"Right from the start, I knew that I found a home for my heart."
- Christina Perri

It's almost seven o'clock by the time dinner is finished. Once the dishes are washed and the leftovers are divided up for people to take home, I'm able to sneak away with Zayna.

"Bowie, just tell me where we're going!" she exclaims, climbing into the BMW.

"No can do, baby." I close her door behind her and get in on the driver's side. After starting the car and backing out of the driveway, I take her hand in mine. "It's nothing too crazy, I promise."

Mostly, I'm just excited to finally have her all to myself.

"It better not be." She gives my hand a squeeze before resting her head on my shoulder. "Your family is awesome, by the way."

I can't help but smile. "You think so?"

"Absolutely. Oh, my god, Evangeline is hilarious. While you were washing dishes, she told me how you asked her, the six-year-old, for fashion advice before our first date," Zayna says with a chuckle.

"That I did," I admit, remembering the light blue dress shirt Vange selected. "Hey, did she tell you that she thought you were an alien?"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, when I told her your name was Zayna, she asked if you were an alien."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That you seemed like it sometimes," I respond, wincing as she smacks my thigh.

"You're an ass," she retorts.

I shrug my shoulders. "Maybe, but you love me."

"More than anything," she murmurs, her golden eyes gazing up at me.

I kiss her forehead as we pass the black and red UIC sign. I pull into the guest parking lot, cut the engine, and then quickly get out of the car so I can open her door for her.

"You brought me to your old college campus?" She shoots me a quizzical look as we stroll past the library.

"This is just a pit stop, but yes," I reply. "So... I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I probably should have brought this up weeks ago, but...." My voice trails off while I try to piece together the right words.

What I want to tell her is that I'm returning to school in the fall. I took a semester off after Rae died because... well, because I had to. Because returning to school and pretending that life was normal and nothing had changed wasn't an option. I needed the time away to figure some stuff out, to figure myself out.

And with Zayna's unwavering support, I finally did.

"What's going on, babe?" She stops walking and cups my cheek in her hand, forcing me to look at her.

"I signed up for classes in September," I blurt out, ripping off the metaphorical band-aid. "It won't affect us that much, baby, I promise. I'm returning as a commuter, so I won't be living on-campus, and I already talked to Poppy, who told me she would work around my class sched—"

"Bowie, stop," she interjects. The vibrant smile on her face washes all my fears away. "I'm happy for you. You're not meant to work at Poppy's forever."

"Thanks, baby. I wouldn't have survived the past few months without you," I reply, bringing my lips to her forehead.

"One question, though: there's no way you're going back as a marketing major, right?" she asks, her fiery eyes glowing with curiosity. "Like, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad major, but—"

"Political science," I cut her off. "Trust me, my marketing days are over."

She raises her eyebrows. "Why poli-sci?"

I take a deep breath, preparing to repeat the same speech I've already delivered to my parents and my sister. "We have a broken system, you know? Men like my brother and Conrad get away with hurting women because our legal system allows them to. Half of guys who are convicted of sexual assault face only months in prison. Most women don't even report their abusers because they know nothing will come from it. We need to fix that. I want to fix that."

Zayna's lips curl into a grin as she throws her arms around me. "And you will, babe. I know you will."

"You're gonna help me study, right?"

"Yeah, not happening. High school dropout, remember?"

"You're still one of the smartest people I know," I tell her, and I mean it. Diploma or no diploma, she's fucking brilliant.

"Bowie! Oh, my god, Bowie!" I hear a voice shout. In the distance, I see three figures running toward us.

"Who's calling you?" Zayna inquires.

As the trio moves closer, I recognize Winter's curly blonde hair and petite frame. I pull away from Zayna and wave.

"I can't believe you're here!" she shrieks as she crashes into me, flinging her arms around my neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to show my girl around," I reply.

"Oh, my god, you must be Zayna," Winter says, loosening her anaconda squeeze. "Bowie's told me all about you."

"Baby, this is my best friend, Winter," I tell my very obviously confused girlfriend.

"It's nice to meet you." Zayna extends her hand, which Winter eagerly shakes.

"I wish you'd told me you were gonna be in the area. We could've planned something," Winter whines.

