Thorne squinted his eyes against the bright Saturday afternoon sun. He let out a soft grunt as he made his way up the slope of the familiar hill leading towards his favorite bench by the edge of the lake. He took careful steps, hoping to not jostle the large model ship that he was cradling in his arms.

"Are you okay?"

He looked down to see Cress's blue eyes shining at him, her smile warm and bright. She was carrying a canvas tote bag with a large quilt poking up from the top, the hem of her yellow dress danced around her as a cool breeze tussled their hair.

He smiled. "Perfect."

"Good, because I don't want you to drop that thing and let all of my hard work go to waste." She held up two bandaged fingers and wiggled them at him while she eyed the fickle sails that she had painstakingly strung the day before.

Thorne threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter before bending down and giving each of her bandaged fingers a tender kiss. She beamed at him.

"Hey, you're holding up the line. This thing is heavy," Kate teased from behind them as she carried the model ship's wooden stand. "Besides, I'm starving." She quickly passed them and crested the hill.

Thorne blushed, but when Cress giggled and winked at him, he couldn't help but lean in for a quick kiss.

"Come on!" They heard Kate calling and they both grinned at each other.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, Thorne could see that the rest of the Rampion crew was already gathered around the bench. Kai and Wolf were lazily passing a football back and forth while Scarlet was bent over a large red cooler. Kate had already made it to the group and Cinder was helping her set up the ship stand.

Wolf noticed them first and tossed the football to Kai before jogging over. "Finally, you're here! Now we can eat!"

Cress rolled her eyes dramatically, "Lovely to see you, too."

Wolf chuckled and clamped a hand down onto Thorne's shoulder, making him jump and the ship swayed in his arms.

"Whoops. Sorry." Wolf looked abashed.

"Do you need help with that?" Kai asked, walking up to them.

Thorne shook his head. "Nah, I got it."

"You could carry this," Cress said, pushing her tote bag into Kai's arms. She yanked the quilt out of the bag and left the boys standing there as she jogged towards the bench, already unfurling the blanket as she ran. She looked back long enough to yell at them to hurry up.

The guys stood there and laughed before following her. Even though Thorne had insisted that he didn't need their help, he still appreciated it when Wolf and Kai flanked him, keeping in step with his slow pace. When they joined the group, Scarlet began barking orders and the guys left Thorne alone to place the ship onto its stand.

He set the new schooner down gently, making sure to adjust the canvas tarp covering the ship's hull. He had designed a custom covering for the ship so that he could cover it without messing up the sails that Cress had spent a whole two weeks stringing perfectly. Kate had sewn the cover for him and when he stepped back to look at the schooner, he couldn't help but smile as he thought back to how much help he had gotten from the entire crew in the past six months.

Kate had done a lot of the wood cutting while his hand was still injured, but even after Dr. Darnel had removed the splint, Cress had ordered everyone to come over in shifts to help sand down all of the pieces of wood and they all had watched in amazement when Thorne began piecing the hull together. Every plank fell perfectly in place.

Cinder had insisted that she be present for the first test run of the motor and since she was going to be there, everyone had invited themselves to join. It had been a bigger production that Thorne would have liked, but he couldn't see any downside to enjoying another one of Scarlet's picnics. After that, however, he had insisted that he wanted to paint the ship himself and while Cress had been around to string the sails, even she had not seen the final product. That was the reason why they were all gathered at the lake that Saturday afternoon, to see the new ship sail its maiden voyage.

Sure, it had taken twice as long as the Rampion's build, but Thorne hadn't minded one bit. After all, he had a girlfriend and a large group of friends who took up a lot of his free time now.

When he had finished adjusting the cover on the schooner, he turned to the group. The middle of the picnic blanket was piled high with containers of food and everyone was already lounging around, waiting for him to join them.

He walked over and sat down next to Cress who had been saving a seat for him. She smiled and nestled herself against him just as another cool breeze swept through. Feeling her shiver, he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple softly. From across the group, Kate gave him a sly wink before turning to talk to Kai. Thorne couldn't help but grin.

"Are we sailing first or eating first?" Thorne asked, looking around the group.

"Eating. Definitely eating," Wolf replied, already reaching for a plate with one hand and the closest container of food with the other.

The group laughed and began passing out plasticware and countless containers brimming with wonderful smelling food.

"Don't forget to save room for desert!" Cress reminded everyone before scooping a spoonful of couscous salad onto her plate.

They passed around couscous salad and green beans dressed with olive oil and lemon, mini mushroom quiches and slices of chicken roasted with rosemary and whole heads of garlic. Thorne couldn't remember the last time he ate this well and from the moans of appreciation coming from the group, it was evident that they all had a similar thought.

