Red Lining
The Epilogue

Years later...

The morning sunlight quickly filtered the room, tracing the outline of two bodies that were holding each one in his and her arms. They were sleeping soundly, comfortable at each one's position.

The man laid on his back, his left arm around the woman's shoulders. The woman, on the other hand, was snuggled at his side, her head against his shoulders while her hand was against his heart.

It had been a rough night for the two of them. The man just finished the last tour of his recent album Hazel Eyes yesterday night and he was powerless from lack of sleep and exhaustion. The woman, whom the album was dedicated to, was always there by his side. It has always been like that since they became an official couple in their high school days.

The man shifted his position, rolling his body so that the woman was suddenly trapped beneath him. The woman grumbled from the added weight but she didn't push him away since this was almost their usual position when it was their waking hours.

"Natsume..." The woman murmured. It looked to be that she was dreaming of the man who was on top of her.

Natsume groaned in response and slightly opened an eye and looked at the surroundings. He found that he was back on his bedroom on a unit in the east side of Tokyo. Well, the woman claimed that it was their bedroom and not just his. Though they weren't married yet, the woman insisted that she was adopting his condo unit and making it hers, too.

"Natsume..." The woman giggled his name again.

Natsume sluggishly brought his head up so that he was looking straight at the woman's face. He had a boyish smile across his face.

He definitely couldn't get enough of her, he thought as he moved his hands so it was caressing her face. His girlfriend is definitely dreaming of him... again.

He smirked as he remembered the dreams Mikan had of him. He nagged her until she told every little detail of her dreams to him. He had wanted to laugh just by thinking of how Mikan would react when he asks her what she dreamt of about him now.

Her face and body language was almost always the same. She would be red all over and she would start squirming under him because he wouldn't let her get out of the bed when she doesn't tell him.

Her dreams about him were always pleasant to hear.

Natsume kissed her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her jaw and leaned his head against her neck. "Wake up, Mikan." He breathed out before he nuzzled and planted wet kisses on her neck.

"Five more minutes..." Mikan pleaded before slumbering down again.

"Mikan, love. We need to get going. Even if I like having you trapped under me, we need to say farewell to Ruka and Hotaru before they have their honeymoon."

Yes. Through years of courting, Ruka and Hotaru finally said their vows and were going on a honeymoon trip to France. It was never a shock to the people who knew them because whenever they were together, people could see how much they loved each other.

What the people were waiting for now is the day the singer of the band Red Lining would ask her girlfriend to be his wife.

Natsume have been contemplating on this for a while but seeing his childish girlfriend, he wanted it to be perfect for her. So he decided to wait for the right moment.

That's when Mikan's eyes flew open and she suddenly jerked upward and tried to get away from Natsume. "Natsume, let go of me. We can't be late."

Natsume forced her down, intertwining his fingers with hers and putting it above her head. "We're not going to be late."

Mikan tried to slip her fingers away from his much bigger hands. "Natsume, are you kidding me? I need to get to Hotaru as soon as I can. What time is it?"

Natsume smirked and tightened his grip. He placed wet kisses on her neck again.

"Natsume, stop it. Are you even listening to me?" Mikan cried out as she stretched her head to look at the clock. Natsume just gained more space on her neck for him to kiss.

Mikan looked at the clock and it read eight am, five hours before Ruka and Hotaru's flight.

Mikan relaxed against him. "You scared the hell out of me."

Natsume smiled while he traced his tongue on the sweet spot on her neck. "You wouldn't wake up and I wanted you awake when I did this."

Mikan moaned from his tongue. "You're still mean."

Natsume ignored her comment and kissed her jaw, her cheeks, her nose and forehead. Mikan closed her eyes and waited for Natsume's mouth to capture hers but it was already after a minute and she still couldn't feel it.

She opened her eyes and saw Natsume staring intently at her eyes.

"Natsume?"

"Remember the first time we met?"

"Of course. That's one hell of a day to remember. Why do you ask?"

"And do you remember the time you blurted out that you liked my eyes?"

Mikan blushed. "Look, Natsume. I you're fishing for—"

"Do you?"

Mikan stared at him. "Yes, I do."

"How about the time you crashed inside the system of the airport?"

"That's embarrassing. I couldn't believe I—"

"You did it because you loved me so damn much." Natsume stated smugly as he rolled off of her. Mikan, rolled with him so she was currently on top.

Mikan glared at him. "You egotistical jerk! I—"

"If it weren't for the CD, I wouldn't have found you."

Mikan lost her train of thought. The change in the topics was making her dizzy, but she did smile down at him and placed her elbows on his chest. "What would you have done if you haven't met me?"

Mikan waited for several minutes before he heard Natsume reply.

"Of course, I was going to find you sooner or later. And damn it, I'll know that something would be amiss." His glare was like fire and when he added his last words, he took her chin and he made her look at him. Mikan saw that his face was filled with different emotions and Mikan somehow felt it, too. "I'm going to search around the world just to find you, Mikan. I would. You're never going to get me out of that system of yours."

Mikan's eyes were misty from her emotions. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Natsume. I'll always love you."

Natsume grinned from her honesty and her sweet pledge of love. But there was one thing left that bothered his mind. "Aren't you going to kiss me good morning now?"

Mikan laughed, her melodious voice ringing around the room. Her laugh was one of the things Natsume always wanted to hear from her every single hours of the day.

Mikan slowly leaned her head and touched Natsume's lips. Natsume wasn't up to teasing right now so he immediately caught her lips and his tongue swept inside her mouth. Mikan's moans were muffled by his kiss and by the time Natsume pulled out, she was out of breath. Her head fell at his shoulders.

"Good morning, Mikan." Natsume finally whispered to her.

She smiled against his shoulders and whispered back the same words Natsume uttered to her.

They were both fast asleep minutes later.

THE END

I just realized that from the years that I had spent writing this story, I have felt different emotions that I actually, somehow, integrated in the story. You may have also seen that my style of writing did change over the years and I hope you liked those changes. And, thank you so much to those who read and reviewed this story. I'm still hoping that you'll still love this story even though it has ended in this epilogue chapter.

But, I still have different stories I'm currently writing. I do wish you support them as well.

I'll miss you guys.

Love lots,

khostar