A/N: I don't really know how to explain this as anything other than a future one-shot. The future based on my other story, A New Beginning, that is. I do plan on at least attempting a chapter focused on each couple from the story. This idea got stuck in my head and my muse demanded I write it, so here it is. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think. This is set about two years after A New Beginning.

Disclaimer: The only characters in this story that are mine are my OCs.

Reaching over to his girlfriend's side of the bed, Jesse was disappointed to find that she was no longer there. Listening carefully, he could hear the sound of not only her voice, but of her cousin and one of their roommates, Holly. Glancing at the clock, he groaned when he realized it was still rather early. At least for a weekend. Granted they had to be somewhere later this afternoon, but in his opinion, it was still early. With a sigh, he reluctantly got out of bed and padded out to the kitchen, hoping Rachel had at least opted to cook, or Holly had woken Dominic to do it.

"What time do we need to be at the auditorium?" Rachel asked Holly as the two sat in the living room talking.

"The ceremony starts at one, so I'd guess around eleven-thirty or noon. Where are Alec and Melina, anyway?"

"Airport. Tasha couldn't get a flight in until this morning."

"I would guess Marina already scolded her about cutting it so close."

"Most likely. Is Melina the only one in the dark about what Alec has planned?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think anyone but Alec himself knows the entire plan, but I'm pretty sure she's the only one who has absolutely no idea."

"I'm still amazed I managed to surprise this one," Dominic commented as he walked into the living room.

"I was surprised," Holly admitted with a smile for her significant other. "I still don't know how you managed to hide the ring from me."

Dominic laughed as he playfully winked at Rachel.

"I had some help."

"That explains a lot."

"I couldn't resist," Rachel revealed with a smile. "I thought it was only fair that you got another gorgeous ring."

"Is it just Tasha or is Aiden with her?" Melina asked her boyfriend as they waited at the airport together.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I would guess both, but Marina didn't say. I still don't know why I'm the one who has to pick her up. It's my graduation day."

"Because Marina knows you. You haven't seen Tasha for a few months and it'll be nice to see her for a few minutes before the ceremony and everything else going on today."

Alec sent his girlfriend a confused look, hoping she hadn't caught onto his plan.

"What other things?" He wondered.

"You know how your mom is. She'll want lots of pictures, of everything and everyone. You remember how she was at Marina's graduation last weekend."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Melina laughed as she squeezed Alec's hand.

"I'll try to keep an eye on her. Marina is better at it than I am, though."

"Mama adores you. She has since the moment you two met. Don't be surprised if she's gripping your hand and crying about her baby being all grown up."

"Well, lucky for you, the adoration is mutual. I'll make sure she sits between Marina and me. That should make her happy."

"She'll be in heaven, I'm sure."

"I hope you two left enough for me," Jesse teased as he walked into the kitchen to find Holly and Rachel sitting at the table, coffee cups and empty plates with traces of syrup in front of them.

"Dominic put yours over there," Rachel told her boyfriend with a smile. "He told Holly she couldn't go near it."

"I thought I heard some French curse words. Good to know I'm not hearing things."

Holly sent her friend a playful glare before she started laughing.

"It's not as much fun when he understands me. I had to do it for old times' sake, though."

"It wouldn't be the same if you didn't," Jesse agreed, smiling at the girl he'd come to think of as family.

"It's going to be so weird when we all get our own places," Rachel remarked.

"We have a few more years, Rach. We all still have at least a two years of school left. Well, except Alec. Though I doubt he will be moving out before Melina is finished at Juilliard."

"Speaking of Alec and Melina, did you see the ring he got for her?" Holly asked her cousin.

"I did," Rachel confirmed. "It's beautiful. I'm sure she'll love it."

"When is he planning on proposing?" Jesse wondered.

"That's the part no one knows. Well, Dominic does, but he's not telling me anything. He'd probably tell you, though," Holly responded.

"Well, we wouldn't want to put a damper on his plans by being late, so we should start getting ready," Rachel added.

Holly sighed as she reluctantly stood.

"I suppose we have to. Alec will never let me hear the end of it if I'm late."

"I need to get going, but I'll meet you here after the ceremony," Alec said to his girlfriend as they stood just outside of the auditorium.

"Okay," Melina agreed, leaning up on her toes to quickly brush her lips with Alec's.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

After one more kiss, Melina watched Alec disappear through a nearby door. She had a feeling he was up to something, but she had no idea what. Even Marina didn't seem to know. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she began to walk back up the steps towards the door that would lead her back to where their friends and family were sitting. At least she knew she'd be distracted by Marina and Edmund talking about their wedding, which would take place at the end of the summer.

Once the ceremony had ended, Melina waited as patiently as she could for everyone to file out of the auditorium. She was anxious to find Alec, to get started with the day's festivities to distract herself some more.

"Lina, let's go," Tasha said, tugging on her friend's hand.

