The Second Time Around

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Final Night

The final dinner was bittersweet.

Tomorrow, they'd leave. They'd go back to their regular lives. The question was whether they'd maintain the changes they'd made this week.

"You'll stay in touch, right?" Lily asked Oliver Westbrook. "We're friends."

"Best friends," Oliver agreed.

Ethan and Theo had bonded over astrophysics. They'd exchanged information and promised to email about their discoveries.

The adults were more cautious but equally determined.

Elena hugged Selene. "Thank you for reminding me that my marriage was worth saving."

"It was always worth saving," Selene said. "I just helped you remember."

Marcus shook Alexander's hand, but it felt like a handshake between brothers.

"The poems," Marcus said quietly. "I'm going to start writing them again. Not just for Elena, but for both of us. I'm going to write down why I love my wife every single day until I die."

"Good," Alexander said. "She deserves to know."

That night, Selene and Alexander sat on the balcony of their suite, looking out at the valley.

"Do you think it'll stick?" Alexander asked. "When we go home?"

"I think we'll try," Selene said. "And we'll probably fail sometimes. But at least we'll try. And we'll do it together."

"I love you," he said simply. "I don't say it enough. I'm going to fix that."

"I love you too. And I see you now. Really see you. That's new."

"It's good," he said. "It's very good."