Page 59 of I Know How This Ends

form or another for thousands of years, across many cultures. So let’s just say I did humor this wild notion.” Henry frowns. “You clearly saw something. You had a vision in the car that made you break up with

me, and I think I need to know what it is.”

“No.” I shake my head. “That’s not a good idea, Henry. Please, trust me.”

“I don’t want to know the rest,” he states firmly. “At all. Whatever else you’ve seen, I don’t want to know it. I told you,

if I ran across three old witches dancing in the rain, I’d get the hell out of there. Not interested. I just didn’t realize

this particular witch would be so young and so damn hot. So this one, I need to know.”

“Why, thank you,” I beam automatically, then scowl. “You’re not getting around me with compliments, Henry. It’s a no.”

“Look, I appreciate that you’re a mystical being and whatnot . ” Henry narrows his eyes. “But this involves me. It involves my child. It’s my life . So I think you need to make an exception this once, Meg. Then we will never, ever mention the visions again. I need to live

my life without knowing as much as I can, if possible.”

I stare at him as another wave of shock courses through me.

We don’t mention the visions.

Neither of us ever mention the visions, while we’re in the visions. But I’ve told him now. Henry knows about them. Which means that for every

single vision I’ve had—apart from the first one—Henry has been there and he has known. He has known I’m a different Margot,

I’m Past Margot, and I’m confused and scared and lost. He has comforted me, and gently explained where we are and what we’re

doing, so subtly I didn’t even notice.

This was all part of it: the break-up, the reunion.

I haven’t knocked anything off course: I’ve just brought us back to exactly where that future came from, which is right here.

“I love you,” I say as my eyes fill. “I am in love with you, Henry. Not because of what I’ve seen, but because of what I see .”

Henry’s whole face lights up and he leans forward to kiss me gently on the lips.

“I love you too, Margot. Ditto, on all counts. Now please tell me.”

This is it. Isn’t it.

He didn’t mean: This is it for us. He meant: This is the vision you told me about.

I can tell him, because I already have.

“We break up.” I take a deep breath. I’m not saying the word divorce , it’s too much and he doesn’t need to know. “I’m not telling you when, or how, and I don’t actually know why because I haven’t been shown. I’m as blind as you are on that one. I just know it’s quite a long time away.”

“How long?”

“You’re old,” I say bluntly. “And so am I. Relatively old, anyway.”

I don’t think Other Margot will appreciate me saying that. I’ll get to her eventually, better not cast that stone.

“We meet on a street, in Bristol. It’s cold. I’m wearing a pink coat. We haven’t seen each other for quite a while, I think. We’re pretty much strangers.”

My heart hurts again. Just face it, Margot. So you’ll hurt. We all hurt. It’s part of being alive. Deal with it.

“And...?”

“And Winnie—”

“You saw Winter?” Henry abruptly sits forward, face shining. “Oh my God, you saw her? Is she OK? How big is she? Does she look happy? Healthy? No. I don’t want to know. Yes, I do. Tell me. Quickly, tell

me, before I change my mind.”

“See?” I laugh. “It’s not that easy, is it? Not when it’s about people you love.”

“ Fine. ” Henry waves a hand. “You’re right, I’m wrong, just tell me my daughter is OK, please, because I cannot handle this, my brain

isn’t big enough.”

“She’s beautiful , Henry.” I feel a lump in my throat. “Winter is all grown-up and she’s clever and smart and happy and so, so beautiful.”

I’m not going to tell him he finally becomes a surgeon—let that be a surprise.

I’ll let the tattoo on her wrist be a surprise too.

“ Oh. ” Henry sits back, winded. “Wow. OK, that was a rush. Blimey.”

I smile at him affectionately: his intense, complete love for Winter is one of my favorite things about him. One of the many

things I will share with him, in the future.

“She does, however, know about the visions,” I add.

“Probably from right now.” Henry glances at her bedroom door. “Little bloody big ears . ” Then he shakes himself. “Right. Back to topic. So we break up, and—”

“And? What do you mean ‘and,’ Henry? We break up. It’s over. We’re strangers. I’ve told you. We’re strangers and we’re old.”

