WHEN I'M GONE: MATTIE AND LANCE : I own no characters except for Mattie and Lance and a couple of others, the rest is Stephanie Meyer's characters...also, no profit is being received for this short side story, more's the pity 'cause it's really good if I do say so myself.
AN: Last chapter, this story is officially complete! To my four wonderful reviewers (Gaby, Hilja, Ses and Lynn), thank you so damn much! I loved reading your reviews and hope you'll read this short story again and again...and if you do and feel the desire too, I don't mind a re-review.
Now that this is done, I can give Seth my much needed undivided attention. I will work on updating the next chapter this coming weekend but make no promises...my little brother is coming to town!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mattie leaned against the marble pillar, her hands tucked behind her as she watched the court house doors.
They jury had come back with their verdict but she hadn't stayed to listen, wanting to hear it from him instead.
It had been almost an hour but she patiently waited, never taking her eyes off the double wooden doors, knowing he would soon come striding through them –but whether he would be pleased or not, was something she couldn't anticipate.
Lance opened the door, letting his legal assistant go before him as they talked over the last details of the case, giving her shoulder a squeeze in approval before looking over her head, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of Mattie –his Mattie –leaning against a pillar, her long legs displayed to perfection thanks to a short black skirt that was a few inches above her knees and strappy black sandals.
"What are you doing here," he asked as he approached her, leaning down to kiss her full lips as he took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.
"I wanted to be here for you," Mattie stared up into his green eyes, moving to stand closer to him, "How did it go?"
"It was a hard one," Lance kissed her mouth again, nibbling on her lip as he let go of her hand to place his on the curve of her hip, tugging her a little closer.
"Did you win," Mattie asked, sliding her fingers over his dark maroon tie, the one she had bought him for this very day…it was a perfect match to his maroon dress shirt and it contrasted nicely with the dove gray suit he wore.
"Of course," Lance grinned against her mouth before angling his head to deepened the kiss, both getting lost in the taste of each other for a few seconds before the sound of squabbling voices and shutters interrupted them.
Looking over his shoulder, he groaned, "Oh great. The vultures."
"Vultures?"
"The press."
"Oh," Mattie blinked as flash after flash kept popping, "I'll wait for you here."
"I don't think so," Lance took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as he pulled her down several steps towards where the mob of reporters and photographers were being held at bay by several of the court police officers, "You're coming with."
"Lance –"
"Just stand next to me and look beautiful," Lance whispered into her ear, "It won't be hard at all."
Mattie smiled up at him before turning towards the mob, all throwing out questions at the same time.
"Counselor! Counselor!"
Lance pointed at one of the reporters, the others quieting down as the reporter looked up at Lance, "Did you ever fear that Todd Rajesh would be found innocent?"
"Although the defense did everything in their power to make it seem so, I, as well as the jury obviously, had no doubt about his guilt."
"Counselor! Counselor!"
He pointed at another reporter towards the back of the mob, "How do you feel, winning yet another difficult case such as this one?"
Lance gave him a smile that smacked of satisfaction, "Being that justice is served as it should be, I feel pretty damn good."
"Counselor! Counselor!"
He pointed at another reporter, "What are your feelings towards being nominated as one of the sexiest ADAs in Washington?"
A chuckle escaped him as he smiled at the overblown blond, "Being that I'm one of a handful of ADAs under thirty…I'm not surprised."
Mattie tried to hold back a giggle but couldn't when she saw him looking at her out of the corner of his eye, a smile on his gorgeous face…she had to agree with him…she wasn't surprised either.
"Counselor! Counselor!"
He pointed at one of the other reporters, "Who is the young lady?"
Lance looked over at Mattie, smiling as he slid his hand over her back to pull her a little closer, "This is Mattie Larson –my fiancée."
The flashing lights and snapping shutters were furious, catching Mattie's open mouthed shock as she looked up at Lance, as well as the satisfied smile on his face as he ended the interview, pulling Mattie along beside him down the court steps towards the parking lot.
