The floor was littered with hundred dollar bills and bodies. Although the inside looked like a crazy weekend bender gone wrong, there was a sense of relief in the air. The bodies on the ground were those of mob bosses, ones who had chased a couple through miles and miles just to have information on the location of a briefcase. That of which lay on the ground with a bullet hole in the center, the contents strewn about covering the floor. The bills counted up to a million dollars and all of it was clean unaccounted for and now belonging to whoever wanted it. The three people left alive were looking around the place like a bomb had gone off, taking a moment to make sure that nothing else was going to pop out or mess things up. The building was quiet. It had been a long time coming but they all finally felt as if time wasn't rushing anymore, like they had finished a long race and were allowed to stop and take in the air now. Meg was a little shaken and the last few minutes so much happened so quickly that reality hadn't quite caught up to her yet. A few bills were still tumbling down through the air like a few last snowflakes after a long winter. Edward looked into her eyes and tried his best to be cautious but show a smile that told her that everything might actually be alright. Smythe rolled over onto his side and took in as much as he could.
"Is that.....are they?.....are we good?"
There was no answer but the couple looked over at him with smiles beginning to spread across their faces.
"I think we're good. Darlin I think we're good!"
If Meg was made of fireworks she would have for sure exploded into a varying array of colors and pops, her feet leaping a million miles off the ground in a joyous hop. She screamed in happiness.
"We're good!! We did it! It's over! They're gone!!"
She leapt into his arms and they kissed like long lost lovers. Her feet never touching the ground.
"Baby we did it."
"I couldn't have done it without you."
She gave the most beautiful nose crinkle so far and his heart bounced off his chest and into hers to embrace it as well. A long long journey being chased was finally at a close and they came out on top. Not only did they take down the biggest crime bosses in the field, but they managed to inadvertently bring down the toughest crime business as well with Victoria. The reality of Smythe finally caught up to the both of them as he lay on the floor watching them.
"Oh my god Smythe, are you alright?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll be fine, not like I haven't been shot before."
"I'm so sorry, I was just so caught up in the moment!"
"No no, please, be in the moment. You two earned it."
They helped him up and tended to his wounds the best they could. Next on the agenda was cleaning up the place and what to do with the case and money that was inside.
"I'll have my guys come by and clean up the bodies. There is a place I know they can be taken care of and nobody will ever know."
"Thanks again Smythe, you really are a lifesaver."
"Ah it was nothin. Say, there seems to be quite a lot of money laying around here, somebody should probably do something about that."
Meg looked at Edward with a look in her eye that wanted him to think exactly what she was. He took her hand and kissed her.
"Well darlin, I think I can find a good use for all that cash. What do you think?"
"I think we damn well earned it."
A few days went by as the cleanup and final ends were tied up. Meg and Edward stayed in a hotel for the time being and slept more than they may ever need to for the rest of their lives. They took time out to eat and make love and enjoy long nights sitting up talking to each other while snuggling warmly in each other's arms. They had decided to take the money for themselves, paying Smythe a handsome fee of course for his troubles. The week was ending and the sun sat calmly on the edge of the ocean giving the sky an orange tint. The couple laid on the beach holding hands, the breeze through their hair.
"Still can't believe it's over."
"I couldn't be happier, another job successfully done."
"Looking back on it all, it's a wonder we made it at all."
"You impress the hell out of me babe."
"Oh stop, I wasn't that amazing.....but do go on."
"You went from knowing nothing and being mixed up in something to kicking ass and going through with something dangerous and life changing. I couldn't possibly love you more."
She gave him his favorite nose crinkling smile and he turned to liquid.
"As much as I hated the experience and the time it took from my life, I'm glad it happened. I'm really glad I met you. I'm glad I"m able to feel love like this."
"There I was thinking that I was just going to be this detective for the rest of my life, stuck in the same kind of day repeating over and over. Then one day I look over and I see you. You did something to my heart that day. Just seeing your face...all I could think was...she's beautiful."
"Oh stop, you're makin me blush."
"It's true. From the moment I met you I knew. Something inside me gave me this crazy feeling that I could sense all the way down to my bones. I was excited again. Not the kind of excited if I had come into some money or took down the biggest case of my career. The kind of excited that made me feel like I had found my future and the correct path I was supposed to take. Like I had been lost in dark woods and I finally found the light at the end of the shadows. When I saw you, even though we hadn't met, my heart told me that this was where I was supposed to be."
