It was only two weeks left until the end of the school year. The months had passed him by faster than he could have ever imagined. Enjoying life had made the days go by in the blink of an eye.

  Some part of him was going to miss the routine of going to school every day, but he was also happy that his school life would soon be over. The moment the school year ended he would drop out so his and Jane's life together could truly begin.

  Graduating high school was the last thing he wanted to waste his time on. His opinion on fighting for good grades and entry into a good university hadn't changed whatsoever over the months. An ordinaire life simply did not appeal to him at all when he really had no place in their world.

  The moment he turned eighteen his position as Winters consort would become official, which would make him the only member of Jane's clan aside from herself. It was almost strange to think that they had technically been betrothed for more than half a year without him even realizing it. Very soon they would bound by something akin to marriage.

  "Are you driving me to school again today?" Jennifer asked him as she approached the car.

  He had gotten his drivers license last month and had been driving her to for the last few weeks. His father's car had gone to him according to the will, which was the reason he had been using it as his own as of late. It still felt strange to think about the fact that he would be an adult in only a few days.

  "You know it would probably be faster just to take the train right?"

  "Yeah, but it wouldn't be nearly as relaxing as having you drop me off right in front of the school," she said as she opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat.

  Once her seatbelt was on he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway. Driving was a relaxing affair in his mind. A chance to just watch the world zoom by without really having to do anything.

  "You know me and Annie are going to go to your school next year right?"

  "Guess you'll finally be real high schoolers then," he chuckled.

  "You and Jane are leaving aren't you?" she asked him quietly.

  "We're not leaving, Jen, we'll still be around even if we won't be finishing our last year of high school."

  She was clearly worried that they were going to disappear from her life, but that was the last thing he would ever let happen. Him and Jane would always be around to spend time with them no matter what.

  Jane had a lot of work ahead of her such as restoring her family home, fully learning the clan's proprietary magic, and re-establishing the clan from the ground up. He would be by her side every step of the way, but that wouldn't stop him from spending time with his family and Jennifer's friends.

  "Jennifer, you have a very rare opportunity to live out a normal lifetime before all of this shit catches up to you."

  "Unlike you, I never had a chance to live a normal life so you should enjoy it while you can," he said in his father's trademark monotone.

  "But what will happen when my normal life comes to an end?"

  "When that day comes, sis, me and Jane will be waiting for you with open arms."

  Jennifer would never be alone no matter how many centuries passed because even if her friends eventually disappeared he would still be there for her. There was simply no way in hell he would ever let her end up drifting along without something to return to at the end of the day.

  "But if you somehow manage to trick Lee into marrying you one day, then you better make sure he takes your name or all the threats I've made against him will be idle no longer," he chuckled.

  "Shut up, Al!" she screamed as she started flailing at him weakly.

  He could barely restrain his laughter as she struggled to even make him flinch, "Seriously though, Jen, we'll always be there for you."

  Not a day had gone by recently when he hadn't been thankful for his family. His struggle with grief had been different from theirs, but knowing they were in his life gave him peace of mind. He had finally come to terms with Pietro's part in his life and had finally managed to start living for himself.

  Once her little outburst had ended she leaned back in her seat and looked out the window, "What about mom?"

  "She'll leave us one day, Jen, but that's just how it is when you're ordinaire," he sighed, "We'll just have to enjoy what time we have with her."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "But isn't there some way to keep her around or something?!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

  "She wants to see dad again, but she won't find him in this life..."

  "We'll just have to make sure the rest of her life is a happy one and hope that she can see him again on the other side," he muttered as he pulled the car up to the school.

  Jennifer was gazing into the distance with a mixed expression on her face. Some part of her wanted their mother to be around forever, but she also understood that their mother would one day wish to join Pietro on the other side.

  "Look, Jen, we've got like forty or even fifty years with her if we're lucky."

  "So stop worrying and just get to school already," he said as he stepped out of the car and opened the door for her.

  The drive to his school took no more than five minutes. One day Jennifer would come to accept what they were, but unlike him she hadn't been the kind of person who could easily move on with their life once it turned upside down.

  Tonight the school would hold its annual dance, but he and Jane wouldn't be in attendance. They had plans of their own just like they did for the end of the year address. Most of their night would be spent on the roof where they had talked for the very first time. He had something very special planned, but she didn't know that.

