Well, this is it. The final chapter.

There were actually two scenes that I couldn't decide between for the epilogue, but one day I just kinda had an epiphany and I just started writing for this idea. I had a lot of fun with this chapter, so I finished the story on a very happy note.

Have fun reading guys! Savor it!

Epilogue

The wide metal doors opened onto an empty space, causing the both of us to giggle as if we had never seen an empty elevator before. Paul stepped into the elevator, turning around to tug me to him. I gasped mid-laugh and stumbled against him.

"Jeez. You'd think you'd be more careful now. What if I had tripped over the threshold?" I laughed, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

Paul's warm hands covered my cheeks, pulling me to look up at him. Even after all this time, his grin still had the power to make my knees shaky. "I would have caught you, of course." He pressed his lips to mine, sliding his right hand to the back of my neck at the edge of my hairline. His fingers played with the waves of my hair, moving them so they tickled my back. I had to pull away from his kiss to laugh at the sensation. But in a couple seconds, he had me trapped against him again, teasing me by purposefully creeping his fingers along the ticklish spot at the back of my neck.

We playfully fidgeted and kissed the entire ride, which actually wasn't as long as I wished it could have been. I was enjoying myself completely when the quick ding that indicated we were at our floor sounded. Paul pulled away, straightening himself out and extracting his fingers from my hair. He seemed to really like my hair today. It made me wonder if I should keep it this length from now on. Long hair did have its advantages.

When the doors started to open, Paul glanced down at me slyly. I immediately felt shivers of anticipation and anxiety down my back. That look always meant he was up to no good.

Before I even had a chance to open my mouth, Paul lunged forward and swept my legs out from under me, catching my shoulders with his other arm. He lifted me up until I was level with his chest and I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck from shock. "Paul! Are you serious? Do people even do this anymore?" I squealed as he stepped out of the elevator, grinning like a madman.

"I don't know. But now that I have an excuse to carry you, I'm gonna do it," he mused with a little shrug that surprised me. My arms instinctively clung to his shoulders and neck with the movement, though I was positive he wouldn't ever drop me.

We laughed unashamedly all the way down the hall, forgetting completely that we weren't the only people on the floor. When he stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall, he stared at it for a minute before looking down at me with a calculating expression. "What?" I asked once curiosity got the better of me.

"I'm trying to figure out how the guys in the movies open the door without dropping the girl," he stated matter-of-factly, frowning at the door as if he were trying to will it to open.

I couldn't help it. His serious expression plus the fact that he actually said that without laughing made me burst into laughter. I realized a little too late that I was laughing way too loud for it to sound anything but annoying. The second I thought that, I pursed my lips and killed my chortles.

Paul watched me with one eyebrow raised, a corner of his lips twitching with the urge to smile. "Are you ok?" he asked slowly, drawing out the words as if I were hard of hearing. I forgot all about my embarrassing laugh and grinned, swatting his shoulder with one of my hands.

"Just open the door."

"I'd love to, believe me, but the card key is in my pocket and I can't get it without letting you go."

"No. Don't put me down. I'll get it," I said quickly before he could place me back on the floor. I loosened one of my hands from around his neck and squeezed it between our bodies down to his pants, extracting the card from his pocket easily. I stretched my arm out until I could swipe the card and a little green light lit on the lock and a click sounded. Without pausing, I turned the doorknob and pushed it, leaving the door swinging in front of us.

I hadn't even moved my arm away from the door before Paul walked into the room, using his shoulder to flick a light switch along the wall and his leg to close the door behind us. For about a minute he just stood there and we both stared at the room in front of us. Then he looked down at me with a huge grin, which I reciprocated. He set me down on my feet, holding onto my arm so I wouldn't be able to step away from him.

"New strategy. Divide and conquer, then regroup. Okay?" he said excitedly, bending a little so we were level with each other.

I threw both of my hands between us, palms facing the floor. Paul was confused for about two seconds before he figured out what I was doing and he shimmied one hand between mine and placed the other on top of them. "On three. One… two…" Before I could say three, Paul leaned closer and pressed his lips to mine, lingering for awhile. I was starting to get sidetracked from our mission when he pulled back and said three before throwing our hands up and darting down a hallway behind him.

