This is an alternate ending I've been toying with for some time. Hope it provides some closure.
As for the title, I was listening to "Good Times" by Tom Cochrane while writing the first part of "Never", so I wanted to incorporate it into this part as well.
Song lyrics are in italics and all credit to Tom Cochrane, (A Canadian great, I may add!)
Funny how you look back on all the times we had
Remember all the good ones, forget about all the bad
Hanging out day after day in the hole in the wall
Things that seem to be so big then now somehow seems so small
The memories flood her brain. One after the other, unrelenting, vivid: Running from the danger or sometimes getting caught in the thick of it. Working as a team or bickering like old friends. Praying to survive and being thankful they always had each other. He was her best friend. He was there when no one else was.
The heart is a hunter, the heart is a friend
Searching the shadows, searching 'til the end
I heard she married a guy from the valley
Not for the glory but because he was a friend
She swallows hard and closes her eyes. The man by her side was everything she could have imagined: Handsome, strong, kind, driven. But amongst his novelty she had forgotten; forgotten what had always truly mattered.
"Stop the car." she speaks forward to the driver.
"What?" says the man next to her.
Ignoring him, she persists. "Stop the car." she calls again thumping on the front seat.
The car comes to a halt.
"What's the matter?" says the husband, a worried look painted on his face.
She takes a long look into his eyes. It's now or never.
Then, she swings open the door. Climbing out and flicking off her heels, she gathers her dress and runs. Behind her she can hear him calling her name, confused and worried, but this time she doesn't look back.
When the fires burn out,
And the waters run dry
And the mountains have fallen,
We'll remember those times
When the seasons roll by,
And your youth slips away
The glory has faded,
Then what will we say?
Her feet carry her across the asphalt and back towards the church. The crowd has dispersed; her return doesn't draw attention. Frantically, she scans the area. The graveyard. She makes her way behind the little chapel, toes meeting the cool grass. Then, she spots him.
"Edwin."
The man turns in recognition and his hand leaves the headstone belonging to his wife. He's shocked by her presence, yet there's a flicker of light in his green eyes.
His expression begs for an explanation but his heart already knows.
She closes the space between them, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He responds, embracing her and silently promising to never let her go.
Whoa-oh, the good times we had
Wouldn't worry about tomorrow
'Cause tonight was all we had, yeah
Whoa-oh, the good times we knew
I'd tell you about them baby
But you were there, you were with me, too.