After a terrible night they'd spent somewhere in the middle of the ocean, nestled together as closely as they could in order to preserve their body heat, Hurley actually spotted something. So far, Julie had been snuggled into Desmond, her body nearly melting into his own to both keep them warm and to ensure herself that he was alive, that Jack had really saved him and that there was a strong possibility they would make it home. If not, then at least they would die together, proving Jack's words right. Julie vaguely remembered him saying that if they didn't learn to live together, they would die alone. It was so true. And she'd herself been so close to being left alone and forgotten on the island. How would her life have looked like if she hadn't met Desmond? She wouldn't have even been here with all those people in the raft right now. Maybe she would've been dead somewhere in the jungle. Maybe she would've drown in the ocean, maybe even deliberately, one day just deciding to swim a little bit further in, wish for an octopus she was so afraid of, to kill her. Would her life have had any sense if it hadn't been for Desmond? Probably not.
She raised her head from the crook of his arm and met his eyes in the faint light of the dawn. He looked back at her with such tenderness that it melted her heart completely. She didn't have any doubts that this man loved her completely, that he loved her the exact way she always wanted somebody to love her, or maybe even more. They were in this together till the end, she was absolutely sure of it and once she realized that, she felt such a joy that she truly wanted to jump up and down and maybe dance around while squealing. She didn't, of course, because they were still on the raft. They still needed to be rescued and she was one of those people who needed to be absolutely sure something would work out before they started celebrating. In that exact moment, Hurley screamed, waking everyone up, either from their dreams or their reveries.
"There! I see something!" He pointed a spot in the distance.
"Is that…?" Kate started.
"An island," Jack finished, but didn't seem to be very happy about it.
"Guys! Aren't you excited?! We're saved!" Hugo said, his smile fading slowly as he realized that no one else shared his enthusiasm.
"And what makes you think that this isn't our island?" Jack just asked him. "Maybe we're back to wherever it disappeared to."
"Well, we need to find out, don't we?" Hugo refused to lose his hope. "Or you'd rather die out here?"
"Julie," Desmond turned to his girlfriend when shifting slightly, so he could face her. "I know it's way too soon and I know this island may as well be our island and we may get stuck there for good, but I don't care. I've never been so sure of anything in my life. I've waited for you for so long and I've wasted so much time on the way. What I want to ask you is, will you marry me?"
For a moment there, Julie just stared at him, mesmerized , the screams coming from the rest in the raft not reaching her at all. All that mattered was Desmond's brown eyes set on hers, the affection she saw there, the hope, the happiness, the fear that there might be even a slight chance that she would say no because she thought it was too early. Only it wasn't. She, too, had wasted so much time already and she would be damned if she wasted any more.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, a broad smile forming on her face, happiness overcoming her. She forgot about her rule to wait until she was sure there was something to celebrate about. She still didn't know if they would be saved or not, but in the end, their lives were everything that really mattered to her. Even if she was to spend hers on the island, she would gladly do so if only Desmond was there by her side. She would truly do it all just to be with him. "Thousand times yes!" she repeated and Desmond finally smiled back to her, so happy that she'd given him the affirmative answer. "You're all I need and there's really no other answer but yes," she rephrased and cupped his face, looking into his eyes and savoring what she saw there. "Every time your life is in danger, I'm dying, Desmond. I don't know what I would've done if you'd drowned," she confessed. If she wasn't carried away by the romantic mood, she would probably think all those words were cheesy and taken from a dumb romantic novel, that they were overrated, but now it didn't seem like it. She decided never to laugh at such lines in movies ever again. Then Desmond's lips were on hers and he was kissing her for dear life, showing her how happy he was that she agreed and that he would spend the rest of his life making sure she was happy, too.
Then, they heard clapping and finally, they realized they had an audience, so they pulled away, embarrassed by their sudden outburst of affection.
"I'm sorry that I don't have a ring for you," Desmond felt the need to say it. "I promise I'll get you one."
"I don't need a ring. I just need you." She took his hand and held it.
"Guys, are you really not seeing this?" they were interrupted by Hurley's impatient voice.
"What?" Julie asked when finally shifting her eyes from her now fiancé to her friend. Hugo just pointed the spot he'd seen before. It was an island, but it wasn't their island, it couldn't be. There were people on the shore, people with brown skin, people fishing. There were small houses there, too.
