Epilogue

He had taken her, against the wooden frame of the doorway, her hands against the thick wood hat was painted soft white years ago and was then left to let the paint crumble down with the years.

He had taken her from behind, her warm wetness moving over his dick as he had pushed her harder into the wood she arched her slender smaller body against to keep on standing up straight. She had taken each and every jerks of his wide hard thighs, as he had made impact after impact inside of her.

Her hands had been grasping the wood of the doorway. He had softly sucked and bitten the skin of the spot right under her ear, telling her, telling Charlotte, it was him. Telling her it was him, taking care of her.

He had not allowed himself to take in her scent of warm salty sweat and the scent that was her. So much her. The pace he had set, the rhythm of wild thrusting left no room to think of any other things, left no time to do something else but to push deeper inside of her and loose himself in her.

Charlie had been still in her tank, her pants down over her thighs as he had not bothered with removing them from her long legs. He stood in his boots behind her.

She had matched him with demanding one of his large hands over her left breast, and then, she had just rode out his thrusting, both of them not lasting long as they both came hard and with deep moans and a curse and grunt from him.

After that they had not talked. He had stood breathless behind her, as he had felt his dick softening fast against her legs. He had not been able to look for her eyes. She had walked out, not much later, not slamming the door behind her, but he could feel how he left her miserable with his own grey fucking state of being miserable.

Bass cursed some more, as he felt familiar dark creeping in. As he watched faces right in front of him, fucking close enough to almost touch that still haunted him. The way he had let them down, unable to protect them, haunting him.

He moved through the living room on his way to grab the bottle from the kitchen counter. He was not drunk enough, hell, he was not even fucking close. Today, nothing would do as he grabbed the bottle.

It was early autumn on today, today his life was even more hell than usual. The room empty without her in it, but maybe that was for the best. He could not take kind of humanity reach him, unable to think how he would take just. Bass sat down on the small couch in his shitty apartment. He just wanted to drink and sit. With a tired face which had his pain written in every of the lines on his face and arms on his legs and over his knees, Bass he took the first burning swig of nothingness.

Across town

Charlie had been fuming. Fuming because Bass had been a son of bitch, well more than normal. He had been crude when summer had ended, and with a highly flammable temper and more broody as she had seen him in a long time.

They were a family of broken people, she knew that. But as she had left him behind in his apartment after he took her there and she had felt something hit the surface as she had reached her own release and she was walking across town to someone who would understand and have some decent booze, she felt it again. The sting of how he was moving away from her.

He had fucked her, and she had his weight against her back, him holding her but in a distant way.

No matter what happened since that summer they went to war now two years ago, she and Bass, they had found some common ground of trust. Of understanding. And fighting together. And friendship. And quick fucks that left her breathless. And long night where he found each and every part of her and her body with his tongue, and lips and strong fingers and hand that needed be touched in every way.

The past two years had given them more than enough room to fight, fight in the war, fight the kaki's, fight each other, work through a lot of shit. She, Miles, Bass and Connor. Never far from the other.

After her mom had told her the whole story of what she and Ben had started, as Charlie had seen the whole scope of the truth, things had been harder and easier at the same time. She was still battling with what her family did, how her place was in all of this. The storm was silently raging, but loosing force.

She still felt the old rage and hate sometimes flame for the part in him that was Monroe. But forgiveness had started to match that hate, bringing her back to a point where she had once been with both Miles and Bass. Living and fighting with them as men she could trust and love. Time had changed her, time had changed them. Their choices had too. But they found each other in trust and love again somehow.

Her relationship with her mom was a rocky one. She would visit her and Miles, in Willoughby where they had settled down after the summer of war. After a war that was done, but the stabilisation of half a continent was far from over. There were jobs to do, fights to fight, people needed to get back to their feet, a Nano to be silenced. And as she had fought with Connor, Miles and Bass, her mother, Aaron, Priscilla and Gene had done their own battle. The Nano had been defeated in Bradburry and after that, they had come back to Willoughby.

Although it was home for Rachel and Gene, for Charlie, Bass and Miles home would always be somewhere else. But their little family of broken people had decided to stay together, so they settled down in some kind of life. She and Bass got closer on the road. With every fight, with every time he almost got lost in powerhunger and dark again, it had been Connor, her and Miles who would bring him back. After she would fall back into a state of being numb and doubt like she had once been in Austin, he was there.

And in between, they had started to flirt, to fuck, to banter, to fight until he had told her to grab her shit one evening as he would buy her some food and she was mid food when she realised that the great tall badass Sebastian Monroe had been taking her on a date. And they had fun, he made her laugh, she made him even blush. They talked.

