Chapter Thirty

In Which All Ends Happily

The third of June was Elisa’s high school graduation. She hadn’t actually been to the high school since last August, but her mother had insisted she attend the ceremony. Elisa would’ve been perfectly content to show up, collect her diploma, and peace the hell out. Mom also insisted on a small party back home after the ceremony was done. Her parents, her sisters, her grandparents, Charlene, Colin, Bobby, Willow, Gianna, and even Louise and Cora were all crammed into the apartment, eating chips and cake. They were all talking so much, Elisa couldn’t hear herself think. She’d managed to find a semi-quiet corner in the kitchen and was chatting with Gianna and Lucia. Lucia had, amazingly, taken very well to the shy, soft-spoken Gianna, and had been keeping her company all night.

Elisa was glad. They both needed a friend who understood what Wick had put them through. Lucia’s bruise was fading, and the spark was returning to her eyes, but she still had a long way to go. She’d taken the rest of the school year off and had enrolled in a summer school program to make things up. Their parents were also looking into counseling for her. Wick still hadn’t been found, but Elisa was determined to keep up hope that he’d be arrested soon. He couldn’t hide forever.

“It’s too bad your sister couldn’t come with you,” Lucia said to Gianna, hoisting herself up to sit on the kitchen counter. “She’s still in London, right?”

“Sh-she flew out this—this morning,” she said.

Elisa glanced down at her feet, determined not to dwell too much on Darcy.

“Well, I’m glad you could come, Gi,” Elisa said. “How have things been in Columbus?”

“They’re—they’re good, especially now that all the Wick drama is…well, I won’t say over, b-but…”

Lucia sighed. “It’s basically paused until the cops catch up to him. But he’s bound to turn up sooner or later. He’s not dumb, but he’s not smart enough to just disappear.”

“I… I hope I—I can get up the courage to test-testify,” Gianna said. “At the trial, I m-mean.”

“If you can’t, that’s okay,” Lucia said. “Some of the stuff he sent me on my phone is enough to get him some time, if nothing else. I hope.”

“And if the legal system fails us, we can always just kill him,” Elisa said, shrugging casually.

Gianna cracked a smile. “S-sounds like a plan to me.”

There was a knock at the door. She didn’t pay too much attention until Mom came into the kitchen.

“Elisa, there’s a Darcy looking for you?”

She looked up so quickly, she nearly gave herself whiplash. Lucia, meanwhile, could barely contain her glee, swinging her legs excitedly. Gianna just smiled, sipping innocently on her drink.

Elisa stared at her.

“You didn’t.”

“I did. Thank me later.”

“Oh my God.”

Elisa stood there for a second, more nervous than she’d been even when getting up onstage to get her diploma. She shook her head, trying to set herself straight. She took a deep breath, and then went to the door.

She’d never seen Darcy look so unkempt. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, there were bags under her eyes from a hard day of traveling, and she was in sweatpants and flip-flops. Elisa, still in the pink dress and jewelry she’d worn to her ceremony, for once felt a bit overdressed.

“I… I just came from the airport,” Darcy said, not taking her eyes off her for a second.

“You look lovely,” was all she could think of to say.

“Thank you.”

There was a pause.

“Elisa, I got your voicemail.”

Elisa blushed, finally tearing her gaze away. “I… I see,” she said. “Do you want to talk alone?”

Darcy nodded. “Very much, yes.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and called out, “Be back in a few minutes.” She and Charlene made eye contact across the room. Charlene’s eyes widened when she saw who was with her, mouthing “Oh my God, what?” when Darcy wasn’t looking. Elisa could only give a shrug and a silent “I don’t know” in response. She tried her best to ignore the fact that Colin, Willow, and Gianna all looked annoyingly proud of themselves.

Elisa led Darcy up to the roof. When they got there, they both stood in awkward silence, Darcy rocking on her feet.

“I didn’t intend for you to find out what I did,” she finally said. “At least, not like that.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Elisa said. “You—you rescued my little sister, and I will always, always be grateful for that. I don’t get why you didn’t tell me.”

