𝑂𝐻, 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑃𝐿𝐴𝐶𝐸𝑆 𝑌𝑂𝑈’𝐿𝐿 𝐺𝑂!

FINCH

the day of

Was today a good day to die?

This is something I think about as I break through the surface of the water. My lungs are burning, and I can hardly breathe. I'm on my hands and knees, coughing up all the water that had made its way to my lungs. Little Bastard sits on the embankment and stares at me with judging eyes.

The answer is no. No, today was certainly not a good day to die.
Bloody hell. What was I thinking? Leaving Violet behind to face the impending, weightless doom all on her own?

Violet.

Realization hits me like a battering ram, and I can feel my heart stopping in my chest.

Violet.

"Oh god," I say aloud, my voice hoarse and rough and raw. On trembling legs, I stumble over to my clothes and put them on, not bothering to dry my wet body. Heavy, suffocating panic makes my mind blurry and unfocused. I feel like I'm drowning again — ha, you get it? Drowning?

I trip on my way over Little Bastard, scraping up my palms and knees. I ignore the pain, like always, because I'm good at that.

My hands shake so violently that the keys fall from my grasp.

"Fuck," I shiver, hard, like one of those full-body shivers that comes from the core of your body.

Relax.

Little Bastard starts up with a quiet roar, and the hum of the engine soothes me, only by a little, though.

Ultraviolet Remarkey-able, I'm coming.

" 'Come', I say, 'come'. " I whisper, slamming my foot on the gas pedal.

---

VIOLET

the day of













I wake up to rocks hitting my window.

I lay there for a moment, trying to decide if its real. I decide that no, it's not real, because Finch is dead. It's just my grief-stricken heart and my sleep-deprived mind making it up.

Seconds of silence past, until the sound of shattering glass startles a scream out of me.

"Shit!" a husky, familiar voice says.

Finch!?

I'm sitting in my bed, my heart beating a mile-a-minute, my eyes wide. I wait for my parent's voices and their footsteps climbing up the stairs. When I don't hear them, I shoot from my bed and fling myself over to my window.

I gasp as I spot a familiar mop of messy black, silky hair and pale skin and blue-blue eyes. Those blue eyes blink up at me, and then his purple lips stretch up into a smile.

"Hey there, Ultraviolet. Sorry about the window. I'll pay for that!" Finch says.

I open my mouth to scream at him, but then I notice how badly he's shaking. His whole body is quivering, and he has his arms wrapped around his body. His clothes are wet. His blue eyes are staring up at me, pleading. He holds out his hand and says —

"'Come,' I say, 'come'."

I close my eyes and press my trembling lips together. "Finch —"

"I know, Violet, I know," he says, tears in his own eyes. For a moment I think he's going to sob, but he pulls himself together.

"I'm so terribly sorry, Ultraviolet."

"Why? You hurt me, Finch. I thought you were dead." I whisper.

Finch's face crumbles like he knows that he hurt me, and when he speaks, there's tears in his voice. "I'm sorry, Violet. I'm so, so, sorry. Please forgive me."

His words ring sincere in my ears, and his blue eyes hold no lies.
I don't bother to throw on my robe as I run down the stairs and fly through my front door.

---

FINCH

the day of

I can't say I'm surprised when Violet's hand comes in contact with my cheek. The slap was quick and painful, and I can feel the sting after she steps back and stares at me with angry eyes.

God, I can't believe I almost left her.

Violet Markey, the girl whose sister died in a tragic car-crash, the girl with big, ugly glasses that almost take up her entire face, but behind those enormous lenses, she has big, beautiful, no-bullshit eyes and two freckles on her face. She's a girl with dark-blond hair with bangs that she gave herself. She's Ultraviolet Remarkey-able, all the colors at full brightness.

"Violet, I —" I pause, because what am I going to say that will make her forgive me? Theodore Freak. Broken. Fraud. Impossible to love. You warned her, my unsound mind repeats. What does she want from you? You told her how it was. "— I'm sorry." I end up saying, and I mentally slap myself on my other cheek.