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts," Melina replied with a small laugh.

Tasha studied her friend carefully as they walked together.

"What's bothering you?" she wondered. "If it's about my brother, I promise not to tell."

"It's nothing."

"Obviously it's not. You aren't thinking of breaking up with him, are you?"

"No. Never. He's the one. I'll do whatever I can to make it work."

"I'm happy to hear that. He's a boy, so he can be kind of dense, but I'm glad you two found each other. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure Alec ever would have come around to me dating his best friend."

"I'm sure he would have, and I can see how it was shocking for him, but he seems to be okay with it now."

"It's been nearly a year. I should hope he's okay with it by now."

"More like two," Melina corrected with a laugh. "You two just flirted for a year before you made it official."

"I always found him attractive; it just wasn't until the summer before senior year that I thought the feeling might be mutual."

"I'd rather not re-hash that particular topic, thank you," Alec told her as he walked up beside Melina.

"Says the one who has been dating my good friend for two and a half years," Tasha retorted.

"I met her before you two became friends."

"I've known Aiden since we were all kids. We all have."

Alec opened his mouth to say something else, giving into the childish impulse to argue with his sister, when he caught the warning look from his girlfriend. With a sigh, he closed his mouth and slid his arm around her waist, bending to press a kiss to her cheek.

After exchanging congratulatory hugs with the rest of the group, Alec returned to Melina's side, doing his best to hide his anxious feelings. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he calmed a little when he felt the small ring box.

"How about a tour, for old times' sake?" Rachel suggested with a smile.

"Sure. We've got some time to kill, so why not," Alec agreed, returning her smile.

Catching Alec's eye, Dominic shook his head and then shrugged his shoulders to communicate that he hadn't told Rachel about the proposal plans. With a small shrug of his own, Alec took Melina's hand and laced their fingers together before he began to lead the group around the campus, pointing out various buildings and reiterating facts he was pretty sure were ingrained his brain now.

"I remember this spot," Melina commented with a smile as the group came up to a bench just in front of the library.

"It's where you and Alec met, right?" Rachel remembered.

"It is. I'm still surprised he remembered me, or thought I was sane."

Alec chuckled as he bent to press a kiss to Melina's cheek.

"You were nervous. I'd been doing tours for a few months by the time you and Dominic showed up with your parents, so I'd seen plenty of nervous people. Besides, it's Juilliard. Being a little nervous is natural."

"Intimidated was more like it."

"I'm still trying to figure out how he remembered all those facts," Aiden joked. "I saw the list; I was intimidated just looking at that."

Alec rolled his eyes good-naturedly while the rest of the group laughed. Deciding to take advantage of the distraction his best friend had provided, Alec stepped in front of Melina and reached for her other hand. When she turned her head to look at him, he dropped to one knee.

Watching Melina's expression go from confused to incredulous, Rachel couldn't help but smile as she gripped Jesse's hand tightly. While she had known since shortly after she met Jesse that she'd end up marrying him, they had never really talked about a timeline for their relationship. They both decided early-on that they wanted to leave things up to fate, to see how things progressed and go from there. They didn't want to ruin what they had by rushing into anything. She also knew how fast and how hard Melina and Alec had fallen for each other-she'd witnessed it herself, after all-but she was still happy to be here for this moment.

"Mel, look at me," Alec requested, wanting to make sure he had her full attention.

"I am," Melina managed to reply, though her vision was beginning to become blurry due to the tears that threatened to fall.

Taking the ring box out of his pocket, Alec turned it to face his girlfriend, the love of his life.

"I know you think I didn't realize how much you liked this ring, but I wanted to surprise you, so I hope you'll forgive me. I can't picture my life without you anymore. I told you that you've had my attention from the moment we met, and I figure that happened for a reason."

"Just spit it out already!" Holly whispered to herself, although apparently louder than she'd anticipated, as she was sent two annoyed looks-one from Alec and one from Dominic.

Melina just let out a watery laugh as she looked at her love.

"Is there something you're trying to ask me?" she wondered.

"I love you. There's never going to be anyone for me but you. Will you marry me?"

Although the tears in her eyes still threatened to fall, Melina didn't hesitate to give Alec her answer.

"Yes."

Alec couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he processed Melina's answer. Once he had slid the ring onto her finger, he stood and pulled her into his arms as he bent his head to kiss her, choosing to momentarily ignore the cheers erupting around them.

"I love you, too," Melina whispered as she hugged him tightly.

"I guess I wasn't the only one feeling nostalgic," he teased.

Melina smiled up at her new fiancé as she pulled back.

"I guess not," she agreed.

"Another wedding!" Talia exclaimed with a bright smile before turning to her son. "Did you ask her parents for permission to marry her?"

"I spoke to her father as well as her mother and step-father, yes," Alec responded.

"You did?" Melina asked, clearly surprised. "When?"

"When we were home for Christmas."

