"Was it hard?" I ask.
                 Letting go?"

"Not as hard as holding on to something
                that wasn't real."
                 
                ― Lisa Schroeder

[the song goes so well with the chapter]

THE FINAL LETTER

The diner in New York was almost empty except for a couple strangers and one girl reading a letter she hadn't let go of since she had gotten off the plane. Taking a deep breathe, she reread each word carefully.

Dear Conner,

It's weird. Two years later and I'm still the one chasing after you. I guess that was the way we always worked- or well, didn't work. I think I'm different now, though. I've grown smarter, so this is the last time I'll ever chase you.

For years, I tried to figure out what you meant with the drafts. Did you care? Did you still love me? Were you ashamed of me? I'm still clueless.

And as much as I wanted you to choose me, I'm not going to be alright knowing that I wasn't your choice. I will always be your second, your other choice. Over what? I won't know. But I sure as hell hope you have a good reason for why I was never first.

Before we graduated, you gave me a letter. I think that you thought that the letter was a way for me to move on because you already had and maybe you had felt just a little guilty. But then again, maybe you just wanted the final word.

You told me to leave you alone, to never come looking for you. I had deserved to move on, you had said. I didn't deserve you. I think you matured, whatever Jordan had said to you, you took to heart. I guess what I said never mattered though. I'm sorry.

Yeah, you're right. Because I'm sick of fighting you and chasing after you and trying to love you. I'm sick of all of it. I'm sick of you and all your fucking games.

I'm not going to say I loved you- because I did, and it would hurt more knowing that you could never say it back. Or more likely, you would never say it back. Because you need closure like me too, and I'm not going to complicate things for the both of us.

I don't was to give you closure, but I'm trying to be the "bigger" person here or something like that.

Good-bye Conner, and one day when we meet again, I hope I'll be your choice.

With all my love,
Aubrey

The girl smiled softly and with one last look at the diner, she handed the letter to a waitress and exited the diner into the crowded city of New York.

This was never a story about moving on for you, is it Conner? It was a story about forgiving yourself. It didn't mattered what I felt at the end. Hell, you had already known the ending before we started.

But I hope you find a way to forgive yourself.

Because I forgive you.

And for the first time in two years, the girl understood. She was never meant to know the reason for their breakup, or why he even cared enough about her to ask her out. But that- that was okay. He didn't need to tell her.

Somewhere in a diner, a boy smiled as he received the letter from a waitress, his name neatly written on the envelope.

And for the first time in two years, he forgave himself. He was never meant to give her closure, to be her closure. But that- that was okay. She didn't need to know. He wouldn't be her happy ending, and she wouldn't be his.

He liked to think that he had matured too.

They had both found their peace.

"And so it ends."

It's finally finished. Thank you for everyone who stuck with me throughout the whole book, it means a lot to me. You guys are amazing. I know I haven't explained a lot of their relationship and why it didn't work, so I'm going to be adding some backstory in early chapters. There are also tons of plot holes that I need to fix.

I'm currently going to do some heavy editing, change the cast, edit the chapters, add more multimedia- etc. And I might alter the plot a little, but I'm glad this story had finally ended. Thank you again!