone. But when I realize that my intentions weren't in the right place when I spoke those words, I wonder if he's saying this the way I had, and I stare at him in wonder.

He laughs when he understands what's going on in my head. "I'm not asking if you think it's a good idea or not, I'm asking if you want to go on a date with me."

I shake my head and smile at him. One thing that I love about him, is that he is always wanting to remind me of how things used to be, except this time, I don't want to relive the past. I want to start fresh with him, and make new memories, not relive old ones. I know somehow, that he isn't saying this to hurt me in any way. I know I don't need to look at him in any sort of negative light. We have both learned from everything that has happened. I know that he wouldn't do a single thing to hurt me again, and if he wants to remind me of a time that was more real than either of us could fathom, I know, from the bottom of my heart, that I was right. I'm still what he wants. I'm it for him, like he is for me. "No, I don't want to go on a date with you, Harry."

He furrows his eyes brows, unsure of if what I'm saying is honest. "But—"

"I don't need to go on a date with you, because I already know what I want," I explain. Just looking at him, I can feel it. With everything that I am, I see the truth that I've always known. "I already know that you're the missing piece of me. You're what completes the broken parts of my heart. I've put myself back together in all the ways I needed to, and I know that I can be happy on my own. But without you, I could never be whole. Your heart will, no matter what, always fit perfectly with mine. You're it for me—"

His lips are on mine before I can finish. The electricity that flows through me, makes it feel like the very first time that we kissed on the beach not far from here. A shock to my system, reawakening all my nerves in ways I haven't felt in a while. The good kind of nerves that allow me to understand that everything we've been through, was all for us to come back together in this moment. That I will forever be his, and he will be mine. We didn't go through everything that we did, for nothing.

"You still love me?" He asks, cupping my face with his hands. His eyes flick back and forth between mine in a serious matter, trying to find the answer in them. "After everything?"

"I told you a long time ago that I wanted you and me, forever," I smile. "That hasn't changed."

"Forever?" he asks, with a smile.

"Forever."

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A/N: I am so sad this is over. I'm so emotional about it. Haisley is my life. I do hope you enjoy how it ended, knowing they ended up together. ☺

Thanks for all the support over the last 6 months of writing this...(6 months to the day that I published the Prologue...which is crazy!) For this being my first Wattpad book, I am super happy to have gotten 56.8K reads, and so many friends have come from this experience! I love you all so so much! 

I hope you will share this book with your friends!

And don't forget, that if you have a question about Karma, go to the post 2 chapters back, and comment your question! I will be posting a Q&A in a little while from now! ☺

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Much Love
amberlove

xo

Completed - March 25 2016 ♥