Act 3 Finale

Chapter 74

Persuasion and Promises

"I can't, Richard, I just can't!" It was the next day since the fiasco with Jason and Richard had been trying his best to get Lisa to go back to Joshua. But no matter what he tried, Lisa just denied everything.

"Why not?" A frustrated Richard took a drag on his cigarette. "Give me a damn good reason, Lisa."

"I have no idea what I'll do!" Lisa said through gritted teeth. "Either I'll break down completely or… or… hurt him. I hate him but I don't want to hurt him, at least I tell myself that but... but…"

"You are his mother. You won't hurt him."

"Mother's hurt sons all the time. Don't you ever read the news?" Lisa sniffed.

"Nope, since that's a road to depression." Richard looked up to the sky. "Y'know what, fine, hate him. But at the very least come with me to Detrikov. I need to tell all of you, Joshua included, about this."

"Why can't you just tell me?" Lisa asked in reference to 'this'. It was something Richard kept mentioning and he gone through a pack of cigarettes already which Lisa assumed was due to nerves.

"Because it's something all of you need to hear, together and at the same time. I need to see everyone's reactions at the same time."

"When you say everyone…"

"I mean everyone that's been involved since Willingboro. You, Joshua, Detrikov and all the survivors that are left. But stop delaying, can you come with me?"

Lisa just shook her head. "No. I can't stand the possibility of seeing him, I can't. I don't want to. He killed Miles-"

"Haven't we at least realised that Joshua did not kill his brother!?" Richard asked, aghast. "Christ, Myers pressed the button. Myers caused Miles to go. Joshua did not press that button!"

"But he made the choice!" Lisa stood up, anger etched into her features. "Y'know Richard, I am… goddamn amazed you're back, but I thought you'd be on my side!"

Richard stood up as well, staring at Lisa, anger starting to invade his own features. "That would be the wrong side."

"But… but I thought you loved me!" Lisa spouted. Richard immediately went tense, his eyes widening and the cigarette dropping out of his mouth.

"This… this isn't about love, what the hell is wrong with you!?" Richard growled, running a hand through his hair. "You sound like nothing more than a school-girl! 'I thought you loved me', really, Lisa, really? You are broken. I think I've just realised this, you are fuckin' broken, aren't you? You just can't admit to yourself you made the wrong decision, so you want people on your side so it looks like your decision on abandoning your only surviving son was the right one." Richard jabbed a finger into Lisa's shoulder. "Newsflash, Miss Valentine, you are completely and utterly wrong! I was damn happy to be brought back by Fisk to protect you, but you know what? The woman I wanted to protect doesn't exist anymore!" Richard's words shook Lisa, and she started to open her mouth.

"No! You don't say a goddamn word. I tried to be reasonable, I tried to make you understand, but if I have to scream and shout to get it into your damn skull I will!" Richard crossed his arms. "Ever since Joshua made that choice you've jumped right off the deep end. I'm worried, you know. I'm worried that you can't be fixed, that you can't go back to the strong woman I loved. You aren't that woman, god knows, you are not that woman. Not anymore."

Lisa opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her eyes started to grow wet, causing Richard to stomp the ground in frustration.

"Don't cry, damn it, don't you dare cry!" Richard turned away so as not to see Lisa's face. "Here's the hard, cold truth. Fisk. Jason. Jay. Alexander. Tyrone. All of them. All of them are your fault. If you actually forgave Joshua, you two would have worked with Fisk to take down Myers and chances are we would have found out about Tyrone and Jason beforehand." Richard took a deep breath and shook his head.

"They weren't my fault…" Lisa muttered. "I blame Joshua… he should have just gone to Fisk without me no matter how I-"

"DON'T YOU TURN THIS ON HIM!" Richard roared, a sound new to both Lisa and himself. He tried to calm himself down but it wasn't working especially well. "How can Joshua be at fault? How the hell can he be at fault? He lost his younger brother and more than ever he needed the support of his mother, but you just leave him to his fucked up thoughts instead." Richard shook his head. "Fuck it. Just… just fuck it. It's obvious that you aren't going to be persuaded. So just… just fuck off…"

"…Richar-"

"Don't say my name. I don't want to hear you use it. You ain't the woman you used to be. You ain't the woman who protected all those survivors in the burning building, or the woman who got Dominika out of that school. I thought you were strong. Instead, you are a weak woman who can't move on. Because that's a fact. No matter who dies in our lives, we have to move on. For them. And you are doing both Isaac and Miles no favours." Richard started walking off. "I thought you were different. Guess not." Richard thrust his hands in his pockets and continued to walk away, feeling miserable.

