Belong With Me

43: Special Update, 1 MILLION READS Edition

thank you guys, so so very much.

5 years after the epilogue

McDonalds chicken nuggets and some kranch. That's what I need. 

Matt went to bed an hour ago, but i've been nested in the couch for the past 3 watching reruns of Bones. And boy had they been some sad ones, I'd cried at least once an episode. There was this one where this dog's owner got murdered, and that poor dog, you should have seen his face, he was just devast- I feel a sneaky tear slide down my cheek. What the heck is wrong with me? Crying over a dog who ended up going to this super wealthy owner who loved him, 2 hours after I had watched it on a fictional tv show? Ok Cam, get it together.

Now back to kranch, the sweet perfect love child of ketchup and ranch, yes it's a thing, don't come for me. Paired with the crispy golden goodness of those chicken nuggets that probably weren't made of chicken but who cares. I started to tear up again, they just sounded so good. 

That's it, I lugged myself off the couch, my knees stiffer than normal, and grabbed my keys off the hook by the garage door as I made my way out. The car started and I was backing out before I even thought about texting Matt to let him know where I was going. 

Kranch was calling, be back soon. Love you

He knows what I mean, bless that boy. We've been married for four years now and it's been an absolute dream. Not perfect, we've had a fight or two, but love is a choice. You choose to work through your issues and you choose every single day to love and work to be with your person. I'm just one of the lucky ones who got someone who makes all of that easier to do. 

We both had jobs now, wow such adults. Matt is an architectural consultant for the big firms in the city, a passion he found while in college. And I am a freelance artist and part-time museum curator. We moved to Washington the year after we got married, and we now live on our own little slice of land in a small town right outside Seattle. It's the perfect mixture of rural privacy and big city possibilities. We miss our families of course, they still live next to each other back in Colorado, but we try to visit as much as we can. Which is fairly often considering we both get to work from home. 

The warm yellow glow of the Mc'Donalds appears in the windshield and I nearly sigh in contentment. Oh sweet Micky D's.

 But then everything goes terribly wrong.

As i'm pulling into the lot my heart plummets, my eyes tear up, my breathing stops, I've never been so upset in my life. The sobs start in earnest. 

The Mc'Donalds is closed for repairs. Closed for repairs!! How dare they be closed, my kranch! My precious chicken nuggets!

I'm crying so hard I can barely see my phone as I unlock it with shaking hands and hit call.

"Cam??" Matt's voice is a groggy croak, and I start crying even harder because I woke him up.

"Ma-Matt." My voice sounds horrible, like i've been smoking for 20 years, and I sniffle into the phone as I curl against the door and cry some more. 

"Cam what's wrong!?" His voice is alert now, I can even picture him shooting up in bed at my voice, pulling on clothes and shoes, "Where are you?! I'm coming!" 

There are some heavy thuds as I guess he fumbles his way through the house to get to his car. 

"No", a long sniffle, "I'm fine, don't come." But even I can tell through the rushing in my ears that I don't sound convincing. I clear my throat and try again, "I just wanted some Kranch."