"Shout if you find something completely mind-blowing!" he called over his shoulder as I saw him disappear around a corner.

The room we had booked… well I didn't even know if I should call it a room or a house. It was basically everything you would find in a home, except fancy and shiny. After the initial shock of being alone in a huge hallway went away, I started to feel the excitement again and within thirty seconds, I was holding up the skirt of my dress and jogging into the kitchen, which was the first opening on the right.

It was about the size of our kitchen back home, which was pretty big considering we cooked in there often to feed the entire pack. Well… me and the other girls. Paul usually hid away or claimed he had to go run an errand or something whenever I mentioned everyone was coming over. April had a theory that the guys all used the same excuse and just met up to go do something manly instead of helping us cook.

Anyway, this kitchen was in tip-top shape. The metal machines and knobs all shined as if they had just been polished. The marble counter was smooth and cool, which tempted me to lay my cheek on it. It felt amazing against my heated cheeks, which were due to the excitement I had been feeling all day. After I was satisfied with feeling up the counter, I moved along the edge and stopped at the corner briefly to pick up an apple from a fruit bowl. My eyes widened once I realized it was a real apple. This is too cool!

"I found an apple!" I yelled out in no particular direction.

I could hear his laugh even from wherever he was, which seemed to be pretty deep in the suite. "Explain to me how that's mind-blowing!" he shouted back with a chuckle.

"It's an apple! There are no more words needed!"

It was quiet again for a moment and I wondered if he was going to answer back at all. While waiting, I walked out of the kitchen through another archway and into another hallway. At first I wondered if I should turn around before I got lost, but my curiosity got the better of me and I kept walking.

Then I heard Paul and I had to stop in my tracks because his voice sounded muffled and far away. "I get it! They always have plastic apples at hotels!" he called as if he had just figured out the cure for cancer. I couldn't help but crack a huge smile.

"Finally! Maybe you should take a nap. It took you a while to get that one."

"Don't make me come over there. Whoa! They have the first three seasons of Friday Night Lights!" Ok, at that I absolutely had to laugh. I swear Paul could be such a chick sometimes. I mean, I knew he loved football and all, but I can't say I wasn't completely surprised the day that he had caught me watching Friday Night Lights and instead of teasing me, he actually sat down next to me and asked me to catch him up to the plot. But, hey, I wasn't complaining. Now we just debated about the show and watched reruns on lazy days.

There were only three doors in this hallway and I was having the hardest time trying to decide which one I should go in first. I actually considered spinning around and going through whichever one I happened to be facing. Then I noticed the last door in the hall was open just a crack and that immediately caught my attention. Picking up my skirt again, I shuffled forward and pushed the door open with my hip.

As soon as I turned on the light, I screamed. My hand shot out to cover my mouth and stop my unnecessary scream. Oh Mylanta… I am such a dork. My reflection shook its head at the same moment I did, making me feel even stupider.

"Hannah? Are you all right?" I heard Paul's voice call softly.

"I'm fine! Just being an idiot!" I shouted back, dropping my hand and stepping further into the room. The mirror that covered the top half of the back wall was sort of creeping me out. I knew it was just part of the design of the room, but it seemed like a weird accessory to add. Not only had it just scared the crap out of me, but it was just… everywhere. Because I am a girl, I took a moment to look at my reflection. My make-up was still almost perfect, except for the fact that my lipstick was a bit faded and smudged now. My hair was still in the loose ringlets that swept all the way down half of my back. The part that was piled at the back of my head was starting to come apart and I debated for half a second whether to take it down or not before I decided against it. And of course, the dress. It still left me in awe every time I got a good look at it. The bust was made of intricately beaded lace, meeting with a draped bodice that fit me snugly all the way to my hips. From under the bodice a gauzy type of material overlapped the white satin that swept to the floor in a small trail. It wasn't extravagant or anything, but that was just how I wanted it. I had never imagined my wedding dress as something fluffy, covered in diamonds, and made of the finest material ever. This was just the perfect thing. I smiled when I remembered how long Mandy, Claire, and I had searched through catalogs, websites and stores before we finally found this at a small bridal shop in Sequim that Erin had told us about.

