Epilogue

A few years later...

Mara continuously tried to grab the salt from Chris' hand while he kept adding some to the vegetables but he raised the hand holding the salt jar too high for her to reach it. He laughed when he heard her use her threatening voice and call his name as she gave him the look.

"Stop adding salt!" She pestered him but it served only to make him smile wider as he watched her struggle to try and grab the salt – and fail.

"I'm the cook and I say it needs more salt," he replied, stepping closer to her only to look at her from under his nose as if he were a great chef whose authority no one could contest.

He motioned to add another sprinkle of salt when Mara literally threw herself at him and grabbed his arm to stop him.

"It'll be too salty, Chris!" She argued, miserably failing at her attempt to keep him from reaching the jar of salt.

Even with their arms entangled and Mara's constant screaming, Chris managed to do as he pleased. He was smirking in victory and momentarily lowered his guard – it was enough for Mara to ceased the opportunity and confiscate the salt once and for good.

"Ha! Ha!" She exclaimed, holding her trophy against her chest so it would be safe from Chris' light fingers.

"Get out of my kitchen you vertically challenged thief!" Chris told her, chasing her off and he grabbed a napkin and threw it over his shoulder.

He was still much more skilled in the cooking field than Mara, although she tried her best and often helped him – even if she suspected he enjoyed his role of chef and only assigned her simple tasks which never allowed her to actually improve. With a twirl and a laughter Mara left him to his task – with the salt – and Chris had to repress a somewhat annoyed but fond sigh.

She didn't go farther than the other side of the kitchen island, where William sat and rolled his eyes at his sister and his best friend's antics. He felt like he was intruding but at the same time he wanted to be included a little more.

"Stop it, you guys!" He told them. "I didn't come all the way here from London to watch you go all domestic on me," he said with a dramatic tone.

Chris ignored him – or maybe he simply didn't hear over the sound of the stove and the food cooking – and Mara merely shot him an innocent smile and took place on the seat beside his, leaning on the counter and letting her hand hang from the edge. William's eyes automatically switched to the eye catching ring on his sister's finger, like every time it caught the light, and was once again reminded of the fact that she was married to this dumbass over there.

"Why did you come then, brother?" Mara asked him, nudging him playfully. She set the salt down on the counter and chuckled, "certainly not for Chris' salty cooking."

"I heard that!" Chris shouted. "And it's not too salty, it's perfect salty."

"You're doing it again!" William cut them off before Mara could answer something silly and endearing, because he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his little sister was married to Penetrator Chris. He sort of got used to it, but it still blew his mind away.

"Says the one who looks at Noora like she's the sun and stars of your world!" Mara replied, poking Will's arm. "I know you think nobody notices when you gaze at her in awe, but we do."

"So what? At least I keep quiet, you two are horribly keen on PDAs, it's like Senior year all over again," he said in disgust, even letting a shiver run through his body.

"Shut up, or I'll take your beer," Mara warned him and William, although he seemed unimpressed, brought his drink slightly closer to him.

"If you do that I'll go grab the Tequila – we already have the salt," William shot back but still lifted the beer to his mouth.

It was the only beer left because Chris had invited his friends over this week to watch a game on TV, and they drank all of their alcohol. And he forgot to buy more, which meant they were left with one beer, and various kinds of strong alcohols – but Mara was nowhere near pouring them a glass of vodka on Christmas Eve before dinner. If the others wanted to make the most of the night and get hammered afterwards while singing vulgar versions of Christmas songs then so be it, but not before dessert.

"When is Noora's plane supposed to land?" Mara inquired, moving the conversation to a safer subject. "Should we pick her up?"

"She said she'd take a taxi," he said. He didn't like the idea, it was written all over his face. "She should be there soon," he declared after taking a look at his wrist watch and frowning.

He was so protective of her, Chris often teased him for it then asked Mara to slap some sense into him if he ever turned into an overprotective mother bear with her. Most of the time she snorted and reminded him that it was needless to tell her because chances were she would do it with or without his permission.

"Glaring at your watch won't make her come quicker," she reminded him, laughing silently. "She's a big girl."

"She's twenty minutes late," he stated flatly, apparently not in the mood for jokes anymore now that he noticed how late it was.

