You guys really wanted an epilogue so here it is. Enjoy!

~*~*~

Click.

"Good job you two," the photographer called to Liam and me when he finished taking the final shots for the day. "Stellar work."

We high-fived, giving each other identical smirks. "See you outside in twenty?" I asked, grabbing my water bottle.

He nodded, flashing me a goofy smile as we went our separate ways to get changed.

Although on the outside he appeared fine, I knew the breakup was still eating away at him. It was written in his eyes. Our banter had been slightly more subdued today than when we normally worked together and despite his best efforts, I could tell just how destroyed he felt.

He loved Winter with everything he had and I knew she felt the same towards him but it wasn't right for me to meddle in their affairs no matter how much I cared. It was their choice whether or not they chose to fix things and I'd do my best to support both of my friends either way, regardless of the outcome I wanted.

Above all, I only wanted them to be happy and would do my best to aid them in that endeavour as much as I possibly could.

Liam and I were meeting up with Maddie — but not Winter, partially for Liam's sake but also because she was currently in Sweden (the same place she had been for the past three months) visiting family, probably to escape and to give herself time to process everything — for lunch at our favourite cafe in Brooklyn.

Much to Maddie's relief I was sure, we arrived on time, the traffic thankfully not too dense for once.

What I didn't expect when we walked into the cafe was to see my boyfriend also sitting at the table alongside Maddie, waiting for us.

Axel and I had been doing long distance for the three-month span of our relationship, seeing each other whenever our busy schedules allowed so to say I was surprised to see him was an understatement. However, that didn't stop a massive grin taking over my face as I ran to him, getting enveloped into a tight embrace.

"I missed you, Freckles," he murmured into my hair.

"I missed you too," I said, pulling away and giving him a peck on the lips. "How come you didn't tell me you were coming?"

I sat down next to him, opposite Maddie and Liam, and he shrugged, grinning that signature Axel grin. "Surprises are more fun."

I laughed at that and it didn't take long for our whole table to break into lively conversation, all of us catching up on everyone's lives.

Liam told us about the progress he'd been making with the charity he'd been working with and the pride in his eyes was second to none. A few months ago, he'd started a campaign to support a charity for the education of children from poor backgrounds across Africa and the traction it had gained was phenomenal. Liam had helped them raise over two million dollars and he showed no sign of slowing down. Besides, putting so much energy into this campaign had been a welcomed distraction from his break up, even if he'd never admit that.

Maddie was doing better than before. She was stronger and healthier than she had been a few months ago and with every day that passed, I could see that smile returning to her face.

She'd gotten her ex into a lot of trouble when she'd finally reported that he'd breached their restraining order by contacting her. That small victory was what started the beginning of her newfound happiness that had slowly been returning day by day.

She was recounting to us the shoot she did last week for an A-list celebrity wedding and how enchanting the scenery was, going into some of the technical details of her job. Maddie adored photography and to see her feeling such joy from her work once again made the smile on my face permanent for the rest of the evening.

~*~*~

The first thing I did when Axel and I got back to my apartment after lunch was to rip off my heels and Axel laughed at the way I practically threw them to the other side of the room.

"Note to self, don't buy you expensive heels," he grinned, taking a step closer to me.

The smile on my face was coy as we intertwined our fingers, pulling each other closer. "Glad it didn't take you long to figure that one out."

"You should be proud of me. You're a tough nut to crack."

I touched his nose with mine. "I'm very proud."

Axel took that moment to seize my lips and finally kiss me the way I'd been wanting him to for all of lunch.

My hands were in his hair and his were below my waist as we pressed ourselves together, getting lost in each others' touch, our exchange getting more heated.

"God, I've missed you," he growled into my ear, leaving a trail of hot kisses down my neck.

I gripped his broad shoulders tighter, not trusting my legs to hold me up. "Axel," I managed to breathe as we fumbled our way into my bedroom, "I think I've missed you more."

The door slammed shut behind us and I made quick work of pulling the shirt over his head. He undid the buttons on my blouse, pushing me onto the bedsheets. "Now that's impossible, Freckles."

"Oh really?" I challenged, eyes rolling to the back of my head as he slipped off my trousers, gripping my thighs tightly with his large palms and moving his lips down my abdomen, the heat of his touch making me shiver.

He looked up, smirking in a way that made my insides flip as our eyes met. "Yep and I'll prove it to you right now."

~*~*~

My alarm was not a welcomed noise the next morning. I groaned, covering my head with a pillow in an unsuccessful attempt to block out the noise.

There was a familiar chuckle from the other side of the room. "Aren't you as cheerful as ever."

My only response was chucking a throw pillow in his general direction before nuzzling my face further into the mattress.

The bed sank beside me, Axel wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer. "Come on sleeping beauty, time to get up."

I shook my head. "No. Five more minutes. Pretty please?"

He kissed my bare shoulder before letting me go and standing up. "Fine, five more minutes," he said and I could feel the amusement in his tone.