After staring at myself for way too long, I snapped out of it and reached forward, moving the drapes they had over the mirror to cover the reflections. That was pretty smart for a hotel. Then I turned around and focused my attention back to the room.

There was a door to my right that looked like it was the bathroom. I would definitely be checking that out later. In the right corner of the room there was a flat screen T.V. with a DVD player underneath it on a glass stand. On the back wall beside me a red loveseat and a gray couch occupied the corner, a small coffee table placed directly in front of them. I turned to my left and almost knocked my knee into the nightstand beside me. A weird hiss came out of my mouth, surprising me more than the nightstand had. Choosing to ignore it, I lifted my head and stared at the left wall. Another door was situated exactly in the middle, but this one, I assumed, was the closet. Speaking of clothes…

The king sized bed in the corner of the room had three suitcases thrown on top, I guessed by the bellboy. I moved to the edge of the bed and dragged the green and the brown suitcase off the bed, grunting when I realized I had underestimated their weight. Then I sat down on the red and gray bedspread, scooting up until my back was against the headboard. I could have sworn I had only packed the green suitcase. Did Paul bring two? I only saw him packing the brown one.

I pulled the black suitcase closer to me, feeling around for the zipper. When I finally found it, I swiped it all the way around, flipping the top over until everything in the suitcase was visible. Oh boy. Wish I hadn't done that.

So, let me make something completely clear first. I am not a nun. No matter how many times Mandy or Sarah had teased me about it, I wasn't completely naïve or innocent. Actually, I loved the make out sessions with Paul. Sometimes I felt like I couldn't get enough of him. There were even times when I thought, oh screw my values, and I almost decided to finally just do it. Then again, I wasn't a two dollar hooker either. I did have standards. It wasn't like I was a hardcore Christian or anything, but my grandmother had instilled that whole 'wait-till-you're-married-to-have-sex' thing in me from the moment I started liking boys. I guess because of that, yeah, I took things really slow with Paul, and yes, I blushed when I saw lingerie at the mall or condoms at the pharmacy. It was just what came with the territory of an overprotective grandmother (even though, ironically, my mother had had me when she was pretty young).

Which was exactly why I felt like my cheeks were ready to burst from the hot blood that was pooling there. The entire suitcase was nothing but lingerie. Black lace, red silk, blue patent leather. I knew I hadn't packed this. Oh God. Please tell me Paul didn't pack this either. I mean, I knew he was a guy and all, but an entire suitcase?

I decided to try and figure out what the heck was going on, so I dove into the piles of cloth and moved them aside until I found what I had been unknowingly searching for. In the bottom right corner of the suitcase, under a plastic bag, was a brown catalog envelope. I pulled it out and quickly undid the string tie, pouring the contents out in front of me. As they fell out, I counted them, ending with seven when the last letter fell out. Some were thicker than others, some looked hastily put together, and some looked preened and perfect. I flipped a few of them over and saw names on them. Richard. Sarah. Mandy. Peter. Not only was I confused when I saw Peter's name, but I was suddenly suspicious too. Of what, I had no idea.

I pushed my finger under the flap and ripped across the envelope, pulling out the sheet of printer paper inside. It was written in his scrawly, this-is-stupid handwriting. Peter and I had gotten along so much better since my accident two years ago. He had stopped calling me behemoth and playing unnecessary pranks on me practically every day. I guess the accident was sort of a wake-up call for the both of us because we actually starting having normal conversations and hanging out often. Believe it or not, I even helped him with his first crush. I couldn't stop my giggle when I remembered how he had come home that day, wide-eyed and flustered. Without saying a word, he sat down next to me in the living room and stared at the television, even though I was watching some chick flick. "Hannah?" he had whispered. I had paused the movie and turned towards him, my eyebrow raised in confusion. "I think I'm in love." After that declaration, I had made him tell me every little detail and then I had scolded him for not asking her out immediately. Eventually, he got up the courage to ask her out and they went out for a couple months before he broke up with her for another girl. I just knew he was gonna be a player with those blue eyes.

