This is it guys! The final chapter! I will be posting an A/N after this so it would be great if y'all could give it a read!

One week later

River

The time had finally come when I was allowed to leave the hospital and I was happy about it to say the least. Although I was glad that Victor was back, he took on the role of protector a little to seriously; the past week had been spent barely lifting a finger or doing anything for myself and when he decided he was going to carry me everywhere, I had to remind him that I wasn't shot in the leg and that I could in fact still walk.

The car ride back to Wrickenwridge was long and it gave me time to think about the events of the last couple of months. The one that stuck out most was the living arrangements. The Benedict's had opened up their house to offer me a place to stay while I was a witness but now that Anderson was dead, there was no need for a trial and no need for me to remain there.

I let that sink in. I didn't want to burden the Benedict's but I also couldn't bring myself to go back to living in a hotel. My mind turned towards thoughts of Victor and living with him but the heat that crept across my face told me that now was probably not a good time to be thinking like that; especially because it was just the two of us in the car and the thought of pulling over for some privacy was extremely tempting right now.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and made a clear plan to stay well over my side of the car until we reached Wrickenwridge.

Victor

The drive to Wrickenwridge was spent in comfortable silence and it gave me chance to think about what was going to happen. As soon as the doctors said River could go home, mom got straight into planning a welcome home party for her. I had been reluctant at first, wanting to keep her to myself, but I had warmed to the idea and was now looking forward to seeing how she would react. Although, mom had promised to keep it as a small celebration, things always ended up getting out of hand and I was counting on that to properly welcome River into the family.

That thought made me smile. She was part of the family. She was mine. I looked over at her and my smile grew; her head rested against the window and even in the dim light of the car, I could tell she was blushing.

"Care to share your thoughts?"

"No!" Her voice was high pitched and her eyes were wide in shock; she was clearly surprised I had noticed her embarrassment.

"So it's like that is it?" I sent her a smirk and raised my eyebrows. "Did I happen to play apart in those thoughts?" She scoffed at me and rolled her eyes.

"You wish! I was just thinking about that extremely handsome doctor..." She sighed and clasped her hands over her heart. It was my turn to scoff.

"You mean the one that was about 50 and had a combover? I didn't think that was your type." She turned to me, a look of nonchalance on her face.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, sweetie. I just wish I had gotten his number. What a wasted opportunity!" I narrowed my eyes at her and reached across the seat to snatch one of her hands; pressing a quick kiss to it before entwining my fingers with hers.

"You can have my number instead, okay?" She laughed at my statement and rested her head back against the window.

"Okay."

River

When we finally arrived at the house, it wasn't lit up like I thought it would be; it had long since gotten dark outside and the lack of light streaming through the windows meant something was clearly wrong.

"What's up? Why aren't there any lights on?" I directed my question towards Victor but didn't take my eyes off the house. I had a bad feeling about this.

"I don't know. Wait here, I'll go check." He didn't seem the slightest bit nervousness or worried as he got out of the car and made his way towards the house. Pulling the key out of his pocket, he let himself in, closing the door behind him.

I sat for what seemed like hours in the dark car waiting for the lights to flicker on and show that everything was okay. As more and more time passed, my breathing became heavier and I had to take deep breaths in order to slow my racing heartbeat. Everything's okay. Everything's okay. Everything's ok. I tried to persuade myself that it was true but the logical part of me knew that it wasn't. Something was definitely wrong.

Slowly pushing open the car door, I stepped out into the cold night air making sure to close the door quietly as to not draw attention to myself. If something was wrong, the element of surprise might be my only advantage. Making my way towards the dark house, I cringed at the amount of noise I was making as I walked over the fallen leaves and prayed that anyone inside couldn't here me coming.

I stopped a few meters away from the door and tried to steady my breathing. Reaching out my hand, I slowly moved it closer to the door handle. I had absolutely no clue as to what I was going to do when I got inside but the thought of the Benedict's, of Victor, being in trouble pushed me forward and my hand closed around the cool metal.

River?

I let out a high pitched squeak and jumped back from the door; placing my hand over my heart as it sped up to an unbelievable pace until it felt as though it would beat right out of my chest.

