Anna stepped off the all-too-familiar med bus after wrapping up a fresh injury on her thigh into the amazing atmosphere of the 2nd Mass. People had scavenged CDs playing on full blast in different cars and everyone thought it would be a good time to go through all of the beer that had been stocked up. There was dancing, hugging, laughing, smiling, partying, kissing, drinking- and it all made Anna so happy. Everyone's fears and worries were put aside tonight in celebration of the great triumph over the mass attack by the aliens.

Because Anna was a fighter who had survived the attack, she had nothing but people's attention. When she would walk past them, they would walk up to her and do things like shake her hand or salute her. She had never felt so important in her entire life, and although she wishes it was for different reasons, it was still a great feeling.

She saw all of her friends having a good time as she walked through camp. Over near a camp fire, Maggie was sitting on Hal's lap as he said most likely charming things in her ear, making her laugh. Anne and Lourdes were gossiping together at picnic tables. Probably the most interesting yet entertaining sight of the night was Weaver, Tom, Pope, and the Berserkers all having a banter over multiple bottles of beer. That gave her a nice chuckle. Everyone said hi to her of course, but she had promised a special boy that she would meet up with him when she got the chance.

She walked straight through the dense but slim woods to the familiarly haunting spot- the clearing in the woods with the beautiful view. Laying out on the grass in the middle of the clearing was the special boy she had been talking about. Hearing the cracking of sticks under her feet, he looked up and when he saw her, he gave her a wide smile in which she returned. He patted down on the space next to him for her to lay, and she obeyed his orders. He stared up at the sky above him as the stars danced around each other in the sea of black.

"It's all so much more breathtaking on a night like this." Ben said, referring to the sky, noticing her staring at it as well.

"It really is." Anna couldn't help but admire it as well, not remembering the last time she ever took the chance to look up at it. She's been too caught up in her own survival.

"I used to come out and do this with my dad all the time. There was a roof I could lay on outside my window at my house in Boston, so when the sky was clear at night, the two of us would lay out and stargaze. Little did we know what was lurking up there watching us in the midst of those stars."

"Yeah." She said lazily, not wanting to get into a glum conversation about the aliens. Continuing on the other half of the conversation would be her best bet, so she did. "I had a roof outside my window, too, but whenever I would try sitting on it at night, people would honk at me from the street and think that I'm trying to break into my house. So let's just say I didn't go out there very often." She laughed at her own story and he joined in with her.

"Sounds fun." He joked, causing her to laugh again in agreement. "Do you ever wish you could just go back to your house and see it one last time?"

She nods and sighs. "All of the time, though I'm afraid of what I'd see there."

He understood what she meant. If her parents and sister were killed in the house, then she would have to come across their decomposing bodies. He has the same fears about his own mother.

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

"But on the other hand, there's so much I just want to do. Sleep in my own bed, take a real shower, pack some of my clothes so I wouldn't have to wear the same things over and over again. Making a nice bowl of Craft Mac N' Cheese would be nice too, not gonna lie. I love the moms that make our food to death and I really appreciate everything they do, but if I have eat one of their meals again I may throw it all up."

Ben laughed in agreement as she did before.

Anna continued, "Over everything, I really just want to spend hours in this music room that I set-up with one of my best friends. That was my favorite spot in my whole house and I would lock myself down there for days."

"Music room?" At first, Ben couldn't ever imagine Anna having any musical talents. She seems so tough and strong and intense, not nearly vulnerable enough to feel passionate about music. But that's when he came to the realization that maybe she only became like that as a result of the aliens' invasion. He really has no idea what she was like on a normal day, for she could've been some shy little girl. She could've been changed by these events to a large extreme, just like he had been. He was once a loser computer geek who used to be too weird and intraverted for any kind of female companionship, and now he's this skilled fighter with a girl by his side. Not to mention how beautiful she is to him.

"Uh, yeah… I was a singer and a songwriter." She became very uncomfortable, which surprised Ben.

"Why is that so weird for you?"

"I don't know, it's always made me uncomfortable talking about it. Even when I talked to producers and people in the business, it made me nervous."

"Producers and people in the business? Jeez, Anna, you must've been really freaking good!"

Anna thought about it. Yeah, she was pretty good, though she never ever admitted it.

"I guess so…"

"Here you are, being humble as usual. You were definitely insane, but since I'm such a great guy, I won't push you any further on this." Anna laughed at him.

"Obviously I'm the only humble one in this relationship. You're beginning to sound more and more like Hal every day!" She continued to laugh and he gave her a fake stunned look.

"Don't insult me like that!" He joked, causing laughter to continue to erupt out of them. After a few minutes, the laughter had subsided.

Anna sighed and rested her head into the crook of his neck, causing Ben to rest his gently on top of hers. She couldn't see the smile dancing on his lips as he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her up closer against his side.

"Now that I'm your girlfriend, does that mean I'm involved in the infamous Mason family drama?" She teased. That was the first time either of them had said the words girlfriend or boyfriend out loud to each other. Ben didn't feel the need to formally ask her to be his, and Anna didn't feel like he had to anyway. They both knew on their own.

"Yes, of course. You're now involved in every little problem there is. Good luck." He laughed, causing her to join in. Then silence fell over the two of them once again. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was a comfortable one. A feeling of contentment rushed through them.

"Hey, Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe in fate?" Anna nearly gagged over her own words because of how corny they were. But she wasn't afraid of asking the question in fear that he would judge her. They may now be a couple, but they were always best friends. And best friends tell each other everything.

"It depends on the situation, I think." He replied after taking a moment to think about it.

"Well, if fate really does exist, do you think that even without the invasion, we somehow would've met each other and fallen in love?"

"Yeah, I think we would've. But Anna Noelle Lombardi, are you telling me that you love me?" He looked down at her with a smirk and raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes at him and playfully hit him on the shoulder. Ben rarely showed this side of himself to others, but Anna had the pleasure of dealing with it all the time. She didn't join in on his teasing though, because saying this and meaning it, which she did, was a serious matter to her.

"Yeah, Ben, I'm pretty sure I am." Ben wasn't expecting her to be so serious, but he was happy she was.

"Well, good. Because I love you, too."

The words made Anna feel something in every inch of her body that she had never felt before. She had never been loved like this before. She's loved once, but that boy never returned the feeling. But this, what she had with Ben, this was the real thing. In that moment, she forgot every other boy she's ever had in her life because the only one that mattered to her was laying right next to her.

He turned his head sideways to look at her, revealing his flushed cheeks, but hers were equally as red. Their reactions to their mutual feeling caused them both to laugh a bit before he leaned over and placed the softest and most delicate kiss on her lips. No make out session, no matter how heated, could ever compare to a kiss like that.

She returned her head into the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around his torso, and he placed his around her shoulder. They just sat there in silence, not even coming across the realization that it took an apocalyptic intergalactic war for them to both find the person that they needed. To fall in love.