Hello my lovlies, I hope you all enjoy this final chapter! I'm hoping to update my very first story (Can I Love Again) in the next few weeks...Drop me a line!

For three months Chris went to work, came home, graded papers and went to bed. Her brother tried in vain to get her out of the house for lunch dates with Meg, dinners with their parents…everything. He hated to see her like this; she was so strong; she had survived being shot, the death of her fiancé, being stalked and having her home burned down.

Every day Erik was tempted to call her, text her…something; every day he didn't hear her voice was torture. But he knew he was right. So he took her words to heart and did what he thought he'd never do…he started seeing a therapist. He hadn't spoken to one since right after the accident. With each session Erik made progress but it wasn't fast enough…he missed Christina, he wanted her with him. He needed her. She was his reason to get up in the morning, his saving grace.

Each night before bed Erik would lay down and the first person he always thought of was Alexis, then Christina. For years that's how it had been, Lex had always been foremost in his mind. Always right there on the periphery, right on the edge of his thoughts. The guilt he'd felt for letting her die had eaten away at him, stolen years off his life as he lived with that guilt so when his therapist had said 'It wasn't your fault' Erik had flown off the handle and raged that it was his fault that he should have protected his wife and child.

Finally after he had calmed down Dr. Burns explained that while that was how Erik 'felt' it wasn't the 'reality' and that's what Erik had to come to terms with and that he had to place the blame squarely where it belonged…on Tristan Delaney's shoulders.

With that in mind Erik worked with every week and slowly…painfully slowly Erik stopped thinking so much about the accident, but about the good moments and as he continued the moments with Lex started to blur and Christina started appearing in his mind more and more. Once Lex's face stopped feeling like a burden and Christina felt like a gift did Erik understand and know…he was ready. He was ready and able to be the man Christina deserved.

Chris was sitting down to a solo dinner at her brother's house when someone knocked on the door. When she answered there was a uniformed chauffeur waiting with a gilded envelope in his hands. With shaking hands she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter from within. On it was three words.

Open the box

When she looked around in confusion the chauffeur pulled a box from the ground behind him and handed it to her. Now completely confused she opened the box to see another envelope.

In it was another letter Put on the dress.

With a goofy smile Chris hurried into the house up to the guest room. In the box was a dark purple dress. Once it was on Chris felt positively giddy. It was beautiful and it was perfect for her. The purple chiffon one shoulder dress draped over her figure perfectly with jewels twinkling their way up the strap. Slipping on her black heels she tamed her curls and dabbed on some light makeup before returning down the stairs. The uniformed gentleman escorted her to the limo waiting at the curb.

Waiting on the seat was a box and an envelope. Opening the letter first she did as it directed.

Open the box, put on what's inside.

She liked this game. Sparkling back at her from the black velvet was a necklace of diamonds and amethysts. After she fastened it around her neck she sat back and giggled, this was exciting!

Once the car came to a halt a man in a tuxedo opened the door and offered her his hand.

"Welcome Mademoiselle, we have your table ready"

"Thank you" she responded uncertainly.

She was unfamiliar with the restaurant as they walked through the dining room to the veranda where a single table was waiting with three roses in the middle flanked by two candles. A bottle of champagne was chilling in a bucket by the table…but she was the only one out here!

A small box and letter waited for her at her table setting. Christina slowly lowered herself into the chair and looked at the box unable to take her eyes off of it.

Music started playing softly in the background, with shaking hands she unfolded the letter.

Look behind you.

As she turned to do as the letter bid she felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of Erik, unmasked and looking wonderful in a black suit holding a red rose. Unable to comprehend what was happening as Erik approached her and held out the rose for her to take; as she did her fingers brushed his and she felt her eyes filling with tears.

Erik knelt on one knee in front of her and took the box and opened it revealing the most beautiful ring Christina had ever seen. With tears coursing down her cheeks she looked at Erik's face so proud that he wasn't wearing his mask.

"Christina, you have been my best friend, my conscious and my savior" he said softly, pulling the ring out and grasping her hand "Without you I am nothing, you are my everything" he took a breath, closed his eyes for a second before opening them again "Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

As he pushed the ring onto her finger Chris found she was speechless as tears were clogging her throat and blinding her. All she could do was nod and throw herself into his arms.

