Hypothetical Heart (Farewell Fairwood #2)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

1.5 years later

A fter living next door to each other our entire childhood and then a floor away for our first two years of college, Winnie and I are finally moving in together.

We’ve spent the last two years splitting our time between the two of our apartments, hardly ever apart. It made enough sense to us and to our parents that we share an apartment going into our junior year of college.

“What else do you need help with?” I ask Winnie from the kitchen. She’s busy in the living room in front of me, folding blankets and placing throw pillows.

“I’m going to start putting away clothes next if you want to help,” she replies.

I nod. “Of course.” A majority of the boxes spread out through the living room and the hallway are full of Winnie and I’s clothes, so getting those out of the way will make this place feel less like a storage unit and more like our apartment.

Our apartment. Getting to say that is one of the best feelings in the world.

Our parents left last night after helping carry all of our boxes up, but not after Winnie’s dad pulled me aside to give me a very uncomfortable talk about how not to get his daughter pregnant while we’re living together.

I’m trying to block the conversation from my memory. It was painful, with a lot of yes, sirs and glares in return.

Eloise also tagged along to help. Her apartment at Yale won’t be ready until tomorrow. At least that was what she said, but I have a feeling she just wanted to spend as much time with us as possible, even if it involved the treacherous act of moving all of Winnie’s boxes into our apartment.

“Have you heard from Gen and Jameson?” I ask once we’re in the closet of our bedroom. She’s sitting on the floor folding while I’m standing and putting things on hangers.

“Yeah, it sounds like they’re getting settled at their place.” They found an apartment in the city too, only about thirty minutes from where we are. “Evie called this morning to tell me Jameson’s already making a mess, and she might not survive the entire lease.”

I can’t help but laugh. I lived with Jameson for two years myself, and while he was many things, messy was not one of them. “Every apartment is messy when you first move in.”

Winnie smiles. “Well, yeah, but you know how she is.”

“I know, I know.” If there’s anything for sure, it’s that our place will always be more messy than anywhere Genevieve lives. “I wonder how Luke is doing.”

“Hopefully getting a nice tan,” Winnie grumbles like she’s jealous.

After his freshman year at NYU, Luke transferred to Stanford all the way out in California. It’s been quite an adjustment for our friend group, only getting to see him on long breaks and over the summer when he isn’t busy with football.

“We’ll have to visit him sometime,” I tell her, dumping a bin of socks over her head. “From what I’ve seen, his place looks nice.”

“Hey!” she shrieks at the onslaught of socks.

“They go in that drawer down there.” I smirk.

She picks up a pair, throwing it back up at me before laughing.

It takes us a few more hours to completely organize our closet, and once we’re back from taking all the boxes down to recycling, we both collapse on the couch.

“Please tell me we have no plans for the rest of the night,” Winnie says, inching closer toward me.

“You’re looking at them.” I motion to where we’re lying.

We both take a deep sigh of relief, looking toward our TV, which isn’t even mounted on the wall yet. “We should really hang that up,” I say.

Winnie covers my mouth with her hand, yawning. “Later.”

Then, the sound of paws tracking along the hardwood floor moves from the kitchen into the living room. Oh, yeah, Suzie also came to New York with us.

Winnie wanted her here with us badly. So, her dad conceded to giving up his dog-sitting duties, and now we pay an insane amount of money in puppy rent.

But we wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, we’re already planning on getting Winnie’s dad his own furry friend for Christmas now that he has an empty house.

Suzie now looks the part of a full-grown golden retriever. Her fur has turned from an almost white-golden to a darker honey color. To us, she’s still the same puppy we picked up from the shelter almost three years ago.

Winnie takes a seat on the couch, patting the spot next to her to encourage Suzie to join her. “Good girl.” She smiles when our dog happily jumps up onto the cushions.

“You know, letting the dog on the couch might not be the best habit to start,” I suggest.

Winnie shoots me a glare. “She deserves to sit on this couch just as much as you do.”

I laugh as I take a seat on the other side of her. It’s probably true. I mean, Winnie cleans Suzie’s feet every time she brings her in from outside, and specifically wanted the apartment with a bathtub so she could give her regular baths. It’s not like this dog is dirty.

The TV stays on the floor, and we stay on the couch for the remainder of the night, watching the sun set over the city skyline through the window. I can confidently say there is nothing better than this.

Finally, she breaks the silence. “What do you think it’ll be like? Living together, I mean. Full-time.”

I pretend to think for a moment, tapping my chin. “Well, I foresee a lot of arguing over who gets the last slice of pizza. Maybe some passive-aggressive notes about whose turn it is to do laundry.”

“Oh, for sure,” she agrees with a grin. “And let’s not forget the inevitable battle over closet space. You’re already encroaching on my side.”

“Your side?” I laugh, looking around. “Pretty sure it’s a shared closet, Winnie.”

She pokes me in the chest playfully. “You say that now, but wait until I start hanging my stuff on your hangers.”

I lean down, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Bring it on.”

