Chapter Thirty-Eight - How The Story Ends.

"You're not even gonna' take one thick coat with you?"

Peering up from her open suitcase, Wendy shot Stan a curious frown. She giggled at him with a playful shake of her head as she continued to fold up her thin, long-sleeved sweater and placed it on top of the packed pile.

"It's California."

Stan cringed.

"Yeah, but it's still winter," he argued.

"Yeah, but the average daily high is still sixty-eight degrees."

Biting down on his tongue, Stan subtly rolled his eyes at the joking tone in Wendy's voice.

"Will you just take one, please? I'm already gonna' be worried enough about you as it is."

Flinching at the sharpness of his words, Wendy stopped what she doing and glanced back up. She allowed the soft expression in her eyes to find Stan's as he sighed with disappointment in himself and spoke again.

"Sorry..."

It was December, a week before the winter break from school, to be exact.

Wendy and Stan were at her house, up in her bedroom. The dark haired boy was lying on his side across the mattress, propping his elbow up on one his girlfriend's fluffy, purple pillows. The teenage girl was standing by the end of the bed, dashing back and forth between it and her closet. She had an open suitcase laid out before her that she was slowly packing with clothes, shoes and toiletries while Stan watched her - his nerves creeping up more and more with each item she placed in the bag.

There were still a few days of school left before the short Christmas and New Year holiday. Wendy was taking this whole week off, though, as well as the first week back at school in January. She was headed off on a short family vacation, but as excited as she should have been to escape the freezing climate, there was a much more frosty feeling looming in and creeping over her whole body. And the prospect of it all wasn't just haunting Wendy, either. Much to Stan's discomfort and chagrin, his girlfriend and her parents were leaving to spend Christmas with the rest of her family. In Malibu.

They were flying out tomorrow, and Stan had never felt more sickly apprehensive about anything else in his entire life.

Awkwardly tucking a loose strand of her long, black hair behind her ear, Wendy shot her vision away from Stan's for a moment, before managing a comforting half-smile.

"You know my mum said you're still welcome to come with us," she gently urged, "All you have to do is book a flight and I'll come pick you up from LAX."

"I know," Stan droned, "But I can't, I've gotta' do the whole family thing at Christmas, too."

"Well, how about after the twenty-fifth?"

Stan shrugged, "Still no. Shelley's coming down from college and Mum wants us altogether," he said as his appearance fell to a solemn frown, "This could be my grandpa's last Christmas."

Tilting her head to the side for a split second, Wendy allowed a small chuckle to escape her, "You've been saying that every Christmas since we were eight."

Trying to hold his stern expression as best he could, Stan soon felt his lips wriggle into a grin, "But it could be actually true this year - he's a hundred and eleven years old."

"No way, I don't care how old he gets," Wendy dismissed with more teasing giggles, "That man is never going to die."

The confident affection in her voice made Stan beam as their smirks mimicked one another and they both suddenly burst out laughing. The teenage boy rolled his eyes at his girlfriend with a small shake of his head. Wendy was definitely being persistent about encouraging him to convince his parents to let him fly down to Malibu to see her. But, then again, why wouldn't she be?

It had been a little over a month since Stan and Wendy had been thrashed about during the tornado that was their weekend in Phoenix. They hadn't crossed any more negative paths with Darcy, and they certainly hadn't heard or seen anything else from Griffin. But more importantly than all of that, the young couple hadn't been arguing with each other anymore, either - not about a single thing. The both of them were the absolute happiest that they had ever been. And that was exactly why Stan was so terrified about Wendy leaving all over again.

As this thought crossed him, Stan sensed his laughter fade. The light in his blue orbs dulled slightly, and his expression drooped as he held a despondent glance on Wendy. The rapid decrease in the delightful mood caused the teenage girl's heart to sink as she blankly stared back at her boyfriend.

Bringing her hand up to her neckline, Wendy nervously twisted her finger around the early Christmas present that Stan had given her. The silver chain felt smooth and pure against her touch, and it shone bright like a thousand diamonds. Hanging in the middle of the necklace was a silver infinity, glistening with soft pink coloured diamontes.

Wendy wished she could have seen the look on her own face when Stan gave it to her. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned, and certainly the most amazing present that anyone had ever bought her.

It truly represented their relationship in the most authentic way. Infinity. No matter the number of forks that appeared in their path or what the world threw at them, Stan and Wendy were genuinely going to love each other forever and ever.

That's exactly how Wendy knew that Stan had nothing to worry about while she was gone.

She sighed, heaving her shoulders up and down, "It's only three weeks, Stan."

Stan's skin tingled with goosebumps at Wendy's gentle, loving words.

Without saying anything back to her, he simply held one arm out, beckoning for her to come and sit with him on the bed. Wendy smiled, instantly moving far faster than he legs could even carry her. She planted herself in front of him where he was still lying down, shuffling as close to him as she could get. Stan stayed where he was, placing a hand on Wendy's knee and squeezing tightly while she gazed down at him.

