Her eyes widened, and she spared no time crawling into the bed next to me. I wrapped my unbroken arm around her and pulled her against my side. She nestled her head between my neck and shoulder, breathing me in, crying into my neck as she gripped my shitty little hospital gown in the palm of her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I was so scared.”

“I’m okay.”

“But I didn’t know that. I’m so angry with myself. For wasting so much time.”

“Then don’t waste any more of it.”

“I was so scared. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you, never again.”

I looked down at her. “Then be with me.”

Her face turned up to me. “Of course.”

I kissed her forehead, but she moved her face up more and planted her wet lips against mine. Her breaths were ragged against my mouth, and she stayed like that for a long time, staring at me in the eyes.

She finally got it.

“Glad to know my near death woke you up,” I muttered to her, my lips flinching up. “If I’d known that, I might have tried killing myself a long time ago.”

She didn’t smile, and more tears fell. “We’ll make this work.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m never going to leave you, no matter what.”

“Yeah.”

She kissed me again and buried her face in my chest. She soaked me with her tears and I stroked her back. My eyes hurt and my heart ached. I was still in a state of disbelief. Her arrival was so abrupt and unexpected, and I was in limbo of emotions since the crash.

I was practically numb.

Minutes and minutes passed, and slowly her sniffs died off and she stopped crying hard. I stared up at the muted television, watching the news go through the events of the plane crash.

Then, all at once, it happened.

A list of the survivors appeared on-screen, and among them… Julie.

My body let go. I sagged into the bed and squeezed Leah to me.

Tears flew from my eyes and I sobbed.

Everything’s going to be okay.

Epilogue

Carter

I was going to do it.

I was going to perform the ultimate commitment. Or at least the promise of one anyway.

“Where are we going?”

I just shook my head as I drove further up the winding road. The house itself was on a hill, overlooking the valleys, giving perfect view of the mountains. It was paradise, and it wasn’t too far from her work, either.

And Leah was obsessed with work.

She worked for a dick, but she was happy. She loved making her own money, even though she didn’t have to work another day in her life if she chose to.

We’d been officially together eleven months, and not a day went by that we didn’t live it to the fullest. After the crash, the band took a much needed break from the spotlight. We didn’t want to rush another album. We had made our money, had fans willing and ready to wait for us.

There was no rush.

As we approached the gates to the property I’d bought behind her back, I saw her confusion form as she looked between the property and me. I didn’t enter the gate, although I did have the passcode. Instead, I parked the car out front of them and stepped out. She followed after me, in nothing but a sexy as sin summer dress that had my lust burning all over again. Her gaze was stuck on the modest-sized estate.

It was ten acres, and the Georgian style house was in tip-top shape. I should know, I went through every inch of it.

I’d seen her obsessing about these homes over the months. She watched those boring-as-fuck property shows all the time after she returned from work most nights.

I rested my shoulders against one of the iron bars of the black gate and stared at her. A mischievous smirk formed on my face as she said, “I don’t understand.”

“I bought it,” I said, impulsively. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Her jaw dropped as she stepped closer to the gate and studied the house. “What?”

“Yep, I bought it.”

“When?”

“When I pretended to be writing lyrics with Rome last week.”

Her typical female response, “You lied to me?”

Never mind I lied to her for a good reason.

“I lied to you about a lot of things,” I said.

She turned to me, frowning. “What other things did you lie about?”

With my hand in my pocket, clutching the ring box in the palm of my hand, I said, “Remember last week, when I took an extra-long time picking up those napkins you wanted with the stupid fucking floral design on them?”

She eyed me cautiously. “Yeah?”

“I wasn’t really picking out a napkin.”

“What were you picking out?”

I removed the box, and her eyes immediately caught it. Immediately, her face fell in shock. I took her by the hand and went down on one knee. I was shaking. Fuck, you’d think I wouldn’t have nerves anymore being a musician that sang in front of thousands of people.

But I was terrified.

“I love you,” I told her, solemnly, as her eyes misted. “I want to grow old with you. I want to have kids with you. I want to be in a house the entire time we’re doing those things, particularly breeding like crazy. I’m going to fuck you on every surface of that house, by the way. Anyway, point is, I want you, and I want my future to be along your side. No more time wasted, right?”

She nodded, a tear falling from her eye.

“So, marry me. Please.”

Her lips trembled. “Yeah,” she choked out. “Duh.”

I removed the ring with its giant as fuck diamond on top, and slid it on her finger. Standing up, I took her into my arms and seared her mouth with mine.

This was the beginning of the rest of my life.

*

We struggled at times.

You never undid fame, it was permanent.

But we made it work. When she needed a break, she had Melanie to turn to. When I needed mine, I could escape with Rome to the recording studio I’d created inside the house.

We got married on a beautiful sunny day; a day that soon turned to rain and a muddy wedding dress.

We blossomed, learning to trust one another when times got challenging and rumours stirred.

More than anything, we were happy.

Every pain we endured, and would continue to endure, was worth it in the end.

10 years old

I stared down at the tombstone.