"It's Christmas Eve, she probably had some trouble finding a taxi, 'is all," Chris said when he walked round the island to grab the salt from under Mara's nose and squeeze her waist in the process. She gestured to her eyes then to his to show him she was watching him and his abusive use of salt but smiled thankfully for his intervention.

His word always weighted a lot in the decisions William was taking. Whether it be professional or personal, ever since the huge fight they had when Mara and Chris told him they were dating – it felt like a lifetime ago – they made it their priority to never hide anything important from each other again and asked for one another's opinion all the time.

Mara felt a little discriminated against since she was concerned too and was still left out of this tacit deal – though she still applied it with Chris. William on the other hand, had taken his distance since he moved away, and even if the two siblings were tight and loved each other, it wasn't the same as when they were foolish teenagers living together and throwing parties like no one else – no one but Chris, that is.

"Will, relax, I can see the vein on your forehead throb," Mara pointed out with a faint wince and William finished his beer. "Well I hope you enjoyed it."

He hummed in response and pulled out his phone to check if Noora sent him a text he might have missed. A soft knock on the door sufficed to make the tension leave his features and William jumped off the kitchen stool so abruptly he almost knocked his empty bottle of beer down. Mara caught it right before it fell, out of sheer reflex and when she looked up, ready to throw the bottle at Will's face, she met Chris' stunned expression as he was giving her an impressed little smirk.

"Ninja," Mara said, placing it back on the counter. "He needs to chill, he's tight as a string!"

"Let it go Mara, you know how he is when it comes to Noora," Chris told her with a shrug. "Come help me while he greets her, it'll probably take a while-"

"-especially if they decide to hide in the closet to make out," she finished his sentence for him and they laughed at the expense of their friends, referring to the early stage of their relationship when they tried to hide it from everyone – besides Mara and Chris who were let in on the secret.

"Do we have a closet in the hallway?" He asked in a much too serious tone for someone who's been living here his entire life.

"Yes we do, Chris!" Mara said, her brows shooting up. "You are way too used to having a housekeeper."

He shrugged but didn't say anything, what was there to say anyway? He really was a spoiled brat, he knew that, she knew that, everybody knew that.

"Will you call me stupid if I tell you I like it when you say 'we'?" She asked out of the blue. "I don't even know why I'm asking, of course you'll make fun of me."

"It's so corny, Mara," Chris joked. Mara leaned against him before helping him finish dinner as they kept talking. "You realize we're married right? Like, I'm your husband of two years, haven't you gotten used to the 'we' thing?"

"I just love to be reminded," she said dreamily, though a little grossed out by her own lameness. She couldn't help herself.

"Contrary to William," Chris coughed out, just in case his friend was within earshot. "His left eyebrow twitches every time he looks at your hand."

"Oh my god, are you serious? I'll make sure to play with my glass during dinner, I need to see this for myself," Mara giggled while stirring the pot of vegetable.

The conversation fell silent for the next couple minutes. There wasn't much left to do, the meat was in the oven, the sauce ready, the veggies cooking, the salad on the table and Chris' hands had nothing to do except grab Mara by the waist and pull her away from the stove and right into his arms. A breathy yelp tumbled from her lips when she felt herself being pulled from the middle and she dropped the wooden spoon seconds before her back hit Chris' chest. She felt his breath brush against her ear and his hands move up and down her body, from her navel to her plexus, making her melt in his embrace.

"Now's not the time to have wandering hands, that's for later," she reminded him, biting on her lip and turning around to wrap her hands around his neck.

She always played with the hair on his neck and Chris had to admit it was the little things like this that drove him crazy about her. Mara also hadn't stopped biting her lip and if she genuinely wanted to make him stop touching her, she should cut it too.

"How many meals do you think we burnt because we somehow ended up having sex instead of eating like normal people?" He wondered out loud. "Also, how boring are other people's lives if they have dinner instead of sex?"

"I stopped counting, and I'll think about this philosophical question later because today we can't afford to burn the food."

"Did somebody say food?" Noora asked in excitement as she finally walked in, William following her shortly.

"Noora!" Mara exclaimed and rushed toward her friend to hug her. It had been so long since the last time they saw each other in real life.

Skype calls simply didn't do the trick when you missed your best friend. She hadn't changed one bit apart from her new haircut – she still wore that dark red lipstick Mara adored and her fingers immediately reached for her short hair. Noora made a funny face and shrugged, having no good reason to give her for this change in style. Mara's hair grew longer on the other hand, and though it was at the very bottom of the list of reasons that made her grow it out, she knew Chris loved it too much for her to cut it.

