Hellooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very sorry for the cliff -- I went on vacation for the weekend...

Speaking of, Happy Labor Day! (If, in fact, that's something you wish people... it got me out of work, so I say its a happy day)

I am having a really hard time finishing this story. Its already done, but I don't want it to be, so I'm splitting it as much as I possibly can. One more chapter after this is all that remains, and maybe a bonus (??).

But let's focus on the point here:

If Derek does in fact work up the nerve to ask her...

...will she say yes?

Read on, and enjoy :)


"Angie..." he started

This was it - the moment he had been waiting for.

He squeezed both of her hands slightly, looking into her eyes as he began to speak.

"You are perfect to me in every way imaginable, and I've spent the last few months trying to find something for you that would show you just how much you mean to me… It was hard, but I finally found what I was looking for..."

She looked at him with a smile on her face, her eyes trying to decipher what he could possibly be talking about.

"This isn't how I wanted this to happen – well, at all… and I've spent the last week trying to make every detail perfect… but, I realized today that as long as you and I are together, nothing else makes a damn bit of difference…"

Derek exhaled and then smiled, beginning his explanation.

"You are, my life, Ang – my world, my every happiness and joy scooped up into one amazing human being. When I thought today that I might not ever get to hold you, kiss you, or touch you again, I realized that I had never been that scared in my entire life… because, well... I need you. I need you by my side, every day... to love, and to love me. Even at times where I feel like I want to stop trying, your beautiful face is what keeps me going every day of my life… you're a part of me – always have been, always will be…"

He watched as tears started to spill from her eyes once more, feeling some wetness come from his own.

--------------------------

Outside, unbeknownst to them both, Tyler and Leslie stood, wondering what was going on in the room. One part of the vertical blinds was slightly askew and produced a small crack that could be seen through, and Tyler looked in at the two of them.

"I can barely see anything, but they're sitting together talking… I think he's doing it!" he said in an excited hush.

Just then, Angie's nurse, the same one that had interrupted Derek and Cybil's conversation earlier, clipboard in hand, began to walk towards her room. Tyler and Leslie shared a glance, realizing that she was majorly going to interrupt Derek if they didn't intervene… and Tyler wasn't about to let that happen to his best friend again.

"Stop!" Leslie said, trying to keep her voice down. The nurse had stopped right before putting her hand on the doorknob. "Can I help you?" she asked quizzically.

Leslie walked over and stood in front of the door, blocking the nurse.

"You can't go in there."

"And, may I ask why not?"

"Because – something important is going on in there, and if you walk in, you're going to ruin it… and trust me, you wouldn't want to do that."

The nurse glared at her… "I'm going to have to call security if you don't move, now!"

"That's fine! And while you're at it, call Cybil Myers-Kasal up here too – I'll make sure she has you fired!"

"Whoa, Leslie – settle down.." Tyler said, stepping between the two women. He turned his attention back to the nurse. "They've had a really rough day – it's their anniversary, and he's in there right now asking her to marry him."

Tyler had expected that she would lighten up and give them time, but instead, she looked wildly unimpressed. "Excuse me, you two, but I need to replace Miss Thompson's bandages right now… I don't have time for this" she said sternly. She reached around Leslie, grabbing for the door handle.

Leslie knew she had to act fast before that stupid twit ruined the whole thing… for the second time that day.

She dragged her a couple rooms away by the arm, making sure that Angie and Derek wouldn't hear the impending commotion.

"Take your hands OFF of me!" she said, thrashing around madly. When Leslie didn't let her grip go, the nurse instead took the clipboard she held in her right hand, and swung it at Leslie's head. When she missed, the nurse rolled her hand into a fist, and tried punching Leslie's head to get her off of her. She ducked in time, and now, was pretty angry. Tyler looked on at this, worried – he had only seen Les lose her temper one time over the course of their relationship, and it did not turn out well at all.