Wendy's heart rate automatically crept up at Stan's mere grasp. She smiled like a goofball again, knowing that she absolutely wouldn't trade this feeling for anything else in the whole world. She had learned more than enough life changing lessons in the past two years and three months that told her that. No scale of argument, no amount of distance, and definitely no other boy would ever be able to change how much she loved him.

Reaching forward, Wendy ran the back of her hand down Stan's cheek.

He honestly had nothing to worry about.

"I'm coming back this time," she promised, pausing for a tender moment, "I'm coming back for you."

With butterflies soaring in his stomach, Stan took his hand up to his face to meet Wendy's as he grabbed a hold of it and laced their fingers together. In the very next second, he tugged at her, bringing her down towards him as he sweetly pressed his lips against hers.

He kissed her gently for the first few seconds, but the more he continued to think about her flying back to Malibu, the more he pulled her flush against him. Each exchange with her became a little more passionate than the last before he cupped her chin and wistfully blew out against her lips with a quiet sigh.

It may not have felt like it just yet, but Wendy's words had definitely made Stan feel a little better. Just because he was worried about her being away from him and getting hurt didn't mean that he didn't believe her.

Despite how desperately he was going to miss her - everything really was going to be alright.

"I know."

The sound of the doorbell ringing made her ears perk up in excitement. It was the noise she had been waiting to hear all day.

Wendy hastily bounded off her bed, tossing the trashy teen magazine she was reading into the corner of her room. She stopped for a sharp moment in front of the full length mirror that hung on her closet door. Her long, black locks flowed down her back and shaped her face beautifully as she smiled at herself - impressed with the reflection that gazed back at her, but even more enthused to get downstairs to the visitor that was waiting for her.

Racing down the stairs, Wendy eventually reached the front door, smiling at her parents where they sat on the couch in the loungeroom.

"Sounds like someone's here to see you," her mother cooed with a teasing smirk.

The dark haired teenager rolled her eyes, softly shooing her parents' vision away from her, "Duh, Mum, thanks," she managed to say, waiting patiently for her mother and father to turn their attention back to the television. As soon as she did, Wendy swallowed a nervous lump, took a deep breath and then pulled the front door wide open.

Almost instantly, her stomach flipped.

The teenage boy cocked a charming eyebrow where he was casually leant up against the doorway.

And then, Stan smirked at Wendy, "Happy New Year."

Covering her mouth to try - and fail - to conceal an excited squeal, Wendy dove through the front door and leapt into Stan's arms. The dark haired boy had been all too prepared for this sort of reaction from his girlfriend. He stopped himself from stumbling and then hoisted her up higher into a comfier position.

He spun around once on the spot, tightening his grip on Wendy as he squeezed the life out of her. She held him just as close, still happily giggling away with a couple of elated squeaks in between. She grasped onto his strong frame and pecked at his cheek and neck with a few sweet kisses.

"I missed you so much," she murmured with her face buried in the crook of his neck.

"I missed you too," he echoed, shutting his eyes for moment and simply holding her, "So fuckin' much."

Three weeks had felt like a complete lifetime. Christmas and New Year's had admittedly flown by pretty quickly, but this last week in particular had dragged on forever. Stan hadn't been able to concentrate at school without her, and Wendy hadn't relaxed quite as much as she probably should have during the final days of her vacation when all she had been able to think about was him.

But now, of course, they were back together again. Wendy had landed in Denver that morning and texted Stan the very second her dad pulled up in the driveway of their home. While they may have at least instant messaged one another every day that they were apart, nothing compared to the feeling of actually been back in each other's presence.

As Stan finally placed Wendy on the ground, he pulled back with every intention to gaze down at her with a sweet smile. But before the thought could even fully cross his mind, Stan grunted in surprise as instead, he was fiercely tugged through the front door and into her house.

The teenager chuckled at Wendy's obvious sense of eagerness, holding onto the back of his red poofball hat as they zoomed through the living room and past her parents.

"Hi, hon," Mrs Testaburger called with a wave and a teasing shake of her head.

"Hey," Stan exclaimed, "How was your vaca- "

"Uh-uh!" Wendy suddenly cut in as she continued to pull Stan up the stairs, "No time for small talk!"

Laughing loudly to himself, Stan felt an intense blush fall into his cheeks as the ground floor of Wendy's house disappeared beneath him and he was shoved into her bedroom.

Her father's voice bellowed from the lounge, "Young lady, you just keep that door - "

Defiantly rolling her eyes again, Wendy sharply cut off her father's repetitive command with a loud slam of her bedroom door. Stan almost swore that the force of her actions shook the foundations of the entire house, and even more so as Wendy suddenly threw him towards the door and seductively pinned his shoulders up against the wall.