Without taking her left arm off Mara, Noora used the right one to reach into her bag and pulled out a bottle of wine.

"I'm sorry for being a little late, but I didn't want to come empty-handed and alcohol is not authorized in planes. And even if it was I wouldn't have had the time, I almost missed my flight because my boss kept me at work longer than I expected!" She explained.

Mara smiled and took the bottle from her hand.

"You're perfect," she said, smacking a kiss on her cheek. "Look Chris, someone thought about buying wine," Mara said, giving a pointed look to her smirking husband.

"Did I miss something?" Noora asked and William leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Only two hours of nonsensical banter," he told her, making her laugh.

"William!" She slapped his shoulder. "I wanna hear it!"

"I threw an improvised party this week and forgot to refill our stock of beer... and wine," Chris admitted with a guilty look on his face. "And Mara-" he emphasized her name and once again reached out for her, letting his hand dance on her shoulder and play with her hair "-hasn't stopped reminding me since this morning."

This year Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, and all the stores were closed. This too she had made sure to remind him a good hundred times. Chris made it difficult for her to stay mad at him though, he knew an infinite amount of tricks to tame her quick temper and she was sad to say that she was easily manipulated when he did stuff like play with her hair, touch her thigh and constantly hold her against him. He was insanely good at avoiding conflict, he had wriggled his way out of crazy situations thanks so his sweet talking and charming smile.

Mara was usually immune to it, but sometimes he caught her in a weak moment and she gave in. Noora saw her inner conflict when Chris mentioned his forgetting, and she hardly managed to bite back her grin when Mara pursed her lips and gently bumped her hip against Chris' as a gesture of peace making.

"Don't you have a secret wine cellar full of expensive vintage wines?" Noora asked to tease him further.

"If there is one I don't know where it is, my parents never mentioned it," Chris sighed. "Which was... probably wise."

"Probably yeah," they all said at the same time.

"It's a little late to search for a secret lever to a potential wine cellar at this point," Mara continued. "We've already started packing and we're slowly moving into the apartment."

Most of Chris' childhood house was empty now, except for their room, the basic stuff they needed to live, and the kitchen. They didn't need to take the furniture, everything would be left as it is and they would finally move to a place of their own and leave the house of Chris' parents. For a long time he struggled with the idea of leaving, but they felt tied down here, and it was a constant reminder of the fact that his mum was unreachable and his dad too busy with work to even make it to their wedding. Schistad father made a quick appearance to give his best wishes and was on the phone no sooner than they thanked him.

Now all Chris wanted to do was move on and not look over his shoulder ever again. As it turned out, his side of the church was far from empty, it was filled to the brim with his friends and the former Penetrators who wildly cheered when they saw him wearing a suit and tie.

Mara's parents weren't really present either – though they did show up at their only daughter's wedding, and did pay for the whole ceremony. William now worked with their father in London, and Mara sometimes got a random phone call from her mum, telling her of her adventures and the new friends she made during her travels. She mostly talked about herself and rarely asked Mara how she was doing, and almost never bothered to ask her about Chris. But then again, she didn't really care about maintaining some sort of bond anymore. Mara and Chris were both adults now, and they came to terms with the idea that they would never have a picture perfect family. They had the financial stability they provided, and they had freedom because none of them gave a damn about their children it seemed.

"At fifteen we were making fake IDs to buy booze and at twenty-six we drink coke at a party," William said as he pulled out four glasses, and Mara took the coke out of the fridge.

"I think I'll drink to that: a well spent youth we made the most of!" Noora proposed a toast and raised her glass of coca cola with a straight, solemn face, like they weren't cheering with soda.

Without questioning it for a second, they all mirrored Noora and raised their glass as they cheered and drank together. Noora and Mara caught up while eating pretzels and laughed quietly, meanwhile the boys had their own conversation and downed the first bottle of coke as if it were liquor. The girls tried to fill the other in about all the things they have missed during the months they haven't seen each other.