Lisa looked at him walked away and suddenly she saw herself walking away. Walking away from everything since Miles. He was right… I… I essentially killed Gregory… Jason and Tyrone… Jay and Alexander… I killed them all… I… I… what the hell, Lisa? What did you fight for? What did you fight for on that bridge? When you went into the bus? What did you fight for to keep on living? Because whatever it was, you've lost sight of it. Biting her bottom lip, Lisa suddenly said loudly, short and sharp. "Okay!"

Richard stopped, but didn't turn away.

"Fine, Richard, fine… I'll… I'll give it a go… you were right… Of course you are, you're a private detective and all…" Lisa threw up her arms in frustration and walked towards Richard as he turned around. "I'll move on. I've wallowed in my misery for far too long. Isaac is gone. Miles is gone. I regret it but I'm alive and I shouldn't squander their memories." Lisa stopped in front of Richard. "And you know, Isaac would want me to do this." Lisa suddenly leaned forward, pressing her lips against Richard's. Richard's eyes widened in surprise. Lisa pulled back and regarded him with a grin that mirrored Joshua's own before his choice.

"I… well… Good, I guess… that's…" Richard stumbled over his tongue, feeling like an awkward teenager with that kiss. "I-"

Slap!

Richard's head snapped to the side as Lisa's hand snapped hard against his cheek.

"And don't you ever talk to me like that again." Lisa growled. Richard turned back to her, confused, his cheek bright red. Lisa's eyes softened and she smiled. "Thanks for bringing me back, Richard. I… I appreciate it."

"Hey, that's my job. I'm a PI." Richard managed to say, rubbing his cheek. "I solve problems for people."

"Well, you solved this problem. Let's go find Detrikov, shall we? Fix this all up." Lisa strode off and Richard couldn't help but stare.

There she is. There's that strong woman.

"Stop staring at my ass and come on!" Lisa yelled back, causing Richard's face to flush red.

"Y-Yes!"

"I have to admit, this is pretty much my favourite birthday." Chloe murmured, curled up like a cat on a red velvet sofa. Both she and Jeremy were currently at Chloe's father's house, home alone since her father was out working. Her mother had visited in the morning but left soon after. Jeremy himself was pretty awed. Despite knowing Chloe for a long time, he had never visited the place. It was big, with wide rooms and lots and lots of space.

"…Oh yeah?" Jeremy asked. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders while her head rested on his lap. Somehow ever since the accident, he had realised that he had grown much more confident. Maybe it was the fact that he was under constant threat from death, or because he was now in a proper… real relationship with Chloe.

"Yeah." Chloe confirmed. "I mean, how can it not be? We're finally free… I just feel so exhausted now it's over… but I'm so happy. It's been crazy."

"'Crazy' is kind of an understatement." Jeremy smiled sadly.

"I guess. We both came close to… well, y'know." Chloe shut her eyes, reliving both memories of the fan-blade in her stomach and Jeremy drowning. She opened them again when Jeremy lightly held her face with his other hand.

"But we didn't." He said firmly. "Because we were there for each-other."

"I know but… I can't help but think about those others…" Chloe frowned. "The other… couples. Riley and Becca… now Jason and Jennifer…" Chloe gulped. "They could have been us."

"But they weren't…" Jeremy assured. "It's… horrible that they are gone. All of them, not only the couples. In the face of it, I guess we were lucky. But it's a good kind of lucky."

"It's weird." Chloe stared at the turned-off TV in front of them, her head still on Jeremy's lap. "We were all strangers but… I feel like they were close friends. I keep remembering certain aspects about them, despite the overall lack of interaction between us. I hardly even talked to Tyrone but I feel torn that he's gone."

"I have the same feeling. I think it was just the extreme circumstances. We were all joined together by this list that even though we didn't know each other, we had to look out for each other."

"Hm…" Chloe was lost for words for a few moments before she suddenly spoke again. "I want to… well, apologize."

"What for?" Jeremy asked.

"Just… everything before the bridge, really."

"No." Jeremy stiffened slightly. "We've talked about this."

"No we haven't. Not properly." Chloe pushed herself off of Jeremy's lap, sitting on the edge of the sofa, wringing her hands. "I was horrible to you, Jeremy. Completely and utterly horrible. I treated you like dirt."

