Chapter 11: Freedom and Commemoration
About a week after I got discharged and I was picked up by the crew and we drove around the town. "You know where that jewelry shop is?" I asked them. Anthony nodded as he was behind the wheel. "Let's go there really quick." I said, as they looked confused since the ceremony was going to be held that day. We got there in no time and I went to the clerk behind the counter. "How can I help you today?" He said in a faux accent. "I would like to turn these into two necklaces." I said. I held out the bullets that were used and Anthony looked concerned. The clerk looked it over and said he could. "What are you doing?"
Anthony asked leaning against the wall next to me. "Putting holes in them and I'm going to wear them. I've got the money to do it so might as well remember her somehow." I said matter of fact. "But why two?" He asked. "Just in case I love another woman again I could say I give you my heart or something cheesy like that. It is pretty damn significant to have my own bullet as well." I said. "Give you my heart? You are cheesy." He said as I chuckled. "When's the damn ceremony I want to get it over with?" I asked. "In about two hours. Hopefully your friend works quick." He said. "Hey, we are heroes I think we have every right to be fashionably late. Besides the park is just up the road somewhere, we could be there in a few minutes' tops, and they saved us a parking space close to the ceremony. Perks of being a hero of an entire country." I said.
"Yeah about that. Why exactly are we being called heroes of the country? It's not like they were the Taliban or something right?" He asked and all I did was chuckle again. "Not all terrorists originate from another country, sometimes it's the people back home you need to worry about the most, and come on they haven't done anything to our home turf for years. People are still uptight about any possible threats hitting home, and this only increased their appetite for not trusting anybody. Luckily while we are around nothing will stop us at least I hope not." I said. "Let's hope nobody makes another move. You barely got out alive." Anthony said seriously. "We can only hope my friend." I said.
I heard the clerk come back and I heard the jingling of the necklaces. "Here you are sir. By the way it is free of charge, and please visit again." He said gratefully. "Thank you. Pleasure to meet you by the way." I said as all of us walked out to the car. "You just met the guy and it's free of charge?" Ian asked. "People respect, love, and fear us now. Not necessarily what I hoped for after becoming a hero. I just want people to calm down and hopefully nobody fucks with us." I said getting in the car. We drove in silence on the way to the park and the ceremony was close to beginning. We sat down in our designated seats onstage and security was tight around this area. They had four men around the president and four each around all of us. Bullworth was sketchy but for the most part it seemed to have calmed down since the all out war that happened. The president gave his speech about the importance of courage, triumph, working together, and all of that crap that hyped everyone up. He finally got to the part about remembering Catie as he unveiled a statue that would be there to commemorate her memory in Bullworth forever.
I was proud to say the least that I managed to get the president to keep his promise on something. It was a great statue and it really captured how dangerous she could be just by staring at you. Soon he handed the awards out to Anthony and Ian, and Kalel for bravery in tough times. It eventually got to me and for some reason I had to make a speech. He put the award over my head and I walked up to the podium. Cameras were flashing like crazy and it kind of hurt since it was nighttime.
"Thank you. Thank you all for taking time to be here. I don't really know what to say, I just wanted to move here for a new life. Turns out I couldn't escape my old one without confronting it first. I want to thank my friends over there that helped me despite all of the setbacks. I truly have no idea what to say because to most people an award like this would never come their way. If it did they would be more than happy and forget about it and make an inspirational speech about how great their life is. Truly that isn't the case with me though, I appreciate this honor, but truly I don't know if it was all worth it in the end. I lost a potential love partner that could have been with me for a very long time. These necklaces I had made today commemorate the memory of the sacrifices we made for each other. They were the bullets that were lodged into our bodies from one of the attackers. They shot me in the chest, and they shot her in the stomach. This is my dedication to her because I truly did love her…"
I was cut off by a voice from close by. "And she loves you too…" It came from the side of the stage. The person stood up and walked towards the steps as the guards began to point their guns at them. I told them to stop and let them through and they complied. They were in a hooded jacket and jeans and they walked up to me. "She loves you more than you can imagine." She said. I pulled her hood off of her head and it was Catie looking up at me. She had sweet puppy eyes looking at me full of tears. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit you. They never would have let me through." She said. "It doesn't matter. You're here now. I love you." I said as she repeated it and kissed me. Everything went silent as everybody enjoyed this sweet moment. We stopped kissing and looked each other in the eye. I took the necklace that had my bullet and I strapped it around her neck.
"You have my heart now, never let it go." I said as she smiled. "You're so cheesy." She said and I smiled back and embraced her. It felt like everything was going to be okay now and this was the new start I have been asking for, for a very long time. Over the next few months' things really changed, Catie and I attended Kalel and Anthony's wedding which was a start. Ian even proposed to his girlfriend, which was not surprising at all. Catie and I never separated in the time being and we even moved in together. We started a vlogging channel together, along with other channels being operated solely by us. We loved hanging out with others who were like us, especially the Smosh boys and their wives.
Finally after about two years of being together we decided it was best to tie the knot and get married, but only after we took a trip to Tokyo, returned to attend Vidcon, and I proposed to her in front of every fan that has been asking about it since our vlogging started! Either way we got married and had a cute little star wars themed wedding and we spent a nice honeymoon together in Japan of all places. We can't help it! Japan is pretty calm when you're out of the major cities. Either way things were looking up and it was probably only going to get better.