"Oh, my God," Julie gasped, squeezing Desmond's hand and pointing those people even though he was already looking at them. "We're saved! I can't believe it! I bet they have a phone!"
"We're saved," he repeated. "We're really going home."
"Just remember what we've talked about," Jack reminded, killing the mood.
Julie realized that they might be going home, but they'd also lost so much. She so wished she could've had Claire there with her. Aaron needed his real mother and she was nowhere to be found. How Kate was ever going to raise him right? She was an ex con. She could be arrested the second she put her feet on the American soil. What would happen to Aaron, then? Would they want to check if he really was her son? Julie met Kate's eyes and saw her own fear reflected in them.
"It'll be all right," she then heard Desmond whispering into her ear. "We'll take everything as it comes at us. The most important thing is that we have each other."
Yes, he was right. Him being there made it all that much easier for Julie. She discovered that she wasn't lost anymore. She'd been once when having crashed on the island, maybe even before that, maybe she'd been lost all her life, but she wasn't anymore. She'd found Desmond and then, he'd helped her find herself.
The next few days were a complete blur to the Oceanic Seven, as they were now called. Once getting to the island Hugo had spotted, they were allowed to use the landline to call for help and once the world found out that the passengers of the flight Oceanic 815 weren't all dead as they'd previously thought, a plane was immediately sent for them. A plane with an Oceanic's spokesperson and some medics aboard. In the end, the medics weren't really needed that much and once the woman working for Oceanic received the answers to all of her questions: how they'd all crashed on a deserted island not so far from here and tried to survive there, how many of them had died and how they'd finally made it out on a raft just to touch the land from which they'd called for help - they were free to fly home. Of course, their answers were all lies, but no one realized it. Oceanic seemed to believe the seven of them and eventually, the woman even figured out the island they'd originally crashed on. Of course, it wasn't their island, but it was plausible enough, so they just nodded in agreement. Desmond's story was the closest to the truth as they claimed to having met him on the island since he'd been stranded there before. Oceanic didn't need to be as nice as to actually pay for Desmond's accommodation and the flight, but they had enough problems with their PR at the moment, so they helped just because Julie asked them to.
Now the survivors were staying at a hotel in Los Angeles and were not allowed outside just yet. Once they actually reached the familiar grounds, they weren't so eager anymore to get out of there and just go home anyway. The truth was that most of them didn't even have one and the number of their relatives wasn't that great either. Julie enjoyed the bubble she locked herself up in with Desmond. She didn't know if she was ready to just go out there into the world and start living. Eventually, yes, she would have to, but for now, she was quite happy about the way things turned out. The Oceanic Seven weren't allowed to leave the hotel as there were hordes of bloodthirsty reporters out there, just waiting for one person to break the rules and leave, so they could ambush them and bombard with questions. Hurley, Sun and Jack really wanted to see their families, but they understood the risk, so they were willing to wait. Clothes and food were brought directly to their apartments, so they didn't even have to leave them. At first, Desmond and Julie just enjoyed the shower, then eating and then, they just slept, only waking up to eat some more or to use the bathroom. They were both in a locked room and in a bed for the first time and yet, they didn't have the strength to make any use of it just yet. It wasn't until the third day that they finally took a bath together, soaking in bubbly water and enjoying each other, then moving the party to the bed, ordering wine and chocolate and making love all day and night long.
"I think I died and went to heaven," Julie admitted when Desmond collapsed into her arms, both of them feeling so spent.
"Oh, no, my love. This is real. We are real," he assured her when raising his face from the crook of her neck and looking her in the eye. "I love you."
"And I love you," she answered, convinced that she would never get tired of hearing and repeating those words. It was truly remarkable how life could just surprise you sometimes. How when you were so sure you reached the bottom, everything could just turn around.
Desmond finally slid out of her and lay on his back right next to her with a groan.
"Oh, have I tired you out?" Julie asked in a pretended innocent tone.
"No, of course not. We can do it again if you want," he assured her even though he wasn't really sure of it himself. How many times had it been already?
"No, I think I'll just let you rest for now," she decided and situated her head on his chest.
"You're saying it just because you are the one needing rest," he teased her.
"And how many years do you have on me exactly? Was that… nine?" she pretended not to remember, deliberately taking two out.
"Very funny."
"Seriously, Desmond, I think we can just go to sleep now. I don't want to kill you. I want to spend my life with you, remember?"
"Can you actually die from having too much sex?" he asked the perfect question.
