Epilogue

Two Years Later

There were only twenty seconds left in the game.

This was it.

This was her chance.

Bronwyn narrowed her eyes in concentration and sprinted down the grassy field. She dribbled the black and white soccer ball between her feet as she easily evaded the sweepers who were supposed to stop her. Her team was shouting her name loudly but she tried to ignore them.

She needed to focus.

She needed to score.

She finally made it to the goal where a girl with fiery red hair stood. The goalie smirked at her and gave Bronwyn an icy smile. It was as if the goalie was trying to tell her there was no way she was going to score.

To bad for Ginger-Long-Legs-Goalie, Bronwyn had no plans of missing the net. She was going to kick the ball and score the point her team needed to win the game.

Bronwyn stopped a few feet in front of the goal and lined up her foot with the ball. She took a step back, let out a deep breath, and swing her right foot forward as hard as she could. The side of her foot hit the ball with excessive force and the ball went soaring towards the net. The ball sailed just past the goalie, brushing her fingertips, and then hit the back of the net before hitting the ground with a thud.

The goalie looked at the ball lying on the floor behind her and then moved her icy gaze back to Bronwyn. She could have sworn a tear made it's way down the redheads face but Bronwyn couldn't be too sure. Instead of focusing on the pissed off goalie, she spun on her heal with a huge smile on her face and began sprinting towards her teammates.

The Columbia girl's soccer team swarmed around Bronwyn and they all jumped up and down, celebrating their win. This win meant that they would advance to the playoffs and Bronwyn couldn't have been more excited.

After all of the excitement from the win died down, Bronwyn and the rest of the team made their way off of the field and onto the team bus. Since the game was at the opposing school's field, they had a forty-five minute drive home and Bronwyn was eager to relax on the trip back to campus.

She got on the bus quickly and took a seat near the back. She closed her eyes and began to drift off when another teammate plopped herself in the seat next to Bronwyn and clapped a hand down on her shoulder. Bronwyn turned to see the dark green eyes of her roommate, Rachel Walters. Rachel smiled at Bronwyn and began to jump up and down in her seat.

"That was awesome, Winnie!" Her roommate practically shouted, obviously still pumped up on adrenaline. "Do you see Gretchen Kendrick's face when you scored on her? She looked like she was going to punch you in that pretty face of yours. I could practically see the steam blowing out of her ears!"

"What can I say? I wasn't about to lose that shot and her cocky smile was just really pissing me off." Bronwyn smiled and thought about how much she hated it when people were cocky.

She had to deal with enough cockiness from her overly self-assured boyfriend. She didn't have the patience to deal with any more cockiness from some overly confident goalie.

"I heard she is a real bitch to deal with. I am glad you put her in her place."

"That's what I am here for. Winnie Nichols: The freshman who puts bitches in their place."

Rachel laughed and then her demeanor became completely serious. "Are you coming to the party tonight? I heard Joey from the boy's team is throwing a beach-themed party at his house. I think it could be fun."

Bronwyn sighed, "I can't tonight. My boyfriend is coming tonight to visit and he told me he had a surprise planned. So, I will probably be out all night."

"Ooh!" Rachel squealed. She had met Zach on a couple occasions and Bronwyn was pretty sure the girl was more invested in her relationship than she was. "You guys are totally going to get it on tonight, aren't you? Should I find somewhere else to sleep tonight? I can totally crash with Christen…"

Bronwyn rolled her eyes at her roommate and let out a sigh. It was going to be a long ride home.

~...~…~…~

"I'm heading out now!" Rachel said and began walking towards the front door of their small apartment. She wore a pair of white shorts and white tank over her striped bikini—perfect for a beach themed party. "I am going to crash in Christen's room tonight. Don't do anything I wouldn't do with the gorgeous boyfriend of yours!"

Then Rachel practically bounced out of the room before slamming the door shut behind her. Bronwyn laughed, realizing there was pretty much nothing that Rachel wouldn't do. She began to grow excited at the idea of seeing Zach. It had been a little more than three weeks since she last saw him. Even though they were only about thirty minutes away from each other, their schedules often kept them busy. Now as summer was getting closer, she couldn't wait to spend as much time as she could with her boyfriend.

Bronwyn moved towards the full-length mirror that hung from their door and surveyed her outfit. It had been so long since she had put on a dress and she couldn't help but feel beautiful as the white material floated around her. She had gotten the summer dress a couple of years ago and knew that Zach loved it on her. She was glad the weather was finally warm enough to wear it.

She just hoped the outfit was appropriate for whatever surprise that Zach has planned for them. The stubborn pig-headed man refused to give her any details about what he had in store for them. He told her it was a surprise he didn't want to ruin.

A few minutes later, she was running a brush through her long wavy hair when someone started pounding on her door. She could only assume it was her stubborn pig-headed boyfriend who couldn't be bothered to open the door which she left unlocked. Rolling her eyes, Bronwyn put the brush down and made her way over to the door.

When she opened the door, Zach stood in front of her, his face blocked by the a handful of colorful flowers he was carrying. She laughed as he stuck his hand out, handing her the flowers. She took them from him and couldn't help but smile when he grinned cheekily at her.

"I brought some beautiful wild flowers for my obnoxiously wild and beautiful girlfriend."

"Who are you calling obnoxious?" Bronwyn joked, trying to find something to put the flowers in. It wasn't like she had glass vases lying around her dorm room. "You were the one who couldn't be bothered to open the door."

Bronwyn found a purple cup that hadn't been used in a while and decided it would have to do until she threatened Zach into buying her a vase. She put the flowers in the cup and found a water bottle to fill it up before placing the pretty assortment on her desk.