She licked her lips, looking away.

“I was worried that you’d think that I—that I’d only done it to impress you. I… Elisa, my only thought when I helped Lucia was your happiness.”

Astonished, she could only stare.

“I didn’t care what I had to do or say to help you, I just—I had to. Because the idea of you being unhappy was intolerable. Even if you never knew that I helped, I would’ve been content, knowing that you were happy.”

“Darcy…”

She looked at her now.

“And then, when I was in London, I got a call from my aunt, saying that she’d attempted to make you promise to not pursue a romantic relationship with me—and you refused her.”

Elisa blushed. “Yeah. I shot her down pretty hard.”

“Hearing that… Hearing that is what gave me hope,” she admitted.

Through no conscious thought of her own, Elisa moved closer to Darcy, her heart pounding louder and louder, until she was close enough to see every detail of her face.

“Hope for what?” she asked.

They were standing mere inches apart now, their voices barely raised. The entire world had disappeared.

“I suppose it’s not too much of a secret that—that my feelings are still the same as they were in February,” Darcy said. “If anything, they’ve only grown since then. But—but if your feelings are still the same as they were at the time, please tell me so. One word, and I’ll never bring this up again. But if your feelings are different now—”

Elisa cut her off, closing the gap between them and kissing her, her hands trailing into Darcy’s hair. Darcy froze for a second, shocked, before leaning into it, kissing her back. Elisa had imagined this moment an embarrassing number of times over the past couple of weeks. She’d imagined the softness of her lips, the feeling of Darcy’s hands shaking—wait, maybe that was her—and the dizziness and the warmth and the sense that she was finally where she was supposed to be.

The real thing left all her fantasies behind.

They pulled away, Elisa still on tiptoe to reach Darcy’s lips, trying to catch their breath.

Elisa spoke first.

“Does that… Does that bring you up to speed?” she asked.

Darcy laughed, leaning her forehead against hers. “You… I never thought, after everything that happened…”

“Everything had to happen,” she said. “If we hadn’t started off where we did, we wouldn’t have changed into who we are now. And who knows—who knows where we’d be if we hadn’t changed.”

“I’d probably still be the ice queen you loved to hate,” Darcy said, her arms wrapping around Elisa’s waist. “You hated me so much, I can’t believe that now, you…you…”

“I was an idiot,” she said gently. “So were you. We both had a lot to learn.”

“And what have you learned?”

Elisa kissed her again.

“I love you, Darcy Fitzgerald. Most ardently.”

Darcy smiled against her lips, pressing another kiss to her mouth.

“I love you, too, Elisa Benitez,” she said. “I was already halfway through falling in love with you before I knew I had even begun. Once I realized, I found I couldn’t stop it. And soon, I found I didn’t want to stop it. I love you so much. And I don’t want us to have to ever be apart again. If…that’s what you want, too?”

“It is.”

They kept kissing, losing track of time, until footsteps approached, coming up the stairs. They both pulled back, heat flooding their faces as they turned toward the noise.

Her dad stood in the stairwell, eyebrows raised.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“I—I, uh, I’m going to—I’m gonna go find Gianna and see how she’s doing,” Darcy said quickly. “I’ll—Elisa, you can…explain things to him— Hi, Mr. Benitez, I’m Darcy, I’m your daughter’s…uh…I gotta go.”

Darcy practically ran back down the stairs and down the hall, probably looking for the nearest hole to crawl into. Elisa laughed as she watched her, completely enamored.

Her father just stared at her, waiting for the explanation he had been promised.

“That was Darcy, my…my girlfriend.”

Elisa had never been able to call someone her girlfriend before. She’d never been able to call anyone her anything before.

“I take it she’s new?” he asked.

She nodded. “New as in…five minutes ago.”

“What’s she like?”

“Smart. Loyal. Kind of awkward, but…but so good. She’s so good to me, and good for me.”

“I take it you really, really like her,” he said.

“Papa, I love her.”

He smiled, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her.

“Then I’m happy for you, Elisa,” he said. “This Darcy better be the woman you deserve.”

