Chapter Twenty-Five (Last Chapter)

It's my 20th birthday today.. and I know I'm supposed to be the one receiving gifts, but consider this my gift to y'all. ♡

~  the  f i n a l  chapter  ~

"Create the life you can't wait to wake up to."

LUCY

I dreamed of that night. The one my parents would retell over and over again to anyone they met. About how they came across their daughter in her Barbie nightgown, eerily standing in their kitchen at a late hour. That happened almost ten years before that, and I wasn't even awake at the time to experience it, but I dreamed of it often. It felt so real every time. I could imagine my mom with her damn hockey puck, ready to smack an intruder down if she had to.

What I do remember is waking up that morning with watchful eyes on me. My parents looked so worried, and what was the first thing I blurted out?

I'm sorry for eating the last of dad's cookies. They were just so good.

I was so nervous I was going to be in trouble. Instead, I was greeted with laughter.

I used to think for the longest time that the universe punished me for finishing my dad's cookies by making me go through my sleepwalking. Let's just say I haven't had macadamia nut cookies since that day.

The sun was what woke me up.

It began to stream through the window, burning my eyes as I attempted to squint them open. It took me a few moments to process where I was, but it didn't take that long. After all, there was arm still wrapped securely around me.

At first, my heart warmed up at the idea of Clayton holding on to me throughout the whole night, but then it nearly leaped out of my chest.

Was  I still in the same position as when we had fallen asleep last night?

There was a chance I had gotten up overnight and Clayton laid me back down. I tried keeping the happiness bubbling inside me down, in case of that scenario. I didn't need to disappointment myself.

However it was no use. I looked up towards Clayton and his sleeping face was more precious than anything. I scanned over him.

When I was that fourteen year old girl seeing a guy like Clayton Hugh enter her class, my crush was almost instant. There was always something about him that caught my eye - my heart, and no matter how hard I tried, it would never shake. My friends poked fun at me for my crush, like any friends of course. They told me he was a douchebag like all of the other jock guys at our school. At first I believed that because, well, it was true.

I never blamed Clayton for being that way though. He was handsome, foreign, and great at athletics. Guys like him were destined for being a lady's man and being every guy's best friend. For the longest time I let myself have a crush from afar and never approach him because of that.

Clayton's breathing was steady and light. The sunlight was casting over his face, almost highlighting his freckles.

Like I had thought before, there was always that chance he had put be back in the bed last night. I knew he hadn't though.

I knew, deep down, that sleeping next to him may very well be my remedy.

It made complete sense to me. He made me feel safe and secure at any point we were together. Although I have tried sleeping with other people I cared about, I had never slept soundly through the whole night. Clayton and I's connection went beyond that of my friends and family. It was something I had never experienced before.

I relished in whatever it was I was feeling, until Clayton began to stir. He straightened out the arm laying across my back, and eventually I saw those blue-green eyes poking out into the day. He eventually turned around to be on his back, and stretched his body out.

"Good morning," I whispered at first, testing if he was actually awake yet.

When I received an eyes closed turn of the face towards me, I took that as he was awake. "Hi."

I couldn't help but giggle at his groggy, deep voice.

"God, what time is it?" He rubbed at his eyes.

I sat up, peering at his alarm clock. "Close to twelve-thirty."

Reaching over to my phone, I checked my notifications to find texts from J.K. There was six of them, and all of them were forms of apologizing for Zeke's douchebaggery and how she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. She apparently snuck in her own damage on him last night by kicking him right in the eggplant emoji.  Whatever that meant.

Smirking to myself, I pulled the covers off me and stood up. And to think, the night previous I was scared our friendship would be ruined over something like that. I should've known she wouldn't allow bullshit in her life. Especially one that tried to sabotage a friend's relationship with someone.

Clayton eventually followed suit and got out of bed. He left his room to see if either of his parents were home, and he came and told me just his mom was, but she was sound asleep.

Being the gentleman he was, he went to his car and brought my bag in that had spare clothes in it. I wasn't going to tell Clayton this, but that was the main reason why I followed after him after he had punched Zeke. Then it turned into me wanting to make sure he was alright, even though I was pretty high in emotion at the beginning.