Noora finally got the job she dreamed of and became a journalist, which was great because it kept her busy and allowed her to travel so she wouldn't be waiting home while William worked late hours – they both tried to balance work and personal life. Sometimes it felt like they were neglecting one another because they spent so little time at their shared apartment, but they loved each other to pieces and the absence made their time together all the more precious. Noora cherished it, as much as she loved her job, she loved William more and if he ever needed her to be present, she would be – and everyone knew it worked the other way around as well.

Mara couldn't place a word on the feeling, but she felt something between pure shock and utter bewilderment at the thought that these two hadn't made things official. Among the Penetrators – she couldn't help it, she still thought of them as the Penetrators, even if the group of friends didn't call themselves that anymore – there used to be a bet going on, the boys bet on who would get married first, and only two bet on Chris.

Mara didn't even bet on Chris – she genuinely didn't see it coming, and to be perfectly honest it still felt surreal sometimes. It was nothing spectacular, not a grandiose proposal with a lyrical love declaration – it wasn't anything special per se. One day Chris came home with a funny look in his eyes and he was in his thoughts for most of the night, to the point where it frustrated Mara because she was talking to an unresponsive Chris – might as well be talking to a brick wall – and suddenly he blurted out – completely out of the blue – that he loved her. Now Mara wasn't easily endeared and he knew that it wasn't enough to make her forget that he spaced out during their conversation throughout the whole evening but then-

Then he grabbed her hand and told her to get up, and they grabbed their jackets on Chris' demand. It was late already, too late for them to go out during the week when they had to go to work the next day, but fatigue was kept at bay by the curious restlessness that took them over. Before she knew it, Mara realized Chris had led them at the diner where they once ate waffles at in the middle of the night. She laughed and they talked for over an hour while order waffle after waffle and suddenly he just said 'marry me'. He sounded a bit tired now, and excited, and impatient – the words in themselves sounded like one of those crazy ideas you get when you stay up way past your bedtime and you can't think straight anymore. This could have been a disastrous idea, the worst ever; it could be rushed, and he might regret it in the morning when the sun and his common sense are back in the picture. But the same restlessness that brought them here was still in the air. Chris was smiling – for a second time froze and Mara saw everything she loved about him: the crinkles at the corner of his eyes when he smiled genuinely, the fact that his hair fell in front of his face at the end of the end, the way he looked at her, the way he loved her.

Chris was crazy, but so was she. Mara couldn't think any straighter than him; she said yes, yes, yes.

The first time Noora heard this story she cooed every two minutes and listened intently, her head resting in her palms, her eyes filled with stars – Mara rolled her eyes at her and told her to chill because there was nothing to say about this, it wasn't very romantic, it was just them.

Even today Noora mentioned it sometimes, Mara didn't know if she did it merely to push her buttons or because she wasn't over it either. Chris Schistad tied the knot before all of his friends, and if that wasn't a good example of character development then Mara wasn't a Magnusson.

Well, she wasn't anymore on the paper, only at heart.

"Mara," Chris called her while Noora laughed at something Mara said.

The two girls stopped talking and Mara looked over her shoulder right when Chris' hand came to squeeze it. Contact. Constant contact. It wasn't a reflex, nor was it a habit. It was a necessity. Chris became restless and unease when he kept his hands off her for too long. Mara grew fidgety and unfocused if she couldn't touch him. They were addicts.

He didn't add anything after gaining her attention, but Mara followed his eyes and she saw the clock.

"Alright, time for dinner!" She announced, clapping her hands and hopping off her stool. "Will, you set the table while Chris and I take care of the food," she gave her instruction like she was born to give orders – which wasn't a far-fetched idea at all, and also a little bit of professional deformation.

"What?" She asked, raising his hands. "I'm a guest!"

"No dude," Mara said sarcastically. "Noora's a guest, you're just my brother."

Chris muffle a laughter and Noora didn't even bother to try and hide hers. William grumbled something but went to grab the plates anyway.

"Oh, I'll help you William," Noora said as she joined him and took everyone's glasses. Soon they were out of the kitchen and in the living room to set the table.

No sooner they left than Chris placed a hand on Mara's waist and pulled her toward him. She gasped at the gesture, not expecting it, and crashed against his chest, finding him smirking down at her – she knew that smirk, it was his mischievous smirk.

"What is it? Why are you smiling like that?" She asked.

"For nothing." He shrugged but the smile was still there. "I'm just... in a good mood, I guess?"

Happy. The word he was looking for is happy.