“She is. I promise, she is. And if you want to get to know her, talk about books. She’ll be all over that.”

He chuckled, pulling away from their hug.

“All I want is for you to be happy,” he said. “I’m glad you found someone to help you with that.”

“I am, too. And I like to think I make her happy, in return.”

“You do. I think anybody can see that.”

They rejoined the party, and Darcy had clearly told Willow everything, because she was practically glowing. Darcy grinned shyly, trying to make conversation with one of Elisa’s grandmothers. Elisa stood by her side and dreaded the moment she’d have to leave.

…

“It’s a bit unorthodox to have a ‘the trial can proceed’ party, but we’re a bit unorthodox ourselves,” Colin said, settling into the couch as the movie started.

None of them were really paying attention to the movie. Colin and Charlene were snuggling, Lucia and Gianna were going over Lucia’s summer school homework, and Elisa and Darcy were talking, sitting on the other end of the couch. But the movie provided some background noise, and it was nice to have an excuse to hang out. And this definitely called for some kind of celebration, no matter how small.

Wick had been found in Cleveland and brought in by the police. The trial could start. Gianna had also submitted some screencaps she’d saved from the first time she’d attempted to press charges—screencaps that, combined with Lucia’s own evidence, would hopefully be enough to send him away for a long time. And it wasn’t just Lucia and Gianna; Darcy had been right, there were other girls. Two others, both about fifteen years old, had come forward, and were willing to testify.

Elisa wasn’t entirely sure how the trial would pan out, but she was optimistic. So was Lucia, which was more than she had dared to expect.

Things weren’t back to normal just yet, but they were definitely better.

“You didn’t have to come all the way from Columbus,” she said to Darcy, wrapping an arm around her.

“Hey, I’m up here any chance I get,” Darcy said. “Sort of a side effect of a long-distance relationship. Well, medium-distance.”

“I’ve actually been thinking about that,” she said. “Maybe it shouldn’t have to be medium-distance much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…how would you feel if I started at OSU, in Columbus?” She reached up to trail a couple fingers through her hair. “I wouldn’t be able to go in the fall, but I could transfer in for the spring semester. Plus that gives me time to get financial aid in order…and talk Mom around on the idea.”

Darcy grinned. “I would love that. And you’re definitely smart enough to get scholarships, and you could live in the dorm.”

“So, it looks like I have an application to start.”

“It appears that you do,” Darcy said, leaning up to kiss her lips. “Your mom will be sad to see you go.”

“Maybe,” Elisa admitted. “But she has four other daughters to torment. Us getting together has given her renewed hope for Jules and Bobby.”

Alejandra had freaked out harder than anybody when Elisa told her she was dating a Fitzgerald. She’d asked her about ten times if she was kidding and had taken to Facebook to brag as soon as she realized it was true.

So now everyone Elisa had ever met knew, too.

Including Catherine Burger, who, according to Darcy, had blocked her, since this was apparently the next-best thing to disinheriting her.

“Good riddance,” she said. Colin had agreed. Elisa worried about him when his mother first cut him off, but he seemed to be handling the new reality incredibly well. She could tell he still missed her at times, but she was surprised at how much independence he’d shown. And he and Charlene were happier than ever.

Colin and Charlene were both over-the-moon for the new couple and insisted on taking a little credit. Colin had already begun planning potential double dates. Another reason, Elisa thought, to hightail it out of Steventon. When they told Julieta and Bobby, he’d simply handed Julieta twenty dollars.

Elisa herself had never imagined being this happy. She’d been content before, but it was nothing compared to this. She’d become the very lovesick, giddy sort of girl she used to make fun of. Not that this stopped her from snarking at her new girlfriend, of course. Darcy was slowly getting used to it and had even begun firing back.

And now, with the future wide open in front of her, Elisa was both exhilarated and terrified. Moving away from home to live in the dorms was a nerve-wracking thought, but she was ready. If she had Charlene, her sisters, even Colin, and especially Darcy, she was certain she was ready to take on almost anything.

It wasn’t a happy ending, per se, but it was a very, very happy start.

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