After the first time that Zoey and I slept together, I started feeling different. I didn’t know quite what it was; I just started seeing everything differently. Nothing had changed really, but somehow everything felt different. It was shortly after that I realized what it was.

Love changed the lens through which you viewed the world. The things that used to bother and upset me had less room in my mind. It wasn’t that I stopped caring about them, it was just that I spent less energy being sad and frustrated and bitter about everything. Being in love was like being in a world of your own, where nothing could touch you and the things that annoyed you didn’t annoy you for very long. Because all you had to do was call her or come home to her and everything was better. Just like that.

The last few weeks had been nothing but blissful. We had a great relationship and an easy friendship. We had even started working together. Zoey would work on her music in the living room, and I would paint. Sometimes we wouldn’t talk for hours. It would just be the two of us wrapped up in our own little worlds, but there was still a connection that existed, tied together by our love of creating.

After we wrapped things up, we would end up on the couch together, and we would discuss our work. Zoey always second-guessed her compositions, but she didn’t need to. Her work was always flawless, and I continuously told her so. She did the same for me, and it gave me the confidence I needed to push through with my work even when I thought it was pointless.

“Do you paint to make money?” Zoey asked me one day. “Or do you paint because you love it?”

“Well… I love it.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” Zoey said, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

Domestic bliss turned out to be much more than I had ever thought it would be. I felt lighter, more fulfilled and incredibly happy. Being with Zoey made me want to be a better human being… on all fronts and for the first time I started thinking about my contribution to the problems I had with my parents as opposed to blaming them completely for everything.

That morning I made a special breakfast for Zoey because she had finals today and I knew she was nervous. She had composed a special melody in preparation and she had spent a long time fine-tuning it. Sometimes, after we had had sex, she would leave me in bed and go into the living room so that she could play the melody over from her computer and make notes on what to change the next day when she was back in the music room on campus.

I liked to lie in bed and listen silently. Sometimes it was like she was composing the soundtrack to my life. I had just finished setting the table when Zoey emerged in jeans and a white blouse. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and she looked nervous but ready.

“Oh my God,” she said, looking at the spread on the table. “I can’t believe you made breakfast.”

I had made waffles, eggs, sausages, crispy bacon and orange juice. I had also bought an assortment of fruits, and I had arranged them together on one plate in a colorful display that I had placed next to the maple syrup and a small bunch of flowers I had picked early that morning.

“I wanted to send you off properly,” I said. “Today is a big day, and you’re going to do amazing.”

Zoey sighed and sat down. “You think?”

“I’ve heard your composition enough times now to know how good it is,” I said. “Trust me… you’re going to blow them away.”

Zoey nodded. “I’m nervous…”

“Nerves are a good thing,” I said. “Just channel them into your music, and you’ll be fine.”

Zoey nodded and leaned in to give me a kiss. “I wish you could be there.”

“Really?”

“Well… I’d be a little more nervous, but I think the moral support would be nice.”

“I can try to be there—”

“Don’t be silly,” Zoey said immediately. “I know you’re busy. You have to be at the station. I was just thinking out loud, that’s all.”

She glanced to the side and noticed that the paintings I had collected from my parents’ house had finally been unearthed from the brown paper they had been wrapped in. Zoey went over and looked through them.

“Not my best work,” I smiled.

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “It’s beautiful… you must have been really young when you did these.”

“With that first painting, I was probably eight or nine, and the last two paintings were probably when I was around twelve or thirteen.”

“We should display these somewhere.”

“What?” I laughed.

“I’m serious,” Zoey nodded. “These paintings are the evolution of your artistry… they deserve to be displayed on our walls.”

“I don’t know…”

“We’re doing it,” Zoey said decisively. “When I come home in the evening we’ll find a place for them, ok?”

I smiled. “Ok.”

“Good.”

We had just finished breakfast when I looked at Zoey and ran something by her. I had been wrestling with the idea for the last two days now, and I figured since it wasn’t going away, I would just voice it out loud and see if it sounded ridiculous or not.

“So… I’ve been thinking lately.”

“Hmm?”

“Of calling my mother,” I said.

Zoey smiled. “I was expecting something… very different.”

I sighed. “I know it may not sound like a big deal… but the thing is, my relationship with the two of them is so complicated that we never really make the effort with one another. I’ve spoken to them maybe three times in the last year.”

“Only?” Zoey asked, in surprise.

“Yes… and whenever we do speak there’s so much hostility that we end up fighting and I end up walking away, promising myself never to attempt to talk to them again.”

“Oh, Devlin,” Zoey said gently. “They’re your parents, and for that reason alone, I think it’s worth trying to mend the relationship. You don’t always have to agree with them, but you can be civil to one another.”

“They’ve never really offered me an olive branch,” I pointed out.