Life moved on. Rachel and Miles did a lot of fighting, and a lot of making up. The last part drove Charlie out of their place real fast and into a small apartment of her own. Not far from Aaron and Priscilla.

Connor had wanted to get his own place too. He had told his dad he was not going to bring the girls that were hanging around him the moment he rode into Willoughby like bees around honey, back to his old man's place. Miles had snorted, Charlie had smirked. Bass had looked pissed.

Charlie had took pity on him, and had straddled him that night in his bed, whispering in his ear how good he felt deep inside of her. It had made him curse, kiss her hard and move them both so he was under her and he could push deeper inside of her, telling her exactly how fucking old he not was.

She getting her own place, and Connor too, meant more time for bass and her in her bed, on his couch. The both of them taking advantage of every piece of furniture that was closest.

They had found some kind of rhythm, until the second autumn came they were not on the road anymore.

They all tried to find some kind of new normal. It worked. Charlie felt herself relax, knowing there was family and one man that was able to get under her skin, in all the good ways and all the very bad ways.

That was until October almost arrived and Bass had started to drink more. He had started to distance himself, to start fights with her as he was flirting his ass off with other woman in the bar. He never went home with them, Charlie knew that. But it was like he needed her to fight him. She and him, Charlie knew they were friends, fighting together, caring for the other although neither of them ever said it out loud. They were not together and free. But they both knew, there was less and less room to not think about themselves as together.

This afternoon, he had gone from distant to needing her in less than five minutes when, an overwhelming need he translated into strong hands turning her around, opening the button of her pants as he moved the fabric of her pants over her thighs as he had opened his zipper before pushing her against the wall and entering her. After that, he had not even looked at her.

Charlie was reaching her limit.

She walked through Willoughby, turning another corner before she stopped before a front door. She knocked, not wanting to interrupt anything between her mom and Miles.

When Miles opened the door, he looked into the face of a fuming Charlie. He knew that look on her face. Charlie looked at Miles as he let her in. She was about to open her mouth to start to rant about Bass until a look in Miles' eyes told her he was expecting her. Until sadness reached his dark brown eyes where there should have been a pissed of Miles asking her what Bass had done and if he should start killing the moron now or that it could wait until tomorrow.

Miles watched his kid, as he had seen the change in Bass, filling him with dread the moment the weather had changed, the air had gotten cooler. This date, this day, had been going through his mind all day.

October fifth.

He knew she would come. He just knew. He looked at her. As he felt the impact of Bass' heavy weight and his whole face crumbled with loss was against his chest and arm again, as he stood there, a bucket of water and a towel over his damn shoulder that day, that one day that changed his best friend for good in that camp.

He looked at Charlie.

'There is something I need to tell you kid.'

Bass heard footsteps. He had almost finished the bottle but since he was still sitting here and making coherent thoughts about the bottle that was too empty and he was still seeing them, he knew he needed a hell of a lot more.

Charlie found him on his way to be very fucking drunk in his living room. She closed the door behind her. His eyes on a spot near the floor, the bottle in his hands, sitting on his couch and looking like hell.

Miles had talked when he had let her in, he had told her that today, would be hell for Bass. He had also told her it was not his story to tell. It had made her rush back to Bass' place as Miles watched her with pain and sadness in his own eyes. Giving her space, his eyes already going to find his weapons and jacket, as he knew he would follow her soon. As there was one place he needed to be today. But Charlie, she could do so much more than he felt he could. She did not even know herself, but he knew, Charlie would be there for his little brother.

Charlie locked the rest of the world away by locking his front door, as she walked to Bass and she sat down next to him. He did not talk, neither did she.

Bass knew where Charlie had gone to, and he also knew his brother. He would have his back, but he also would not have told her the story. That was up to him. He cursed inside, swirling in pain and whiskey that was burning through him.

'She...' he let out a tired breath that sounded like someone hit him in the chest, a sigh of breath with so much pain that it brought cold sadness into Charlie's chest, ' I was married before Charlie.'

Her eyes were intensely on him bright deep blue eyes with so much different kind of blue that it was one look with so much for him in there.

He still was not able to look at her completely, as his eyes locked away from the floor and his eyes went to her face quickly. Then he looked in front of him, his face years older in this light, the bottle still in his hands.

She did not talk. She just sat with him.

