Months later, life returns back to normal for me.

Scratch that—life starts being better than normal. It's the end of the school year before I even realize it, only a week left of my last year of high school. It's hard to believe that I'll be a graduate in a week, and life after high school is going to start. I've been accepted into the local university, so I've planned to attend college after high school. Thorne has enrolled into the community college, where he'll start in the fall. The thought that we'll be going to college together (albeit different schools) is one that makes me happy; makes the future seem so much more real, rather than a distant understanding that it is coming.

Speaking of Thorne, our relationship is now stronger than it's ever been before. My parents get along with Thorne in ways I never thought imaginable, accepting him as a part of my life and a new portion of their's. He comes over for dinner at least once a week, an event that feels natural now. My dad has even started allowing Thorne in my room, as long as he's not in my room for more than ten minutes each visit. I can hardly complain about that rule; I'm just happy that the two different parts of my life are finally coming together as one.

I suffer through the last semester of school with my friends by my side, waiting to finally graduate. I start to eat lunch with Emmie, Asher (who's actually not that bad), and Camila, along with Thorne. Thorne and Asher are pretty close friends, and it's safe to say that Emmie is definitely my best friend. It's fun when we all get together as a group, making memories that will last a lifetime. Things are better than I ever dared to hope for. Before I know it, it will be time to discover what lies ahead in my future.

And Thorne and I . . . well, we're closer than ever. It's like all the bad we had to go through only brought us closer together, almost like it's a good thing—as crazy as that sounds. We spend almost every waking moment together. It doesn't seem to matter how many things are changing in my life, doesn't seem to matter how I feel about the future. It's comforting to know that no matter what happens, I'll always have Thorne.

It's funny to me how I've come to love someone I used to hate so much. My life completely flipped upside down the second I first laid eyes on him. I used to think that was a scary thing, but now I'm so grateful that it happened. I wouldn't be who I am now without him. I know in my heart that he shaped me into a better person, and I've done the same for him. I'm truly better off with him by my side, encouraging me to be a better version of myself everyday.

"What are you thinking about, Sunshine?" The sound of Thorne's voice and a light squeeze to my hand in his brings me out of my thoughts. I look over at him from where I sit in the passenger seat of his car, giving him a small smile.

"Nothing much," I lie. If there's one thing I don't want to do in his presence, it's relive the past. I just want to focus on our future together, one that's finally started to look up for us. "Nothing important. Where are we going, anyway?"

"It's a surprise," Thorne says, eyes on the road, hand on my knee. "You'll see when we get there."

"Cryptic," I mumble, rolling my eyes. Thorne simply chuckles, still refusing to tell me what he's up to. Summer is in the air, lighting my mood with the feel of the sun shining down on me. This year went by so fast, it's still hard to believe it's really almost over. Just a few more months before the next new year appears, bringing along whatever the future has in store.

When Thorne finally stops the car in front of some unrecognizable building, he covers my eyes with his hands as soon as I step outside, claiming he doesn't want to "ruin the surprise". He doesn't allow me to peek until we're inside of whatever the place is, and I look around with curious eyes.

It's dark on the interior of the unfamiliar building, with faint back lighting. A bunch of framed photos and drawings hang on the black-painted walls around me. On the far corner there is a wall full of hand-drawn sketches, and something about them calls me to remember something that seems to be right in front of me. The room is also decorated with a few pieces of leather furniture, some chairs and a small coffee table over to my right.

"It's a . . . tattoo parlor?" I eye my surroundings, wondering what's going on as I finally realize where we are. I'm curious and confused all at once, wondering why Thorne is acting like he has some surprise planned. "As much as I love your tattoos, Thorne, I don't think—"

"It's not for you," Thorne stops me short, a knowing gleam in his eye. He offers me an assuring smile, one that tells me I'll figure it all out with time. "You'll see. Come on." He leads me toward the back of the room by taking my hand in his, still leaving me in the dark about what's happening.

"Hey, Tony," Thorne says casually to the first employee we come across, like he's speaking to an old friend.

"Thorne!" Tony—a guy with a buzzed head and face tattoos—exclaims, pounding Thorne on the back. "You must be here for your appointment?"

"Right," Thorne says with a nod. Snaking an arm around me, he introduces me to Tony. I smile and greet him politely, still curious as to what's going on.

"This is the girl you talked my ear off about last time you were in here?" Tony asks, making both Thorne and I blush. My eyes unintentionally fall on the rose tattoo on his arm, his most recent work.

