Hey guys :) So I know it's been a really long time since I wrote this story and that many of you will probably not read this, but recently magically_positive suggested me this idea, and I thought it would be interesting to give you an insight of my version of the characters' future in this story. Feel free to see this as noncanon so you can continue to imagine what happened to everyone as you wish! This is merely a suggestion of mine to answer the many unanswered questions this story left, it doesn't have to be official. And it's dedicated to magically_positive for all of her support towards this story, thank you so much :)

What happened, where are they now & what are they doing  

Kiara Raven:

Kiara left for Belgium in Spring 2015 and stayed there for about a month with the intention of travelling across Europe to visit as many countries and cities as she could. On her last day in Bruges she was walking alongside a river when she noticed a dark-haired, green-eyed boy on the other side. Her heart stopped; but somehow her feet didn't. James didn't see her; and he never found out how close he had come to find her.

During summer, Kiara visited Europe as she had always wanted; for the first time, she felt as if she belonged, not to a city, not to a person, simply to the flow, to the constant moving and experiencing, to the sense of losing herself to the world, to the people around her with all of its different traits; savouring the diversity of cultures and the exploration of each city secret places. For the first time she felt the taste of freedom in all of her, which quickly became her addiction, something she knew she'd never let go of. She was never still, always moving around, until one day in Amsterdam her bike was stolen. Instead, in its empty space, stood a guy. 

Here's a snippet of their first (but certainly not last) encounter:

"Did you steal my bike?"

The guy looked at her seriously. He was handsome, and right now, a potential thief.

"Of course I did. And I waited here to tell you, the owner, exactly that. And I must tell you I also hid it underneath my Invisibility Cloak so you would not see it."

Her mouth kept quiet; but her mind did not. He's a joker. And most likely a liar, and God knows how you had your fair share of those during this year. No, Kiara, don't be so judgemental, don't judge at first sight. You learned better than that. No one is ever just one thing.

"No, of course I did not steal your bike." He continued. Wait, was that a twitch in his lips? Was he smiling? At... her? No, that was no smile... it was a smirk. He was so smirking at her! "Where were you headed?"

Kiara crossed her arms over her chest, her significant move. His eyes stopped there for a moment; her tight peach-colored shirt probably wasn't helping. Maybe she should have gone for the blue t-shirt instead; but she rarely wore blue after James.

"Red-light District." She answered dryly. Translation: it is none of your goddamn business.

This time, he grinned. Not a smirk, not a smile, a real, genuine grin, so honest it hurt her. How dared he show her such a beautiful, pure, sincere grin? 

Ugh, I hate him already, she thought happily. He's making me contradict myself... already.

"Great, so was I!" He exclaimed, the grin still intact. For some unknown reason, and despite her hatred, Kiara did not want him to stop. "I can give you a lift if you want to. Let me compensate you for the bike incident. Don't want you to leave the country thinking badly of the Dutch. Someone has to set an example."

"I was joking." And I can't tell why, but I'm pretty sure you were too.

A grin. Again. Ugh.

"So was I. About the destination, I mean. Not the ride." Wait, is he... is he flirting with me? If he is, he flirts in a very different way from Aiden, Matthew and... James. He flirts in a very irritating and unfortunately very sexy Dutch accent. And he flirts with kindness, as if there's all there is in his heart.

Yup, I definitely hate him.

He raised his eyebrows, and right there she understood that that was his significant move. His way of challenging the world. In this case, her. He was a challenge, all of him, and Kiara knew, she knew, he wasn't the type of challenge she would want to overcome, or to win to prove something. He was the kind of challenge you'd want to explore in hopes you'd lose yourself so to never, ever, get to its end.

"Bloemenmarkt."

His eyebrows raised once again, this time in surprise.

"For real?"

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of those words, at the meaning behind them. She tried not to think about the last time she had seen him, how she had just kept going. When she wrote James her letter, she never thought he'd actually come. And she really did think that if he did, she'd give him another chance. The strangest part was... she was not regretted she hadn't. If she kept walking, it was for a reason. If she saw him across the street, and not in front of him where he would have seen her, it was for a reason. They were each other's first love, and that was okay. They were not supposed to be each other's last love, and that was okay too.

