Endgame: Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Notes: This is it everyone! Thank you all so much for reading and for your support every month <3. If you've enjoyed Endgame, it would be awesome if you went over to goodreads and left some stars or a review soon when there's a page for it. I'm looking forward to all the prompts you come up with for Audrey and Morgan!

Endgame: Chapter 23

Another semester over and school was at its end. My parents, Anna, and Wayne had driven down together for graduation for a few days, but tonight was all about Morgan. So, when Dad texted me that they’d arrived at the dorms, I took one last look at myself in the mirror of my room. It was time for the annual art exhibit, where we’d finally get to see Morgan’s senior project, and even though she’d told me that I could dress casually, I’d wanted to look nice for her. Especially since she had to dress up a bit. I wasn’t dressed formal, by any means, but I had on nice black pants, black heels, and a fancy white blouse.

Satisfied with my outfit, I headed out and down to the car, saying, “Hey, hey,” as I jumped into the backseat with Anna and Wayne.

“Excited?” Anna asked.

My dad also turned around to look at me from the passenger seat and said, “You look nice.”

“Thanks,” I smiled. “And yes. She hasn’t even let me peek at her project yet.”

“We got her these,” Mom said as she pulled away from the dorms, gesturing to a bunch of yellow roses laid over the center console. “Do you think she’ll like them?”

“She’ll love them,” I said.

She smiled, and we chatted a little bit about the coming graduation as we drove to a spot of campus that was closer to the exhibit. We parked just as ZuZu was calling me, so I answered as we all climbed out of the car.

“Hey,” I said.

“We’re out front of the building,” ZuZu said, “where are you?”

“Just parked,” I told her. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

We hung up, and my parents and I made our short trek to the art building where ZuZu and Rodney were waiting for us. I introduced Rodney to the rest of my family while ZuZu and Anna shrieked and hugged and ZuZu made a huge deal out of Anna’s massive baby bump. Then, while they were all exchanging pleasantries, I texted Morgan to let her know that we’d arrived. She’d had to be at the building a lot earlier to help set up, and to meet with all the recruiters that came to visit with other students, even though she had her heart set on opening her own studio.

There was an excited buzz amongst everyone in the building as we entered. From art students to students who’d just come to look, and even townsfolk who were here to see the art, everyone was talking happily and bustling from piece to piece in the massive exhibit area. Morgan managed to get away and meet us near the entrance, and even she was glowing with joy.

She hurried straight to me in her fancy black pants suit and gave me a hug and kiss before moving on to embrace my family, and then ZuZu and Rodney. “I’m so glad you could make it,” she told them.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” my dad told her.

“These are for you,” my mom added, extending the flowers.

“Thank you so much,” Morgan said with a grin, taking the roses and inhaling deeply into them. “They’re beautiful.” She hugged them to her side and nodded inward toward the exhibit. “I’ve been struggling to keep my mom and Pip away from the sculptures, but they really want to see mine. You all want to come? Or look around a bit first?”

I took Morgan’s hand in mine in response, and ZuZu said, “Let’s see this super-secret project.”

Morgan nodded, and led us all to where she’d left Daisy and Pip to come and greet us. I introduced my family to them, and then we all let Morgan lead us to where her sculpture was. She stopped us right in front of it, with a timid gesture and ‘here you are.’

In true Morgan fashion, it was ceramic and realistic – about hip height and mostly unpainted. And while I hugged myself to Morgan’s side, I watched her watching her mom for a reaction. It was a sculpture of them, or, a past them. Morgan couldn’t have been more than ten in the piece, and sculpted-them were sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, arms extended and ceramic paint brushes in hand. They were painting a basketball-sized elephant, and while there was a little bit of cartoony stars and night sky painted on the elephant beneath their brushes, most of the color was elsewhere.

It was between them. Where their shoulders were touching, where their legs were touching, flowing upward into their faces and smiles. Tiny butterflies and flowers and rainbows, and bright bursts of swirling colors to signify every ounce of joy that radiated from the exchange. It was a beautiful display of Morgan’s fondness for what had to have been a memory, and, if the moisture growing in Daisy’s eyes was any indication, she’d captured it perfectly.