Leslie turned and looked the nurse in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, but now I have no choice…"

Leslie shoved the heel of her hand up and under the woman's jaw, uppercutting her in a split second. She dropped to the ground, and Tyler's mouth dropped into an 'O', before he chortled twice in absolute shock and amazement. It was just the diversion they needed, as other nurses quickly rushed to her side. Security guards flew around the corner – one of the nurses overhearing the fight had called them, and Cybil, who had rushed upstairs immediately. When she saw the nurse who had wrecked their moment before lying on the ground, she dismissed the security guards away from Leslie, giving her a small thumbs up and a smile in the process. They helped the nurse away from her assailant, but she shot a look over her shoulder, mouth full of blood.

Tyler Chase hugged his girlfriend, still laughing.

"This is why I love you…"

---------------------------

Even though they would had no idea what had just happened until much later, Derek was free to continue talking…

"I've only cried three times in my entire life. The day my father died, the day you first told me you loved me, and today – the day I realized that I may never get to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me…"

The smile faded from Angie's lips, as she sat up, looking deep into his eyes – she wasn't positive, but she started to tremble thinking about where he was taking this. Her eyes remained locked with his as he stood up in front of her, still holding both of her hands. Looking down at her, he continued on.

"Angie… I want to spend forever with you by my side. I want you to be my wife, the mother of my children… I want to grow old with you, because nothing else matters in my life unless I get to share it with you…"

She started to shake uncontrollably. This had to be a dream.

Still standing in front of her as she sat on the edge of the bed, he smiled at her, wiping away her tears once more. He bent his top half over, putting his face eye-level with hers, as he whispered the next part.

"But mostly…" he continued. "I want to be able to devote my life to making you as happy as you make me every single day I'm alive…"

Oh yeah. It was happening.

She watched in complete shock as Derek lowered himself onto his right knee, still holding her hands. She pulled the right one from his grasp, covering her mouth and nose tightly with it, trying to hold in the sobs. She wanted to remember this forever, not cry through the entire thing…

He smiled at her. "Its okay, Ang… catch your breath."

She did as she was told, calming down considerably, but still crying.

Derek took his free hand and reached into the inner breast pocket of his jacket, pulling out a small blue box. He watched in slight amusement as Angie really started to freak, half laughing, half crying like crazy. She shut her eyes, mentally trying to gain some composure – she couldn't believe this was happening… it, couldn't be happening.

"Look at me..." he said sweetly.

Her eyes popped open, still full of tears. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, his smiling face coming into view. Her view shot once more toward the box. This was it, all right… it really was going to happen.

"Angela Thompson…" he said, looking into her eyes.

"Y-Yes, Derek?" She couldn't believe how bad she was shaking…

A small creak was heard as he popped open the blue box, revealing her engagement ring.

He wiped a tear away from his own eye as he watched her reaction.

Her eyes lit up, followed by another round of quiet happy sobs. "Oh, my God…" she repeated softly, over and over. She hung her head down, and closed her eyes once more, shaking her head back and forth. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in her life…

They went back and forth, trading sniffles and tears. He chuckled at her softly, before starting again.

"Please, look at me..."

She picked her head up, turning her gaze toward the ceiling, face serious, as she wiped the barrage of tears off of her face. She exhaled one last time, before looking back at his gorgeous brown eyes. His face turned serious as he said it one last time.

"Angela Thompson…" he said, squeezing her hand gently. She took in a few shuttering breaths, holding the last one as he asked a question she never thought she'd hear.

"…Will you marry me?"

She started to giggle quietly, still half sobbing.. She took a deep breath – it was important that he heard her answer clearly, not in between sobs.

A huge grin broke across her face, as she squeezed his hand

"Yes, Derek… Of c-course, I'll marry you"

His face immediately lit up, as he began to laugh quietly out of happiness. She watched, still crying, as he took the ring out of the box and put it on the third finger of the hand that he had been squeezing the whole time. It fit perfectly – and it was more amazing than she could've ever imagined it to be. She held the hand out in front of her, trying to look at it through tears – he had some amazing taste. Angie turned her view back to him, while trying to control her uncontrollable shaking.