"Yes, I think you can." And they both laughed.
For a moment there, they were silent and Julie actually thought that maybe Desmond had fallen asleep. His heart calmed down as it'd been beating violently before, but then he asked, "What will we do once they let us out?"
"I don't know. They're offering a pretty substantial settlement and I don't think any of us would try to fight for more. I just want to forget that island and what we've been through," she confessed when idly stroking his chest with her hand. His arm tightened around her. "And I want to start a new life. We'll have enough money to live comfortably anyway."
"Yes, and something tells me that there's not an amount of money in this world than can actually erase what happened from our minds. The trauma will always be there."
"I know," Julie agreed sadly, remembering the first night they'd spent in this hotel apartment. Desmond had actually woken up, drenched in sweat, convinced that he'd been in the bunker and that the button had still existed. She was sure it wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last, but she would be there for him every step of the way. She'd then, too, woken up and thanks to her soothing words, to her kisses and arms she'd put around him, he'd finally calmed down enough to fall asleep again. It truly pained her that he had to go through this. It pained her ever more when she realized that if it hadn't been for her, Desmond would've been forced out into the word with literally nothing. There would've been no settlement from the Dharma Initiative for him, no monetary compensation. How would have he even survived? Where would have he lived? Where would have he found a job? Would have he just wound up on a street? Would have he been driven mad by the nightmares about the button? Would have he killed himself? Julie shivered when thinking over all those dreadful scenarios.
"Hey, what is it?" Desmond asked, his voice so full of care for her, which made her heart ache even more. He was such a good man and he so didn't deserve anything that had happened to him. But again, it must've happened for a reason. It'd brought them together, so maybe there would never be a time she needed to be worried about him coming back to America or Scotland with nothing and no one. Maybe they were always meant to find each other and make a living together.
"Nothing," she said when propping herself on her elbow, so she could look into his face. "I just love you so much. I'm so happy we found each other."
"Me, too, lass. Me, too," he told her softly and they kissed. Then Julie straddled him, feeling the need to be close to him once again and he actually hardened all the way when she leaned towards him, her breasts grazing against his chest, her lips kissing him eagerly, lovingly, deeply.
"I can't believe you," he groaned when she reached her hand to his hardness, applying just the right amount of pressure as she stroke him. "So that was your hidden agenda! To get another go at this!"
"Actually, no, it just happened. And no one told you to get excited, so just shut up," she then told him and rode him, but they were both tired, so they took it slow and once they were done, Julie didn't even remember getting off of him, she just fell asleep with him spooning her.
The fifth day, most of the survivors were already being driven crazy, desperate to have that press conference already and to finally meet with their families. Quite frankly, Julie got bored staying in their room while even clothes were brought to them, so they could keep a low profile. She'd enjoyed being there only with Desmond, but eventually, she started to feel like a prisoner and it was close to what she'd felt back on the island since they couldn't seem to leave. And then, in the day of the press conference, Desmond was actually allowed to get out to use the service of the hotel's hairdresser. He wasn't one of the Oceanic Seven anyway. In fact, he was a nobody to the reporters and it pained Julie a little, but she also felt jealous that he was allowed to leave, even if for a moment, and she wanted to go with him, but then he convinced her to stay, which just seemed weird. Julie actually started thinking that he was starting to get sick of her since they'd been cooped up together for nearly five days, so she let him go, suddenly insecure about their future. She knew she was being silly, but she just couldn't help it. She'd suffered through way too much to just be so sure now that they would always stay together. They'd been both brought together by their traumatic experiences and now, out in the real world, it would take much more of their efforts to actually keep their relationship than it'd taken on the island.
Eventually, Desmond made his way back and once Julie took a closer look at him, she thought she stopped breathing there for a moment. It struck her how handsome he really was. She liked the way he'd looked with the slightly too long hair and the beard. She thought he'd been handsome then, too. Only now, now he was just… so good looking. She didn't anticipate to see this man in her door. This clean-shaven man with hair cut neatly and styled. A man wearing a suit, a black tie and… holding a bouquet of red roses in his hand.
"Wow," she finally gasped and just couldn't take her eyes away from him. "You're actually handsome!" she decided it would better if she just teased him. There had been way too many heavy emotions between them recently.
"So I wasn't before?" he pretended to be offended and then he walked over to her and kissed her.
"Where did you get the roses?" she asked when accepting the bouquet. "They're beautiful."
