Page 104 - It Ends with Us

He glanc es back and forth bet ween us. “Wha t’d I miss?”

I swallow ha rd, sha king my hea d. Surely that was n’t real ly Atlas . But
tho se ey es —hi s mouth. I kno w it’s been yea rs sinc e I saw hi m, but I’ll
nev er forget wha t he looked like. It had to be hi m. I kno w it was and I
kno w he rec ogni zed me, too, bec ause the sec ond our ey es met . . . it
looked like he’d seen a gho st.
“Lily?” R yle says, squeez ing my ha nd . “You okay?”

I nod and force a smile, then clea r my thro at. “Yep . We were just
talking about you,” I say, glanc ing back at my mother. “R yle assisted in
an ei ght een- ho ur surger y thi s week .”
My mother lea ns for ward with int eres t. R yle beg ins to tel l her all
about the surger y. Our water arri ves , but it’s a different waiter thi s
time. He asks if we’v e ha d a cha nc e to go over the menu and then
tel ls us the che f’s spec ials. The three of us order our food and I’m

doing ev er ythi ng I can to focus, but my attent ion is all over the
res taurant looking for Atlas. I need to regroup. After a few minu tes , I
lea n over to R yle. “I need to run to the res troom.”
He stands up to let me out and my ey es are scanni ng the face of
ev er y waiter as I make my way across the room. I push through the
door to the ha llway tha t lea ds to the res trooms. As soon as I’m alone,

my back meet s the wall of the ha llway. I lea n for ward and rel ea se a
hu ge brea th. I dec ide to take a moment and reg ain my composure
bef ore hea ding back out there. I bring my ha nd s up to my forehea d
and close my ey es .
For ni ne yea rs I’ve wond ered wha t ha ppened to hi m. Year s.
“Lily?”
I glanc e up and suck in a brea th. He’s stand ing at the end of the

ha llway like a gho st straight out of the past. My ey es travel to hi s feet
to make sure he’s no t suspend ed in the air.
He isn’t. He’s rea l, and he’s stand ing right in front of me.
I stay pres sed agains t the wall, no t sure wha t to say to hi m. “Atlas?”
As soon as I say hi s na me, he blows out a quick brea th of relief and
then takes three hu ge step s for ward. I catch mysel f doing the same.

We mee t in the middle and throw our arms around ea ch other. “Holy
shi t,” he says, ho lding me in a tight em brace.
I no d. “Yea h. Holy shi t.”