Sighing, I snuggled further into the duvet, determined to drag these five minutes into another few hours. Daytime could wait. Sleep came over all other priorities on my lazy days, seeing as they were so few and far between.

Much too soon, Axel came back into the room. "Come on then, Freckles. I gave you half an hour."

I didn't respond, pretending to be too far gone in unconsciousness.

"I made you breakfast. Pancakes," he tempted and my ears pricked. "They're going to get cold." I could always microwave them. "If you don't want them, I guess I'll have to have—"

"No!" I shouted, springing into an upright position. "You leave the pancakes alone, Axel."

He laughed, the sound rich and deep. "You'll have to get to them before me," he challenged.

"You're on," I said, already out of the bed and sprinting to the kitchen. No one came between me and food. Axel was right beside me, both of us reaching the island at the exact same time, panting.

"Truce?" We both wheezed at the same time then smiled.

"How long are you here for?" I asked my boyfriend, covering my second pancake in maple syrup — definitely the superior pancake topping.

We were standing on opposite sides of the island, flashing each other stupid faces as we ate. His fork was swirling around in the excess lemon and sugar from his third pancake as he spoke, "A week. I have a shoot on Thursday but other than that I'm all yours."

I shot him a suspicious look.

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence.

My eyes narrowed further. "Did you speak to my agent?"

"No," he said a beat too fast. "Why'd you ask?"

"'Cause the only shoot I have this week is on Thursday too. My agent has been moving around my schedule a lot more than usual for the past few weeks and this is the freest week I've had in months. No interviews, no meetings, no publicists. Just the one shoot."

"Huh. That is pretty strange," he remarked but wasn't able to hide the smile on his face.

I gasped, pointing my fork at him. "You did talk to her, you sly, smart idiot. And that shoot on Thursday... is there something about it I should know?" I raised a questioning brow.

Axel just beamed at me, flashing his pearly whites. "I'm going to ignore the oxymoron and pretend you just called me smart... and as for Thursday, you'll have to wait and see."

I pouted. "Can't you just tell me?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "Nope. It's more fun this way."

I would've protested but there was no point. I knew Axel wouldn't change his mind because the boy just loved to keep me on my toes.

"You're infuriating. You know that?"

"And you love it."

~*~*~

"Diana, you took a wrong turn," I frowned, staring out the window.

She chuckled, flashing me a quick smile as the traffic light changed colour. "Don't worry. I know where I'm going, Harper."

I shot her a sceptical look but said nothing more. I trusted Diana and she knew what she was doing.

Trying to distract myself, I scrolled through my Instagram feed but my mind kept circling back to Axel. His shoot started much earlier than mine so he'd already left by the time I'd woken up but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was up to something. He wasn't the best at being sly.

Half an hour later, Diana stopped the car and my forehead creased when I looked out of the window. "Diana, are you sure you have the right location." I didn't recognise the building and I'd done shoots all over the city.

She rolled her eyes, smiling playfully at me. "I'm sure, Harper. Just go inside and talk to the receptionist. She'll sort you from there."

I sighed, slipping my tote bag onto my shoulder. "If you say so."

The lobby was large and well decorated with beautiful art pieces dotted on the walls and a splendid marble flooring that you could see your reflection in. Impressive.

The receptionist beamed at me as I approached. "Hi, I'm Harper King. I'm here for a photo shoot."

She turned to her computer, typing rapidly on the keyboard. "Just a second. Let me see. King. King. Ah- here we are. Room eight on the third floor."

I nodded in thanks, still feeling anxious as I made my way upstairs. Everything seemed normal... too normal perhaps? Oh, calm down, Harper. It was just a photo shoot, relax.

I pushed the door to room eight open and my hands went to my mouth, my bag dropping to the floor.

The room was dimly lit by candles, blackout curtains blocking the windows. Purple and red rose petals were scattered across the floor leading up to the single two-seater table in the middle of the room which was covered by a white table cloth and more petals. Best of all, sitting at the table and watching me with an adoring smile on his face was none other than my boyfriend, Axel Knight.

"I- what- Axel?" was all I managed to splutter out.

He walked over to me, still smiling like it was the happiest day of his entire life. "Hey, Freckles, glad you could make it."

"I- what is all this?" I asked, still marvelling at the room. He cupped my hands in his, pressing them to his heart.

"I did this for you, Freckles. I know we agreed never to make a big deal of anniversaries except for the yearly ones but it's our three-month today and also technically our nine-month if you go by when we met so I wanted to do something special for you."

My hands trailed down his chest before I brought them back up to wrap around his neck. "You didn't have to do this for me, Axel."

"I know but I wanted to. You're one of the best things that has ever happened to me, Freckles. I want you to know how much I care," he said softly.

Not having the words to say, I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. It had become such a natural feeling but one that never ceased to amaze me. Just the feeling of being close to Axel warmed me in ways beyond human comprehension.

We pulled apart and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, rubbing my cheek with the pad of his thumb. "You look stunning, you know that?"

I chuckled, shaking my head at him with a smile. "I'm not wearing any makeup, my clothes are a mess and my hair is knotty. In what world do I look nice right now?"