"I think it's very romantic," Rachel added with a smile. "I'm glad you let us in on the moment."

"Now Mama can fuss over you two for a while, leave Edmund and me alone," Marina joked.

"I heard that, Marina Katherine McKenzie," Talia responded.

"I hate to break up the party," Edmund interrupted, "but if we don't get going, we'll miss our reservations."

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?"

"Mom? Dad? Tony?"

"Surprise," Stefan said with a smile, holding his arms out for his daughter.

"Surprise number two is more like it," Holly corrected with a grin.

"Alec proposed," Melina revealed, holding out her left hand.

"It looks even better in person," Penelope told her daughter, tilting her hand to get a better look at it.

Melina turned to look at Alec, who simply smiled a little and shrugged.

"I consider them my family, too. I wanted them here, and I didn't think you'd mind, either."

"You know I don't," Melina responded as she hugged him.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving," Holly commented with her usual dramatic flair.

"This place kind of reminds me of my Daddy's restaurant," Rachel said as everyone took their seats.

"It kind of does, now that you mention it," Dominic agreed.

"We were just there the other day for Dmitry and Tatiana's birthday. He was nice enough to let us use the large group room at no cost," Oliver revealed.

"You're good friends of my Aunt Sara's. Of course he didn't charge you."

"I have presents for both of you at the apartment," Melina told Tatiana and Dmitry. "Remind me later to give them to you."

"Tatiana Alexandra McKenzie, put your phone away. We're at dinner with family; you can text your friends later," Talia scolded her youngest daughter.

"I was just texting Mitchell to tell him I'd talk to him later because we were at the restaurant now," Tatiana retorted.

"Who's Mitchell?" Alec wondered.

"Her boyfriend," Dmitry answered.

"He's not my boyfriend," Tatiana corrected. "He and I are just friends. I doubt he even thinks about me that way."

Melina exchanged a look with Alec before turning back to Tatiana.

"I understand, trust me," she told the younger girl. "I also think that if he's texting you that much, that he must have some kind of feelings for you."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"So, do you know who you want to be your maid of honor?" Talia asked Melina, her choice of new subject making Alec groan and the rest of the group laugh.

"Mama, please," Alec tried, though he knew it was useless. "We just got engaged like a half an hour ago. Mel still has two years of school left. We have plenty of time to plan the wedding."

"I told you she'd start fussing over you," Marina told her twin.

"To quote our honorary sister, Никто не просил тебя," Alec retorted, this time eliciting laughter from everyone, including Talia and Marina.

"You didn't ask permission to use that phrase," Holly managed once she had stopped laughing. "That's okay, though, because that was a very good use for it."

"I'm so glad you approve."

"You know, taking your eyes off of the ring won't make it disappear," Holly teased as she and Rachel joined Melina in the kitchen the next morning.

"Holly, be nice," Rachel reprimanded with a laugh. "Besides, you're one to talk. I'm pretty sure you stared at yours for a good week, and I still catch you doing it. Kurt will be here soon, anyway, and I'm sure he'll want to admire it, too."

"Are you sure you want Alec?" Holly asked Melina.

"Why are you asking me that now?" Melina asked in response, clearly confused.

"Just checking."

Melina sent her a confused look before turning to Rachel.

"Is there a way to vote her out of the family?" she joked.

"I'm afraid not," Rachel responded. "We're stuck with her."

"You two are so mean," Holly told them, though all three were smiling.

"What's this about voting Holly out of the family?" Dominic wondered as he joined the three girls.

"Ignore them. They can't vote me out. They're stuck with me."

"Do you three ever sleep in?" Alec asked, walking up behind Melina.

"Years of early rehearsals," Rachel responded with a smile and a shrug. "Although Jesse seems to have adjusted. I think he just pretends to be asleep so he can have the bed to himself, though."

"You've figured out my secret," Jesse joked as he bent to press a kiss to Rachel's cheek before walking over to the fridge.

"When are you bringing the rest of your things, cousin?" Holly wondered.

"My parents will be here tomorrow…all four of them. Plus my grandparents are flying in next weekend."

"With my parents and still-obnoxious brother. I can only be glad he's still on Ohio and isn't planning on going to school anywhere near here."

"Says the one who just accused people of being mean," Alec said with a laugh.

"Well, they were being mean. I didn't say I wanted to vote Liam out of the family. I just simply expressed my elation that he won't be attending school near me."

"Expressed my elation?" Dominic questioned, raising an eyebrow at his fiancée.

"Blame her," Holly responded, pointing to Rachel.

"I've only been here for a few days. I can't be blamed for anything yet," Rachel responded.

"That's what you think."

Translation:

Никто не просил тебя = Nobody asked you

Also, the phrase "There's never going to be anyone for me but you" is from the second Anne of Green Gables movie (Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel/Anne of Avonlea)-Gilbert says it to Anne. So that doesn't belong to me, either.

A/N 2: Anyone up for more?