"Christmas spirit and all that shit?" Mara stuck her tongue out and laughed at her own words.

"Maybe." He shrugged again, remaining vague. Mara frowned a bit but kept quiet since she wasn't going to complain about Chris' pleasant state of mind.

He didn't give a flying f- about Christmas, he cared about the woman in his arms. The sexiest wife on earth, the cheekiest life-partner he could have dreamed of, the equally insufferable little brat who shared his life.

His fingers curled around the tender flesh of her hips; his lips brushed against her cheekbone when he leaned in and gently teased her before kissing her. Chris constantly flirted with his own wife – some people found it silly or even pointless, but he never took her for granted and liked to know that he could drive her crazy anytime.

Mara melted in his arms whenever Chris did that. The fact that he kept seducing her, every day, all the time, it was sweet, it was hot. She pressed herself up against him as though she wanted to merge their bodies, and wrapped her arms around his neck t bring him even closer to her if it was only possible. Their kiss deepened quickly; as their breaths mingled the became intoxicated by one another. The separation was all too abrupt.

"To be continued," Chris said when he pulled away; he punctuated the sentence with a final chaste kiss. "You naughty," he called her and booped the tip of her nose and he smirked wider and winked.

Mara had to bite back a comment and reminded herself she had her whole life ahead of her to get back at him for booping her nose. A smile rivalling his spread her face and in a common gesture, they went to grab the food and carry it to the living room.

Once the food was on the table conversation came easily and everybody roared with laughter and told stories and ate and drank. Chris fetched the single bottle of wine in the fridge and began to pour some to Noora and William who were too caught up in a conversation to even notice. Chris went to pour some in Mara's glass but she placed her hand over her glass.

"What?" Chris asked in a high pitched exclamation. "You can't be serious, you've been nagging me all day about not having any wine!" He said in a chuckle. "C'mon, have some, there's enough for all of us and William can't even drink too much because he's gotta drive tonight."

He motioned again to pour her wine, but Mara replaced her hand on top of it and shook her head firmly.

"No Chris. It was for them-" she explained, making a little head movement to designate Will and Noora who were still paying to attention to their surroundings or their hosts. "I'm not drinking."

It sounded rather final, and Chris' brown shot up in a confused frown. His hand was still raised mid-air, holding the bottle of white wine. He placed it down, accepting that Mara wasn't going to drink any. He was beginning to wonder if she wasn't feeling sick when he spotted the sheepish little smile on her lips, and the way she bit down on them.

"No-" Chris said, in disbelief when he finally added two and two together. "You can't- no-" he repeated, shaking his head. "Mara?" He asked for confirmation, a growing smile making a featuring appearance on his face. He almost cracked with joy and was suddenly a bit scared of her answer.

"I'm not sure yet, but- yes," she admitted.

"Yeah?" Chris asked again – no way this was real; it couldn't be happening, his body couldn't contain that much joy he was going to burst.

"Yeah," she whispered.

The whole exchange had been quick and discrete – the couple sitting across them had no idea what just unfolded before their oblivious eyes and it was fine this way. Mara moved her chair slightly closer to Chris, and he placed a hand on her leg while doing a terrible job at not grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey," Mara hummed to get his attention. Frankly he wasn't sure he could give anyone his full attention anymore tonight, at least not until he got over the shock of it all. "I promised that you'd never spend another Christmas alone, right?"

"Well, you sure don't fuck around with your promises, do you?" He snickered, tightening his grip on her.

"A Magnusson always-"she started but Chris cut her off.

"Are you seriously going to use a Game of Thrones line on me right now?" Chris huffed. "Also, you're hurting my feelings you know? You're a Schistad now."

Were it in any other context, Mara would have rolled her eyes at his being dramatic and said something about her going from being the hottest Magusson to the hottest Schistad and start bickering back and forth with Chris – there was never any winner to their pointless arguments, they just liked teasing each other and taking it to bed.

"I meant it, Chris. I still do." Her tone was solemn. Chris fondly pinched her chin and Mara licked her lips and looked down – she hated that this made her blush.

When she looked up Chris mouth three little words that only made her cheeks redden a shade darker. Then they both realized it was oddly silent, and when Chris and Mara tore their eyes away from each other, they saw Noora and William staring at them like two emotional parents, both proud and a little grossed out by the moment of intimacy they witnessed.