T.A.F. Pt. 2 - by proudxxchristainxxtwilighter (Sheli)

Summary: This fanfic is the end of the book written the way I would have imagined it. MacyWes of course.

Disclaimer-- I do not claim any of the original characters from the book or any references from the book itself either. Sarah Dessen deserves all the credit for them, as well as my inspiration. XD

~*A.N.*~ Hey everyone! I will start off by saying that I am not rewriting the end of this book because I think I can do better than Dessen has done, but instead to put the inspiration she has given me into use by trying to write an alternate ending to her version. I hope you enjoy reading my perspective, and if you want me to update ASAP, I'll need at least 2 reviews. So R&R peoples!

_______________________________

I was almost all the way home when I turned around. But he was gone. I sat at the light for a second, the big time and temperature sign at Willow Bank blinking above me: 7:24, 78 degrees. I kept looking from the red stoplight to the numbers, then back again, and all of a sudden I knew where to go.

Call it a gut feeling, but all the way to the World of Waffles I was sure that somehow, I could fix this. Maybe I'd just been too sensitive. He had a lot on his mind. It probably had nothing to do with me. But he had been acting so weird, checking his watch. That I knew I hadn't imagined. But regardless, he needed to know why I'd been so cold to him, how important he was to me. Maybe that would freak him out, too. But it was the Truth. And we'd always held to that.

As soon as I saw his truck parked in the lot, I felt myself relax. I can do this, I thought, as I pulled in two spaces down and cut my engine, then pushed my door open. The air was full of that sweet, doughy smell, and as I started toward the front door, I reminded myself that this, too, was proof that I had changed. Once, I would have just let Wes go. But I was different now.

I wont deny that I was surprised to see that Becky was there with him. I hadn't heard a lot about her, but I recognized her with just one look. Like Wes had said, she was skinny, angular, with a short haircut, the ends of which barely touched her collarbone. She had on a thin black tank top, a rosary necklace, and dark red lipstick, which had already stained the rim of the coffee mug she was holding between her hands. Wes was sitting opposite her, talking, and she was looking at him intently, her gaze steady, as if what he was saying was the most important thing in the world. And probably it was. Maybe he was telling her his deepest secrets. Or asking her the question I'd been waiting to hear. There was only one way to find out, and it would prove to everyone how different I have actually become.

Wes didn't notice my presence until I was halfway across the restaurant, and once he did he nearly fell out of the booth in surprise. However, he had composed himself enough by the time I had arrived at their booth to introduce Becky and I. "Macy, we were just discussing-," Wes was then cut off by Becky who now looked at me and blatantly said, "He was breaking up with me, because apparantly he has fallen for you, Miss Fortunate." Hearing this, I was in shock, almost numb with both happiness and disbelief. Had I really thought that after everything Wes and I had been through in the last two months, our friendship would amount to nothing? Had I really doubted that he was my forever? The answer was "no".

Becky now walked out of the restaurant and Wes didn't follow. Although he looked pained, he showed no signs of regretting or doubting what he had just done. He knew as well as I did that if he had not taken action, we would both have fallen into the patterns of our old lives and lived the rest of our forever miserable. Now it was my turn to take the right steps to convey to him my response to this.

"I'm sorry," I said glancing up at his face and staring straight into his beautiful hazel eyes. "But there's been a change." He blinked at me. "A change," he repeated. I nodded. "In the rules." It took him a second: he had no idea what I was talking about. Then, slowly, his face relaxed. "Ah," he said. "The rules."

"Yes."

"I wasn't notified," he pointed out. "Well, it was pretty recent," I said.

"As in..."

"As in, effective right now." Wes ran a hand through his hair and I saw the heart and hand slip into view, then disappear again. I had so much to tell him, I didn't even know where to start. Or maybe I did. "Macy," he said softly, looking at me closely. "You don't have to-" I shook my head. "The change," I said. "Ask me about the change." He leaned back on his heels, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Okay," he said, after a second. "What's the change?"

"It's been decided," I told him, taking another breath, "that there's another step to winning the game. And that is that in order for me to really win, I have to answer the question you passed on, that night in the truck. Only then is it final."

"The question I passed on," he repeated. I nodded. "That's the rule."

I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late: again, I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome. "Okay," he said. He took a breath. "What would you do, if you could do anything?"

I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. "This," I said. And then I kissed him.

Kissed him. There, in the middle of the World of Waffles restaurant, as the world went on around us. Behind me, I knew that Joleen (the waitress that had greeted Wes that night that he had scared the shit out of me while in Stella's garden and had not only treated me to waffles to apologize, but had bought me a maple pen, also) was right behind us chuckling ever so slightly, Becky still making her way out of the parking lot in her Camaro, watching us all the way. As for me, I was just trying to get it right, whatever that meant. But now I finally felt I was on my way. Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back -- leaving me astounded, amazed, and most of all, alive.

­_______________________________

15 minutes later, I was pulling into my driveway with Wes right on my tail. As I got out of my car, he came up behind me and slipped his arms out my waist and silently whispered, "As long as you have me, you will never have to be afraid again. Make her listen to you. I will be right by your side, never leaving you, even for a minute."

I took a deep breath and walked up the front walk, telling myself to stay calm, but that I had to make mom listen to me. If she didn't, we would both be miserable the rest of our lives. Or at least she would: I had Wes now. I would always have him. I slipped my key into the knob and slowly pushed the door open to find...

'Kay, peeps. I know that this chapter is mostly bits and pieces of the book and some of my own imput, but from now on, it's all me and my imagination. And, yes, I know. Cliffhangers are the worst! Want more? REVIEW! Please...? LOL XD