"Just like you are," he said. "And I also have something else for you." He reached to the pocket of his jacket and retrieved a small velvet box.
Julie's eyes opened widely as she couldn't comprehend where he'd even gotten that from. Then she realized it was the very reason to which he hadn't wanted her to come with him in the first place and she wanted to smack herself upside the head for ever thinking he might've been getting tired of her constant presence.
"I promised I would get you a ring," he just said and opened the box, revealing a small and delicate engagement ring. It was simple and probably didn't cost thousands of dollars, but Julie didn't care. She loved it. And she could just stare at it in awe, speechless. "Provided you still want to marry me," Desmond added.
"What?" She shook her head and looked up into his eyes. "Of course, I do! It's just… Desmond, how did you get it?" Her eyes filled up with tears she couldn't stop and he brought his hand to her face to gently wipe what he could with his thumbs.
"I had a small storage unit. I got it right before my regatta, so I could put what little I had left there. I talked to the manager of this hotel while you were sleeping two days ago and he agreed to help me, touched by our love story." Desmond smiled fondly at her. "He helped me sell my stuff, so I could get this for you. I didn't want to buy you a ring from the money you'll get from Oceanic. It would feel… just wrong. And I didn't want to wait till I get a job either."
Julie could truly do nothing to stop her tears from flowing now. It was the most romantic and touching thing she'd ever heard, the most selfless and loving gesture someone had ever done for her. She truly had no words to thank him and he seemed to understand it all when he saw the look on her face. He took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. For a while there, Julie just stared at her hand, couldn't believe this small and simple, but yet such a beautiful thing, was there. This ring was just like them, it represented all they'd been through, all they were, it represented their love.
"Oh, my God, I can't… I can't find the words…" she stopped there and just cupped his face, pressing her lips hard against his, kissing him with all her might, trying to show him how much she appreciated the ring, how much she loved him at that moment. "Always and forever," she whispered against his lips when she was about to pull away.
"Always and forever," he agreed, nodding. She could see that he, too, was just as emotional at the moment as she was, but he didn't start crying although his eyes were a little glassy.
"I hope you know that this is worth more to me than all the millions the Oceanic is giving me," she assured him when raising her hand with the ring up. He didn't say anything to that, but she could see that she undid him completely and she was glad to be able to kiss off the one stray tear which escaped his eye.
The press conference was dull and it seemed like it was never going to end. The remaining survivors from the flight 815 had been being grilled with questions for hours and to the point in which they were all scared of saying something that would contradict their whole story. Julie noticed the nervous glance Kate sent Jack once she was asked when exactly she'd given birth to Aaron and how old the boy was. Not being able to be near Desmond also unsettled Julie. He hadn't been on the plane, so he needed to wait aside for the time of the conference. The only assuring and helpful thing was the strong presence of Jack right next to her. Jack who was so focused on making the right impression, so focused on the story they'd all come up with, that she could relax just a little. He had the situation under control and he did it so skillfully the reporters didn't even notice his influence. In this very moment, he was truly a rock for Julie who was still so devastated that Claire wasn't there with them. Things would be much easier if she was. The moment Jack spotted the ring on Julie's finger, he smiled warmly at her and she felt that everything would be all right, that they would somehow get out of this mess and finally be released into the world, able to start new lives. Still, she was sure they would all stay in touch. No one could know what they'd really been through, so any psychological help was out of the question, unless they wanted to land up in a psychiatric ward, Julie thought with a frown.
Once the press conference was over and the Oceanic settlement signed; the survivors didn't really want to take it to court and fight for more since this way they would never be truly able to leave it all behind; Julie was free to go see Desmond and they could just… go. They would go back to their hotel from where they would look for an apartment or at least a temporarily place to live in until they would assimilate themselves into the world again. They didn't have to worry about money for at least a few years if they didn't get a job soon, so they felt relaxed now that it was all over.
Yet, before Julie reached Desmond who was waiting near the back door, she needed to say goodbye to her friends since she knew once the back door was open, there would be families waiting. She hugged Kate who promised to call in a few days, so Julie would get an update on Aaron. They were also planning on some regular meetings. Then Julie disappeared in a bear hug she got from Hurley, shook Sayid's hand and hugged Sun even though she wasn't that close with the woman. Jack was the last one in line and he just embraced Julie tightly. They'd seemed to become very good friends, she realized. Obviously there was nothing romantic between them, but she did love Jack. She loved him as a brother and she was truly grateful for everything he'd done for her.
