Chris had had enough of congratulating Vern and Cassie and standing awkwardly beside Gordie, who just wanted to take off with Brooke. With an understanding smile, he informed Gordie that he was going to go take a walk.

He thought about Anya. He thought of the smiles that graced her lips when she thought he was looking away; of the way she leveled him with her eyes while she also raised him up higher than he'd ever thought he could deserve. He thought of how she had glanced at him twenty-three times while singing along to Cherish on the radio in his truck. He thought about how it had felt to kiss her and how, when she held him, she was so small but she held him so strongly and she warmed him so much. It was like waking up on a sunny beach and not knowing he'd ever been sleeping, and then realizing, no, she wasn't a dream.

"Hey Chris," Anya said softly as he made his way around the football field. "You look good."

For a moment, he wondered if she was a dream this time, but she saw that smile and knew that she was too good for even fantasy. "Hi, Anya. You do too. What are you doing sitting on the bleachers all alone?"

"Sitting on the bleachers all alone," she replied. "Do you want to sit with me?"

"Yeah," he said, maybe too earnestly, but he climbed up the steps of the bleachers, taking a seat next to her. "Why are you reading the Castle Rock Graduating Class of 1965 Grad Ceremony program? You were there."

"Because, I...am trying to read," she faltered. "Imagine that, me graduating when I can't read a word. Lucky son of a gun I am."

"Liar," he teased. "You just wanted to look like you were doing something so passersby wouldn't see how lonely you are."

"That too." She smiled wanly. "Lorelei disappeared awhile ago and so I'm like a lost sheep without Little Bo Peep--not that I'm comparing my best friend to an irresponsible nursery rhyme shepherdess--"

"There was no one that ever made me feel safe like you did," Chris interrupted, silencing her. "I never knew what that felt like until you taught me how to let someone look out for me. And it felt safe to fall in love with you, Anya, so I did, and I'm still on my knees for you."

She stared at him imploringly, too amazed to quite understand. "But what about Molly--?"

He shook his head. "I was talking to Gordie today, and I started to think a lot about me and him when we were kids. I used to lecture him all the time and...I thought maybe I should listen to my own words, so I'm going to kiss you now."

He caught her lips briefly, capturing months of emotions, drying old tears and setting everything right. He broke away, and he could still taste her. Like a vanilla milkshake.

Anya searched his face, her lips tingling and her eyes sparkling. "...Well...thanks...Wow. What exactly did you tell Gordie when you were kids that spurred that?"

"'It's like God gave me something,'" There wasn't a trace of sadness in his smile. The haunted look in his eyes was gone. He looked completely free and innocent and pure. Like the face of an angel. "And he said, 'This is what we got for you, kid, try not to lose it.'"

[So...that's the end. Sorry about the wait. I hope you liked it, even if the ending was pretty sudden and rushed.]