She sighs contentedly, closing her eyes again, and I feel her relax against me completely. “Honestly, though,” she whispers after a moment, “I think it’s going to be amazing. ”

I nod, my heart swelling at her words. “Yeah. Me too.”

We’ve already talked about an apartment-warming party for all our friends, and Winnie has been preparing ideas for the guest room since she wants to make it as inviting as possible.

As we settle into the quiet of the evening, I glance down at Suzie sprawled out between us, her tail lazily thumping against the cushions like she knows she’s the star of the show. As I’m watching her, I’m reminded of something I bought earlier this week, and I can’t help the grin that tugs at the corner of my mouth.

Without a word, I get up, heading toward one of the still-unpacked boxes near the kitchen. Winnie’s head tilts, her eyes following me, curiosity written all over her face.

“What are you up to?” she asks, half suspicious, half amused.

“You’ll see.” I rummage through the box until I find what I’m looking for—a tiny bundle wrapped in tissue paper. I smirk to myself as I pull it out and head back to the couch.

“Close your eyes,” I tell her.

Winnie crosses her arms, giving me a playful, narrowed stare. “If this is another sock ambush?—”

“No socks, I swear.” I’m trying to keep a straight face, but the excitement is hard to hide.

With a small huff, she closes her eyes, and I get to work unwrapping the tissue paper. Inside is a tiny, pink dog sweater with little hearts stitched into it—I’d ordered it online the minute we knew Suzie was coming with us. It’s the kind of silly, ridiculously cute thing Winnie loves.

I slide the sweater over Suzie, who doesn’t even flinch, just stands there wagging her tail like she knows she’s about to steal the spotlight.

“All right,” I say, stepping back. “Open your eyes. ”

Winnie blinks, taking in the sight of Suzie now proudly sporting her pink heart-covered sweater. For a second, she’s speechless—then she bursts out laughing, the kind of laugh that fills the whole room.

“Oh my God, Logan,” she manages between giggles, her hands flying to her mouth. “She looks adorable !”

I can’t help but smile, leaning back against the couch. “Figured if we’re getting cozy in the new apartment, Suzie should too.”

Winnie reaches out to pet Suzie, still shaking her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you thought of this.”

“She’s part of the family now. Gotta make sure she’s as spoiled as you are.”

Winnie’s still laughing, but her eyes are soft, the kind of look that makes my heart feel like it’s too big for my chest. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously charming, right?”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s still smiling, and before she can say anything else, I scoop up Suzie and plop her right into Winnie’s lap. The dog curls up without a fuss, her fluffy golden head resting on Winnie’s leg, looking like a little stuffed animal with that sweater on.

“Okay,” Winnie concedes, stroking Suzie’s back. “This is pretty cute.”

I stretch out beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer until her head rests against my chest. The three of us are a tangled mess of limbs and fur, all huddled together on the couch. It’s quiet, except for the sound of our breathing and Suzie’s content sighs.

Feeling Winnie settle into me, I reach for one of the throw blankets she had so carefully folded earlier and drape it over us. I tuck it under her chin and press a soft kiss to her temple.

The last light of the sunset dips below the horizon, leaving us in the soft glow of the city lights outside. We stay curled up on the couch, limbs intertwined, basking in the simple joy of being together in this new chapter of our lives. There’s something incredibly comforting about the ordinary—about knowing that we’re building this life, one shared space, one lazy evening at a time.

Eventually, Winnie shifts, her head now nestled against my chest. “You know, I’ve been thinking,” she murmurs, her voice laced with sleepiness.

“About what?”

“About us. This. Everything.”

I raise an eyebrow, intrigued. “And?”

She hesitates for a moment, as if she’s trying to find the right words. “I guess… I just feel really lucky. Like we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

I smile, pressing another kiss to her hair. “We are, Win. We really are.”

The weight of her words lingers in the air between us, and I feel the same sense of certainty settle over me. This is it. This is what we’ve been working toward, what we’ve dreamed about for so long. And now that it’s here, it feels even better than I could have imagined.

Tomorrow, there will be more boxes to unpack, more things to organize, and plenty of little arguments about closet space and pizza slices. But tonight, in this quiet moment, with Winnie wrapped in my arms and everything feels right.

This is home.

“Is this what you’ve always imagined?” Winnie asks, looking up at me while her head lays on my chest.

“Nothing I ever dreamed up could ever compare to the real thing,” I tell her honestly. “I spent so much of my time preparing myself for the possibility of it all just being hypothetical, but this–this means everything to me.”

Everyone always acted like they knew exactly how Winnie and I would play out, and while it’s endearing that our friends and family were always there, rooting for our happy ending, it gave little room for us to picture it ourselves without taking other people’s perspectives into account. That’s really hard when you’re a kid.

“Well, it’s a good thing all our hypotheticals became realities then.” She smiles cheekily, as if she knows exactly what I’m thinking.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s hypothetical, reality, or an alternate universe. I will always be yours.” It’s been two years of us dating, and I couldn’t picture it any other way.

Seven billion people experience life in completely different ways, and I’m thankful every single day I get to spend mine with Winnie, now and forever.