"I was headed there too." The guy continued when he realized he wouldn't be getting an answer. There was no way in hell Kiara would say those words again. Reality was always just one version of things. "It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, and there's nothing she loves more than tulips."

Despite the memory of James lingering in her mind, Kiara couldn't help but smile. Because of what had happened in her past, she had become quite good at reading people. When this guy joked, it was ennerving, but cute. But when he said the truth, it was fascinating. There was no lie in his spirit, no illusion in his soul, and God, if she craved that...

"You love her." Kiara pointed out, slightly embarrassed by how the guy's eyes had stopped to admire her smile and how his lips had mirrored it.

"Of course I do. She's the reason I exist. And not just literally, but figuratively. Don't you love your mother too?"

An abrupt pain in her chest took the breath from her lungs. God, she missed her parents so much, they had stayed behind with a part of her and now she was incomplete. Just like Dylan had another part, a big part of her soul. She knew he'd treat it well though. She knew she'd never have it back, and that was okay too. Perhaps she was never meant to be whole; but to leave a little bit of her in every person she met.

"Yes. But sometimes... sometimes we're better when we're away from the things we love."

His raised eyebrows now expressed admiration. They were very expressive, his eyebrows. Filled with a life of its own.

"You don't know how it hurts me... knowing you're so right." He smiled at her with empathy and out of the blue (God, how Kiara hated that expression) her heart started racing. He could have a silver tongue, but she could see how his heart was made of gold. "Bloemenmarkt is too far away to go by foot if you want to get there before it closes. I have a bike. And the same destination."

"And you're also a guy I've just met." She responded, but her voice had lost its harshness somewhere along the way.

"In the beginning, aren't we all?" His eyes pierced through her. It used to be uncomfortable, when someone managed to cut through her walls and uncover her layers. This time, it wasn't. This time, so far away from everything, everything felt different.

"There's no space for me in your bike."

His annoying smirk returned, but it wasn't so annoying anymore.

"Now you're just pointing random reasons to refute my invitation. We're in Amsterdam. The home for shared-bikes. Believe me, you will not get a better Dutch experience than to go on a ride in a bike with a native. Unless you decide to try a space cake, which I advise you against."

"Already did. It was hideous." She said, and he smiled unsurely at her, lost in the thought of whether or not she was telling the truth. She smiled triumphantly. She enjoyed the feeling of keeping him in doubt.

He hopped on his bike. He was very athletic... perhaps he rowed? Kiara had seen some rowing races in the river since she had gotten to the city, and they had all gave her the mad desire to dive into the water and join them. Before travelling, rowing was always the thing closest to freedom.

"Seems like you've only been having bad experiences in my city and I can't allow that. I'm gonna make it my mission to make you love Amsterdam as much as I do."

"Is that a challenge?" She crossed her arms over her chest, he raised his eyebrows, challenge against challenge, challenger against challenger, challenged against challenged.

"Is that a yes?" Eyebrows raised. Smirk on lips. Her heart stopped; her feet didn't. She came closer to him, and for the first time, she didn't feel so far away from anything anymore. She felt, on the contrary, one step closer to finding her real self, this new person she was becoming; and that she was learning to love.

"Unfortunately... I think it is."

He laughed. So this is how it sounds when an angel falls from the skies.

"Then it's definitely a challenge. Step one: Come with me."

She went, and she never let go, and, as she had wished, she never got to the end of the line. Months later, when he asked her why she had fallen in love with him, she replied this: "It's simple. You never tried to break my heart. And it's not only because you're so painfully honest and respectful; but because you never tried to have it in the first place. You comprehended from the beginning my heart was only mine to have; and only mine to give if I wanted to." He looked at her, fascinated. Kiara Raven often had that effect on people. "It's perhaps better if you keep it, then. I do not want to break it." "Shut up. The only thing you'll be breaking is this chocolate bar because I can't." He laughed (there were the angels again). "Kiara Raven. You sure are a force to be reckoned with. That's why I fell in love with you." "You know," she answered back with a smile that was only for him. "You might have not stolen my bike, but you definitely stole something else from me." He leaned closer to her, claiming her lips, but not her all; for her all belonged to no one and to many people at the same time. "And you'll never have it back."

