"I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Tell the world I'm coming home"
-'Coming Home' by Diddy

I used to wonder when I would feel normal again. When the sharp pain in my chest would cease to exist, and if the nightmares would ever stop. I would wake up and think Today is the day. Today things will be different.but it didn't change anything. I wasn't until I woke up one morning next to Dustin that I realized I wasn't thinking any of these things anymore. I was breathing easy, my mind was blank and the tight knot in my stomach ceased to exist.

I inhaled deeply and stretched my loose limbs before turning on my side and facing Dustin. It was him I knew, he was the reason I changed. He had restored my faith, and in some small way I knew that I had done the same for him.

His face, once a mystery, was now completely open to me. The angles lines and ridges all fully understandable in a way that I hadn't had with anyone before. I ran my fingers across his forehead, down the hollow of his cheek before coming to rest at the rose tattooed at the bottom of his neck. I loved him more than I thought was possible, but it didn't scare me in the way it once would have.

Dustin opened his eyes sleepily, once he noticed that I was leaning above him he sat up and pulled me into his arms. His touch, the innate bubbling heat we had between us was something I would never tire of. I leaned into him letting my head rest in the junction between his head and shoulder.

"What time is our flight today?" He asked, his hands exploring my sides before coming to rest on my hips.

"At 2." I kissed his chin. "So that means we have to leave in the next hour and a half or so."

"We could save some time on the shower by taking it together." He suggested, burying his face into my neck.

"I think that would actually waste more time than save it." I sighed pulling away from him.

He pulled me back down before I could get too far.

"What?" I asked, feigning annoyance.

He pulled me tight up against his body. "You didn't even give me a good morning kiss." He growled playfully, nipping the shell of my ear.

I rolled my eyes and ignored the thudding of my heart, and leaned in lightly brushing my lips against his. "Happy?"

He sent me a predatory grin. "No."

He pulled me in so fast I barely had a chance to think. It seemed like this is how it always was with him. Like a fire had completely enveloped me and would not relinquish. I eagerly straddled his thighs and leaned into him, my hands wrapping around his neck and then moving on to the rest of his body. I pulled away slightly before pushing back in and gently biting his lower lip. He moaned and flipped us over, pinning my hands above my head so he could explore my neck. I smiled and let myself get swept away. A moment later he pulled away from me, and looked into my eyes.

"I love you." He whispered against my lips.

I pressed my mouth against his. "I know." I extricated my body from his, stretching my legs before heading to the shower. "But that doesn't mean that I'll let you get out of this trip."

He groaned behind me.

I couldn't contain my laughter.

-o-

"Would you stop fidgeting?" I asked Dustin, placing my hand on his knee trying to stop the nervous jiggle he couldn't seem to control.

Our flight had been running late and it seemed that as more time passed the more agitated Dustin became.

"I can't help it." He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I'm nervous."

"Don't be." I laughed. "My family will love you." I kissed his cheek quickly and laced my hand through his. "Besides you have a three hour flight to get yourself together."

He sent me a tight smile. "I hope you're right."

-o-

I was right. My family loved Dustin. Even Drew who had nothing but wary eyes and guarded remarks about Paul and Jerome had nothing negative to say about him. It was Dustin that surprised me the most. He was open in a way that I had never noticed before.

He grinned easily as my dad joked about his various tattoos, talked college sports with Drew, and charmed my mother by volunteering to help her cleanup after dinner. This was the person I was getting to know him as, easy going and unrelentingly sweet. I loved every second of it.

"Are you happy?" He asked me later when we were alone.

We were on the rooftop now, the balmy night air and stars making the world seem more magical than it actually was. Dustin sat against the chimney with me pulled into his lap. It felt far more intimate between us than usual, as if in that moment he could see right through me.

"Why do you ask?" I peered up at him through my lashes.

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "You seem more guarded around your family. I've never seen you that way before."

Sometimes I wished he wasn't able to see me so clearly. That he couldn't access all my hidden parts whenever he pleased but I knew that it was the same for him. We both saw each other too clearly at times.

"I try to be careful around them." I sighed, turning so I could look at him. "Ever since the incident with Paul they have been walking on eggshells around me." I looked down. "Sometimes it's better if they don't know everything."

He nodded, ducking his head down to brush his lips against mine. "I get it."

That's why I loved him. He understood everything without me having to say anything.

-o-

I didn't see Jerome until the day before Dustin and I left. It didn't exactly catch me off guard. I knew it was only a matter of time before we ran into another. He didn't recognize me at first. I could see the confusion on his face, it was the look you gave someone when you couldn't exactly place where or when you knew them from. It stabbed at my heart, had I really changed that much?

"Lissa?" He asked, coming towards me.

"In the flesh." I smiled opening my arms to him.

We hugged the same as we always had, holding tight for a quick second and then letting go just as fast.

"You look different." He reached out pushed a strand of hair out of my face. "I like your hair."

In that moment I knew that Jerome and I would never be together again. Maybe in a parallel universe where he didn't cheat on me, or Dustin didn't exist, but not now in this reality. Yes, he still made me feel something but it was different. It wasn't love or anything close to it, but rather a fleeting fondness you felt towards a pleasant memory. The realization made me sad and relieved at the same time, because now I knew that what was once us was over and unlike before I was glad for it.

"It was nice seeing you again." Jerome said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I could see then that he felt the same way I had.

"Don't be a stranger." I smiled turning away from him.

"I won't." He grinned before walking in the opposite direction.

"Who was that?" Dustin asked me once I caught up to him.

I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him fiercely. "Just an old friend."

He smiled, pressing his lips lightly to mine before pulling me towards our car. His arm slipped around my waist tucking me neatly into his side. I pressed my face into him and couldn't help but think that this is where I belonged.

AN: AHHHHH! It has been so long since I last updated! I'm sorry for the wait : ( but as usual life decided to intervene. Anyways, here is the epilogue I've been toying around with it for a while and finally simplified it to what I thought would be best for my characters.

I also wanted to thank all of the reviewers I have had over the course of this story! You guys are amazing and all of your feedback is what has pushed me to finally finish this story. Honestly you guys are quite simply the best!

In other news now that I'm back I'm going to start updating my other stories. I cannot tell you how excited I am to get back to Drew and Anjali in 10RIHDH. I also have a story for Jerome planned but that's going to be on the back burner until I get 10RIHDH under control.

Hopefully I'll have something up soon!

: )