Anyway, so we were actually pretty good friends now. We still played occasional pranks on each other and argued about a lot of things, but at least we talked in a civil manner.

I was surprised at first when I started reading his letter.

Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

"Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

In Carmel, New York, a man cannot be seen in public while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match.

It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.

A donkey will sink in quicksand, but a mule won't.

It is illegal to have a sleeping donkey in your bathtub after 7pm in Oklahoma.

A group of unicorns is called a blessing.

In Baltimore, Maryland, it is illegal to take a lion to the movies.

My jaws were starting to hurt from trying to hold in my laughter. Here I was on the first night of my honeymoon, and Peter had written a letter filled with useless facts and stupid laws. I gotta admit, my little brother was a pain, but he had his moments.

At the bottom of the paper, he wrote, in slightly neater handwriting:

Mandy threatened to show a home movie of me at school if I didn't write something for you. I'm not a girl, so I'm not gonna write lovey-dovey crap. I was bored and I looked up this stuff. I bet you twenty bucks you laughed at every single one of them. You're so predictable. So, yeah. I guess congrats on being married or whatever. Jesus Christ, I can hear you screaming across the hall. Oh, you just found some bridesmaid dresses or something. Well, congrats on that too. All right, I'm done.

Ok, so Peter was officially the weirdest brother on the planet. Well, at least he made me laugh. I had almost completely forgotten about the suitcase in front of me. I folded his letter and stuck it back in its envelope, picking up the big brown envelope to shove it in there. When I opened the brown envelope, I noticed I had missed a letter that was taped to the side of it. Reaching in, I pulled it off and out, flipping it over so I could read it. Aw shoot. It said to read it first. Too late.

Sweeping the other letters into a pile, I dumped them into the brown envelope and threw it to the side, leaning back comfortably against the headboard. The other letters could wait until after this one. After opening the envelope, I pulled out the sheets of paper and began to read.

To the future Mrs. Paul Antilla,

Oh wait, Mandy just reminded me that you would already be Mrs. Paul Antilla when you read this. Whatever, just ignore the future part, ok?

Ok, I stole the paper from Sarah. She was being immature. Anyway, so we're guessing you've seen your present if you have this letter in your hand. Sorry, but we had to. I told you that day that we went to Victoria's Secret and Fredericks that if you didn't pick out at least five outfits that you would regret it. See? You should listen to your best friend more often. Since you were too stubborn to pick more than two out (even though those two were cute) Sarah and I took the liberty of properly preparing you for your honeymoon. Don't worry, we kept you in mind the entire time. Nothing in the suitcase is too much for you.

Sarah again. Actually, there might be one in there that I picked that you might faint over. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Mandy wants the paper back now so

Sorry, Hannah. Man, you weren't kidding when you said Sarah's a perverted crazy. I would erase that last sentence, but I'm too lazy to. Back to the matter at hand though. You noticed that little plastic bag on top of this envelope, right? That is meant to be your first "outfit" for your honeymoon. And no, you will not refuse. It is the cutest little thing we saw and we had to get it for you. Don't worry, though. It's plenty sexy too. Paul won't be able to keep his hands off you. Which reminds me, you probably wanna go ahead and do the dirty with him, don't ya? All right, then. We'll leave you to it. And don't be shy! You're going to give us details when you get back!

Your sexy time confidantes,

Mandy and Sarah

I sat there staring at the letter for about a minute, my cheeks flaming and my mouth open in surprise. It was a good thing my phone was somewhere in the suitcase on the floor or else I would have called them immediately to rant and rave. This was absolutely nuts. I couldn't believe they had teamed up to embarrass me! It was probably Mandy's idea. Sometimes, I wished Mandy still had Lance to keep her busy. Yup, you heard right. Landy was no more. At least for now. They'd been having this on again, off again relationship since high school. Usually the off times only lasted a month or maybe two, but boy did I get an earful from Mandy every time they did happen. It was usually because of something stupid too. Since Lance had went with a football scholarship to Florida, Mandy had turned into a self-conscious, paranoid teenager. Whatever. I was sure they would get back together before I got back from my honeymoon.