"Take care, will ya?" he just asked when he released her from his arms and then smiled to her broadly. "And take care of Desmond for me, too."
"I will." She smiled back through tears. "Thank you, Jack, for everything."
He just nodded and added, "Call me soon, all right?"
"Of course. We'll keep in touch," she assured him.
"Beautiful ring by the way," he pointed out when they slowly moved towards the back door.
"Yeah, it has a beautiful story behind it, too," she told him fast how Desmond had gotten it.
"The guy must really love you. I'm nearly jealous of what you have."
"Well, you know, it's not too late to get it yourself," Julie hinted when looking at Kate. "You just need to have faith and just try."
Jack didn't say anything to that and then, he turned to hug Sun.
Somebody put a hand on Julie's shoulder from behind and she turned around to face him with a smile on her face. A smile that disappeared the moment she realized she wasn't looking at Desmond. She was looking at her former crush. What was he even doing there was beyond her comprehension.
"Julie," he said her name and she really hated the way it sounded when coming from his mouth.
"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply, not sure whether she was surprised or repulsed completely by him. She couldn't be more sure now that he was the biggest mistake of her life. A mistake that had led her towards something amazing, but a mistake nevertheless. How dare he come here to see her as though nothing had happened?!
"I just want to talk to you. I feel awful about everything. You were on that plane because of me and…" he started.
"I can't fucking believe you," she blurted out in anger and he actually opened his eyes widely in surprise.
"What?" he asked, taken aback.
"How dare you come here and talk to me like this? Like nothing happened?! You acted like a complete asshole back in Australia! You used me and then threw me away like a rug! And now you just show up here, asking if I'm all right?! Well, guess what, buddy! I am not for the simple fact that you're here right now!"
The man seemed to be perplexed and then he opened his mouth to say something, but Desmond chose that moment to come over to them and he asked in a cold voice, "Is there a problem here?"
"No, not a problem," the professor said, clearly thinking that Desmond was a security guard. "The lady and I were just talking."
"No, you don't understand!" Julie snapped at the unwelcomed guest and then stood right next to Desmond who put his arm protectively around her. "He's with me," she informed. "So you can just go. There's nothing left here for you, nothing I can say to you."
"Few months on a deserted island and you just had to spread your legs for someone," the man then teased, losing control as he clearly didn't like that Julie had moved on and wasn't pining for him. He did not see the slap coming, though.
"How dare you?!" she spat out. "You little piece of shit! You want to know the truth?! Well, here it is! The plane crash was the best fucking thing that has ever happened to me because it freed me of you! That ticket was by far the best thing you've ever given me! Yes, it was!" she repeated when she was met with a completely dumbstruck face. "You're just a cold and heartless bastard and you don't even deserve me wasting my breath here! Who are you to go around and tell everyone that love doesn't exist? Just because you've never felt it, doesn't mean that none of us has! I don't care if you got hurt in the past or you just are this way! What you're doing to women, to people around you, it's just plain wrong! You're nothing than a pathetic idiot and I'm done here! I'd rather be in a plane crash again than spend any more time in your company, so excuse me!" She turned around when taking Desmond's hand, but he refused to go. "Desmond?" she looked back at him with a frown. "Let's go."
"In a moment," the Scotsman said and then he actually hit the man.
Julie grimaced when his fiancé's fist came in contact with her ex boyfriend's face, causing the latter to actually lose his balance and fall to the floor.
"That's for nearly destroying this amazing girl," Desmond informed him and then pulled Julie towards the exit.
"So we've spent a few days locked up in a room just to give the reporters something worth the news, after all," Julie summarized when shaking her head, but then she actually burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on his face when you hit him?!"
"I promised you I would, didn't I?" Desmond just said when putting his arm around her. She clang to his side affectionately.
"I've had the situation under control, just so you know," she assured him.
"I know you did. And I'm very proud of you handling it so well." He placed a soft kiss on her head. "But I needed to hit him after everything I've heard about him."
"I understand. I just hope your hand's fine."
"Nothing a pack of ice can't cure. Or your delicious lips for that matter," Desmond teased her and she laughed again. They reached the limo that was sent to take them back to the hotel.
"I'm just sorry that tomorrow our pictures will be in all the papers."
"I don't mind. I'm already there anyway." Julie shrugged. "And that asshole deserves all the bad press he can get!"