“What do you think?” Morgan asked her mom. “Do you remember that day?”

“Oh, of course,” Daisy said, her voice soggy, “I think it’s my favorite piece you’ve ever done.” And I let Morgan go so they could hug. “It’s gorgeous,” Daisy added, as they embraced for a long handful of moments before letting go so Daisy could continue to admire the sculpture.

Morgan stepped back and grinned at me, her cheeks a light pink because of the slight moisture that had grown in her own eyes, and I smiled in return and raised a hand to rub her back.

“You know,” Pip said, “it’s definitely better than the ceramic poop you leave around the house.”

Morgan laughed, “Well that’s a relief.”

She stood at my side while my family, ZuZu, and Rodney walked around the sculpture to look at all sides, muttering their ‘wow’s and appraisals as they did. And I was proud that my family could finally see what Morgan was capable of.

“I think you’ve got your new window display,” I told her.

She cocked her head, observing the sculpture while her smile slowly widened. Then she turned that magnificent smile on me. “Huh,” she huffed happily, “I think you’re right.”

I kissed her on the cheek, and we all stood around for another minute looking at it before Morgan got another phone call. Her dad and Jane had also come in for the show and graduation, and with Morgan’s guidance on the phone, they navigated through the exhibit and to us. There were some introductions all around, and some comfortingly polite greetings between Daisy, Ethan, and Jane. We waited around for a little longer so Ethan and Jane could admire Morgan’s project, and then it was time to move on.

I didn’t want to capitalize all of Morgan’s time when she also had her parents to tour around, so I gave her one more kiss and then followed my own group throughout the exhibit to admire the other pieces with them. Morgan got to join us for a little while, and then she was whisked away again, but not before making sure that I’d call her before leaving with my family so that she could walk us out.

Once we’d finally exhausted all the other art that drew our eyes, I did call her, and we waited near the exit for her to meet up with us. She said goodbye to ZuZu and Rodney as we walked out, thanked my family for coming and said bye to them, and then they walked ahead of us to the car so we could have a minute alone.

“Your sculpture really was amazing,” I told her, while we stopped at the edge of the parking lot.

“Yeah?” she asked humbly, and I nodded. “I’ve never felt so much pressure around a project, I’m glad it paid off.”

“It was perfect. And I could tell your mom really loved it.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Everything just worked out so perfect. It’s kind of surreal, you know?” She took my hand. “It meant even more that she could see it when she’s been sober for so long, and that my dad and Jane could be here too and everything was okay.”

“You deserve this,” I told her. “You deserved tonight.”

She smiled, and pulled me into a long, warm hug before letting me go again. “Before I let you go,” she said, reaching into her pocket, “I wanted to show you something.”

I waited for her to pull a few folded pieces of paper out of her pocket and pass them to me. I unfolded them and flipped through, looking at the handful of rental listings on the pages. “Ooh,” I said, “for the studio?”

She gave something of a shy laugh and shook her head. “They’re apartments.” And my eyes widened with realization. “I know we’ve kind of talked about moving in together, but we never made any solid plans, and I thought after graduation we cou-” I threw my arms around her neck and cut her off with a kiss, feeling her grin through it until I finally let her go. “So that’s a yes to solid plans?”

I nodded enthusiastically, flipping through the pages again with a newfound excitement about the listings. “Absolutely, yes.”

She was smiling ear to ear, looking so happy about it that she didn’t know what else to do other than to say, “Okay.”

I stuffed the papers into a back pocket of my jeans so my hands were free, so I could grab her face and kiss her again before saying, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said. Then she glanced past me toward where my parents were waiting in the car. “I’ll let you go now, I guess.”

“Okay,” I chuckled, and kissed her one last time. “Have fun with your dad, okay? I’ll see you in a few days.”

She nodded, walking backward as she smiled at me and passed me a characteristically casual salute. “See you at graduation, Caplan.”