Hey, everyone! Well, this is probably, not officially the last chapter of this story…"probably" because my sister convinced me to write a cute fluffy epilogue chapter after this one. I'm thinking about it, and I'm thinking of making it a pervy-fluff kind, if ever I decide to make one.

But I most likely will, because I'm feeling particularly happy today, since yesterday was our Recognition Day in school and I got six medals, plus I was able to talk to my crush. (Different one this time, not the guy I was talking about in my author's note in "He'll Never Know"…I've long since moved on from that guy…haha.)

Don't judge me, okay, I'm not a playgirl or anything like that. It's just that I got to know the guy and I realized he wasn't as awesome as I put him up to be, I realized he wasn't worth all the trouble I went through for him.

Unlike this guy I like now, I actually got to know him, I still am, and I find him more and more awesome each day.

Anyway, I blabbed to much again, and because of that, I PROMISE I will make an epilogue chapter. Stay tuned!

Oh yeah, this chapter is in alternating POV, by the way.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Leo POV

"I know where Aries could be. There's only one other place she could go to here in the Human World, and I'm sure she's there right now." I tell everyone next to me.

I stand up and bow to them, thanking them all. "Really, guys, thank you so much…I don't think I can stress this enough."

I love Aries. Always have, always will. And I was so stupid to realize it only now. Just like Gray said. Speaking of which…

"So Gray," I tell him just before leaving. It's just me and him, standing by the door, everyone else is behind him and no one can hear what we're saying.

"How do you know so much about love? Last time I checked, I was more of an expert on it than you were. What happened?" I glance at the girl behind him, Juvia. She's looking at Gray with such emotion…I can be sure that she's in love with him. And all she said, even though they were meant to help me, were for her sake as well. I turn back to Gray.

"Does it have anything to do with her?" I say, and Gray blushes.

Weird. I have been Gray's friend for a long time, and I have never ever seen him blush before. And now, in just one day, less, actually, more like a couple of hours, I've seen him blush three times, all of them making him as red as Erza's hair.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Loke. Juvia and I are just friends." He says.

"Right… so how'd you know I was talking about Juvia? All I said was 'her'." I tease him, causing him to turn red again.

"Shouldn't you be looking for Aries now?" he tells me, clearly annoyed.

I chuckle and begin to head out the door.

"Good luck on Aries, Loke! I hope you get your feelings across to her!" He yells out at me.

I smile and yell back, "Yeah, and you, good luck with Juvia!"

I turn around to see their expressions and I can see that everyone is laughing at Gray. Juvia is blushing and can't look at him, and Gray can't look at her either. He's still as red as Erza's hair.

I turn back around and start running. I still have some stuff to do. I need to find Aries.

As I'm running to where she is, it's like my legs have a mind of their own, they seem to know exactly where to go, leaving my mind to other things, like thinking of how on earth I can get Aries to forgive me.

I was such a jerk to her, and I had no idea she felt that way about me. I only cared about my feelings, and I didn't stop to consider how Aries felt. This must have been torture for her, me playing around with her feelings like that, and especially since I had no knowledge about them anyway.

When I see her, the first thing I'll do is go on my knees and beg for her to forgive me. I don't need her to be with me, I won't force her to if she doesn't want to be with me after all that, all I need is for her to forgive me. I'll tell her how much I love her, and because I love her, I'm willing to wait until she forgives me, and even until she decides she wants to be with me, even after all I did to her. I will wait, and wait.

Because that's what I made her do.

And that's what I'm willing to do for her.

If she had told me that she loved me sooner, what would have happened, I wonder? Would I be so infatuated with Lucy that I would reject her? Would I realize that I love her and be with her instead?

My mind brings me back to that time, when Aries was about to tell me something.

"Leo, ano…" she says, looking at me shyly, her voice down to a whisper.

"What is it, Aries?" I say, turning around to face her with a smile. She whispers again, muttering "Ano…" over and over again. I call out to her. And she just freezes, staring at something on the ground.

I remember wondering what on earth she was thinking about, and what she wanted to tell me. From the look on her face, I could tell it was important. Then for a while she looked like she was deep in thought. And again I wondered what she was thinking about. I saw her shake her head ever so slightly, and then she opens her mouth, ready to speak.

"Aries? What were you going to tell me?" I ask her.

Then she closes her mouth and shakes her head, looking right at me. I can tell that she's trying hard not to cry, but I have no idea why.

She takes a step backward, still looking at me.

"Well?" I ask her.

"Nandemonai." She says. "Forget about it. Jaa." She says, turning around to leave.