"Hey! My hands were full, thank you very much." Zach defended himself. "I had to walk up three flights of stair with those flowers and they weigh more than you would think."

"Sure, they did."

"Whatever, Winnie. You know I would have..." His voice trailed off as he finally took in what she was wearing. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"What?" Bronwyn asked, fingering the light fabric of the dress. "I thought you liked this dress."

"I like it so much that I don't even know if we will make it to the restaurant. Now that I see how beautiful you look, I kind of just want to stay here and personally take it off of you. I haven't been on your bed in a while..."

Bronwyn rolled her eyes at Zach and grabbed her purse off of the desk chair. When she was sure she wasn't missing anything, she walked towards her boyfriend and smacked his broad chest. Zach rubbed the spot that she guessed would be sore soon and she laughed as she passed hi on the way to the front door of her small dorm room.

"Let's go, pervert." She smiled at him. "I'm hungry and you're buying me a steak."

~...~…~…~

Bronwyn leaned back on her palms and stared up at the night sky. After Zach had treated her to a nice dinner, where she did manage to eat a steak that was larger than her face, they had wandered down to the beach. She never got sick of the sand, it was like a secret place for her and Zach. The beach held so many memories and she loved creating new ones.

She turned her head to the right, facing Zach.

The moonlight cast a light glow on his face, illuminating his handsome features. Zach had grown up a lot since they started dating and Bronwyn couldn't help but notice how much older he looked. His features were more rugged, more defined. And, it definitely didn't help that Zach thought he didn't need to shave his face anymore now that he was "twenty-two and a legal adult," leaving a slight five o clock shadow on his cheeks.

She didn't bother to mention that he became a legal adult when he turned eighteen.

"You're staring at me."

Bronwyn snorted, "I am not."

"Don't deny it, Babe. I know you like to gaze at my beautiful, rugged features."

"You are so full of yourself."

"It's one of the many reason's you love me."

"That is true."

They sat in silence for a couple moments longer before Bronwyn leaned over and rested her head on Zach's chest. As expected, he slowly began to run his fingers through her long wavy hair. She loved when he did that; it made her feel relaxed and safe in his arms. It was one of the many ways Zach showed how much he cared for her. He was actually a huge softy underneath his hard, arrogant attitude.

As Zach's fingers rhythmically calmed her, Bronwyn's thoughts started to drift. Sometimes she couldn't believe they actually ended up together. If someone would have told her when she was younger that she would come to love Zachary Davenport, the annoying boy who used to always played pranks on her, she would have laughed and then punched them in the face.

Bronwyn laughed to herself and the longer she thought about it, the funnier it became.

"What are you laughing about?" Zach asked, removing his hands from her hair.

"A couple of years ago, I would have outright punched someone in the face if they tried to tell me that we would end up together." She spoke, her laughter dying down. "It's just weird to think how far we've come since we were just a couple of kids annoying each other to death."

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, 'I don't know?'" Bronwyn snorted, picking up some sand and flicking it at her boyfriend. "You always used to act like I was the bane of your existence."

"I wasn't that bad."

"When we were sixteen, you threw all of my bathing suits into the ocean. I had to go shopping for a new one with my mom and the only bathing suit we could find was that horrible brown one-piece. I had to wear it all summer."

"That was actually for your own well being." Zach spoke slowly, as if slowly recalling the incident. "So, if you think about it, I was actually doing you a favor."

"How on earth were you doing me a favor?"

"You honestly didn't think you could walk around all summer in those little bikinis, did you? You weren't a kid anymore. You looked different and all of the guys noticed. You had long legs and you know.."

"No, I don't know. What did I have?"

"You got boobs. All of the guys were talking about how hot you were. It was all 'Bronywn this.' 'Bronwyn that.' 'Wow, look at Bronwyn's boobs.' I couldn't stand it anymore. So, I decided to act out and fix the situation."

Bronwyn's eyes widened as she took in everything Zach said. Her shock was beginning to wear off and was slowly being replaced with annoyance. She couldn't believe he put her through all of that torcher because she had finally hit puberty and boys had begun to take notice. She removed her head from his chest and then slowly stood up, staring down at him.

"You made me wear a one piece all summer because some guys thought I was hot?" Bronwyn asked, clearly angry with him.

Zach stood up and took a few steps back, "Uh, yeah?"

"I am going to kill you!" Bronwyn yelled and took off. "Don't run away from me, you big oaf!"

Zach must have sensed what was coming because he quickly took off in a sprint. Bronwyn chased him down the beach, swearing all kinds of creative things at his back. She kicked up sand as she tried to keep up with his quick steps. Eventually Zach's run started to slow down enough for her to catch him. When she was close enough to reach him, she reach out and grabbed his shoulder.

And then they were both falling.

Zach wrapped an arm around her waist just before they hit the ground and then they were sprawled together in the sand. They both laughed, realizing how ridiculous they must have looked to everyone on the beach. It seemed that their interactions always resulted in situations like this and she would never get sick of it.

"You suck." She spoke, her face inches from her face.

He laughed, knowing she was no longer angry. "I love you."

"Kiss me."

"Always."

And, that's what he did.

He kissed her.

A/N: Sorry that was so late... but OH MY GOD. IT'S DONE. IT'S OVER. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO DO WITH MYSELF NOW. IT'S LIKE MY BABY IS ALL GROWN UP. AHHHHH. But, on the other hand. I am really proud of myself for finishing this. Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through it! I really appreciate it! I hope you like the epilogue.

~Maggie