Epilogue
AARON
I'd never seen Ellie looking so radiant.
In all the expensive dresses and lingerie I'd bought her, she was gorgeous, breathtaking, but standing on that podium completely covered by her graduation gown and the grin on her face, she was something else entirely.
I hated that my being in the audience was detracting any attention away from my beautiful girlfriend on the stage, but I refused to let it bother me. This was her day, and I’d never been so happy for her.
College had been a rollercoaster, but it had been the good kind.
Every low had never been as low as she'd felt on a movie set, and that was all I cared about. Studying had made her happy, and working in her field was going to make her even happier.
At first, everyone had known who she was, and she'd been unable to escape the fact people were either clamoring to be her friend because she was still pretty famous, or hated her just because other people loved her. It had taken a year for things to settle down, and for people to realize she was just another human being who wanted to get a good degree and enjoy herself.
That was when she'd found her real college friends: the ones who were going to stick by her thick and thin, even when they knew she wasn't planning on starring in any more movies and getting them parts. They were standing on either side of her now as the next person stood up to receive their degree, and I liked them. It had taken them a little longer to get over who I was, but I didn't care.
And that was mostly because I knew how much Ellie enjoyed it.
She might not like the spotlight herself, but she wasn't afraid to admit that it turned her on that people wanted me, and she was the person I came home to at the end of the day.
When we'd finally gotten completely comfortable with each other, plenty of confessions like that had come out of the woodworks.
Everyone threw their caps in the air, and I hoped that the guy I'd paid to film everything was getting every shot of Ellie's grin. I hadn't wanted to miss any of the action attempting to work a video camera. I wanted to witness it all, have it as a proper memory, not just an MP4 clip.
She bounded down the steps and practically flung herself at my when it was over, happy tears in her eyes as I pressed a kiss to each cheek, and then her lips. "Congratulations."
"I can't believe I really did it."
I could believe it. She'd worked hard for the past four years; there was no doubt that she deserved it. "How long do we stick around here for?" I asked, glancing around to see if anyone was filtering out yet. "I have no idea how these things work."
She grinned, hand wrapped around mine like a vise. "I have no idea either, really. I'm not sure anyone does. I think we'll just go when the crowd does."
The longer we had to stand around and chat with people, though, the more edgy Ellie seemed to get.
"Are you all right?" I asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her temple. "You look more stressed than you should."
Her cheeks tinged pink, and I knew it was a sign of guilt. My stomach almost dropped, but I forced the smile to stay on my face. "It's just our reservation is going to run out soon."
That didn't explain the guilt, but I ran with it anyway. "We can leave whenever we want," I assured her. "And I'm sure that whoever is on the door will make an exception for us."
"Fame doesn't get you literally everything. This place is pretty fancy. But okay, come on, let's go. Honestly I don't think I want to speak to half of my professors ever again, never mind chatting to them on one of the happiest days of my life."
We navigated the crowd when I went to hail a cab, Ellie pulled my hand back down. "It's within walking distance."
We got plenty of stares as we walked down the street, Ellie now in a stunning burgundy dress that had been beneath her gown. She was still holding my hand so tightly it almost hurt.
I was about to ask her if she wanted to tell me something, but we got to the restaurant, so I held my tongue.
At the table, I went to order a bottle of wine, but she shook her head. "I'm not really feeling like drinking tonight." She hadn't touched her glass of champagne at graduation, either.
I stopped and stared at her.
That would explain everything.
"Ellie."
She bit her lip, "Surprise!"
I wanted to shove the table over so I could get to her, kiss her, hold her. "I can't believe you told me in a restaurant." I had to settle for taking her hands in mine and squeezing. "I want to fuck you so badly right now."
She grinned, her face scarlet. "I suppose it is a bit shit in a restaurant. We can't even get fancy champagne. Well, you can, I guess."
We scooted our chairs closer to each other, so we weren't opposite, but side by side and taking up way too much space where the waiter would have been walking past normally. I pressed my hands to her stomach, and kissed her softly on the lips, face hovering close to hers just a bit too long. "How long have you known?"
"About a week. I wanted to tell you so badly, and I feel awful that I didn't just do it right away, but on graduation day seemed like the perfect time, you know?"
I kissed her again, harder and longer. "You're perfect," I said, and I didn't care how cheesy I was being. My hands still hadn't left her stomach, even though there was nothing to feel yet. "This is perfect."