And I stand there, confused, not knowing what to do. And I still don't know what she wanted to tell me.

I realize now that she wanted to tell me back then that she loved me. And I don't know what got over her to make her hesitate at the last minute. Why didn't she tell me back then? What was she thinking about?

My legs slow down, telling me that I'm here.

And there, standing by the edge of the cliff, is my love.

"I knew you'd be here."

~~~~=w=~~~~

Aries POV

I am such a jerk, such a presumptuous person, such an idiot who leaps to her own conclusions, without even considering the feelings of others.

I just had to think that I was the victim here, blaming everything on Leo. On my best friend, on the person I loved the most. I just had to think that I was on the losing end, and that Leo was a no-good jerk who only used me to forget about Lucy-sama.

If only I had known. If only Leo had told me how confused he was about all of this, I definitely would've helped him.

I don't know how I managed to escape from Leo in the guild back then, but it was a good thing that I did.

I don't think I can ever face Leo again, after how horribly I treated him.

But I can't stay mad at him forever; no matter how much I was hurt. I don't think I can face him and act like I'm mad, because I know that with just a smile from him will make me happy again.

I don't know what to do anymore, what to say, what to think, what to feel.

All I know is that I'm doing something that I've been doing more frequently again: I'm running away. Again. From Leo. Again.

This time it's not because of anger or sadness or pain; this time it's because of humiliation and embarrassment and shame. I'm far too ashamed to face him now, now that I know all that he had to go through. And here I was acting like I was the only one getting hurt.

I start to cry, wondering how on earth things can go back to normal. That's all I want right now.

If I had just one wish, it'd be that everything between me and Leo could go back to normal. I won't wish for us to be together, or that he would love me instead. All I want is for everything to go back to normal, Leo and me as best friends, before feelings got in the way.

It would've just been better if I kept my feelings hidden, from everyone. If I just kept them to myself, none of this would happen. Leo could confess to Lucy-sama in peace, and because she doesn't know I love Leo, she could have at least considered his confession, and even if she rejected him, she wouldn't try to get us to be together, because she doesn't know I love Leo.

Leo wouldn't have been confused and tormented about possibly having feelings for me because he wouldn't have been told so by Lucy-sama, he and I would've remained as best friends, I would be there to help him, and Leo wouldn't even think about doing anything with me, because he wouldn't have been so confused.

Leo wouldn't have suffered if I just kept my feelings to myself. And in turn, I wouldn't have suffered like I do now.

"This is all my fault." I say to myself. "Complicating things with my stupid feelings."

I start to cry as I lean on Karen Lilica's grave stone. I don't even know why I ran to here, to her grave by the cliff. Maybe because it was the last place I could go to, maybe because I wanted to remember the times when Leo and I used to be normal best friends.

Leo. What could he be doing now? Was what Mirajane-san said true? I don't know. And I guess I'll never know, either, because I don't plan on seeing Leo ever again. Did he finally realize who he loved? If so, does that mean he's with Lucy-sama right now?

I let myself hope for something better. Is he looking for me right now?

I shake my head. I know he doesn't love me back. That's what he meant when he said he was sorry, right? He had realized right then that he didn't love me. Maybe that was what it took. If only I had told him I loved him sooner, he wouldn't have been so confused, he'd have already made up his mind that he didn't love me back. He answered so easily back then, saying he was sorry.

Now I'm confused at myself. First I say that if I had just kept my feelings a secret, none of this would have happened. Next I say that if I had told Leo I loved him sooner, then he would've already known he didn't love me back, saving him the torture of being confused so much that it would lead him to do those things.

All in all it boils down to everything still being my fault, whether I told him or I didn't, it's still all my fault.

For ever having feelings for him in the first place.

That's my fault. That's what caused all of this.

And I hate myself for it.

And I start to cry again, louder than I ever had before.

I don't know what to do anymore, and there's no one around who can help me.

I look around. Nobody's coming after me. Nobody knows that I'd run to here. And even if anyone – meaning Leo, of course – did know I'd be here, he wouldn't go after me. Not after everything I did to him.

How does he feel right now, I wonder? I hope he's alright.

I turn back to the gravestone I was previously leaning on. Then, after a few moments, I start to hear something mingling with the gentle rush of the waterfalls.

Footsteps.

And panting. Heavy ones, those that sound like they came from someone who ran for a long time.

I disregard it and say it's nothing but a figment of my imagination, but the sound that I hear next feels too real to be just me imagining things.

"I knew you'd be here."

I look up and see a very messy Leo. Tired, panting, hair in a ruffled mess, he must have dropped his suit jacket somewhere along his way here since he's only in his slacks and his plain button-down shirt.

"Stay away from me." I tell him, standing up to hide behind Karen's tombstone. "Please."

My eyes start to well up with tears again, but my resolve will not falter. I don't deserve to see Leo anymore. I don't deserve to be his friend, not after what I made him feel.

"No. No way, Aries." He says, moving closer to me. And I can't move back any further because one more step back and I fall down the cliff. I look at my feet and see the water beside the very bottom of the cliff. It's a long way down.

I don't know how to act around him anymore. I don't want to sound vulnerable at all; I don't want to sound like the helpless girl who got her heart broken.

So instead I end up sounding angry, as angry as I was before.

