Three months later

"Morning." He grinned at her as she rolled over to face him, his arms snaking around her and pulling her closer automatically. He loved waking up next to her every morning.

"What are you smirking at?" She rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't hide her own grin as she stretched up to kiss him.

He laughed quietly, raising an eyebrow at her. "I'm not smirking at anything, I'm just happy! Is that a crime?"

"I'll allow it." She laughed. She still couldn't quite get used to this little bubble of happiness they seemed to be living in. The pessimist in her just kept waiting for something or someone to come around and ruin it for them. They'd found a little house, not that far from his parents, but far enough that Charles didn't keep complaining that his mother was smothering him, and they finally had a place to call their own. She loved coming home to him every night.

His fingers lazily traced the scar that ran up her shoulder and it sent a shiver up her spine. She'd catch him staring at it sometimes when he didn't think she was looking, then he'd go all quiet on her. It was the only visible reminder left of what Artan had done to her, but she knew it still bothered him. To her it was just a reminder that she was strong enough to have survived everything that had happened to her, and she'd come out of the other side of it with a man she loved.

She still sometimes wondered about Artan, where he was and what he was doing- or even what they might've been doing at that moment if things had been different. She hadn't heard from him at all since that day she'd met him at the train station, but that didn't stop her from wondering. She'd had a hard time explaining that one to Charles when her thoughts had just slipped out of her mouth one evening. He'd been upset, and maybe even a little bit angry, assuming that she meant that she wanted to go back to Artan.

She'd struggled to explain to him the way she felt towards Artan, after all she wasn't really sure she understood it herself. She knew that really she should hate him after everything that had happened between them, she was more than entitled he'd done to her over the years. Instead she just felt, well she wasn't really sure, sad maybe? She wouldn't change what she had with Charles for the world, but she guessed it maybe had something to do with the fact she'd never really be able to understand how her and Artan had ended up the way they had, she couldn't work out how the Artan she'd fallen in love with in the beginning had become the man Charles had rescued her from- and she knew she never really would.

"You're very quiet this morning." He commented, his breath warm in her ear as his hands wandered from the scar on her shoulder down her body.

She stretched and curled into him, kissing him again. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?" He paused, his lips almost touching hers.

"How lucky I am." She grinned, her hand coming up to his face and brushing the stubble on his chin, the light reflecting from the ring on her left hand.

"Ditto." That smirk was back on his face again. "Mrs James."

"Not yet." She reminded him playfully, but she loved the way it sounded when he said it. She couldn't wait to marry him. The next few weeks couldn't go quickly enough.

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" He was joking, but she could hear the slightest hint of worry in his voice. She'd got no idea why, there was no way she was ever going to leave him. She couldn't even begin to imagine her life without him.

"Only about two section and the free bar." She laughed. "I feel like that's something we might end up regretting."

"Oh don't worry, I've made it very clear to them that they'll be facing the full wrath of their favourite medic if they step even an inch out of line." He joked.

"Too bloody right, I ain't going to let that bunch of cockwombles ruin our day." She loved them all to bits, but every now and then they'd remind her what idiots they were- like when they'd had a housewarming party and Fingers had managed to pour half a glass of red wine on the carpet within about ten minutes of being there. Every day she walked past the rug they'd had to buy for the living room to cover the stain and she smiled at the memory of him frantically trying to clean it up before she noticed.

He didn't answer her, his lips finding hers instead and pulling her closer to him, her hands twisting into his hair. He loved waking up beside her every morning, especially now they had their own place and his mother didn't keep wandering in. Sam had been to stay a few times, and he'd fallen in love with Molly just as quickly as his father had. Even Rebecca had reluctantly warmed to her.

He was really, truly happy for the first time in years- especially now she'd agreed to marry him, and he couldn't wait to see what the future held for them.

Thank you so much to everyone who's read this, I really hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!