When Cress was done eating, she set her plate down and gave a great big stretch, then scooted over so the she could lay down, her head resting on Thorne's lap. He knew his ears were turning pink, but he smiled down at her and leaned back on an arm while softly brushing the hair away from her forehead.

As the rest of the group finished their food, one by one, they all began to stretch out and sigh with content. Kate even went so far as to rub her stomach and claim that she'd never have to eat ever again. Thorne chuckled softly, knowing that's all his stomach could handle.

Fifteen minutes later, when Wolf was finally done eating, he looked around to the rest of them. "Are we sailing a boat or what?"

Scarlet laughed, holding out an arm so he could pull her up and one by one, Wolf began grabbing each of their arms to pull them up. Cress squeaked when Wolf pulled so quickly that she nearly flew off the blanket and into the water. She smacked his arm and he let out a rough, gravely laugh.

Thorne went to his backpack that was sitting on the bench and rifled through the front pocket to search for the schooner's remote. When he fished it out of the bag and turned towards the lake, the whole group was waiting for him eagerly.

Cress stepped forward, beaming, and pulled a bottle of apple cider from behind her back. Thorne was glad to see it was apple cider and not champagne like last time. He smirked.

"You open it," he said, knowing full well that she would do a better job.

Cress unwrapped the foil and when the cork popped and flew into the lake, the whole group cheered. "Speech!" She said, nudging him.

He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew she'd make him give a speech, but he still wasn't prepared for it. He cleared his throat. "Uhh…I just want to thank everyone for helping out with this build. It really means a lot to me that you guys are here."

Another round of cheers erupted.

He reached for the tarp covering the ship. "So, here she is…" He threw a glance at Cress before pulling the cover away and revealing the gloss black ship and its name in scripted gold lettering.

Cress took a step closer to the schooner and ran her fingers delicately over the words, Little Cress. She looked up at him. "You named your ship after me?"

Thorne smiled and nodded and before he knew what was happening, Cress flung herself at him and he was barely able to catch her in time.

Cinder took a tentative step forward and eased the full bottle of cider out of Cress's hand. "We don't want this to go to waste."

The group laughed, but Thorne was completely oblivious when Cress pressed a kiss against his lips and then lots of little kisses, over and over again.

Kai cleared his throat. "Do we need to take a lap around the lake, give you two a bit of privacy?"

Cress pulled away from Thorne and stuck her tongue out at Kai who simply grinned.

Thorne cleared his throat and stepped forward to place Little Cress into the water. Cinder handed him the bottle of cider and he splashed the starboard side of the ship before handing it back to her. He took a deep breath, flipped the power switch on the remote and then nudged the throttle forward with his thumb. The motor rumbled to life and pushed away from the edge of the lake, cutting a smooth arc in the water.

Thorne let out a long breath and everyone else jumped up and down and cheered.

Wolf whooped and Cinder raised the bottle of cider to the boat and took a swig before passing it to Kai. Thorne felt Cress squeeze his elbow gently and he looked down at her, a smile wide on his face. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. When the cider made its way to Thorne, he took it from Kate and took a long, deep drink. He laughed when he hiccuped and passed the bottle on to Cress.

After Thorne navigated the schooner one full turn around the lake, he passed the remote on to Cress who took it eagarly. Soon, everyone had their turn and even Wolf, who had originally been apprehensive about sailing the Rampion, was more than excited to take his turn.

After everyone had their fill of sailing and Thorne took another lap around the lake, Wolf and Kai helped him pull Little Cress from the water and returned it to its stand. Cress waited for them to finish so that she could take Thorne's hand and pull him towards the picnic blanket where Scarlet was pulling out one of her famous lemon cakes from the cooler and the rest of the group ooh'ed and ahh'ed. As Cress tugged on his hand, Thorne stood firm and held her back.

Cress looked at him, her eyebrow raised in amusement. She stepped back so that she was standing in front of him and Thorne's chest buzzed with warmth. He brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and she closed her eyes, smiling at the touch. He leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose and she giggled.

"Thank you for everything," he whispered.

She opened her eyes and even now, after months of looking at her as much as he wanted, at staring at those eyes, he was still taken aback by their piercing blueness. She smiled at him and those eyes twinkled. "Anytime, Captain. Always."

His pulse pounded in his ears and the skin beneath her fingertips erupted in goosebumps. He pulled her close and the scent of roses danced around them. He knew he had never meant it more and he had to tell her. "Cress?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

She looked at him, her eyes scanning his, and when he thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, she gave him a dimpled smile and replied, "I love you, too." And pressed her lips against his.


AN: Surprise! I hope you liked this epilogue. I just had to give my precious shy!Thorne the perfect send off and I figured this was the right setting. Thanks again to everyone who has left a comment/review. They all mean a lot to me and I hope they keep coming. ;)