As soon as his arms encircled her Chris felt all was right in the world and buried her face into his neck…breathing in his cologne. After a few long minutes the released each other, Erik poured the champagne after seating her.

Now that the nerve-wracking part of the evening was complete he could enjoy their reunion.

"This is probably the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me" Chris exclaimed breathlessly before sipping her champagne.

His rich laugh was music to her ears as was the smile on his face. She finally felt like everything was going to be okay. After eating a scrumptious meal and drinking a little too much champagne the two lovers poured themselves into the limo and rode to Erik's house in silence, with Chris perched on his lap and his arms firmly around her.

They had started kissing and stopped only to rush into the house and up the stairs. Once safely ensconced in Erik's suite he was determined to take his time. It had been an unbearable three months and he was desperate for her.

He wanted this night to be perfect, everything to be perfect. He brushed her hair aside so he could press a kiss to her neck, his arms wrapping around her waist as he did. When she leaned into his embrace and rested her head on his chest he took the opportunity to kiss his way down her neck and nip at her collarbone, shivering when he heard her gasp. His hands pressed on her stomach, pulling her back flush against him so she could feel his hardness in the small of her back.

Slowly, devastatingly slow…Erik eased the zipper of her dress down, kissing the bare skin he revealed as he pushed the dress from her body. Feeling his tongue rake up her spine sent shivers through her body, especially when his hand drifted up to caress her breast.

"Oh god Chris I've missed you," he groaned when he felt her nipple harden under his finger, it sent a shock straight to his groin.

Unable to speak Christina did the only thing she could do…she spun around, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss his lips, delving her tongue between them as she did. He gasped against her lips when he felt her breasts press against his chest. This was the sweetest torture he'd ever experienced.

Not being able to feel his skin was unacceptable to Christina who pushed his coat off his shoulders, not caring when it landed in a heap with her dress. Her fingers made quick work of the buttons on his shirt, which soon joined the heap beside them. With a firm push he landed on the bed which gave her access to his pants, she undid the button and as she pulled them down pressed kisses to his stomach, over his hip to his inner thigh; her lips following the path of his pants before he kicked them off. As he pulled her up to him she let her hand trail up the same path, brushing against his straining hardness making him groan.

"Vixen" he growled against her lips as he pushed her to the mattress and covered her body with his own before capturing her lips in a kiss. His hands worked at tugging her panties off and pressing his hand to her most sensitive spot. Christina arched under him and groaned his name as his finger worked magic. When he felt her shatter under his finger he had to clamp down on his control, he wanted to feel her fall again…this time with him inside her.

Christina hooked her fingers in his underwear and shimmied it over his hips and down before easing her hand between them to grasp his hardness, delighting when all activity ceased and his head bowed forward, his breath expelling from the glorious feel of her hand around him. When he felt her rub the drop of liquid around he knew he could put off his pleasure no longer.

He positioned himself between her legs and eased himself into warmth, gasping with the feeling. Her legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer. He abandoned himself to the rhythm and lost himself in her. Her fingernails dug into his back as she arched against him, meeting his thrusts.

He felt her shatter around him and with a cry he followed her, not stopping until he was completely spent. Erik collapsed on top of her and kissed her neck. They fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The first thing Christina saw when she opened her eyes was the light dancing off her ring, smiling as she remembered the night before she snuggled into Erik's arms as she felt him starting to stir.

"Good morning" he rumbled, his voice rough from sleep.

"Morning" she replied before pressing a kiss to his jaw. It was hard to believe that last night had actually happened, it wasn't a dream.

With the promise of tomorrow and every day after that Christina finally found her happily every after. She knew it wasn't going to be easy…but she was ready for the challenge.

After much discussion the two lovers decided they didn't need a big expensive wedding, Erik had done that once before and he wanted his wedding to Christina to be special. With only a handful of guests, including Nicholas Delaney they were wed in Erik's back yard. There wasn't a dry eye in the house as they reverently said their vows, Christina looked glorious in her wedding gown, a strapless satin gown with ruching on the skirt. Her curls pulled away from her face with diamond-crusted clips, her eyes for only her betrothed. As Erik leaned down to press a kiss to his wife he marveled at how much his little runner had changed everything about his life…and gave him a 'reason' to live, not merely exist.

The End