A/N: Hello to all my readers. Here we finally are, the end of the road. Hope it's not a disappointment. Thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews. And I am SO sorry for the long wait between updates. And thank you all for reading. btw, the song is Remember to breathe- Dashboard Confessional

Dedicated to Prem, Emma and Jasi. Thanks for reading all my half formed ideas all the way through.


He stood in the exact middle, closer to neither of them.

A set of scales precariously balanced.

But it didn't matter which way he stepped.

Ryan had already chosen.

So he stepped towards Lindsay, blocking the doorway, and she stepped back.

"You've never been more right in your life," he said softly,

"You never did have me, and I never did love you. And she is the reason. But I told you that when I broke up with you. You didn't need to tell Marissa." He stepped back to stand besides Marissa, away from the door.

"You can go now," Lindsay looked at them one last time and saw what she'd been denying for the last two years. Something people spent their whole lives searching for. And as incredibly cliché as it sounded, what she saw was true love. And she left them without another word.

She fixes her lips they

Ryan stepped towards Marissa.

Always look perfect

She stepped towards him.

never a smudged line

He slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. His eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around him.

never too much

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"I never meant…I didn't know."

I try on my blue shirt

"Sorry? I haven't been sorry once in my whole life. Never been sorry for anything. I'm not even sorry I love you,"

she told me she liked it, once

"Dr. Larch, The Cider House Rules," She replied,

"I love that part. When they're talking through their letters…"

she wonders what I'll wear

"I know, I borrowed your copy of the book remember. That page is almost falling out. I have been sorry for things though. But I'm not sorry I love you."

she knows just what she'll wear

"I know, and I love you too"

she always wears blue

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you did."

so, sneakers or flip flops?

"Don't let me go,"

I'm starting to panic

"I won't, I promise. I learned the hard way what happens when you don't hold on," Ryan's arms tightened around her. He wasn't letting her go.

remember she asked you

He didn't break promises. And never promises to Marissa Cooper.

remember to breathe

So I guess you were right


and everything will be okay

Are you kidding? I'm always right. And stop ruining the moment.

Okay

okay

"I'll never let you go," he felt her smile into his shoulder, and then she turned to him. She blinked her eyes slowly.

He fitted her like a glove. Or as Summer so eloquently put it, a Vera Wang dress and perfectly matching shoes. A glove that was absolutely perfect, not a glove that was navy blue and high lighter yellow when you had to go to a fancy dinner party. One of those gloves you love so much you never take it off.

And she wasn't empty.

And the edges weren't blurred.

Because he was there.

okay

"So maybe this is the beginning of our happily ever after," she smiled. And for the first time in a long time her mask completely fell away. And February the 29th was suddenly everyday.

Alright

The endless instructions stopped.

And the wall took a long over due vacation.

And he could read her face.

Alright

He saw the way her eyes crinkled with love and happiness. He saw the delicate web that would be there in twenty years time. And knew that there was no other way he could see him life. All he wanted was to watch the spiders of time weave a web around her eyes.

Alright

Her hand found its way to his hair. He kept looking into her eyes. So blue. And a tiny green dot like an island, set in the corner of her left eye. His hands rested on the small of her back, and the two halves were finally one again.

Alright

She pulled his head in a slightly. He could smell her.

She smelt of the ocean, of salty sweet pea flowers and vanilla frosting. Her hair smelt of baked cookies.

She could count his eyelashes

They stared at each other.

Alright

Slowly, so slowly, they moved even closer.

And eternity passed.

And they kissed.

And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned.

When they pulled apart, the darkest clouds let the sun shine through for a minute. They stood together for the longest time, being one. And she was a princess. And the pages of the fairytale finally began turning.

Alright

Happily ever after works best where the heart is.


So, anyone want an epilogue?