"So did you want to take me home soon?" I asked Clayton, although I was hoping the answer would be a straight up no.

Thankfully, that was what I got. "I was actually hoping we could go to a few places today."

I pursed my lips. "Interesting. Like what places?"

"Well. . I was thinking we could start the day off with some milkshakes?"

The smile on my face had to of been blinding.

After all, the day was starting off amazingly. I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in, got to wake up next to a gorgeous specimen, and now milkshakes? I was over-the-moon.

- - - - - - - - -

We settled at our usual table at Shakers, earning a few hello's from the staff.

Effie, the cashier, actually came up to our table and commented on how I looked last night.

"You looked so pretty last night, Lucy." She beamed. Then, her smile suddenly lightened. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened with you guys and Zeke though. He's telling people Clayton started things, but I know that's a lie."

Clayton rolled his eyes and finished his sip of his milkshake. "That guy doesn't know when to quit."

Effie quickly apologized, like her usual self, in case she caused Clayton any discomfort by mentioning him. After about another ten apologizes later from her, she left us to attend to another customer.

"I know we didn't talk about it last night," I began. "But I wanted you to know I'm sorry for believing what Zeke was saying for a split second. I was just taken off guard and--"

Clayton instantly started to shake his head. "No. No way, don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should have apologized and explained myself  to you last night." He sighed. "I never thought I'd resort to violence like that. I hope you know that's not me."

I proceeded to take a long sip of my milkshake. I could feel his eyes on me, analysing. Finally, I said, "it's okay. Zeke is a moron."

Our eyes met momentarily. I could tell he was still battling with his own demons about yesterday, and I had wished he wouldn't. He was the nicest guy I knew, but even the nicest have their breaking point. To be honest, if Clayton hadn't showed up, I probably would have punched Zeke in the face myself.

It's like their whole friendship was Zeke's way of making sure Clayton never blossomed into something more than a clone of him.

"On a lighter note, after this we're gonna go to the music shop."

My brows perked up. "Really?"

Clayton nodded, finally smiling. "Yep. I haven't been there for so long, and figured a fellow rock enthusiast like yourself would like to attend with me."

The last time I had went to The Tunes was that time Clayton came up to me randomly and I made a fool out of myself. That felt like absolute ages ago.

"Uh, sure. That sounds cool."

We continued on talking about random things and drinking our milk shakes, but once we finished, we headed towards the music shop. It was a beautiful day out, not too hot or too cold. As we strolled to the other side of the shopping center though, I couldn't help but notice he was glancing at his phone a lot.

I chose to shrug it off. It wasn't any of my business anyways.

We stayed at the music shop for a long time. Way longer than I had ever been there before, too. Clayton and I had always shared our love for T.V. shows together, since we had just about binged every great series on Netflix, but we hadn't touched music yet together. Which is kind of ironic, sense we first actually crossed paths there.

He showed me a lot of rock and roll artists, some from America, but most international. I would show him some of my favorite artists ranging from R&B to bubblegum pop, and we  were having a good time overall with each other.

We might have stayed there a little longer if Clayton didn't hear my stomach growl.

"Hungry?"

Nodding, I grabbed my stomach dramatically.

"Yeah. I probably should go home soon, my mom will have dinner made soon."

Clayton peered down at his phone once again, this time for a good second, then paid his attention back to me. He shook his head.

"I called your dad if it was okay we hung out the rest of the day together while you went to the restroom, and he said it was fine. If he asks though, just say I picked you up from J.K.'s house right about now." He scratched the back of his neck. "I hate lying, but, yeah. ."

I didn't really have much to say to that. I was mostly hungry and trying to figure out where I was going to get that food. If I wasn't going home for dinner, then we needed to get to the nearest restaurant as soon as possible.

"How about that restaurant we went to after the movies a few weeks ago?"

My stomach growled at the thought of Mexican food.

"I guess I'll be taking that as a yes?" He chuckled.