'I met her in a camp Miles and I had set up to provide a place for people who needed it and making sure there was food and water and the basics. Her name was Shelly. We got married soon, and she got pregnant. Everything...everything went well. I was talking to her, about Miles. About baby names. Felt the baby kick as I felt our child inside of her... fifteen years ago... I lost them both Charlie.'

Images of what it must have been like bombarded her mind, images of goodbye, and final tears and hugs and love, as tears blurred her eyes. She slowly moved her hand to his, and took the bottle from his fingers. She replaced the bottle with her love, and her warm hands.

Bass broke, pulled a hand over his face and started to sob in long cries. His voice was edged with low grieve as he spoke.

'She died giving birth to our daughter...to my little girl and there was nothing I could do, I should have...I...'

He felt the small weight of his baby girl in his arms again. He could feel and take in the scent of the tent, of feeling his brother close as he had just wanted to held his daughter, his child, his beautiful perfect little girl.

He was talking slowly, pain slowing him down as Charlie heard the blame he put on himself

Bass felt the tears hitting the scar tissue on his arm, the one where the tattoo he got in honour of his family had once been. Wishing she was not fucking here to see him cry.

'I held them both...I...'

Charlie just held his hand and let him cry, the almost finished bottle between them on the wooden floor.

'Bass, it was not your fault.'

'I got her pregnant Charlie.' There was a dark spike of anger and hate for himself in his voice as he almost spit out the words.

'You fell in love and she carried your child. There is nothing in there, that is your fault Bass.'

Bass finally looked at her, as he looked at a Charlie in tears, still sitting next to him after what he had told her.

'There was a baby girl?' Connor's voice, tears in his brown eyes and voice moved through the room. He stood in the doorway. There was shock in his eyes, as tears filled them quickly.

Charlie gave Bass room to get up, as Bass stood up. He walked to Connor.

'Yeah there was Connor. You had a baby sister , kid.' He stood before his son, not sure what to do, almost awkwardly.

When he watched his kid cry as Connor's tears hit his cheeks, there was only one more thing to do. Bass took another step as he pulled his arms around his son. As he held his other child. Connor grabbed his dad's shoulder and both men cried. Bass held Connor's cheek in the palm of his hand.

Charlie moved to both of the men. She moved closer to Connor and embraced him, as she felt Connor's warm chest, wild heartbeat and how her tears soaked his shirt, as Connors tears fell on her hair.

She held onto him, as Connor gently moved his arms around her, one of his hand between her shoulder blades as he took Charlie's comfort. Charlie felt Bass' hand on her hair as he stood by the both of them and brushed her long locks slowly as she held Connor.

They made a fire, the drank. Bass told Connor about Shelly, as both men sat side by side, Charlie listening as she was sitting in front of the fire in front of his couch. She was sitting in between Bass' legs, leaning against his knee. Bass told her about the camp Miles and him had been coordinating. About how they tried to make an effort to bring back some kind of humanity in this new world. A world her parents had created, it rang through her heart.

Bass told them about the little girl that was his daughter, about how he held her, about how Miles had been there. About the autumn day, that one fifth October that had been a black mark in his life.

Connor asked questions, Charlie listened to what Bass wanted to share.

And not much later that night, when a bottle was passed around, Miles walked in. Bass looked up at his brother. Some dates, some days were theirs, in their shared past, as landmarks in their land of pain and loss and brotherhood that always pulled them through. Their shared pain understood only completely by them.

Bass gave Miles the bottle as he joined them near the fire as they would not sleep for hours, share a night, share a bottle and share memories. Connor next to Bass, Miles sitting next to Bass, as Charlie felt the warmth of sitting close to Bass and Miles. Miles knee close behind her on her left side, Bass' fingers brushing and caressing the skin of her neck.

Sometimes they were all looks, but now, and many other nights, they were connected through more, with a night, a bottle, and his hand close to her neck, brushing her skin, connecting with her, his way of letting her in. Her understanding how much he could give right now, accepting that.

Miles had eventually fell asleep in a chair, Connor on the couch. Charlie had slowly walked to his bedroom without even asking. Bass watched her in the soft light of the night.

She turned around, and her eyes were filled with strength and love. Love for what she saw before her. Miles. Her home. Connor, family. Bass who grabbed a blanket and moved it over Connor and then, as an almost too intimate moment for her to watch, pressed a kiss on Connor's forehead.

It was an amount of love in front of her, of people she loved, that ached.

Bass followed her to the bed. Sunrise was coming, as the world was still in a dark night and stars were visible through the window of his bedroom. Neither of them wanted to undress. So Charlie let Bass pull her onto the bed.

