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pippiessweathogs · 6 years

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Welcome Back Kotter fanfiction: Emotional final chapter

During the next week, Epstein and Cutie Pie had spent every day together after school. They even spent every possible minute that they could together while in school. They were inoperable just like nothing had happened to break them up. As happy as they were to be reunited, they still took things slow, and mostly spent time trying to catch up. Of course, there naturally was a flirty chemistry between them and a few stolen kisses here and there, but it was never anything beyond that.

While Epstein was much happier and much more like his old self, he knew that he still had some emotional issues to work through before he was one hundred percent. Also, there was the matter of his weight, which he was focused on losing, with help from Cutie Pie and his other friends. He was working hard and made sure he stayed on track with his weight loss goal. Although there were a few times where he almost slipped up, and Cutie Pie had to slap food out of his hands before he could eat it. He admitted that if anyone else would have done that, he would have been upset. But since it was her, he allowed it because she was his best motivator. (And the prettiest.)

The other Sweathogs immediately took notice to how well the two of them were together. They talked about how happy they both seemed since their reunion. Vinnie even personally thanked Cutie Pie for coming back and bringing the old Epstein with her. That was wen Epstein admitted that there still was a ways to go, but he felt a bit better about himself. He knew that with Cutie Pie as his cheerleader, he would never go back to the emotional state he was in.

One day after school, Epstein and Cutie Pie entered her house together, after finishing a run. Epstein was exhausted and complained about needing a rest. Cutie Pie motioned that he follow her upstairs. The idea of what could happen in her bedroom was enough incentive to get him moving up the stairs.

Once in her room, Cutie Pie handed him a towel to dab off his sweat from the run. He accepted it and then sat on the floor against her bed. She sat next to him and placed a hand on his knee.

“Juan I want to talk.”

“Sure, sure. What about?”

“You just seemed… well a bit off while we were running. I actually noticed when you first showed up earlier. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He looked away from her and into his lap. “Yeah… well sort of. No.” He was quiet for a moment. “I guess sometimes my depression starts acting up a bit. But I’ll be okay.”

“Well do you want to talk about it?”

He leaned back some and wrapped the towel around his neck. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“Ok. Just start with the first thing that comes to mind.”

“Alright.” He held his breath before releasing it in a heavy, slow exhale. “Sometimes I still get bothered… I mean well I start feelin’ pretty bad thinking about when you left. It was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with y’know? I can’t stand the thought of not having you.” He looked at her, peering into her eyes. “I’m happy you’re back and that we’re starting over. But the thought of losing you still hurts. Besides, everyone has been helping me get through this, especially Mr. and Mrs. Kotter. But honey, nobody’s been helping me as much as you have. And I don’t want to lose that. I’m scared of where I would be if you never came back.”

She nodded, taking in everything he said to her. “Juan, you can’t keep thinking about what you went through, or how much worse you could be right now. I’m glad to see you getting better since I’ve been back.” She turned toward her record player beside her and rummaged through some records before putting one on. “Don’t focus on the past. Move forward.” She said as the music started playing. It was a song that they both liked a lot.

“I know I shouldn’t think about all that. But what I went through really messed me up y’know? It shook me up real bad and I-“

She cut him off by singing along to the song. “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better.”

He tried to say something else but she kept singing, causing him to listen.

“Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better.”

Epstein tried again to say something more, only to have her keep singing to him. He relaxed, commenting on how pretty her voice was. He stared off into space as he listened to the song and Cutie Pie singing along with Paul McCartney. She saw him start to drift into his thoughts, clearly still not feeling better. So she drew him back into the song, emphasizing certain lines.

“And every time you feel the pain, hey Jude refrain. Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders.”

He looked at her, really beginning to let the words sink in.

“For well you know that it’s a fool, who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder.”

Epstein continued to listen to her sing. He smiled a little as he couldn’t help but think about how, even though her voice wasn’t perfect, she still could hit every note along with Paul. At one point, he leaned in and rested his head on her shoulder as he listened to her sing.

Once she was finished singing, and the song was over, she stopped the record and looked at him. She grinned a little to see that he was calm and no longer being bothered by his thoughts.

“Thanks, Susie. That was nice.”

“I find music very soothing. It’s always helped me when I needed to heal. Honestly, it’s what got me through the time we spent apart. I know I broke it off with you but it was the last thing I ever wanted to do.” She took his hand, rubbing her thumb over top of it. “I did it because I thought we’d never get to see each other again. I had no idea where we’d move to or that it was possible I’d come back.”

He pulled her into a hug. “Don’t ever leave me again, honey. I don’t think my heart could take a round two.”

“Honestly, mine either.” She pressed her forehead against his. “And Juan, I hope you understand why I sang that song to you.”

He slowly nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I ain’t that stupid.” He turned his eyes up to look into hers. “Thank you. I needed to hear those things. You’re right. Music does help.” He kissed her nose. “But honey, you here in my arms helps a hell of a lot more.”

“Good.”

She grinned and then the two of them kissed. They couldn’t help but let the kiss linger and eventually lead into other things.

~*~

“Hey Julie have I ever told you-“

“Aw Gabe. Can’t you go without a joke tonight?” Julie complained, interrupting him. “I’m tired.”

“Julie relax. It’s not a joke. I was going to tell you about Epstein.”

“Oh yeah?” She perked up some. “How is he doing?”

“Fine, Julie, fine. Actually he’s been doing great lately. See, you remember his old girlfriend Cutie Pie?”

“Susie?” She nodded. “Yes I remember her.”

“She came back to Buchanan. The two of them reunited, and Julie, he couldn’t be happier.”

“That’s wonderful!” She smiled. “Good for him! I bet she’ll be just the thing to help him come through his depression. You’ve been saying he wasn’t doing well again.” She cringed. “I still can’t believe he gained back that weight after he worked so hard to lose it last year.”

“Yeah I know. He’s been feeling horrible about it. He’s even had Judy Borden making fun of him for his weight.”

She gasped. “No! Aw poor Juan.”

“But he’s fine. He’s going to be okay. See, Susie has been here for him. She’s helping him get through all of this. And you know what? He has confided in me that she was the cause of his depression and all the eating he had been doing.”

She leaned in closer and frowned in confusion. “What? But she’s been helping him you said.”

“She has. Now that she’s back. She had left last summer. Her moving away is what started the whole thing because it broke his heart so bad to lose her. But now she’s back and they’ve been inseparable. He talks to her, and she listens. She’s even helping him lose weight. He says there’s still a ways to go with all this, but he’s got a good start. He’s really serious about getting better, Julie. He wants to be himself again and I can see him beginning to return a little more each day.”

“Well that’s great news, Gabe! I’m happy to hear about this.”

“Yeah me too. I’m glad he’s finally dealing with his emotions in a healthy way. In any way really.”

“This really is wonderful news.”

She smiled and then brought him into a hug. They remained silent for a few moments before Julie broke the silence.

“Gabe. Go ahead.”

“Go ahead what?”

“Tell me a joke. I know you want to.”

He pulled away from her, looking at her seriously. His smile quickly broke through and he chuckled. “Hey Julie have I ever told you about my great uncle Max who lived in Tallahassee?”

She grinned. “No. Go ahead.”

“Well you see Uncle Max he-“

Gabe told her the joke as he always had, causing her to let out a small laugh as usual. Immediately following the joke, they went back into talking about Epstein, Cutie Pie, and everything he had gone through because of her. They were so proud and happy for Epstein for being able to open up completely, and turn himself around after going through so much emotional trauma. They knew that things for him were only going to get so much better from there.

#Welcome Back Kotter #WBK fanfiction #fanfiction #Emotinal

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