It was safe to say I scarfed down my food as quick as possible. I probably could have continued munching on the endless chips and salsa, but Clayton started to rush me. He said we had another stop somewhere, and then he would take me back home.

"Where are we going now?" I questioned.

Clayton smirked over at me. "You'll see."

The way he was acting was starting to make me suspicious. He seemed all too knowing about everything we were doing. There was no way all of these places were just randomly popping in his mind to go.

"Can I get a hint at least?" I squeezed his hand a little tighter. I noticed we were walking back towards his car.

Smiling, he nods. "Yeah, sure. It's one of my favorite places."

He laughed because of my scrunched up face.

"That could be so many places, Clay!"

"Then guess what, you'll have to wait see, now won't you?" He was still defiant, and it was driving me nuts.

He let my hand go to unlock his car, and away we went. I paid extra attention to the route we were taking, still spewing out guesses after guesses. All I would get in return was an amused expression.

It felt like ages we were stuck in that car. If I didn't know better, I thought we were going in circles. I could have sworn we had passed the same church three times. I let it slide however, and tried my best to be patient.

"The baseball field?"

I narrowed in on the field as it came into view. When Clayton didn't spew out a teasing maybe, I knew that was the place we were going to. Especially when I caught a glimpse of a group of people walking towards the parking lot, about to leave.

Clayton honked his horn, prompting hoots and hollers from my brother, Jacklyn Kate, Mateo, and Abby. Jacob was waving erratically, causing a laugh to escape me.

"What's going on, Clay?" I placed my hand on his forearm, hoping he would give me an answer at least this once.

Unsurprisingly, I got no response in return.

As he parked the car, I noticed the group going into Jacob's truck.

They were leaving already? We had just gotten there, and I couldn't imagine what two people could be doing at a baseball field. I was starting to think we were gonna play a scrimmage game possibly, but that idea flew out the window as I watched them pull out to leave.

"Remember what we talked about, Clayton!" Jacob stuck his head out of the back window. He was pointing towards Clayton. "Take care of my sister."

We got out of his car, and since it was starting to get dark, it was beginning to get a little chilly. I hadn't expected to be outside today, so I didn't bring a jacket with me. Clayton didn't miss a beat though, grabbing one conveniently in his trunk.

"Okay, so what are we doing here?" I hugged myself, enjoying wearing his jacket a little too much.

Clayton gestured for me to follow him. "Come on. You'll see right over here."

As we walked closer to the baseball field, I noticed there were twinkly lights set up around the dugouts and metal fences. They were a bright white; lighting the field ever so slightly with the help of the moonlight. I could begin to make out the soft playing of music, the slow kind that couples would slow dance to. It left me baffled, yet dazzled at the same time.

"What. . ." I couldn't help but hang my mouth open.

I turned my head, meeting the brightest of smiles. He looked all too knowing and proud at the field he practiced so hard at.

"I know this isn't like the dance last night. . but I was wanting to make it up to you." He jogged away from me towards a speaker near the home plate. He turned a nozzle to make the music louder. "You've been looking forward to the dance way too long, and I ruined that for you."

I was too busy looking around at the lights to notice he had walked back beside me. His arm brushed mine, making me jump a little.

I was still processing what exactly was going on. The whole day I had seen him on his phone, but now it made sense. He was planning this alongside our friends.

"You did all of this for me?" My heart was thudding in my chest. His infinite smile was only making it harder.

Clayton reached out and grabbed my hand, his thumb softly sliding back and forth on my skin. "Of course."

"But. ." My eyes moved around the dancing lights. "Why?"

That was when he took my other hand, too. He squeezed them both softly, while his smile softened too. He opened his mouth to speak once, but stopped.

"Did you wanna dance?" He asked a few moments later, randomly. He had a sheepish grin. "I actually really like this song."

It was Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. That was one of my favorite songs, and Clayton knew this, too.

He took my smile as a yes, and moved my hands to go around his neck. His moved around my waist, his fingertips digging into my hips a little too hard. I could tell he was nervous about something, but I wasn't sure about what just yet.

We swayed back and forth together, my head finding a place to lay on his chest. I could hear his erratic heartbeat, and it ironically was more beautiful to me than the song. It soothed my own down, and eventually my eyes closed shut.

