SpiritoftheBlackRose: this ending's not too bad either... no drama, just pillow talk.

Second Daughter of Eve: Thank you!

alaska1588: Yeah, actually. I've got the rest mostly-ish drafted out, and I hope to have it done rather soon.

Hey y'all! Contrary to popular belief- I am infact alive and well, just had a rough breakup of my man of almost 4 years and some other crap over the summer, so everything just got delayed. THIS STORY WILL BE COMPLETED! Thanks to everyone for hanging in there, I promise that there will not be another wait as long as this one. Enjoy! Wildthing.

Eric rolled over in bed. He liked the feel of his new queen size mattress, and felt as if the final ache had been worked from his back. He glanced over to see his live-in protectee/girlfriend still dozing. Two months since she'd reluctantly agreed to go on the mission, her exasperated "Do I have to wear the dress?" and then the whirlwind of the pageant and the explosion that brought them together. Two months ago he slept in his college full size mattress, and sharing it was the last thing on his mind.

He sighed, and felt Gracie's leg twitch. He looked and saw her slowly open her eyes.

"Eric? You okay?" The scars from the tiara made her face looked well freckeld, and unfortunately, were not going to fade much more.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"About what?" She sat up on one elbow. Eric smiled.

"You." She snorted and gave him a kiss.

"What about? The fact that we've been together for two months without trying to kill each other or maybe that I've been able to get past guns and knives for years, but give me a tiara and it almost kills me?"

"Naw, just how great you looked in that dress." She whacked the back of his head and turned back over. He wrapped his arms around her, more comfortable than he'd been, well, ever. He loved his job, sure, but just being able to wrap his arms around her made him almost regret having to leave.

"I love you." She murmured.

He sat up enough to kiss her earlobe, then settled his head back on the pillow.

"Love you too, Gracie Lou." She rolled over to face him.

"You know I hate it when you do that stupid rhyming thing, right?" He pecked her lips, making her smile.

"Yep." She rolled her eyes, and kissed his cheek.

He pulled her on top of him, where could feel her inhale and exhale. She wrapped her bandaged arms around him and pressed her lips to his forehead. His lips went for her neck. They stayed that way for a while, until she finally stopped to settle her head into his neck. He gave her another squeeze.

"Eric?" Her voice was welcome in the darkness.

"Yeah?" He sighed.

"Did you love me before I got al Vic-ed up and pretty?" He kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah, I did. It just took a tiara and a hairbrush to prove it." She gave him a quizzical stare. He kissed her again. "Why? You thinking of going back and looking all ugly again?"

"Not really. I actually kinda liked looking pretty."

"I really liked it." Another whack on the head. He winced, and she wrapped her arms back around him, nestling her head in his chest.

"When are you going back to regular duty?" Her voice was muffled against his chest.

"Next week."

"I'm gonna hate it, y'know."

"What? You'll get to look for bombs from behind a desk while I'm out getting shot at."

"But you at least get to shoot back."

"Yeah," He kissed her head. "But personally, I'd rather mail a bomb." She grinned at him, and pressed her lips against his, then rolled off of him. "Hey-" He grabbed her and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Goodnight, Eric."

"Love you too."