"You're sorry!?" Violet seethes, her face red with anger.

"Yeah," I whisper. "I'm sorry." I hesitantly reach out to brush my fingers against the top of her hand, and she immediately rips her hand away as if I had burned it. The rejection stings, but it was expected. Before Violet can speak another word, I drop to the ground in front of her, on my knees with my head bowed.
"Finch!? What are you —"

"I'm so, so, so, sorry, Violet." Tears fall from my eyes, and I think, Damnit, damnit, damnit! Stop crying! but the tears don't stop. They roll down my face like big, fat raindrops. A strange noise comes from my throat, and I identify it as a sob.

"Finch. . .?" Violet's voice is scared now, worried maybe.

"I didn't. . ." I swallow and wipe away my tears. "I didn't mean too, Violet, I swear," my voice shakes. I look up at her and she's staring down at me with tears in her eyes, too. "I don't want to die, Ultraviolet. Scouts honor."

"Oh, Finch. . ." she bends down in front of me and cups my face in her soft hands. "Why didn't you tell me, Finch? Why didn't you tell me what was wrong?" she asks.

I don't answer, because I don't know why I didn't tell her.

"I'm sorry," I say again.

"I'm sorry too." Violet whispers, and she pulls me into an embrace. Warmth floods me, and I don't think to ask what she's sorry for because I'm focusing on the heat that she's giving me.

"You're cold." Ultraviolet says.

"You're warm." I say.

I feel her smile against my hair.

---

FINCH
I am awake

I stare down at Violet and think, wow. So, this is love?

She looks tired, even in her sleep. I suppose she has many reasons to be tired. I was asleep, as in the Asleep. I went away for a while, but not like last time. I called Violet every day, telling her that I loved her and that I was going to be okay. Clearly, though, she still worried about me while I was Asleep. My heart clenches at the thought.

Her dark gold hair is splayed across my pillow, and her face is etched with worry and stress lines. But she's still just as beautiful. She's still all the colors.

I smile and bend down, my lips at her ear. "Rise and shine, Ultraviolet." I kiss her jaw.

Violet blinks her eyes open, and they go wide and awake as the see me. "Finch." she breathes, and she smiles at me.

My heart thumps fast. My blood is pounding. I feel awake.

It's a good feeling.

"Hey," I say, and before I can do anything else, she grabs my arm and yanks me down, pulling me onto the bed beside her. She gathers me close to her chest and runs her hands through my hair.

I laugh, wrapping my arms around her in return. "Nice to see you too, Violet."

Violet hums, kissing my forehead. "I missed you," she says.

I sigh and bury my face into the crook of her neck. I feel her pulse beneath my lips, and I kiss her throat. "I missed you too, Ultraviolet."

Violet chuckles and tilts my chin upwards so she could stare into my eyes. "I missed you calling me that." she admits.

I smirk. "I knew it!" I fist-bump the air.

Violet stares at me for a while, as if memorizing every feature of my face. I do the same. The curve of her lips, the dept of her eyes, the two freckles on her cheek, her sweet, heart-shaped face that was framed by dark blond hair.

She kisses me.

I kiss her.

And all feels right in the world. I forget about the impending, weightless doom and being Asleep. I forget about everything else.
It's just me and Violet. Violet and me, star-crossed lovers destined to live a happily-ever-after with some potholes and bumps on the way there. But eventually, we do reach the end of the happily-ever-after road. It was a tough drive, sometimes behind a driver's seat and sometimes behind the handlebars of a bike. But we got there all the same. We've wandered far and wide, up and low, over and under. We've been to all the bright places, and this land of happily-ever-after is the last of the bright places.

" 'Today is your day'."

Violet pulls back and smiles such a beautiful smile that makes my heart sing.

" 'You're off to Great Places'!" she quotes back.

We look at each other, our eyes bright.
Three, two, one.

" 'You're off and away'!" we both say. And in that moment of elegance and euphoria, I feel more awake than I've ever had before.