"And I loved every single moment of it." Jeremy said firmly. "You know why? Because the fact you were paying me even the slightest bit of attention was just amazing. I admit, now is even better, but it's not nearly as bad as you say."

"Yes it is!" Chloe said quickly. "It is, Jeremy. The fact is, you are just far too nice. I was a bitch and you didn't deserve me. Didn't deserve that treatment. I literally made you kneel down and beg me! You should've just left."

"But if I left, I wouldn't be here right now. I stuck to you because I knew, somewhere, that we had a connection and that sooner or later it would come to fruition." Jeremy put his hands on Chloe's shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You've had your hiccups, but so have I. You say I'm a nice guy, but just remember when you told me about the baby? In my idiocy I almost ruined everything. I don't care what happened back then. I care about now… and the future." Jeremy's large eyes shined slightly in the light. "I love you Chloe, and I don't care how we got to this point, the fact is, we are here now."

Looking into his eyes, Chloe couldn't help but smile. "You've gotten a lot more confident, haven't you?"

"I'm going to be a father. I'm going to have to be." Jeremy cracked a lop-sided smile. "Eighteen and considering myself a father… wasn't expecting that one bit." Jeremy put a hand on Chloe's stomach, which still wasn't showing prominently. "You said that today was your favourite birthday… well… I want to make it special."

"Special? What do you mean?" Chloe looked confused as Jeremy stood up.

"It's… weird. I watch it in TV and movies all the time, but I think that just looks silly…" Jeremy muttered.

"What does?" Chloe asked. In response, Jeremy offered a hand. Still looking confused, Chloe grabbed it and allowed herself to be pulled up off the sofa.

"They generally go into speeches about how much they mean to them and stuff like that, but I don't think that's a secret between us." Jeremy stepped forward, his forehead lightly resting against Chloe's. "I love you and it's as pure and simple as that. But when I was… when you saved me, I realised just how quick something bad can happen. And I want to do something before I regret it."

Chloe stared into his eyes, and for the first time in her life she couldn't figure out what Jeremy was thinking. Usually his thoughts were practically written into his eyes.

"…Look down…" Jeremy whispered, his lop-sided smile coming back.

Chloe did and immediately gasped. "Oh… Jeremy you…"

"Apparently my uncle decided he wanted to give his nephews a… fair amount of money. So I put it to good use." Jeremy clicked open the black velvet box, revealing a slim silver ring with a tiny diamond embedded in its top. "Chloe… will you marry me?"

Chloe's bottom lip quivered as her eyes grew wet. "…You're an idiot, Jeremy Marvin…" she muttered. "We're going to have a baby together. Of course I'll marry you." Chloe leaned forward, planting her lips on Jeremy's own. The kiss went on for a few seconds before they managed to pull away from each other.

XXX

"Yes." Chloe stood up and spun around in a flourish, grinning brightly. "I want to be in Hollywood! I want people to see me and go 'wow!' I want the feeling of compliments forever and ever!" Chloe put both her hands on Jeremy's and pulled the surprised boy upwards. "You gave me my first ever 'real' compliment! Can you… can you give me that feeling forever and ever…?" Chloe asked shyly, looking into Jeremy's wide brown eyes.

"Forever and ever!" Jeremy nodded quickly. "If you want me, I'll be by your side forever! I'll do what you want and I'll see you become what you want to become!"

"So sweet." Impulsively, despite the fact she had only met Jeremy then and there; Chloe leaned down and pecked Jeremy on the cheek. "I'll be waiting for you."

XXX

Tears glittered as Chloe looked into Jeremy's big brown eyes. "Y'know, Jeremy… I guess childhood promises do come true…"

Jeremy smiled, embracing Chloe tightly, whispering into her ear, "Forever and ever, Chloe. Forever and ever…"

A/N: Thanks to Princezzshell101 and Bookreader2010 for your reviews! Y'know, I thought that we needed a nice, calm finale for once. The last two finale's were cliffhangers. So I decided to go with nice conversations.

So, I am planning to go on break but… well, I'm so into this story that I might to be able to help publishing the next Act early. Oh boy, it's gonna be big. It's going to be awesome. It's going to filled with a lot of emotions and it's everything I've learned over my four years here into one awesome thing for me and you guys both!

So, it'll either be out after Christmas, or before. Who knows. I'm pumped! 'Till then!