Neither one said anything…him because he felt he had said it all and her because…she just didn't know what the hell to think much less say.
She followed him into his apartment, still trying to figure out what words to use as she watched him place his briefcase on the kitchen table before taking off his suit jacket, placing it over the back of the armchair.
"Why did you say that?"
"What," Lance pulled at his tie, sliding the skinny end through the knot before tossing it over the jacket as he kept his eyes on her.
"That I was your fiancée."
Lance stared at her for a few seconds before saying in that maddening assertive way of his, "Because you are."
Mattie stared at him open mouthed, taking several seconds before the words exploded out of her, "The least you could do is ask, you arrogant ass!"
Turning on her heel, she didn't make it three steps towards the front door before Lance pulled her into his arms, using one hand to tip her head back so he could look into her bright brown eyes, "Mattie…I love you."
Mattie stared at him, her anger completely deflating as joy began to balloon in her chest, "You do?"
"Yes," Lance smiled down at her, brushing his fingers down her jaw, "And I know you love me."
"I do?"
"Yes," resting his forehead against hers, he looked deep into her eyes, "I want you to be my wife…I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"You do?"
Smiling, he nodded, "Yes…and I know you want the same."
"I do?"
Staring into her brown eyes, seeing his entire future in them as he asked, "Do you?"
Staring back at him, she realized that not only did he hold her heart in his hands but he was her future…and she couldn't possibly find anyone else better for her because he was it.
He was the one.
"I do."
Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her mouth, the heat instantly leaping between them.
Pulling back, he took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, "Hold on."
Taking his suit jacket, he stuck his hand into one of the inside pockets, pulling out a dark blue velvet ring box, returning to Mattie before kneeling down on both knees in front of her, opening the box to reveal a beautiful platinum ring, the princess cut diamond accented by small sapphires on each side.
"Mattie Larson," Lance stared up at her, taking a deep breath as he watched her eyes water, her hands covering her mouth as she stared down at him, "I love you…in a way I've never loved before. Please…do me the honor of being my wife?"
Mattie swallowed back a sob, seeing in him, for the first time, an uncertainty even though she had already given him her answer.
Nodding, she gave him her shaking left hand, a small sob finally escaping her as he slid the ring onto her third finger, "I love you Lance."
A proud and satisfied smile spread across his face as he stood up, sweeping her off her feet before heading to his bedroom, intent on them openly sharing their love.
Lance watched with lazy amusement as Mattie admired her ring, running his fingers through her long hair as he breathed in the scent of her mint shampoo.
"It's so beautiful Lance," Mattie snuggled deeper into his arms, her head on his shoulder as she watched the diamond catch the sun rays coming in through the bedroom window before turning them into rainbows.
"The moment I saw it," Lance took her left hand, raising it to his mouth to kiss her knuckles, "I thought of you."
Mattie smiled up at him, stroking his jaw before she pushed herself to a sitting position, "My Daddy's going to kill you."
"Why," Lance stared at her in surprise, momentarily distracted by the beautiful view of her bare breasts, "I'm marrying you. Granted, I debauched you first but I'm marrying you."
Mattie giggled at the old fashion word as she leaned against his chest until her face was inches above his, "True…but you didn't ask him for permission before splaying the news all over the tabloids."
He stared at her as the words sank in, "Oh shit."
"Exactly."
September in Montana
He walked through the crowd, finally catching sight of the bride.
She looked beautiful in a strapless white dress, her hair caught up in curls.
Smiling at the way her beautiful face glowed as she talked to one of her guests, he reached out to touch her arm, grinning at the pleasure she openly showed as she threw her arms around him.
"Embry! I'm so glad you were able to make it!"
He hugged her tight, laughing as he pulled her off the ground for a few seconds before placing her back on her feet, "I wouldn't have missed this for anything. You look gorgeous Mattie-girl."