Kiara became a successful lawyer (and very feared too) living in Amsterdam. She never married, nor had kids; though she considered the puppies Rusty had as her kids. She also accomplished her dreams to love and be loved; and of seeing the world, and be seen by it too.

Dylan Gordon

Dylan was devastated when Kiara left, even though he understood very well why she had to do it. He always knew his best friend was meant to fly; while he was meant to have his feet on the ground: that was why they were so fit as best friends. 

He went to college with Rayla and graduated in Psychology (since the moment he had warned his best friend about the dangers of a game of hearts, he had learned he was good at giving advice; and that after so long being ignored, people actually enjoyed listening to him). 

When Kiara came back to visit the town one year after she had left, he cried. When she told him of her decision to live in Amsterdam, he cried even harder, but supported her nonetheless. From that moment on, he would just have to save some money to visit her often, and vice-versa. 

Many years later, he married Rayla, his high school (and life) sweetheart, and had two kids: a boy and then a girl. The godmother of the boy was Tracy, Dylan's sister, and then Dylan asked Kiara to be the godmother of his daughter, which she gladly accepted. Every time she comes to town, the happy girl shouts "Kiara and her hot foreigner boyfriend are here! They brought gifts!".

Dylan's favorite moment of the day is dusk; when he gets out of work to grab his kids from school and takes them to the park to play basketball with them, until his wife Rayla comes and allures him inside their house with her kind smile and her not-so-shy proposal for a "night we'll remember".

Matthew Clarke

Upon reading Kiara's letter, Matthew was mostly furious that she'd do something like that. They always had trouble reading each other: were too much of opposites to fit. With time, he came to terms with her decision, and was pleasantly surprised when she visited him in California. They kept in touch and never lost it, remaining good friends.

Matthew became an adult proud of himself while distancing himself from the immature teenager he had been: he went to study in California and majored in Maths, but never gave up on his dream of becoming a professional football player. With lots of hard work and a bunch of sacrifices, he eventually did; and the best day of his life was easily when he played in NFL for the first time. 

He had a hard time getting over Kiara. For long, he couldn't help but compare every girl he met with her ("She would never say this" or "She doesn't have her sarcasm skills"). Now, his football coach often complains and forbids him from flirting "too much" with his precious daughter. Matthew always listens to his coach on the field; but never when it comes to her, for there was once another girl who taught him to be himself and never to listen to anyone who would try to stop him from chasing his dreams.

He now lives in Los Angeles with the coach's daughter, who's waiting for their first child, while Matthew is anxiously running his mind (and Google) trying to find an original way to propose to her. ("Just ask her, man", Aiden Stuart, his good friend, advises. "No way. I'm gonna find a way to beat your proposal, you can bet that." Aiden just shakes his head. "No more bets for any of us, mate. We're better off just living the real life." Matthew agrees. "You're right, but you're still helping me, man.")

Matthew ended up proposing to her underwater, and everytime it's mentioned, Aiden likes to claim to himself the copyright of the idea. "Whatever, man, I still beat you.", Matthew retorts.

Aiden Stuart

After the initial shock, Aiden understood Kiara's choice, and, most importantly, respected it. They were alike in many aspects, after all, and Aiden sympathized with her need to leave in order to find who she really was.

He wandered for sometime, not really sure of what to do with his life, until he decided to drop everything and just race with his bike in Route 66, just him, the bike and the wind. The only thing was; it wasn't just him. One day, when he was giving everything he had to that race, leaving himself on that road, he was spotted by a scout, who convinced him to try to enter in a motorbike team. It was love at first sight; and Aiden never felt lost again. A life of discoveries followed; while breaking each track, street and race record, he broke the records of himself by finding a new him he fell in love with.

Now, he travels the world often with his team for the championships and competitions (that he often wins). His most frequent stops are in California, where he enjoys hanging out with his best mate, Matthew Clarke (a famous NFL player and his old school rival, a story that the media loved; one journalist was even writing a story called 'How the Golden and the Bad Boy Turned Besties'.); in Amsterdam, so to visit his old friend and love, Kiara Raven (in his words, and with his famous smirk: "See what I mean? Bikes are love. You met because of one, after all. How ironic is that?"), and in London, where he is often spotted leaving the house of Ellie Abrams, famous actress and an old friend of his ('I wish I had gone to your school', said the journalist who interviewed him, to which Aiden responded, very seriously, 'Believe me, you wouldn't.') in the morning.

