This is it, the last chapter. Epilogue will be up soon.

Thankful that the worst was over Tish popped her head into Priestly's room.

"You awake?" she whispered to the silent lump underneath the blanket.

A muffled groggy voice answered her, "Barely, what's up?"

"Trucker called, he needs me to come in today. Are you going to be ok?" she asked softly.

Priestly rolled onto his back and sat up before rubbing his eyes trying to remove the sleepiness. "Ya that's fine, no worries." After watching Tish disappear from the doorframe he rose from the bed and lifted his arms over his head, tying to release the knots in his shoulders. He shuffled to his front door to see her out. Noticing the bag over her left shoulder he frowned internally. Tish was taking her things with her; she wasn't going to stay anymore. The thought saddened him, it had been nice having company even though he couldn't really enjoy it these past few days.

Noticing where his eyes were locked Tish explained. "Thought I should probably go home, seeing as how you're doing better now."

"Ya" He felt like he should say more, even beg her to stay but couldn't find the words. "Have a good day at work."

"Thanks, you have a good day too. I'll talk to you later", and with that she walked to her can and drove away.

Priestly watched her car disappear before turning around and looking at his home. It suddenly seemed dark, and cold. He walked to the couch and sat down staring at the blank, black screen of the tv. Thinking of the past few days he couldn't help but feel like he and Tish were farther apart than they ever were. She had confirmed there was an us in the car that day, yet she had just left without so much as a hug. Groaning loudly he rose and walked to the shower to get ready to face the long, lonely day.

Hearing the bell above the door jingle Trucker looked up from his large pot of soup he was making for the day. "Hey Tish, thanks for coming in today. Jen's sick and Piper had to do something at Julia's school."

Tish placed her purse under the counter and wrapped her apron around her waist, "No problem Trucker, to be honest I could use the break."

Trucker grimaced, "That bad huh? He doing better now?"

"Yes, finally."

Trucker nodded, "Good, good." Seeing Tish's hesitant expression Trucker took the initiative to find out what was wrong. "And how are you and Priestly doing?"

"Fine"

Knowing she was lying he pushed, "Tish…"

She sighed and hopped up on the counter. "I don't know, it was just hard to see him like that. I mean I spent all this time with him, but we didn't even really talk or anything. I just feel like I don't even know him. It's hard to just ignore everything he told us."

Trucker smiled and leaned against the counter opposite Tish, "He doesn't want you to ignore it, he wants you to accept him in spite of it. Don't bail now Tish, you've been through the worst with him. It will only get better."

"Promise?"

Trucker patted her knee, "Promise."

Finally getting home after the long day Tish walked into her house and went straight to bed. Waking up the next morning she felt very refreshed. It felt good to be back in her home, with her belongings. She made herself breakfast and took a long shower after a morning jog. Seeing it was already after noon she tried calling Priestly but he didn't answer. Frowning at her phone she set it down and worked on her neglected puzzle sitting on the coffee table. Finding herself unable to concentrate she called Priestly's phone again and smiled when she heard his message, 'How do you keep an idiot in suspense? Leave a message and I'll get back to you...' Feeling ridiculous but wanting to make sure he was ok Tish grabbed her keys and drove to Priestly's apartment. Knocking on the front door she waited for an answer but one never came. She tried the door handle, which was unlocked and let herself in.

"Priestly?"

She bit her lip nervously as she checked every room, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked around, trying to figure out where he could have gone when she noticed the missing surfboard and longboard. Smiling she ran out to her car and drove to the beach.

She pulled into a parking space and walked out onto the beach. She slid off her sandals and buried her toes in the sand, reveling as the hot granules massaged her feet. She looked up and down the beach but saw no one. She slowly walked to the waters edge and looked out onto the water before spotting him. He was sitting on his board, waiting for the next wave. Seeing the swell rapidly approaching him he turned the board and began to paddle before jumping up and riding the now white capped wave. She had to admit, he was a pretty good surfer. When she saw him look in her direction she waved. She watched him paddle towards to shore and walk out of the water, surfboard clutched tightly under his arm. Tish watched him appreciatively as he worked his way to her, she couldn't help herself from subconsciously licking her lips, he looked delicious. Dressed in just a pair of skull and crossbones covered board shorts he looked positively sinful with the water drops dripping down his chest and stomach.

When he finally reached Tish he grinned, "Are you checking me out?"

Tish scoffed, "No!"

Priestly continued grinning, "Right… Well just in case you were I'll cool you off." Tish screamed as Priestly whipped his head back and forth flinging the cool ocean water off his soaked brown hair and onto her tan skin.

"Jerk!"

"Ya, ya, so I've heard. So what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, what are you doing here?"

Priestly sat down in the sand resting his arms on his knees staring at the breaking waves, "Just needed some time with the waves. Sometimes they have the best answers to the most important questions."

Tish joined him in the sand, "Sounds pretty deep, did you find the answers you're looking for?"

Priestly continued staring out across the vast ocean before turning his light green eyes to Tish, "Ya, ya I did."

Tish smiled back and sat with the surfer as they watched the orange sun disappear into the deep blue depths. Noticing her shiver he stood up and offered her his hand, "Come on, it's getting chilly."

Tish grasped the offered hand and pulled herself up, wiping the sand off the back of her capri pants. "You want to get something to eat?"