“They don’t have to,” Zoey replied. “You can be the bigger person. You can be the one to make the first move. Don’t let pride get in your way.”

“You’re right,” I nodded.

I walked Zoey outside and gave her a long good-luck kiss before waving her off. Then I went back inside and checked the time. Today was going to be my last day at the station. I had finished my sentence, and I was going to be a free man from tomorrow. I hadn’t mentioned that to Zoey however, mostly because I still felt so guilty for lying to her about why I was really there.

I had promised myself that I would come clean with her, but I had decided that in order to do that I needed to have stopped dealing first. The only problem was that I wanted enough in my bank account to give myself time to find a real job. Also, I wanted to be able to give Zoey the nicer things in life. I wanted to be able to take her to nice dinners and to buy her flowers, and dealing pot gave me the freedom to be able to treat her like she deserved.

That had pushed back my plan to tell her the truth a little, and it was starting to get uncomfortable. I had already kept the truth from her for too long. I needed to act fast, or it would look really bad if she found out from anyone else. I got dressed and headed to the fire station for my final round of community service. Seth was there when I arrived, and he gave me a pat on the back.

“I have to say,” he said, “I feel almost emotional about this being your last day.”

“I wish I could say the same,” I said.

Seth chuckled. “I have good news for you though.”

“Yeah?”

“I managed to find you a job,” Seth told me.

“What… are you serious?”

“Yup,” Seth nodded. “I know you’re into art and stuff… so I spoke to a few people in the community. There’s this guy I met a few years back. I pulled him out of his car after a freak accident on the highway. He was so grateful that he found me afterward and we kind of hit it off. His sister is the manager of this local art publication. They sell magazines that specifically deal with everything and anything in the arts. She’s willing to give you a job there.”

“No way,” I said, amazed at my luck.

“The pay’s not amazing, but it’s decent, and if you do well, you could be earning a really good salary in a few years’ time.”

“Does he know my record?” I asked.

“I told her,” Seth nodded. “Her husband spent a little time in jail… so she believes in second chances and fresh starts. She wanted you to finish your community service before you started work with her though… which is why I’m telling you today.”

“Oh man,” I said. “Thank you, Seth. You have no idea how much this helps me out.”

“Happy to help,” Seth nodded, and again I felt another spasm of guilt for everything I was keeping from him.

Not just the fact that I was living and sleeping with his sister, but also the fact that I was currently dealing pot. I vowed to myself that now that I had a job lined up, I would finish the last of my pot supply and that would be the end of it. I couldn’t afford to risk my friendship with Seth or my relationship with Zoey. She was just too important to me.

I spent four hours at the station, checking the time on my phone because I really wanted to go to Zoey’s campus and surprise her. The second I was done, I found Seth in the lounge room so that I could sign off with him.

“Last day huh?” one of the guys asked me.

“Yeah.”

I was expecting him to shoot some snide comment at me and but instead, he nodded once and said. “You did a good job while you were here.”

I was so shocked, I didn’t even respond. Then one by one all the guys came up to me and either gave me a handshake or a gruff good luck. I looked at Seth in disbelief and smiled.

“Did you make them do that?” I asked.

“Nope,” I said convincingly. “I told you. They’re good guys, they just believe in due process, and now that you’ve had yours, they can be nicer.”

“Yeah, that and the fact that I’m leaving.”

Seth smiled. “Don’t be a stranger, Devlin; keep in touch.”

“I will,” I said. “Definitely.”

I didn’t let myself think about what he would say if the next time he saw me I was hand in hand with his sister. I just raced out of the station and headed to the nearest florists in the area. I picked the most beautiful bouquet I could find and then I raced to the campus and tried to find the Jefferson building where Zoey would be playing her composition for her professors.

It took me fifteen minutes to find the damn building and then another five minutes to find the theatre she was playing in. By the time I got there, Zoey was already on stage, and I realized she was almost done with her set. I stood at the back and watched her with awe. She cut such a beautiful figure sitting at the piano with her back upright and slightly arched. If I’d had a pad with me, I could have just sat there and sketched her.

The song finished and I started clapping instinctively, only to realize that no one else was. My claps resonated around the large room and bounced off the walls. I saw Zoey’s face snap towards me, and even from a distance I saw her eyes light up. I walked down as she came off the stage and she ran into my arms.

“You came,” she sighed. “I can’t believe you came.”

“Of course I came,” I said. “I love you.”

She looked at me in surprise, and I realized that this was the first time I’d ever said that to her.

“Do you… mean that?” she asked.

I smiled at her. “I mean it,” I nodded. “I mean it more than you realize.”

Laughing, Zoey jumped into my arms and kissed me hard on the lips. It felt like my life was finally taking a turn for the better. I was done with community service, I had finally got a job, and most important of all, I had Zoey… and she really was the one thing I never knew I needed.