Four Broken Pieces ✓

Epilogue

2 years later

Ivan's hand was on my lower back as he introduced me to the members of his gang. I'd met quite a few of them at our house before they'd all treated me with kindness and respect. I caught George's eye, one of Ivan's closest confidant and he gave me a smile as he came over with a woman next to him. As they drew closer, my heart involuntarily sped up and it took me a few moments to realize why.

The woman. She had the same eyes as the as him, the man who'd died saving me. They must have been siblings. I couldn't face her with what I done. Not now. Not ever. Not caring how about how rude I seemed, I spun out of Ivan's grasp and tried to disappear into the crowd.

A slender hand closed around my wrist before I could. I turned and she was standing there with those eyes that still haunted me from time to time. I could tell she knew exactly who I was and what I'd done but there was no hatred in her eyes. In fact, there was sympathy.

And then she proceeded to shock me as she drew me into a close hug. It took me a moment to recover and hug her back.

"I know this will do nothing to ease your pain but I'm sorry," I whispered. She drew back and there was a kind, sad smile on her face. She was truly an angel for not looking at me with contempt. It was like she understood how sorry I was for what I'd done that day and she had a big enough heart to not only make peace with it, but also to forgive.

"He was my brother. I wish he was here today but I know he's watching us and he'd want me to forgive you." She squeezed my hand tightly before walking back to George who was talking with Ivan. I was left standing there with watery eyes I didn't bother to hide. A hand wrapped around my waist and I felt Mikhail and Alexei's presence at my either side. Mikhail only said one word.

"Closure?" I nodded and he leaned down to give me a light kiss on the forehead before leading me back to Ivan. Alexei entwined his fingers with mine and I gave it a gentle squeeze.

Finally, closure for a mistake I never should have made. It was the first step to stopping the tears and the nightmares, and to finally moving on. I gave the girl a wide smile of gratitude and she nodded in return before returning her attention to the conversation at hand.

"I still cannot believe you're not brave enough to do this without us here," Alexei stated for the hundredth time as we put up the fairy lights and around the trees and placed a few fake candles in the grass as well. Alexei wasn't doing any work. He was just sitting around humming songs as Mikhail, Troy and I worked to get everything ready before Ivan and Violet got to the house. Their relationship had progressed in leaps and bounds and just like I'd predicted, two years later, they held a close sibling relationship that mostly consisted of them poking fun at each other.

"They'll be here any minute so quit distracting everyone Alexei." Alexei silently pouted as Mikhail shut him up. I quickly pecked him on the lips as I passed him and he grinned brighter than the sun as he caught hold of my arm.

"We should practice playing some music together later today," I told him as I stopped in front of him. He frowned.

"The gang's got some work to be done but I guess some late night music sessions might work." I slipped from his grasp with a smile.

"Not unless you want Ivan to kick your butt like he did last time." Alexei mumbled something that sounded oddly like cranky old hag as I rejoined the others. Just as we put up the last of the lights, we heard the unmistakable sound of Ivan's voice.

"Okay everyone hide. Troy, do you have the ring?" Troy nodded and Mikhail grabbed Alexei and the two ran off in the direction the house. I hid behind a tree a few feet away with a video camera in hand. A few seconds later, Violet emerged from the foliage looking quite pissed. Ivan followed in tow and I stifle a giggle as I realized the two had been arguing about something as always.

Violet's frown immediately slipped away when she noticed Troy standing in the clearing with a small box in one hand surrounded by lights. She wasn't the emotional kind, but the moment he went down on one knee, I could tell that there were tears on her face. Ivan darted away and appeared silently at my side. His warmth breath hit my neck as he stood behind me with his hands braced on my waist.

"That's going to be us soon," he whispered in my ear. I grinned at the conviction in his voice as I turned to face him.

"Really?" He smiled and it still made me breathless.

"Of course. My mother even gave me a ring." Now he had to be joking. His eyes were beaming with delight. I rolled my eyes and shoved him away playfully.

"No way. Last time I met her, she told me I was too young to be focused on anything but college right now." I'd enrolled at the local community college and took classes in art and music. The boys dropped out because of work with the gang and between us, we made enough of a living to pay for my tuition and the roof over our heads.

"I'm not kidding. It's right here." He pulled a box out of his pocket as he got down on one knee. My eyes bulged out of their sockets at this point and I couldn't contain my gasp. I heard a cry of outrage to my left as Alexei and Mikhail appeared.

"What are you doing? This is supposed to be romantic," Alexei cried out in outrage as he came to Ivan's side with Mikhail in tow. Mikhail gave me an amused grin as the two started bickering over how it was supposed to be a surprise more than anything else. Mikhail rolled his eyes in displeasure. I grinned before plucking the ring out of Ivan's hand. The two stopped bickering as I got down on one knee before all three of them. The words began to flow out. I'd said all these words in my head, whispered them into the dark sometimes when all three of them lay asleep but I'd never said it to their faces. They deserved to hear them.

"I, I thought I lost everything when I lost my mother. I'd never known sadness as I'd known then and I vowed not to let myself love anyone as deeply as I loved her.

But you made me realize that it wasn't love if I didn't give everything I had. It wasn't true love if it didn't have the power to break me. Her last words to me were that I loved more wholly than anyone she'd ever known.

And now I'm giving all that love to you for giving me strength, for showing me kindness, for being the brightest light in my life and the support I can always lean on. You are the people I've been looking for my whole life and I can't imagine my life without you in it. Thank you, for saving me time and time again and giving me the strength to finally save myself." Mikhail smiled as he took the ring from my hand and slipped it onto my finger. He lifted me off the ground and I threw my arms around all three of them as the reality of the moment sunk in.

We might not get married but this ring on my finger made whatever we had permanent. I'd found something people spent their whole lives chasing after. I leaned back and Ivan grinned as he swept me off my feet, bridal style to head back to Violet's cottage. Alexei leapt onto Mikhail's back much to the latter's annoyance and the four of us made our way home to spend the evening in each other's company, followed by an infinite number of evenings after that.

Because ultimately, true love never dies.     

A short epilogue to end this story. It's been one hell of a ride. I'm sorry for this long wait but school had to come first. This is the end of Four Broken Pieces. I can't believe it. It's not the most amazingly written book, the most creative or anything but I love it so much and I'm so grateful for the love all of you have shown it as well. Thank you for sharing this book with me. I will be starting a new book soon and I hope I have your support, your love there as well. Until then...

Love

-ASH