Ellie Abrams

Ellie wasn't as mad with Kiara as she thought she would be. In a sense, she understood her. It was one of the things Ellie admired more on Kiara, after all, her independence and freedom. If she had to let go of her friend in order for her to find happiness, she would.

On September, she returned to London with her brother Cameron. It was hard leaving the friends she had made in US behind, but she was also very excited to study Drama and be one step closer to her secret dream of becoming an actress. That had came as a surprise for everyone, except Aiden, to whom she had already confessed it. 

She and her brother decided to visit London Eye to celebrate their return home; only when Ellie was inside one of the capsules did she notice Kiara was in there as well, accompanied by a (very gorgeous, in Ellie's humble opinion) guy. Ellie cried a lot (probably even shouted a bit); but in the end, they left the capsule with smiles on their faces, and Ellie and Cameron had fun showing Kiara and her friend their loved hometown.

Over the years the two old friends saw each other often and even practiced rowing together in Amsterdam when Ellie went to visit Kiara, or in London when Kiara visited Ellie.

One day, when coming out of her house, she stopped dead in her tracks. Aiden Stuart was leaning against a motorbike in her driveway. She had heard the famous biker was in London for a championship, and still after all those years her heart had gone mad, but she never expected he'd search or even care for her. Not only he did, as he also stayed for sometime that time and everytime he left, he always returned.

"How did you find me?", she had questioned in that first morning. He had shrugged, and only then had she realized how much she had missed the mere sight of him.

"I don't know", he had answered. "My heart drove me here."

She fell in love with him all over again at that very moment.

They quickly became a couple-sensation, the famous actress and the infamous biker, and very often, when they attend events together, such as his races or her film premieres, there can be found in the public fans of the two wearing shirts with '#Eiden'. On one of the occasions, it was Aiden who, all of a sudden, ripped his tuxedo (unfortunately, without showing any abs), to reveal a shirt with the following poem (which took him quite some time to come up with):

'Let's make their (and our) dreams come true, 

Ellie, love, marry me, 

will you?'

She said yes.

Lori Gray

Lori was very infuriated and disappointed upon discovering Kiara had left. She had a lot of faith in Kiara and never thought she could let them down like that. She went to Africa to volunteer for a year, helping in several refugee camps and other places where help was needed. She learned a lot about herself and the world while helping others; she strengthened her values and discovered her inner strength. It was during that time that Lori finally understood Kiara's decision. A year away could change everything by putting all of our certainties into perspective and turning our doubts into our strengths. When the year finished, Lori promised herself to come back to help as soon as she could, and to reconnect with her old friends in the meantime.

She returned to the US to enroll in a Fashion College. She was so successful in the pursuit of her dream that she quickly gained an internship, and her ambitions and accomplishments only kept on growing from then on.

Lori never married, but never stayed single for long either. She was a sensation and she enjoyed it. The only time she returned to her hometown was for Dylan and Rayla's wedding, where she reconciled with Kiara. She fought the urge to ask Ellie about Cameron; he belonged to her past and all she wanted now was the future. Ellie told her about him anyway: Cameron was a restless soul like her, jumping from girl to girl, and Lori pleasantly found out she wasn't bothered. They were both better this way, and they would both still have the memory of the other to hold onto forever.

As of this moment, Lori's main goal is to design clothes that can be offered to children in Africa and also fight child exploitation. She learned that her heart belongs not to a man, but to every child.

Roxy Hayes

Roxy was hurt by her friend's decision, but she completely understood. Deep down, she always knew Kiara would do something like this. It was in her DNA, and it wasn't selfish nor mean. It was her purpose, and if there was one thing Kiara was meant to do, it was to fulfill her purpose.

Roxy never saw Tyler again as she moved to Canada, where she became too busy with her rowing scholarship to worry about boys. One day, she was rowing in a particularly turbulent river when she saw someone struggling in the water, unsuccessfully trying to call for help. They were drowning, and Roxy didn't think twice: she dove into the war, swam as fast as she could, and saved the person. "You were lucky", she said to him by the riverbank, "I only noticed you because of your red hair." The boy smiled sheepishly at her. "Usually people hate it or mock me for it." "I don't. I never will.", she smiled. 