She nuzzled her nose into his neck, as he held her.

'Don't leave.' Bass voice was rough and broken with tears and what he had told her, and Connor. His voice was strong with the amount of family he had found tonight in his living room.

'Don't you ever leave baby.' Bass said again.

Charlie was quiet, and Bass knew her, he felt her think. Charlie was not the one to bullshit around things. When she made a choice, she would make it with her whole heart. Bass waited, his heart roughly open and on the line.

Charlie knew what she wanted to say, knew what she felt. Knew that after tonight, she would not be anywhere else, there would be no other men to fill her bed or heart.

Only he would do.

'I will stay. Bass. I will always stay.' She felt the sob in her own throat that took her by surprise but that was there nevertheless, as she heard it in Bass'. He moved her only closer, his arms and hands everywhere.

The next day, Charlie would go back one more time to her old place to grab her things. She would move in with Bass as Miles would comment how this all felt awfully normal and Connor helped her move her things.

The next month, Bass would marry her, making her his, as he proposed to her over a bottle of whiskey. She said yes, he made love to her right there as she surrendered to his love and her heart that was able to tell Bass I love you, as he would whisper it back hoarsely in her ear. As he was still Bass Monroe, and she was Charlie Matheson and they both could be them with the other.

The next month on a cool early winter morning, with a golden bright sun streaming through the sky, they would get married, with Aaron and Priscilla close, and both Connor and Miles would be Bass' best man. Gene would be there, friends would be there. Even her mom would make a choice and an effort to stop by, wishing them the best. She was there only shortly, but the effort meant a lot to Charlie.

Blanchard would do the honours of marrying them. Asking Charlie once more if she was sure. She had said something un lady like back that made Blanchard blush and made Connor, Miles and Bass grin.

The next year after their marriage, Charlie would find life in her belly. It would be overwhelming and it would bring tears in her eyes and it would fill her with happiness so strong, she would never understand it, that it could be there until that very moment she felt her baby girl in her belly.

And Connor would get to hold his baby sister, named after Bass' mother, as Miles got to be an uncle all over again. And Bass, he would just cried silently, holding Charlie and little Gail close to his heart and in his arms, silently vowing that no one would ever stand between him and his family. Ever.

The stars were quietly in the night sky, as Bass felt tears press in his eyes as he moved her into his arms, needing her closer and safe where he could feel her. Charlie felt Bass firm arms as they created a warm safe nook for her to find her home. He still smelled like whiskey and fight and sweat and she would have him like this always.

She thought about Connor in the other room, about the kid Bass had to do without for so long. Here.

About Miles, his brother he had to miss for so long. Here.

She kissed his neck, almost asleep as he turned her towards his mouth and kissed her on her lips, guiding her to his mouth and then she felt Bass place another kiss on her temple.

Bass held onto her, the night quiet, his brother and kid sleeping in the other room, the sounds of the slow small fire filling his house. Charlie in his arms. Fuck, she felt warm and from the moment she had stood there before him in Philly, he had known this girl would fight for her family. He held her, his love for her, and the love for him he felt within her.

Alongside with her forgiveness and care and hot as hell ability to stand on her own in any fight and her infuriating as hell stubbornness, all of her in his arms as he guarded them through the night.

He remembered her, there in Philly. She knew how to love, how to fight, how to forgive, how to protect in this hardened black out world that could have changed her so fucking much into so much worse. Not her, not Charlie. And fuck, there was nothing he would not do for her, to keep her there, safe, with him, with Miles.

He remembered her, there in Philly. He had only no idea, right then and there, how far they would come. As Charlie had chosen him as family now too.

'Goodnight Bass,' she mumbled in her sleep.

'Night babe.' He mumbled back, his voice low and edged with a hint of smugness and love at the same time.

He watched how Charlie smirked at him calling her babe. Hell, she would hate it when he would do that somewhere in public. He made a note in his mind to yank her chain soon in public, by doing just that. She would be pissed. But hell, she would love it too. That was always the thing with the Mathesons.

And if he was lucky, there would be one hell of a round of making up fucking to get to after that with her. With Charlotte. He grinned. A small fast one, before pain was met with a promise of a future, right before he fell asleep next to her.

Author's note Thank you so much for reading, for your feedback and kind words. I wanted to bring them together, in another way, even deeper and stronger in this epilogue. Bass told Connor and Charlie the story of something that changed him for good. I really wanted to write that here in this story. I hope you liked this conclusion that leaves them in a hard blackout world, but with each other. Not perfect, but family. Love from Love