He stood up straight, wiping the last of the tears away from their faces, meanwhile smiling harder than she had ever seen him smile before. She yanked him down by his pink necktie, and kissed his lips over and over, in between smiles and frequent attempts to catch her breath. Derek pulled away from her and slid a hand underneath her knees, the other behind her back, where he lifted her gently into his arms. They exchanged tearful smiles once more, still giggling and sniffling, before settling down just a bit. He sat down on the edge of the bed with her in his lap, and brushed her hair out of her face. They smiled at each other one more time, before he kissed his new fiancée as passionately as ever for the very first time.

He pulled away, still unable to wipe the goofy smile off of his face, but that changed as she made her next move, smacking him in the arm.

"I can't, believe, you pulled one over… on ME!! ME! You can't keep a secret to save your life!" she said, laughing as she watched the smile return to his face once more.

He was proud of himself – they were engaged, and he had managed to spare Tyler's life in the process… it wasn't such a bad day, after all.

Angie turned serious, looking up at him, her green eyes shining.

"I love you, more than you'll ever know, Derek Stiles…" she said, stroking his cheek.

His heart skipped a beat.

"I love you too… almost Mrs. Stiles…" he said, a chuckle escaping his lips.

She giggled as well, "Mrs. Stiles… I love it!!"

Hugging him tightly, she leaned against his chest, before pulling her left arm out from around his back. She outstretched her hand in front of her again, staring at her anniversary present. The giant square diamond looked nearly flawless, and she loved that the band was made of little round diamonds on the front half – they were so pretty, and the perfect compliment to the rock.

"Derek.. it's, absolutely, perfect…" she said, still in awe at how big and shiny it was. "I couldn't have picked out a better one myself…" He grinned as he wrapped his arms around her, watching her admire it. Every direction she turned her hand, another part of it sparkled like mad; leaving her to realize that no dress in the world could make her feel like as big of a princess as she did right now. She sat up, and kissed him once more.

"Love you forever…"

His mind triggered.

"Oh, Ang, I almost forgot."

He took the ring off her finger, a slight protesting gasp escaping her.

"Hey!" she said, growing mildly upset as he laughed at her.

"Don't worry – you'll get it back.. I promise."

Derek picked her up, scooting back farther onto the bed, and placed her bottom in between his legs. He rested the top of his head against hers, mindful of the bump, as he spun the inside of the ring around to reveal the engraving.

He heard her sniffle. And after that, she awwed.

"…No way! How did you—"

"I didn't.. I had it done before you gave me my watch… I thought it was pretty awesome, too.."

Derek grabbed Angie's hand gently off of her lap with his left hand, using his right to slide the ring back on her finger. She inhaled deeply again, looking at it once more, before turning her attention back to him.

"Derek… we're… getting, married!" she said, a slight happy squeak protruding through her voice

He giggled. She always squeaked when she got real excited about something.

"I know – I can't wait…"

Derek paused, turning slightly serious.

"I love you. So much..."

She kissed him again.

"I love you too… Thank you for the best surprise of my life..."

He watched as a flash of playfulness danced across her eyes.

"…Now lets take a nap.."

Derek laughed, kissing her once more… she had read his mind. Well, almost – he secretly wanted to run through the hospital and yell it to everyone, but man was he tired… there was always later. They laid down together, finally engaged, against all the odds… and they fell asleep in the exact same position they did the night they first confessed their love.

…Except, Angie didn't sleep at all at first. She didn't want to stop looking at her ring..

But, Derek on the other hand, had passed out, just content from being able to hold her. She looked at the ring one last time, and then back at her soon-to-be husband. As she kissed him goodnight on his forehead, she realized that life couldn't get any better than this… everything was finally… Perfect.

Before she had fallen asleep the first time, Angie found that she had a really hard time getting comfortable with all the cuts and bruises over her body… in fact, had it not been for the medication, she probably wouldn't be asleep at all. But the way he held her the second time, she couldn't feel a thing.