Holy crap, Victor! You scared me!

Sorry about that. I felt his laughter travel down our telepathic connection. Jerk. I just wanted to tell you that you can come in now. The powers just out. I let out a sigh of relief and rolled my eyes at my exaggeration. After I had collected myself, I once again reached for the door handle, this time pushing open the door without hesitation.

Inside the house was pitch black and as soon as I shut the door, I knew I was probably going to end up hurting myself and breaking at least one of the Benedict's possessions; I could barely avoid walking into things in full daylight so navigating through this house in absolute darkness was going to be more then a challenge.

"Victor?" I called out for him hoping to be able to navigate my way based on the sound of his voice or better yet, let him come and get me. No reply. I tried again but still nothing.

"This isn't funny! I can't see a thing." As soon as the sentence was out I proved it correct by bumping straight into what I guessed was the coffee table due to the sharp corner that dug into the side of my leg, causing me to let out a string of curse words. Now I was pissed off.

Stretching my arms out in front of me, I felt along the wall, hoping to find my way to the kitchen. That jerk was dead meat when I found him. After a few more minutes, I came to a gap in the wall and let out a breath; the smell of coffee was strong and I knew I had successfully found my way to the Benedict's kitchen. I took a step into the room and all hell broke loose.

The lights flashed on and I was greeted by the extremely loud cheers of the entire Benedict family which caused me to let out a scream of my own before I stumbled backwards, landing on my butt on the cold tiles. I let out a groan of shock and pain and the noise died down as Victor rushed over. Lifting me in the air, he checked for injuries before bursting into a grin.

"Welcome home!" His face expressed his excitement but I was having none of it. Crossing my arms over my chest, I hoped to look menacing despite the fact that my feet were dangling inches above the ground.

"Put me down, Victor." He looked at me in question but did what I asked, setting me back down softly on my feet.

"Why?"

"So I can do this." I quickly moved my foot, kicking him straight in the shin. He let out a groan of protest and shot a glare toward his family who had all burst out laughing at my reaction.

"What was that for?!" I narrowed my eyes but resisted the urge to kick him again despite wanting to do so.

"That was for being a jerk! You scared me half to death and you made me walk into the coffee table!" I gestured to my leg to show him that he wasn't the only one who got hurt because of this. He looked from my leg to me and burst out laughing, picking me up once again and pulling me to his chest.

"I'm sorry but the look on your face was priceless and definitely worth getting kicked in the leg for." There was a sound of agreement from behind him and I looked over his shoulder to smile at them all.

"I'm glad I could provide some entertainment but what's all of this for?" I took in the balloons and the wide range of food that covered the table. Xav was the one that stepped forward to answer my question.

"Don't be silly, Rivvy! It's your welcome home party. We planned it all especially for you." He reached out a hand and ruffled my hair, adding further insult to the use of that nickname.

"You want to die?" I asked in all seriousness but it didn't seem to bother him as he bounded over to the table and began stuffing food in his mouth. It seemed that signalled the start of the party as music was turned on and drinks were distributed.

I stood next to Victor, a cold soda in my hand after my argument that I was fine to drink beer had fallen on deaf ears. Leaning back against him, I took in the scene in front of me; the Benedict's had gone to all this trouble to welcome me back and I must admit, it melted my heart a little bit. I turned to Victor and reached up, planting a quick kiss on his lips.

"What was that for?" He looked surprised but happy and I felt the same way. I don't know when it had become so easy to be around him but it felt right to be by his side and I was glad because of that.

"Just a thank you. Also an apology." I gestured to his leg and he smiled at the memory, placing his arm around my waist.

"Were you really scared?" I nodded at this and tried to hide my embarrassment, something told me I would never live down falling on my butt in front of everyone.

"No more surprises then, I don't think I can stand getting kicked again."

"I wouldn't say no more, just maybe warn me about them before hand." We laughed together at my compromise and he rested his forehead against mine.

"I think I can agree to that." He let out a sigh and brushed his fingers across my cheek and into my hair. "I love you, River Heartly."

"I love you too, Victor Benedict." I closed my eyes and let my lips find his.