"Sure, you want to meet up later or what?" he asked as he worked his up the beach towards a lone backpack and longboard.

"Ya, I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"Sounds good." After slipping on his backpack he stared at her somewhat awkwardly, wanting to kiss her but not knowing where they stood. Sensing his apprehension Tish leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on his lips. She was met with an incredible smile before he walked to the sidewalk, dropped his board and skated away.

Exactly an hour later, she was so proud of herself, Tish pulled up and honked. Grabbing her iPod she switched her music before he came out. A second later Priestly flung open the door and bounded down the steps before getting in. His hair was styled in a bright green mohawk, his white and green shirt read 'I used to be a lifeguard but some blue kid got me fired', and he had on black shorts and sneakers.

"So where we going? Nice music by the way, glad to see you learned something."

Tish rolled her eyes as she pulled away from the curb, "Well I didn't want your ears to bleed all over the seat."

Priestly snickered and took the opportunity to admire his date for the evening. Her chestnut hair was curled and she was wearing a simple loose fitting white top and a short pair of khaki shorts. How did I get so lucky?

"Are you checking me out?" Tish asked smiling, thinking back to the beach.

Priestly scoffed, "No!"

They laughed all the way to the restaurant. After an enjoyable meal they walked down the sidewalk towards the car hand in hand. Tish subtly looked at Priestly's profile as they passed under a streetlight, and was pleased to see he looked relaxed. He was starting to look like the laid back guy she knew, not the broken soul that appeared a week ago. As they passed a noisy bar a very large, heavy set and obviously intoxicated men stumbled out.

"Hey baby, why don't you ditch the peacock and hang out with a real man."

Tish felt Priestly tense beside her and whispered softly, "Leave it, come on."

They continued walking away from the bar when Priestly was suddenly grabbed from behind and slammed into the unforgiving exterior of the building.

"Tish run!" he screamed trying to fight off the much larger drunken man. Frantically trying to see where she was he didn't see the punch aimed at his face. He felt the cut on his eyebrow split back open as blood spilled into his vision. Gritting his teeth he delivered a vicious kick to the man's groin before he felt himself drop to the ground.

"Priestly get in!" Priestly looked up to see Tish waving him over from her car. Turning towards the moaning man he kicked him for good measure and ran to the car.

Tish quickly drove away, "Are you alright?" she anxiously asked.

"You have any napkins or anything?" he hastily inquired, hand pushed against his busted eyebrow.

"In the glove box, where'd he get you?"

"My eyebrow… again. It was almost healed too," he grumbled.

As soon as the car lurched to a stop Tish and Priestly walked into the house and into the bathroom. Mirror's fixed she realized. She pushed Priestly down onto the toilet seat, grabbed the first aid kit under the sink and started cleaning the bleeding gash.

"I can do that Tish."

Tish ignored him, "So can I. I can't believe that guy had to ruin our night."

"I still had a good night." Priestly admitted softly.

Tish finished putting the band-aid over the cut, "Me too."

They walked into the living room, both unsure what exactly was supposed to happen next. Tish studied her sandals, while Priestly inspected a spot on the wall. Priestly finally cleared his throat, "I guess you should probably get home, it's getting pretty late."

Tish swallowed thickly, "Right, ya."

Priestly followed her slowly to the door, "So I guess…" he was cut off by Tish's lips attacking his. Reacting instantly he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up before moving them to lean against the wall. Tish squeezed her legs tighter around his torso as she pulled his shirt over his head.

"Bedroom…now" she gasped.

Priestly obeyed slowly working towards the bedroom, articles of clothing disappearing along the way.

Dropping them both onto the bed Priestly had to ask, "You sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything," she whispered huskily before losing herself completely.

Tish blinked sleepily and squinted against the morning light filtering through the blinds. She smiled lazily as she felt a soft hand gently rubbing her back. Lifting her head off the hard chest she met Priestly's relaxed gaze.

"Good morning" he whispered, kissing her softly.

She smiled warmly, reveling in his warmth. Her hand snaked out from under the covers and traced the band-aid over his eyebrow. "People better stop hurting you, your face is too pretty to get beat up."

He laughed, "Well thank you, I do pride myself in being pretty."

They lay in a peaceful silence for a while before Tish spoke again. "Last night was…"

Priestly's smiled, "Ya"

"If I had known it would have been like that I would have bought a ticket to this ride a long time ago."

Priestly chuckled, "Ditto, Trucker didn't know what he was talking about." They were broken out of their intimate embrace by the sound of Priestly's phone ringing from the nightstand. Leaning over he grabbed it and flipped it open, "Hello?"

"Hey Priestly, it's Piper. How are you doing?"

"Pretty damn good if I do say so myself, what's up?"

"Jen and I have been pretty busy today, and Trucker has this thing with Zo. Can you come in, I have to call Tish too."

"Uh yeah, no problem."

"I'll be there too!" Tish yelled.

Priestly's eyes grew huge as he stared at her mischievous grin, listening to the stunned silence on the other end of the phone.

"Oh! Um, ya great see you soon bye." He could hear a muffled 'oh my god!' before the line went dead.

Priestly just stared at his phone before turning to his bedmate. "You know they're having a field day right now right?"

"Yup" she smiled.

"You are evil!" he said before tickling her relentlessly.

"Stop!" she gasped before running out of the room and into the bathroom to shower, Priestly hot on her heels.