"I'll admit, at first I was scared and a little overwhelmed. But after that night, when I was waiting for you at my apartment, before we started this journey....all I could think about was you making it to me okay so that I could see you. I totally understand what you mean. I couldn't sit still and was pacing up and down my hallways. You're right, there was just this feeling of...right. There have been others besides you but none of them are you."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I've put you through a lot with this journey and taken time from your life that you can't get back, but if given the chance with you....you have my word that I would make sure you were the happiest girl in the world. Being with you makes me want to be a better man and achieve great things in life to leave an impression for when I'm gone. When I imagine a future with us I am always smiling and want to start a family with you. Our family."
"No more detective business? A part of me feels like you got stuck in that loop and never really matured and took the big steps towards your real career. Towards an adult life with the one you love."
"I think that's true. No, no more detective business. That's not me, I think maybe I thought it was what I was supposed to be doing but I can't ignore the feeling I get when I look at art. You know, I never believed in muses, always thought that was a more romanticized way of saying that you thought up something or were inspired. But I get it now. I don't have to be near you but just think of you and my mind goes all sorts of places."
"If I had to go through all of this again. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe the gunshot wound and the time it took. But, it led me to you, brought me closer to you, had me fall for you. They say God does everything for a reason. Being friend with El, getting mixed up in her mess, being in that building that day you were across on the roof. These aren't all coincidences."
"I'd risk my life in betting that the man upstairs wants us together. That's something I'll never fight him on."
He looked at her as she stared off over the ocean at the setting sun. His world stopped in that moment, freeing him of any and all ties to his physical presence on the planet. Even though he already had, he wondered still how her skin felt and her hair. Was a silly thing to think but every time he looked at her he found a new thing to love. A new experience waiting to happen.
"I'm not perfect Megels....hell I don't have to tell you that. I've never much been good at these things but I'll be damned if I let someone like you out of my life instead of a part of it. You make me happy. More than happy, you make me feel like a complete person. When two people get along so well with the same interests and the ability to make the other person feel like they can be themselves and not have to hid anything.....well....I don't think you know just how rare that is. You're the most unique person I've been lucky enough to meet. I think about you every minute I'm awake and dream about you every minute I'm asleep. There are some things you just know."
He fumbled around in his pocket and could feel his heart practically leaping out of his chest. Was that sweat? Crazy how having a gun to his head didn't make him sweat like this. Between his fingers he felt the round steel of the ring. There was nothing he wanted more than this. To make it official, he slid down off the hood of the car and on to his knee.
"Megels, you're the most perfect person I've ever met and have made me feel like I meant something. Like I was the most important person to walk the planet. I've felt purpose, inspiration, and determination. I spend every waking moment thinking of you and planning a beautiful life with you. From the moment I saw you I knew I was looking at destiny. It would not only be my honor and privilege, but my greatest wish and dream for you to be the one I spend the rest of my days with."
She opened her eyes as wide as they could go realizing what was happening. She stumbled off the hood of the car and her eyes began to well up with tears. She had been dreaming about her happily ever after for years and those wishes looked to finally be paying off. He reached out and held her hand, looking right into her eyes with his baby blues.
"My darlin dew drop, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"
The ring stared at her, glistening in the setting sun's light. It had been a rough road to this point, could she trust that they wouldn't encounter any of it again? She felt a pang of nervousness in her heart. She knew that this was exactly what she was waiting for and wanted. The tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks. He was given to her out of the blue when she needed it most and took care of her no matter what the danger. Her heart sang out to her with the loudest of praise. Her happily ever after was looking her right in the face and her mind had sent her the greatest, fastest message it had ever done.
"Yes! Oh Edward yes!"
He leapt up and slid the ring onto her finger and they embraced with a kiss and didn't let go until the sun completely set beyond the sea. The stars twinkled above the happy couple as their dangerous journey came to an end, bruises and all. The new journey opened up wide ahead of them, ready to be filled with every memory, adventure, laugh, and love. The moment the ring hit her finger she could feel every worry evaporate and her own mind find the muse of its own with ideas pouring from every corner. A star shot across the sky leaving a hot trail of dust behind it.
"Make a wish my love"
"You just granted it."
The loving couple spent the rest of the night holding, kissing, and planning. Their car resting behind them filled with a million dollars, a full tank of gas, and the mileage for two people head over heels in love and a million miles of memories ready to be made.
xoxoxoxoxoloveyoumorethanlifeyouaremyshootingstardarlinxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