"Zayna just met my parents for the first time, so I didn't wanna overdo it tonight," I explain, sensing Zayna's uneasiness, "but I'll be back in the fall, so we'll have to plan something then."

"Wait, you're coming back? Like, as a student?" Winter squeals. "That's amazing, Bowie! This place hasn't been the same without you."

Winter's girlfriend, Avery, and a man I don't recognize approach us, each out of breath from trying to keep up with the zippy blonde. Avery says hello as she wraps her arms around Winter's waste, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Instantly, I feel Zayna's discomfort vanish.

"Bowie, you remember my brother, Ambrose, right?" Winter says, pointing to the man who has at least five years and fifty pounds of muscle on me.

"I didn't recognize you, dude." Laughing, I give Ambrose a one-armed hug. "Last time I saw you, you were—"

"Scrawny and awkward?" he finishes. "Yeah, I joined the police academy last year. Gotta look the part, you know?"

"What's your secret?" I joke, patting a hand over my soft, six-pack-free stomach.

"You look great, babe," Zayna assures me.

I weave my fingers through hers and bring her closer. The setting sun reminds me that this isn't our only stop tonight, and that we need to get moving if we want to make it to our other one.

"Well, Ambrose was about to take us out to dinner to celebrate the end of exams," Winter tells me. She pulls me in for a final hug before whispering in my ear, "Having a cop brother has its advantages. I told Ambrose about Benson. If that creep ever comes back to the city, the CPD is on your side."

"Thanks, Win," I reply. Even after I was an absentee friend for months, she still has my back.

We say our goodbyes and part ways. Zayna and I return to the car, where she puts the radio on. Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" hums through the speakers. I don't know if it's the sappy love song, or the way my girl's eyes twinkle under the blaring street lights, but I'm suddenly very, very grateful to have her all to myself.

"I like your friend," Zayna says. "You could have spared me the jealous freakout, though, and warned me she was a lesbian."

"It kinda slipped my mind. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting to see her tonight. I figured she would have gone home for the summer by now," I reply. "But wait... you were really jealous?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"Oh, I could tell. I just wanna hear you say it."

"Yes, Bowie," she mutters, "I was jealous of your pretty, skinny, blonde friend. Can you blame me?"

"You have nothing to be jealous of," I assure her. "You're my world."

Blushing scarlet, she rests her head on my shoulder once again. "I love you."

"And I love you."

"By the way, where are we going? I'm dying to know what this surprise dessert of ours is."

"Okay," I begin, "remember that restaurant we went to a while ago? The really fancy one where we ran into Benson and Alyx?"

She chuckles. "Yeah, how the hell could I forget?"

"Well, I still have that coupon for a free lava cake!" I announce, fumbling through the glovebox to retrieve the folded-up piece of paper.

Zayna takes the coupon from me, stares at it for a moment, and then dissolves into a fit of giggles.

"Hey, what's so funny?" I ask.

"This coupon"—she holds it in the air—"expired in April, Bowie. It's no longer valid."

"God damn it." Now I'm the one blushing. I take the expired coupon from her and shove it into my pocket. "I'm sorry, baby."

"Don't be sorry." She lifts her head to place a kiss on the side of my neck. "I'm just glad we got some alone time."

"Me, too," I agree. "Anywhere else you want me to take you before we head home?"

"I really liked that lake we walked to on our second date," she answers. "You know, the one with the dock that you can sit on and stargaze?"

"Then that's where we'll go." I bring her knuckles to my lips and kiss them tenderly.

As we drive, I think about how lucky I am. Hell, even before I exposed my brother as the monster he really is, I was lucky. It just took his absence for me to realize it.

I have the best family. I have wonderful friends. And I have the most beautiful girlfriend, both inside and out. Benson's secret always made me feel so isolated, so alone, but I know now that was never true. Even at my lowest, I was never alone.

I've heard it said that you shouldn't base your happiness on other people—or on anything that you might lose, really—but you know what? Fuck that. Life is short, and I've already wasted seven years being miserable and lonely because I was afraid to get too close to anyone. I can't get that time back, but I can make the most of the time I have left with the people I love.

I owe it to Rae, but more than that, I owe it to myself. Never again will I be a slave to a skeleton in someone else's closet.