The space between them came to a close as the air against their lips sizzled in anticipation and the two teenagers crashed into one another. The warm, sweet taste of her boyfriend drove Wendy to instant insanity as she lapped at his mouth over and over again, expelling a murmured moan

And yet, for some reason, between each passionate exchange, Stan was sporting an incredibly cheeky smile.

Just as Wendy laced her fingers together with his and began to run both of their hands slowly up the back of her shirt, Stan kissed her once more and then gently pulled back, chuckling as he did.

"Hang on a sec..."

His attempts to hit pause on their intense make-out session were immediately thwarted as Wendy merely shook her head and attacked Stan's lips with her own all over again. Laughing a little more, Stan wrestled his hands away from Wendy's, bringing them up to her face and cradling her cheeks as he held her away from him.

"Just wait one second," he laughed again, smiling at her with all the affection in the world.

Wendy scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes at him, "I have been waiting, three whole weeks," she joked, "What is it?"

Finally feeling her grip on him loosen, Stan shuffled out of the slender space between Wendy and the bedroom wall as he strolled over towards her bed. He shrugged out of the backpack that was hanging from his shoulders and placed it on top of the covers. Turning back to face her, Stan then took a seat on the bed, sinking into the mattress and patting the spot beside him for Wendy to come and join him.

A ridiculously huge part of him was on the verge of desperate to talk to her and make sure that nothing bad had happened to her while she was gone, or that no-one unfavourable had attempted to bother her. But that could all wait for now. Wendy had spoken to him every day and always promised him that she was completely fine, and aside from that, Stan had something much more important that he wanted to get off his chest in that moment.

Glancing at him with a tilt of her head, Wendy frowned for a second as she took one small step in his direction. Eventually, as Stan felt the soft mattress shift with Wendy's weight beside him, he looked to her. Wendy looked right back at him as her frown deepened. A nervous sort of sensation crossed her in the form of goosebumps popping up all over her skin. He was just staring at her, not saying anything yet, just... staring. There was such an intense warmth and affection absolutely streaming from his blue orbs. Right as Wendy was wondering whether she should just come out and ask him what exactly was on his mind, Stan finally drew in a deep breath.

"So... the last time you came home from a short trip to Malibu didn't exactly go the way I had planned..."

The curious glisten in Wendy's eyes quickly faded at Stan's words. Her stomach twisted up in a tight, sick knot as the memories from that afternoon two years and three months ago instantly came flooding back to her. She remembered all too well how the completely desolated expression in Stan's fifteen year old face had nearly killed her.

Why the hell would he be bringing all this up, especially now?

Noting the wary sadness in her appearance, Stan shot Wendy a supportive smirk. Slowly reaching for his backpack and pulling down the zipper, the teenage boy licked his lips.

"Let me try this again..."

In the next moment, as he revealed a long postage tube from the depths of his bag and popped the lid off it, Wendy felt her heart skip about a dozen beats.

Her mind had always been filled with photographic images of the vibrant, red rose that Stan had given her that day before she had harshly shoved it against his chest and left it to be swallowed up by a frosty pile of snow. But none of those memories compared to the sight of the beautiful, long-steamed, blossoming rose that her boyfriend carefully revealed. The cardboard tube had kept it perfectly intact as he shyly held out towards her.

Wendy's cheeks flushed with the hottest, deepest blush that she had ever succumb to while she stuttered over a sweet reply. She was at a complete loss for words, simply too blown away by the amazing lengths that Stan was continually willing to go to all to make her smile.

What the heck was she even supposed to say to him?

"Oh my God," she murmured, reaching for the gorgeous flower, "Stan..."

Without even giving her the chance to finish her thought, Stan cut back in, carrying right along.

"You know, I was too upset and hurt and angry to realise it at the time..."

Stopping himself for a short moment, Stan cleared his throat and blew out a shaky breath. Fiercely locking his vision with Wendy's beautiful, brown eyes, he was simply glowing as he held his gaze with hers. His voice cracked and wobbled with emotion at his next words.

"...but that day three months ago when I walked into the school gym and saw you standing there was probably the best day of my entire life."

Sensing the deep shades of red and pink drain from her face, Wendy's mouth fell open in disbelief at every tender syllable flowing from in between Stan's lips. There were a million times where she had wished that her then ex-boyfriend had been more thrilled to see her standing in the gym beside Kyle and Bebe that October afternoon. But Wendy wouldn't change any of that now - not for anything in the whole world. As much as some certain events and occurrences of the past three months could have ran a lot smoother, if any of it had turned out any differently, Wendy and Stan wouldn't be in the exact position that they found themselves right now.