"Go away." I tell him firmly. I'm not shouting at him, but I make sure poison is seething through my voice.

"I hate you, Leo." I tell him, even though I know it's a big fat lie. I don't hate him. If anything, I hate myself.

"I know." He says, moving closer to me.

"So why are you still here? Why don't you go back to Lucy-sama? Why do you have to waste your time on me? You already made it clear that you don't love me back, so why bother, Leo?" I look at him as I say this.

He opens his mouth to speak, but I interrupt him. "I'm sorry. This is so not me, I don't like acting like this, Leo. I'm not the type to blab about my feelings, nor am I the type that blows her top off, like I did the last time. I don't know why I'm acting like this, Leo, why I'm acting like so much of a drama queen…when everything would have been better if I had just kept my stupid mouth shut. I could've gone on with hiding how I feel for you, and we'd never have been in this position. This is all my fault…this is all my fault, for loving you in the first place."

The anger dies down, and is replaced by sadness. I wait for Leo to apologize again, or something, telling me that we can still try and be friends, or anything like that, but he's quiet.

All he does is move closer to me and hug me, tight.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Leo POV

"I'm sorry, Aries." I tell her, "But not in the way you think I'm apologizing. I'm saying sorry for doing all those things to you, for messing around with your feelings, and for not telling you."

"I'm sorry for keeping this from you, for hurting you so much. And I'm sorry that I was such a jerk, leaving you alone in the morning. That's what I wanted to say when I said I was sorry at that time, Aries. Not 'I'm sorry but I don't love you back.' I'm sorry."

She looks up at me, still crying.

"C-can we still go back to normal? To the way we used to be before all of this happened? Can we go ever go back to just me and you being best friends? Can things stay the same?" she asks me, clutching tightly on my arm.

I look at her and brush the tears from her face.

"No, Aries. Things will never be the same. Not ever." I say to her.

She looks disappointed and like she's about to cry again. "I knew it…"

"Things will never be the same again, Aries, because…" I take a deep breath and tell her. Even if I have no guarantee that she'd still want to be with me, even if I don't think she's already forgiven me, I tell her.

"I love you, Aries. That's why things will never be the same again."

She looks up at me again, too shocked to even cry. "You're lying, right? Don't you hate me for making you look so much like a bad guy, making it look like everything was your fault?"

"Not even close, Aries. I don't hate you at all. I love you, like I said. And this is my fault. I wasn't confused because of what Lucy told me. No, I had long since known, that what I felt for you was more than just friendship."

"So why didn't you tell me?" she asks, the hurt evident in her voice.

"I didn't tell you because…I was stupid. I was scared that you'd reject me, and I didn't think I could live through that. And, I thought, since I assumed you didn't love me, that it would just be best for everyone that I didn't tell you how I felt." I pause and look at her, the expression on her face unreadable.

"I had no idea it was that difficult to hide your feelings for someone. Especially if they're so close to you. How were you able to do it?"

She smiles, for the first time this night. "Years and years of experience."

"That's why, like Mirajane told you, I did all of those things. All because I was much of a coward to talk to you about it."

"I'm sorry, Aries. And I don't expect you to tell me that you still love me, because I know that what I did to you was unforgivable. Even more so because I was too stupid to have realized only now that I love you. That it was you that I loved ever since then, for as long as I can recall."

"Wait, what? You only realized now?" she asks, the humor back in her voice now.

"Yeah. The guys from the guild helped me realize it."

"Leo, I don't hate you, either. In fact, I can't believe that even after all of what's happened, I still love you, Leo."

I look at her with my eyes wide. She's smiling and blushing and tears are running down her face. And she's never looked more beautiful.

"I love you, Aries." I say, just before kissing her. She kisses back, shyly at first, but soon warms up to the kiss and eagerly returns it.

We part and I brush the remaining tears away from her face. I hold on to her hand, and I'm not planning on letting go of it anytime soon.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Aries POV

This has been the most emotionally stressful day of my entire life. But I don't mind.

I look at Leo, who's smiling and holding on to my hand. I've long since forgiven him, since I know I can't be mad at him for so long.

"This feels like a dream, you know." I tell him.

"What do you mean?" he says, turning to face me.

"I still can't believe that you would tell me that…you loved me. And that now we're…" I look at our entwined hands to prove my point.

He smiles at me and we continue walking.

"You know, you're an awful best friend." I tell him. "Seriously, making me go through so much trouble! Especially since you slept with me and left in the morning! I had to clean the sheets and everything! And the living room was a mess too! And I still had to cook breakfast! I was so tired!"

He laughs and replies. "Well, I may be the worst best friend ever, but I'll make it up to you."

"How?" I ask him.

"By being the best boyfriend ever, that's how." He says, spinning me around and leaning in for a kiss.

After we part, I tell him, "Darn, Leo, I never knew you were so cheesy!"

We laugh and smile at each other and I've never been so happy before.

"It wasn't just the chores that tired you out back then, was it?" he says in this incredibly perverted tone, nudging me with his hip.

"Eh?" I ask, first not getting what he meant. When I do, I smack him on the head. "You perv!"

"Ow! Hey, to be fair, I was pretty tired out, too! I had no idea you were that good!"

I'm blushing to the roots of my cotton-candy pink hair. "LEO!"

But I can't help but smile. I'm so happy right now, that I can even let his next comment slide.

"Why don't you show me how good you are again, Aries." He says, his hands already on my hips.

We laugh again, and I don't think I'd ever be happier.