  Having finished all of the work for that school year meant that the classes were little more than the teachers talking about the subjects they would work on during the coming year, but since he wouldn't be there he ended up ignoring most of what they said.

  Eventually the bell rang and the school day was over. It was unlikely he would be there tomorrow or ever again for that matter so he took it upon himself to hunt down his homeroom teacher, Harrison. After having walked the corridors for a little bit he found the man in his office and quickly knocked on the door before stepping inside.

  "Well if it isn't you, Al, what brings you here today?" Harrison said in his usual kind tone.

  "Just wanted to thank you for all the classes this year, Harrison," he said as he took a seat in front of Harrison's desk.

  "Somewhat out of character for you, Al, but at the same time I'm not exactly surprised by this development."

  "Nothing actually goes over your head despite what people think, right?"

  "Despite how little effort you put into your work you're still my best student, and seeing as you won't be around next year I can freely admit you were my favorite student as well," Harrison said with gentle smile on his face.

  His eyes went wide as his mind processed the words, "Harrison, how did you know I was going to drop out?"

  "It's just like you said, nothing actually gets past me," Harrison chuckled, "And when you emerged at the beginning of the year I knew this would end up being your last year at this school."

  He felt the power surging within his teacher for one short moment before it became undetectable once more. Harrison had been emerged the entire time and he had never even noticed. Usually he could sense others like himself with ease, but for some reason Harrison had flown completely under his radar despite the fact he had been to almost every one of Harrison's classes throughout the year.

  "Magic users as old as me either get good at staying under the radar or end up with more enemies than you can count," Harrison said while rooting through his desk in search of something.

  "You're not even a mage?!" he exclaimed as Harrison threw him a bundle of keys.

  "Not everyone that emerges develops enough talent to graduate to spellcraft, and some of us simply have no desire to pursue it to begin with."

  "This right here is what I always wanted, Al," Harrison said while polishing his glasses, "I get to live out my dream of being teacher without having to worry about one day growing too old to do it."

  "I've already achieved my dream, Al, and as your teacher it's my job to tell you to go and achieve yours."

  He looked down at his hand only to realize that the keys Harrison had thrown him were for the roof. It was like Harrison could see through him and knew what he would do long before he would ever do it. His teacher had even taken the time to find the keys just to make sure he would be the one to give them to him.

  As he got up and walked out the door he turned around for a moment, "Thank you, Harrison, thank you for everything."

  His heart was beating furiously by the time he reached the roof. This was the last time he would ever be up there. The place where his life should've ended had become the place where a strange new chapter of his life had begun.

  Nowadays he could sense whenever Jane was looking through the bond and the fact she hadn't told him that she had no idea what he was planning. She really had no idea what awaited her when she got there. He found himself nervously fiddling with the small object hidden in his pocket when she finally stepped out onto the roof.

  "Did you really get a pair of old speakers just so you could connect your cassette player to them?" she asked him as he put his arms around her.

  "It always picks the right music for the occasion so it felt like the best way to make sure we have the perfect sound tonight."

  Even if he was terrible at dancing everything felt just right when he danced with Jane. The music set the perfect mood as the hours slowly passed them by. Every minute brought him a step closer to the surprise he had in waiting for her, and his heart just kept beating faster and faster as the fateful moment came closer.

  "You're nervous, Al, what's wrong?" she whispered to him as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

  "It's just something I've been meaning to give you for a while now," he stammered as he retrieved the small box from his pocket.

  "What's this?" she asked him as she opened the box and laid eyes on the ring hiding within.

  "I'm not much for tradition or ceremony really, but I still thought I should give you a ring when I profess my love for you..."

  "Al, this is," tears were forming in her eyes as she spoke, "It's beautiful!"

  Gently he slid the ring on her finger before embracing her once more. The music echoed around them and only heightened the mood as their eyes met. He struggled to even get the words out as he gazed into her crystal blue eyes.

  "I love you, Jane."

  "I love you too, Al," she said as she pressed her lips against his.

  An ordinaire wouldn't be able to see the sparks as their uncontrolled magic flowed into the world around them. But to them it was like seeing a million beautiful fireworks going off all around them as they kissed underneath the setting sun.