"This is her." Thorne glances down at me with pride in his eyes, a wide smile on his lips. I'm unable to restrain a smile of my own as I meet his gaze, loving the way he makes me feel like it's just us in our own little bubble of the world.

"Come with me." Tony gestures for us to follow him behind a dark curtain. "I think I'm ready to start if you are."

I raise an eyebrow at Thorne as we enter the small room, watching Thorne take a seat in the leather chair in the center. "You're getting a tattoo?"

"Yep." Thorne leans back in his seat, grinning at me. He's acting so casual yet still so secretive about this whole ordeal, I'm almost worried to even think about what he's about to get permanently inked onto his skin.

"You're not going to tell me what it is, are you?"

"Nope." Thorne grins, adding, "That's part of the surprise."

"Okay then," I mutter, rocking on my heels. "I guess I'll just wait until then, huh?" I fall into the seat to my right, my back to the black-painted wall. Honestly, I've never been a very patient person. Thorne knows this, too, and is probably enjoying every moment of it.

Thorne's eyes gleam knowingly as they meet mine. "I guess so."

★★★

When I wake up from the nap that I didn't mean to take, Thorne is finally done getting inked. He's sitting in the same chair he'd been sitting in when I accidentally drifted off, his shirt off, revealing his bare chest. I wake groggily, sitting up and hoping I didn't drool in my sleep. Oh, God, I don't even want to know what my hair must look like.

"Look at you, sleepyhead." Thorne shoots me an easy grin as I wake myself up, saying, "You woke up just in time."

"You mean I can see the tattoo now?" I question. I cross my arms over my chest as I walk over to his chair, surprisingly anxious to see what he got done. I guess I'm ready to know what all the secrecy was about, curious to find out why he kept his new tattoo a secret at all.

"Spot anything different, babe?" Thorne mumbles to me softly as I study his skin, trying to find the new ink. My eyes wander his arm and sleeve of tattoos, as that's where I'm expecting the ink to be. That's when I notice what's staring me right in the face and I gasp aloud, holding my hands to my mouth. Thorne laughs softly at my reaction, grinning up at me.

"Oh my God . . ." I trail off, resting my hand on his chest. Up until now, the only tattoo Thorne had on his chest was the date of his mother's death, inked on the skin above his heart. But now there's a new tattoo: a beautiful little sun etched directly across from the date of his mother's passing, also placed on the skin above his heart.

"Thorne . . ." I trail off again, shaking my head. I don't know what else to say.

"Now I'll always have my Sunshine with me," he teases, running a hand up my arm as he pulls me in close to him. "Both of my favorite girls, in my heart forever."

I press my lips together, trying hard not to cry. But when someone says something like that to you, how do you not tear up? I feel overwhelmed, unsure of how I'm even supposed to respond to his words. He's entirely too good of a person to be real; entirely too good for me.

"You're too good to me," I finally whisper, shaking my head. I can't possibly fathom how I'll ever be able to pay him back for this grand gesture. I don't think I will. It's always when I think that there's no possible way I can love him more that Thorne unintentionally finds a way to prove me wrong.

"Only because you're too good to me first," Thorne tells me with a grin. He wraps his arms around my waist, blinking up at me. "You like it?"

"Of course," I tell him truthfully. "It's wonderful."

"I'm glad." Thorne's suddenly smirking, his hands finding their way into my back pockets. "Because I can think of a few ways you can repay me . . ." I roll my eyes at his suggestion, shoving his arm. "Just kidding!" he's quick to exclaim, which makes me laugh.

I lean down and give him a quick kiss, running a hand down his cheek. "Thank you," I tell him softly. "I love it. I love you."

As soon as I say the words, I know they're true. I've never loved anyone the way I love him, and sometimes that realization is scary. It's hard to believe that out of all of the people in this world, we somehow ended up together. And yet I know I wouldn't change a thing if I could, because meeting him was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'll spend the rest of my life wondering how I ever managed to deserve someone as good as Thorne Baxter. But I'm okay with that.

Because it means that I'll get to spend the rest of my life with him by my side, and that's a pretty damn good way to spend forever.

✧✧✧

: it's kind of hard to believe that Better Off is officially almost over. i'll be posting the epilogue next week, and i promised myself i wouldn't cry, so we'll see how that works out.

also, thank you all so much for 2k! if you're reading this, i'll never be able to express how grateful i am to you. i've always wanted to be a writer, and one fear a writer often faces is wondering if anyone will even want to read their work. you guys reading this are making my dream of being a writer come true, and i love you all so much!

if you've liked reading Better Off, don't hesitate to leave a vote or comment to tell me what you think :)