They fell in love quicker than both can fall asleep; and Roxy helped him overcome his fear of the water while he helped her fight for her dream of becoming a professional rower, teaching her to block people's negativism and to channel and show the world her strengths.

They married and had a beautiful girl; Kiara, Lori and their other friends all attended their wedding, and they all said the same thing: that they had never seen Roxy so beautiful, so gratified and so happy.

Except, perhaps, when she won her first rowing contest, or when she held her child in her arms for the first time.

James Miller

After announcing his decision of going after Kiara all the way to Belgium, Matthew and Aiden tried to stop him. James didn't get mad at them; he understood. And he also understood why Kiara had needed to go; after all, he knew it better than anyone. He was a free spirit like her, he hated feeling trapped just as much as she did; so he paid no attention to her friends and went anyway.

He knew her friends were also considering the possibility of searching for her, but no one was as convinced as him that they would find her. "It's a long shot", they said, "Belgium is not big but we'll never find her." "Besides", added Dylan, "she'll come back to us. To all of us." His voice held nothing but certainties; the faith he had in Kiara was impressive and slightly overwhelming, making James envy their friendship and wonder if he'd ever find something like that. "But perhaps not to you." Dylan wasn't trying to be mean, he just stated what they all knew. James admired him for that. "I know," he responded in pain. "That's why I am the one who has to go. Because I'm the only one she won't come back to."

A week later, James was in Belgium. He searched for her in the main cities, holding onto the hope she hadn't preferred to visit the small towns: he'd never find her if that was the case. The truth was; he never did, despite the amount of times he wandered and lost himself in the streets. There was this one day in Bruges, when he was already pretty sure he'd never see her again, where he saw the back of a girl walking away and his heart stopped; it seemed her, but at the same time she was different. And, so, surprisingly, his feet didn't move. He didn't go after her; instead, he stayed in the same place, with this rare, sudden calm washing over him as he saw that girl walking away. He was saying goodbye to his past, he knew, and he didn't mind as much as he thought he would. It hurt like hell, yes, but he knew Kiara had forgiven him, and that was the most important thing. Perhaps what he had said was wrong, perhaps Kiara didn't have to be his last love. He could love again, he knew that. Kiara had taught him how; and he wouldn't waste her lessons nor the chance to feel the good pain he called love again.

He decided to travel to Asia shortly afterwards and just let life happen. One day in South Korea, a girl held the door of the subway to allow him to enter at the last second. If she hadn't, he'd lose it and his day would have been ruined. From the beginning, with this girl, everything started right. And it ended even better.

They never married but decided to buy a house in Seul and adopt a small boy. James didn't become a professional rower like he had always dreamed (it reminded him too much of her and Andrea, too much of his losses and mistakes). Instead, he chose to be a photographer and each day with a camera on his hands was an adventure that kept his free spirit in a nice place.

With each passing day he thought less and less about the first girl who had stolen his heart; and more and more about the woman who now had it forever. He never forgot Kiara; nor how much he had hurt her; and his most wonderful joy in life was teaching his little boy how to treat a woman right.

Bonus: Brianna Evenson and Andrea Jones had plenty of time in their lives to regret their mistakes, once they realized that the real, adult life would not take their bullshit, nor try to impress them or please them in exchange of a pass to popularity and a place in the social pyramid. They struggled a lot and had to learn how to be real and kinder in order to make new friends who wouldn't judge them for their past mistakes and that would stay with them in the good and bad moments. One day, in a concert in New York, they encountered each other again. They tried to ignore the other at first, fearing they'd fall back into their old habits of mean girls if they talked; but by the end of the night, between drinks and smiles, they both realized they had grown up to become better people, and from that day on, they helped each other whenever the other was feeling down or in need of a hand. Only together did they finally find the true meaning of friendship, trust, kindness and love.

Here it is, guys, I hope you enjoyed it :D It was fun to write, but as I said, you don't have to view this as official, it's only my version of the events, you can keep imagining everyone's future as you like :)

If there are any questions you want the characters (or the author) to answer, feel free to leave them here!

Love you all so much ♥