EPILOGUE: "Every Page With You" (Seth’s POV, 2 years later)

 

I never liked writing.

Hindi ako magaling sa essays. Sa tula. Sa love letters. Pero nung dumating si Francine, bigla akong natutong magsulat — hindi gamit ang ballpen, kundi sa paraang mararamdaman mo kahit wala sa papel.

She taught me that love lives in the spaces we don’t always see — in silence, in waiting, in effort.

Now, I’m standing here, holding flowers, waiting outside her university gate.

College na kami. Same school, different courses. She's a Creative Writing major; I’m in Multimedia Arts. Pero kahit anong mangyari, pareho pa rin kaming may isang subject:

> Love 101 — taught by life, graded by effort.

Nakita ko siyang lumabas ng building, hawak ang thesis niya — title: "The Love That Waited."

“Tungkol saan ‘yan?” I asked, smiling.

“Sa’yo,” sagot niya, sabay kurot sa braso ko.

Hinila ko siya palapit. “Tara. May date tayo.”

“Saan?”

“Sa bookstore. May bagong notebook akong bibilhin.”

“Bakit?”

I kissed her temple. “Kasi tapos na tayo sa prologue. Panahon na para magsulat ng bagong chapter — ‘yung may title na… Forever With Francine.”

She laughed, but her eyes were glassy. Kinikilig. Naiiyak. Kagaya ko.

And as we walked away, holding hands, I realized—

Some stories aren’t written in books.

They’re written in the way two people choose to stay.

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THE REAL END.