"In my world," he shrugged, leading me over to the table and pulling out my chair for me.

"What a gentleman," I teased as he sat down. "I wish you'd at least hinted I should've dressed up a bit for this."

He waved me off. "That would've ruined the surprise."

"Mmhhh I suppose," I agreed as the door opened and Maddie walked in dressed as a waitress, holding a serving tray with two plates and two glasses filled with pink liquid.

"Two strawberry twists and two tomato pasta dishes."

"Maddie? You were in on this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. You really think Axel could've pulled all this off on his own?"

"True."

"Hey," Axel piped in, pouting.

"Anyway, I'll leave you both to it," Maddie said, walking away. "Oh, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Now, have fun kiddies!"

"So basically we can do anything," I joked and Axel laughed, clinking his glass against mine. "I'm glad you remembered the recipe."

"How could I forget? Best drink I've ever had and the first thing my girlfriend ever taught me to make."

I blushed when he said girlfriend. Even after all these months the word still made my heart flutter as if I couldn't believe it was true and that Axel and I had actually come this far together.

"I hope you don't mind that the food is pretty basic. I wanted to make everything myself but you know I'm not the best cook so this is all I could manage. Maddie offered to help but I didn't want to bother her. She'd already helped me plan this whole thing. Anyway, I hope you like it. I know it's not much but I really did try."

You wouldn't be able to wipe the smile off my face no matter how hard you tried. "Axel, it tastes delicious and this whole thing is absolutely perfect. I love it."

His smile matched mine as he laced our fingers together and we ate our food, joking and laughing the entire time.

"I still can't believe you did all of this down to the rose petals."

"Do you know what purple rose petals signify?"

I shook my head. "Enlighten me."

He cleared his throat, scratching his neck awkwardly. Since when did Axel get flustered? "Um well, they're meant to represent love at first sight. I coupled it with the red because they symbolise love and romance. That's also kinda the reason I wanted to do this whole thing," he said, watching me warily.

My heart was beating at a million miles an hour as I waited for him to carry on.

"I've felt really strongly about you since I met you, Freckles and, well, I've been trying to work out how to tell you. I've never been one to believe in love at first sight but I can't remember a time since we met where I haven't thought about you. You're constantly on my mind and I want to be with you for the long haul. I see my future with you, I see every big event having you in it and I can't imagine my life without you. If that isn't this then I don't know what is.

"What I'm trying to say in my long-winded way is that I love you, Harper."

I didn't know what to say. "I- I-"

"It's alright if you don't feel the same. Don't feel pressured to say anything back. I don't mind waiting until you're ready," he rushed out so fast, words tumbling over one another and I smiled. Cute.

"Do- do you believe in true love, Axel?"

He shot me a puzzled look. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it."

"Well, I used to and then I gave up on it. I grew cynical and bitter after everything that happened with River, after my parents' mess of a marriage and definitely after Winter and a Liam broke up.

"But then there you were and I started questioning my beliefs all over again. I fell in love with you, Axel. I fell in love with everything about you from your adorable rants to your love of architecture to the fierce passion you seem to hold for everything you do. There isn't one thing I'd change about you, Axel. I love you exactly as you are, exactly as you've always been and I think that's true love. When you can look past all the externals of a person and see their soul, see them for everything they are, scars and all, and still love them all the same."

Axel simply stared at me for a long moment and I bit my lip in anticipation. Was that too much? Had I come on too strong? Harper, you idiot!

His puzzled expression morphed into the softest and most gorgeous smile. "If that's what true love is, then, yes, I do believe in it."

~*~*~

Axel and I swayed our interlocked hands as we walked, the smiles never once dropping from our faces. He loved me. He actually loved me. Despite everything he loved me.

I kept repeating the words to myself, feeling light and airy. Absolutely nothing could burst my bubble. I was on cloud nine.

I unlocked my apartment door, giggling at joke Axel made.

Nothing could've prepared me for what I saw. My bubble was shattered and I'd fallen from the clouds as if I had been doused with a cold bucket of ice water a million times over.

I dropped my keys. "Freckles, what's wro-"

Axel froze too, neither of us knowing what to think or say or do.

Standing in my living room was a brunette girl I didn't recognise and none other than my dead brother, Zackary King.

"Hey, sis. Hi, Axel."

In that moment I did the only rational thing my mind I could think of. I slapped him and I slapped him hard.

~*~*~

That's it. Hope you guys loved it. Quick question, what has been your favourite part of this story?

If you want to know what the hell just happened all will be explained in the companion novel I'm working on at the moment. It takes place at the same time this book does and is written from Zack's love interest's perspective. It's a different genre this time though: action. Don't worry, I'll update this book when I publish it : )

I really do hope you'll give it a chance!

(Ps. If you've liked this story please vote, comment and share it with your friends. It really helps me grow as a writer and lets me continue doing what I love. Also, don't hesitate to drop me a follow so you'll be notified about anything book related on my end ❤️)

Hope to see you all in Zack's story. Stay safe everyone x