-------------------------------------------

Tyler and Leslie, still outside, were growing a bit impatient. Cybil was still with them, looking for something to do as Sidney had taken his nephew, and Greg got some much needed sleep.

"Seriously, Stiles – what the heck is taking you so long!" Tyler whined, tired of not knowing what was going on.

"Oh, Ty – they've had a rough day, leave him alone…" Leslie said to him, lightly smacking him in the arm.

"You know.." started Cybil, crossing her arms and smirking, "I wouldn't be at all surprised right now if they were asleep, and we were standing out here for no reason. They don't know we're here, remember?"

All three of them looked at each other. They hadn't thought the situation through very well at all.

"You know what…" Tyler said, rising to his feet. Cybil and Leslie watched as he walked back over to their window, trying to peek in through the same hole he had before.

"Yeah – they're laying together, but I don't know if they're asleep… I still can't see very well.."

He glanced at the ground before smiling.

"I'm going in…"

"No!" Leslie shrieked quietly. "I told you, leave them ALONE, or I'll hit you too.."

Cybil laughed out loud. "I'd listen to her, man.. she gave that nurse a pretty good beating…"

He stopped, turning around to face his girlfriend.

"Don't you want to see if Angie has a ring on her finger?"

Leslie stopped – it wasn't fair… he knew that after saying that, she had to know.

"Okay, but we're just going to peek in for a second… if they're asleep, we leave them that way."

Tyler nodded as the three of them made their way toward the room. He pushed down on the handle with the utmost care, swinging the door open slowly. Leslie walked in first, followed by Cybil, and then Tyler – each one trying their best to be completely silent.

"Oh, yeah… they're asleep, all right…" whispered Cybil, smiling again. "Not like I'm surprised about it…"

Leslie's hand flew up over her mouth, trying to stop herself from freaking out. She continuously pointed at them, eyes open as wide as they could possibly be.

Angie was facing the door on her side, with Derek curled up behind her. His left arm was sprawled gently across her rib cage, with her arm on top of it, her hand on top of his, their fingers laced. Tyler and Cybil saw what she was pointing at. Their left hands were the ones in plain view, and because Angie's hand was on top, her three friends could see the giant rock hugging her finger. Leslie jumped up and down quietly, trying not to scream out of excitement. Derek had done it – he and Angie were going to get married.

Taking Leslie's hand, Tyler led her out of the room with Cybil in tow. Cybil waved them goodbye as she went to check back in on her husband, and watched laughing as Leslie flipped in the hallway – unable to hide her happiness any longer. She threw her arms around Tyler, almost knocking him over, before she pulled away, trying to compose herself.

"Our best friends, are getting marrieeeeeeeeeeed!!!" she screeched quietly.

Tyler gently rubbed his left ear. It hurt when she did that.

He smiled, grabbing her hand, as he walked with her back to the elevator. They got on, leaning against the back rail together. She turned her head towards him.

"So, when are we going to get there?"

He looked straight forward, elevator doors still open. He knew that Stiles making this big life decision was going to end up with him playing catch-up.

Tyler smiled.

"Like I'm going to tell you that…"

She scoffed as he continued on, remembering that Derek still was out for revenge.

"…or anyone else for that matter."

Obviously, trying to look not guilty was really working, as Leslie's face turned annoyed with him. He tried to hide his smirk as the elevator doors closed.

"That reminds me…" he thought to himself.

"…I got a call from the jeweler earlier today. I should probably call him back."

A small 'ding' was heard as the doors closed completely, taking the two of them down to the bottom floor.

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SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse me whilest I go and do my happy dance...

::goes and dances, then runs back::

Well, he did it! GO DEREK... FINALLY!

There's one more chapter left, i will actually entitle it, epilogue, just because its probably a better epilogue than Atlus came up with...

...Jerks.

Anyway :) hope this makes you happy! See you in a little while for the next one!