The song ended soon after, but we stayed put for a couple songs after that.

Then, finally, Clayton said, "and to answer your question. . ." He breathed out before continuing. "I did this because I really, really like you, Lucy." The minute the words came off his tongue I my gaze snapped to his. He was turning a bright red. His eyes moved towards the ground, then he gulped. "I've been crazy about you for a while now. It just, uh, took me way too long to tell you."

In my head the past couple of years, I came up with so many imaginary scenarios Clayton Hugh would confess his feelings for me. One was in a dream where he came knocking at my door (shirtless, for whatever reason), and confessed it was love at first sight with me. Another was much more realistic, where he had asked me to our senior prom and we won prom king and queen. Then there was the time we would partner up on a project, and he would be overcome with his adoration for me that he just kissed out of the blue.

This, though, was better than anything I could have imagined though.

It was real, happening, and I just did the first thing that came to mind.

I stood up on my tiptoes, staring back at him for a few moments. His eyes flicked between both of mine, and his nose was slightly scrunched up. I could tell he was about to say something else, maybe about why I was right there, but I pulled his head forward before he could.

My lips met his in an instant.

For a few seconds, it didn't even feel like our lips were connected. I had went absolutely numb from my lips all the way to the toes I was standing on, but then he finally kissed me back. Only then did my lips begin to tingle as they were engulfed by soft, tentative kisses. His mouth was so sweet; everything I knew they would be and more. He pulled me closer to him, making me almost fall into him clumsily. I think he smiled through the kiss because of that, but I wasn't so sure. All I knew was that I could have kept kissing him for hours, but he was the one who pulled back.

He was flushed with color on his cheeks and lips as we moved apart, and his eyes looked to be a in a daze. I couldn't help but stare at his mouth, wanting nothing more to kiss him again.

"Wow. . uh." Clayton chuckled awkwardly. "I was starting to think that would never happen."

I went back and pressed another kiss to his lips. Then I smiled at him, giggling a bit. "Me either."

The rest of our little dance went a lot like that. We continued slow dancing, kissing from time to time, and confessing so many things.

"You really wished to have me notice you as your birthday wish?" Clayton didn't even bother to hide his smirk.

I scoffed. "What? Don't blame a girl for wanting to get her crush's attention."

Clayton shrugged a little. "Well, that was a waste of a wish. That's all I'm saying."

"How was I supposed to know you had some sort of not-so-but-kind-of crush on me from afar?" I blasted back at him, laughing.

"Touché, love. Touché." He laughed along with me. I could feel his chest vibrate on my face as we continued slow dancing. "Hey, Lucy. . I actually meant to ask you something this morning."

Clayton pressed on my cheek with his hand, gesturing to look up at him. He placed a loose hair behind my ear and I thought for a moment he was going to kiss me again, but sadly he didn't.

"How did you sleep last night?"

I smiled at his question.

The past couple of months forming a friendship with Clayton through trying to find a way to stop my bizarre sleepwalking has been an interesting one for sure. I went through a disgusting green diet, yoga classes to relieve stress, and several other ideas that ultimately failed.

Sleepwalking had always seemed like a curse to me, but now I was thankful for it. After all, it led me right to Clayton Hugh, my remedy.  It may have been a tough road, but in that moment, dancing with Clayton, I felt like everything was going to be okay. There may be more obstacles in my future, sure, but I could feel deep down that sleepwalking wouldn't be as much of an issue anymore.

"Honestly?"

Clayton nodded me on.

"Better than I have in a long, long time."

T H E     E N D

Twenty-five chapters and almost three years later, it's finally finished, guys. I just want to thank every single on you for supporting this book, and for coming back after I would have writer's block for months at a time. Without you all, there would have been no way I finished this book; it would've been abandoned at twelve or so chapters.

I've only finished a few books in my past (some One Direction fan fictions, and one really lame teen fiction), and I have never felt this emotionally strung up by finishing one before. I'm in tears one second, then smiling from to ear-to-ear the other.

Thank you all so much.