Mattie gave him a beaming smiled, running her hands down the sides of the dress…it was cut close to her body, flaring out into a beautiful cloud of tulle a few inches below her knees, a sweetheart neckline displaying her shoulders to perfection –she had fallen in love with it the moment she saw it, "Thank you. How's life going Embry? It's been a while since I've heard from you."
"It has, hasn't it," Embry smiled down at her, sliding his hands into the pockets of his black slacks, "I'm starting school in January…took a while but I got accepted into the Engineering program at Seattle."
"That's great! I'll get to see you more often," Mattie smiled up at him, brushing a curl off her forehead, "So tell me, have you found your soul mate yet?"
Embry's smile was slow and soft, "In a way, yeah. It's gonna take some time though."
"Oh, you'll win her over," Mattie reached out to squeeze his arm, "How could you not?"
Embry laughed, pulling out an envelope from one of his pockets, "This is from Seth. He couldn't be here but wanted me to give this to you."
"How is Seth," Mattie asked as she opened the envelope.
"He's…still trying to get his shit together," Embry grimaced, "Not a pleasant word but that's pretty much what it is."
"I really hope he finds what he needs and soon," Mattie pulled out a piece of folded paper, "Last time I talked to Julie, she told me he was a mess…hopefully he's improved since she last saw him."
"I highly doubt that," Embry watched her as she opened the letter, her eyes widening in surprise at the check enclosed in it.
"Where the hell did he get this kind of money," Mattie stared at the six digit amount on the right hand corner before looking up at Embry.
"Something about a settlement."
"Ah, yes." Mattie looked over her shoulder as Lance approached her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he looked at the check, "That would be the settlement I got him for the climbing accident."
"I didn't know you did litigation," Mattie stared up at him, her eyes bright with the love and pride she felt for her husband of two hours.
"I normally don't," Lance kissed her nose before looking over at Embry, "But if Seth hadn't been so damn lucky, it would have been manslaughter…the man had a responsibility to keeping his equipment up to scratch and he failed…so I made sure he paid for it."
Embry chuckled, somehow the annoyance he used to feel over Lance's assertive attitude completely gone, "Apparently, Seth is not in need of the money…said you could use it to pay off your Master's."
"That's already taken care of," Lance said as he smiled down at his wife, "You'll have to come up with something else."
"We could use it to buy new ropes and climbing equipment for the camp," Mattie offered, looking up at Lance in time to see his eyes gleam with pride…for her.
"That's a good idea," Embry nodded in agreement although he knew his opinion didn't really matter…it was just that he was feeling awkward having to stand here and watch them stare at each other like they couldn't wait to be alone, "Listen, Mattie, I'm not able to stay long…gotta go back to the rez and get some stuff done…I'm buying a house."
"You are? That's great," Mattie moved out of her husband's arms to hug Embry, pulling back to smile up at him, "I'm glad you got to come, even if it was just for a few minutes. As soon as you get into Seattle, you need to look me up."
"I will," Embry cupped her cheek, smiling into her brown eyes before leaning down to kiss her cheek, "I promise."
"You know, you touch my wife a lot," Lance's voice was serious as he stared at Embry.
Embry grinned at him before clapping a hand on his shoulder, "If you work at it really, really hard, you can convince yourself I'm gay and then it won't matter."
Mattie's laughter at his words made Lance grin as Embry gave them a last farewell before walking off.
Turning to his wife, he gently pulled her into his arms, resting his forehead against hers, "Well, Mrs. Holmes…looks like we're off to a pretty good start."
"Yup," Mattie wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling as he kissed her nose, her cheeks, her chin and at last her mouth, "Except for the part where Daddy threatened to castrate you."
Lance groaned as he leaned his head against her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of her fingers through his hair, "Of all times for him to say that, right before he handed you over to me…right in front of the pastor!"
Mattie laughed, wrapping her arms around his head, smoothing his hair back as she kissed his forehead, "He didn't mean it, baby."
"Really?"
Mattie laughed at the hopeful look on his gorgeous face, "Don't be silly. Of course he meant it."