Thinking about the beautiful sentiment he had just uttered to her, Wendy carefully placed her rose down on the bed before shuffling closer to Stan and throwing her arms around his neck. He lovingly hugged her right back, slinking his embrace around her torso and squeezing tightly. Closing his eyes to appreciate the abrupt quiet, Stan simply breathed in the irresistible scent of Wendy's hair. He listened to the faint noises she made, holding her closer as she sniffled just once to stop herself from tearing up. And then, both teenagers opened their mouths and started the same sentence at the same time.

"I - "

Cutting each other off, Stan and Wendy chuckled as they pulled apart. The teenage boy tucked a strand of his girlfriend's silky, black hair behind her ear as he finished their joint thought.

"I love you."

Wendy's heart raced.

"I love you, too."

All these instances of being swept off her feet had left Wendy feeling dizzy as she finally caved and leant back in towards Stan. She delicately placed one hand on the back of his neck and softly ran her manicured nails under his beanie and through the ends of his hair as she swapped a much more innocent kiss with him.

Stan melted into the exchange, smiling like an idiot as he teasingly licked at her lips. He pecked her once more and then pulled back, taking his hand to her knee while his grin remained in place.

"Look, let's just make this next eighteen months the best ever," he announced, his expression falling for a slight moment, "I don't know what's gonna' happen when we get to college..."

The prospect of what he was saying made Wendy's chest freeze as she sucked in a courageous breath and continued to listen to him.

Stan's confidence reappeared as he shook his head with a smirk, "But the one thing I do know is - no matter what happens... we're gonna' be okay."

The certainty in his voice made Wendy's soul absolutely soar.

Three weeks away from each other had been awful enough. Three weeks of constantly checking their phones, three weeks of tossing and turning in bed all night, and three weeks of desperately missing one another. Neither Wendy nor Stan could even begin to imagine how terrifying months apart would feel, or how it would affect their relationship once they moved away to college.

But as daunting as all of that was, it wasn't anything to particularly worry about... not just yet, anyway. They still had a year and a half of high school left. A year and a half of sharing classes, a year and a half of sleepovers, and a year and a half of seeing each other every, single day.

As far as both Stan and Wendy were concerned, the longer that the next eighteen months dragged on, the better.

Nodding her head in completely unwavered excitement, Wendy joined her hand with Stan's where it gently sat on her leg and lunged her lips towards his once more. Just as she only managed to sweetly peck at him, both teenagers suddenly jumped in slim surprise at a voice booming from downstairs.

"Wendy! Your mother didn't buy all this extra lunch for nothing!"

Holding down some explosive laughter, Wendy covered her mouth with a soft giggle and a roll of her eyes. At least they had earned some of her father's trust back. Enough for him to yell at them from the bottom of the stairs rather than storm in and break down her bedroom door, anyway.

"Coming, Dad!" she called back.

Stan chuckled to himself, too, gazing at Wendy as he did. Her perfectly gorgeous smile made a shiver run up his spine. He hated the fact that he had ever been able to do or say something to make that beautiful grin fall from her face. The dark haired boy was determined to never, ever let his girlfriend down again. He wholeheartedly meant it when he said that their relationship would survive college. He was certain of it. He just hoped that Wendy was, too.

Reverting back to his promising statement, Stan gestured for Wendy's hand, asking her, "Okay?"

Looking back to him at the sound of his voice, Wendy allowed her brown orbs to fall down to where he was reaching for her. The very second that her vision focused on his left arm, the teenage girl felt a lump hitch in the back of her throat.

Stan's sleeves were rolled up, and the burns on his forearm blistered like five or six searing welts across Wendy's chest. The pure and authentic sight of her boyfriend's past torment certainly didn't help her along the road to forgiving herself for what she had done. But as Wendy swallowed back her chunk of nerves, she bravely ran her gentle touch down Stan's arm, feeling his skin tingle at every burned graze as she shook off the thought.

When they were separated, Stan and Wendy had both been a little broken. But as soon as they had rebuilt themselves as a strong, loving unit, they impulsively pieced each other back together in the most perfectly imperfect way. And Wendy did believe Stan - undeniably believed him - when he said that this would only carry on for the rest of their lives.

Taking her hand away from his arm, Wendy happily found Stan's as she affectionately laced their fingers together.

She was never going to leave him behind again.

"Okay."

ohhhhh, how sweet :)

I hope you all really enjoyed this chapter! I'm wondering if anyone who noticed that the section written in present day was the same as how this story started aaaaaall those months ago may have been fooled into thinking that something horrible was going to happen all over again.. ;)

Speaking of which, I'd love to say a super big thankful to everyone who has been here reading along and enjoying all the twists and turns from start to finish. I really appreciate all your thoughts and reviews :)

BUT, do not let the title of this chapter trick you! This story did start with a prologue, after all, so I think that calls for an epilogue just to tie this up all nicely... I'll see you all again soon!

Till next time guys,

Reneyyyyyyyyyyyyy x