Henry looks at me blankly. “So?”

“OK,” I say slowly. “I don’t think you’re quite hearing me. We’re old. We break up. We’re strangers. It’s over. Does putting it in a different order help?”

“I mean... and then ?”

“Well, and then nothing. That’s the furthest forward I’ve gone. I’ve not seen anything after that. That’s the end. My visions are only linked

to you. Without you, I don’t have them. So when I stop seeing you, the visions stop too.”

“Awwww,” Henry says, ruffling my hair. “Little creep.”

“Mnnneurgh,” I say, pushing him away with a pleased smile. “Focus. Do you understand what I’m saying? This is not going to

last forever, Henry. We’ll end up alone. Both of us. You might not...” have any more kids “...get everything you want from your life. Is that what you want?”

“But we might last forever,” he says flatly. “You don’t know.”

“But I do know, actually,” I sigh. “It’s why I call them visions of the future .”

“But what if ,” Henry says, and I watch him desperately clutching at straws the same way I did when I found out. “What if you stop having visions because that bit hasn’t been decided yet . Hmm? What then? Haven’t thought of that, have you?”

“I don’t know if that’s how it works.”

“But you don’t know it’s not how it works.”

“Well—no. I guess not.”

Henry beams at me, triumphant and smug, and I want to kiss him so badly I can barely breathe. But I won’t, not until we’ve

made a decision. I am not leaving this life-altering choice up to lust, thank you very much.

“Except...” Henry sits forward abruptly, watching me carefully. “I need to know for sure that you’re not going to just

run away every time you get scared of what’s coming, Meg. No matter what you see or don’t see. It’s not fair. Not on me, and

not on Winnie. If we do this, we’re doing it as a team. You have to trust us.”

If we’re doing this. My heart hops with hope. “Agreed.”

“I’m going to need you to say it.”

“We’re doing this as a team. No more running. I trust us.”

I mean it with my whole body, and Henry can tell: he glances toward Winnie’s bedroom door, and I see him evaluate her part in this decision too.

“So how about this.” He reaches forward and takes my hands in his. “We stay together. We’re happy. At some point, we break

up, and that’s fine. We have our reasons. You’re probably being a right pain in the arse, I’d imagine.”

I smack him gently, then nod. “Yeah, probably.”

“Then we see each other on some street, whenever that is, and it’ll be cold, and you’ll be wearing a pink coat, and we make

a decision then . To get back together or not. We don’t have to make it now .”

I stare at him in amazement. “Seriously?”

“I don’t bloody see why not. Fate and destiny, Margot. I’ve never had much time for either. We will decide. Nobody and nothing else will do it for us. That’s my take on Macbeth too, and I’m sticking to it.”

This is it. Isn’t it.

He doesn’t just mean the vision. This is it. Isn’t it.

This is our chance to try again.

My chin starts to wobble dramatically and I quickly pull my jumper up over my head so I can cry in private. Because I want

it all: everything I have seen. I want the fights, I want the love, I want the boredom, I want the laughter, I want the tears,

I want the happiness, I want the pain. I want all the good bits and the bad bits and the bits in between: the bits I don’t

know, haven’t reached, won’t see until they’re here.

My grandfather was right, as he always is.

I want the life .

“Sorry.” Henry sticks his head under the bottom of my jumper. “Didn’t quite catch that, Megalodon.”

“I said yes ,” I sob incoherently. “Please. If it’s OK with you.”

“It’s OK with me.” I get pulled unceremoniously out of my jumper so that Henry can hold my face, wipe my tears away, kiss

my nose, my ear, my mouth. “So it’s a deal.”

“I CAN HEAR YOU,” Winter screams in the background. “ Just so you know. ”

Henry and I both start laughing.

“See you in the future, Margot,” he grins, bopping me on the nose, and I love it, I love him, I love her, I love it all . “In the meantime, I’ll be right here.”