"Hey, I found some really cool CDs. You like Parachute, right? I think I remember you telling me that was one of your favorite bands. I guess I can put up with them, but that means I get to play some Nirvana at some point."

My body jolted from the shock and before I could think, I lunged for the suitcase and flipped the cover over quickly, laying half on the luggage. Paul stood at the doorway to the room, holding three or four CDs in his hand. He watched me with a look of suspicion, though he had a little smile on his lips.

He moved forward until he was standing beside me. "Should I even ask why you're blushing? I haven't seen you that red since the day you moved in with me and your mom gave you that bag full of condoms and birth control right in front of me," he chuckled, gesturing for me to move over with his hand. My blush grew stronger as I scooted over and thought, he just had to bring that up again, didn't he?

"It's nothing. What were you saying about CDs?" I asked, not too subtly trying to change the subject and get his eyes off the suitcase I was thrown over.

Once again, he was way too intuitive to not notice my nervousness. I felt his hand slip under my stomach and just when I realized what he was doing, he had already pulled out the letter I had been reading. I panicked. What the heck was I supposed to do? Did I mention I don't work well under pressure? While I silently freaked out, Paul was removing the crinkles from the paper so he could read it. Then I did the first thing that popped into my head. I jumped him.

Yeah, so I wasn't the best strategist. But, hey, it worked. Once he recovered from the initial shock of having me attack him, he played along. His lips started to move in synch with mine and his arms wrapped themselves around my waist, pulling me until I was almost on top of him. I was so proud of myself for successfully getting him to drop the letter and focus on me.

Without thinking, my hands threaded themselves in his hair and pushed him against me. I felt his hands start moving all over me, causing my skin to tingle even through the dress. Then, just when I was beginning to sink into that weird fog that clouded my thoughts when Paul and I were like this, he pulled away and rolled me off him. I'm pretty sure I heard myself whine from the loss of contact, but I couldn't be too sure.

"Wait… wait," Paul breathed, pushing himself up so he was sitting beside me now. He ran one of his hands over his face, rubbing at his temple with his thumb and forefinger. He stopped for a moment and leaned over the edge of the bed, coming back up with the letter in his hands. His breathing wasn't completely normal yet, but he seemed to have regained control of himself, which I wasn't too happy about. "I won't read this if you don't want me to, but you seemed pretty upset about it. Now, that whole distracting me thing you just pulled, I would love to continue it later, but are you sure you don't want to talk about whatever is in that suitcase?"

Why was I acting like this? He was my husband. I shouldn't be all flustered and secretive with him. Where did the bold Hannah that I had worked so hard to achieve go? I wasn't a teenager anymore. I couldn't just blush and hope that he would forget about the reason. I was a twenty year-old married woman now, damn it! I should act like one.

Pushing myself off the bed, I crawled forward until I was leaning over the suitcase, and before I could think it over, I flipped it open again. I wasn't entirely surprised when I blushed again, so I just sat back with my legs crossed and stared at the contents of that stupid suitcase.

"That's it. The letter is from Mandy and Sarah. All it basically says is to put these things to good use. You can read it if you want to, but it's just a bunch of girly teasing," I sighed, fiddling with the end of my dress. Just because I had made a promise to stop being so dumb didn't mean I wasn't nervous.

The next thing I knew, I was pressed up against Paul's chest and he was kissing the top of my head, breathing in my hair. "Please don't be scared, Hannah. Just do whatever you're comfortable with. I won't force you to do anything that you're not a hundred percent sure about. And forget Mandy and Sarah's expectations. All that matters is your own."

I breathed in his scent and pulled back a bit so I could see his face. "But… isn't that the whole point of a honeymoon?" And why was he so ok with not doing anything? I know I shouldn't be feeling frustrated because he was being so sweet, but it just seemed like he was a little too ok with this. Hadn't he looked at the suitcase?