~~~~=w=~~~~

I think this happiness is far too impossible to be real. Maybe I hit my head somewhere and got stuck in a coma, and all of this is some story I fabricated in my head while I was unconscious.

Maybe I fell asleep and this is a really, really vivid dream.

If it is, I don't ever want to wake up.

~~~~=w=~~~~

A high pitched ringing sound invades my slumber and it wakes me up. I sit up, finding myself on my bed.

"Was it all a dream?" I ask myself, looking around the room, which appears to be empty.

I lie back on the bed, flat on my stomach, thinking it probably was all just a dream.

"Ow. That hurts, Aries. You're really heavy." A voice goes from underneath me. "But then again…they're really soft…" he adds.

I look down and see an almost naked Leo below me. And the soft things he is referring to are my breasts.

"Leo? What are you…so it wasn't a dream?"

I sit up and he does too. I only then realize that I'm wearing Leo's shirt, and nothing else. I immediately turn red.

"What? What are you talking about, Aries? What's not a dream?" he asks.

Then the sleepiness fogging my brain leaves, only leaving behind the memories of what's real.

This is real. Leo and I are real. We are dating now, and we have been for months now. And Leo is in my bed and I'm wearing his shirt because…well, you know why.

"Anyway," he says, smiling at me. "Good morning, Aries." He tells me, placing his lips on mine, giving me a soft kiss.

"Good morning, Leo." I tell him back, and kiss him again.

"I love you." I tell him when we part.

"I love you too, Aries."

And I guess this really isn't a dream after all. The happiness that I thought would be so impossible is right here. The love I thought would be so impossible to return is right here. And the person I love the most, is right here, and he's making it a point to show me that he loves me just as much as I love him.

And I learned a lesson in all of this, actually. It's a saying I hear commonly, but I never thought it would be true.

Good things really come to those who wait.

But they forgot to mention how much shit they have to go through before getting it.

And in the end, all of the horrible stuff doesn't matter, really. Because when you finally get what you've been yearning for all that time, the hurt and pain you felt while waiting for it will go away instantly, it'll be burned away by the happiness you feel inside.

I guess that's what happens when you get your happy ending.

And I'm glad that after all of that, I finally got mine.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Okay, that's chapter ten for you all, the finale! I don't think it was that good, actually, especially the part in the middle. I enjoyed writing the last part, though.

And, as promised, I'll quickly follow up with an epilogue chapter. Expect fluff and pervy things.

Still, I'd like to thank everyone who supported me in writing this story in advance. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favorites list. Thanks for telling me honestly how you felt about my story and gave me good critique. Thank you all so, so much.

So, here's to all of us, that we may, like Aries, get our happy ending!

Remember, this isn't the last chapter, wait for the epilogue! Please, review!~~~~