As if he had read my thoughts, he grinned widely and said, "Who cares? I'm not saying that I'm against it or anything. I mean, I'm a guy and there's a suitcase full of sexy lingerie in front of me and I have my new gorgeous wife who just happens to be the perfect size for it. So, yeah, I want you. But I've wanted you since the first day I met you. I'm pretty sure I've got the patience and control of a priest now, so I can wait until you're sure you're ready."

I felt a little guilty after he was done. It made me think about why he would have such amazing patience and control. Then I realized that Paul had never, ever pressured me into anything before. And not just that kind of stuff either. Like when I couldn't decide on what college to go to after I graduated. I'd been accepted to Washington State, Dartmouth, Berkeley (though it was just as a joke that I had even applied), and Peninsula College and I remember just sitting in my room staring at all of the acceptance packets. Dartmouth had been my goal for my entire high school career. I hadn't ever really thought about any other college until my guidance counselor had forced me to at least have three options. Peninsula College had been a last minute addition and I will admit that it was solely for the reason that it was only an hour and a half away from La Push, which meant I wouldn't have to move. Berkeley was suggested by my father as a joke, but when I couldn't decide on another college, I applied.

When I'd told Paul about the college dilemma, all he'd said was that he wouldn't try to influence my choice in the least and that if he had to, he would pay for my plane tickets or gas to visit every weekend. After that, there wasn't really a choice. I went with Peninsula College. Some people thought it was crazy that I had passed up Dartmouth for PC, but honestly, it didn't hold the same appeal it had to me four years before.

I could probably come up with at least ten other examples of Paul letting me do my own thing. Of course, there were times when he just couldn't hold his opinion in and we'd end up arguing over something. Actually, we argued quite a bit. But it wasn't anything like Mandy and Lance. We always made up and it never escalated past Paul shaking and realizing he had to calm down before he exploded. He had only changed once in the entire time I'd lived with him and that had been soon after I'd moved in with him the summer after I'd graduated. It was only a couple months after the whole being-put-in-a-hospital thing and Paul had been excessively protective up until then. I had said something about going camping with Mandy (whom I had forced to go with me), Erin, and Claire. And I really meant camping this time. Paul had gone berserk when I'd told him and he flat out refused to let me go. We'd argued back and forth about it for awhile until I had yelled something about how I wasn't his little sister and he couldn't force me to stay home. Next thing I knew, he'd broken one of the new dining room chairs and was flying out of a hole in the wall as a huge, silver wolf. But he hadn't hurt me. He never had and I knew he never would.

I ended up going camping anyway. He was completely paranoid the entire time and when I came back a week later, he wouldn't let me leave his side for the whole day. Thank God that a couple months later someone was able to convince him that he needed to relax a little about the whole 'must-protect-Hannah' thing. She was… well, let's just say I wasn't opposed to all vampires anymore.

After spending a few minutes going through that thought process, I was set on a goal that I was determined to get to. It was such a relief to not be so unsettled anymore. All I felt was a surge of yearning.

I pushed slightly against Paul's chest and he let me go immediately, understanding my movement. Sitting back up on my knees, I reached forward into the suitcase, tugging out the plastic bag that Mandy and Sarah had mentioned in their letter. Then, before Paul could understand what I was going to do, I climbed over his legs and dropped off the bed, holding up my skirt so there would be no chance of me falling. Before turning away from the bed, I kissed Paul three times, lingering on the last one just a bit. His eyes clearly expressed his confusion, but he would find out my motives soon enough.

Then I turned around and walked to the bathroom, a small smile planted on my face. Yeah, I should have been scared out of my mind. Or blushing like a little school girl. But I knew that everything would be fine. This was only the beginning, and I planned on starting it off with a bang.

Oops. No pun intended.

Ok, I have to brag a bit. That last line was just genius :D

Anyway, it was great getting so many reviews from all of you guys! All of you totally made this so much more exciting. I love you guys!

--Mary

P.S. One of my friends is actually going to write a sort-of sequel for this story. It won't be completely centered on Hannah and Paul, but they will be major characters. It's supposed to be set a couple of months after the hospital, so you'll get to find out some of what happened in those years. I'll make an author's note or something when she posts it and you can check it out if you want to. :]