A/N: Please read the author's note (I know it's a bit long but it's important) at the end and enjoy the final chapter :)

Lucas smiled as he and Riley headed down the sidewalk towards Central Park. It was hard to believe that in one week he would be heading back down to Texas. To him, it was a bit ironic how things had sort of come full circle. He knew that his father would be waiting to get ahold of him once he got down there, and he would take full advantage of it; but for the first time in his life, Lucas was ready for it.

The past two weeks since he told everything to Riley helped him improve. Lucas knew he still had a long way to go yet, but at least he was heading in the right direction thanks to her. The nightmares were far fewer, as well as the flashbacks. However, he still had some trouble talking to people about it. He knew it wasn't going to be like flipping a switch, but at least he was ready to move on to the next step in his career.

Which included one more thing that he wanted to do up here before he left. That was the reason both he and Riley were heading to the park.

They had gone to a romantic dinner, and they had just left the movie theater. Now, a nice calming walk around the park. This night was Riley's idea yesterday; that way, they could have a bit of alone time before he had to leave. Lucas thought this was the perfect opportunity to ask her, considering he could no longer do what he originally had planned.

The two of them walked down the wooded path, hand in hand, and enjoying the welcomed silence. Riley was resting her shoulder on Lucas' shoulder and listening to the steady rhythm of his heart, happy that she was still able to hear it. Lucas had his head rested on top of Riley's, and he would enjoy the scent of her perfume whenever a soft breeze would come. For both of them, the night was perfect.

As the end of the path drew near, something by the base of a tree caught Riley's attention. She raised her head and tried to focus on it more, but at the distance they were at, all she saw was a red speck.

"What do you suppose that is?" Riley asked as she pointed towards it.

It took everything Lucas had to keep from smiling. She spotted it. Thank you, Maya! he thought. He had enlisted Maya's help, once again, for the surprise. "Why don't we go see?"

She nodded and the couple quickened their pace. Once they reached the base of the tree, Lucas bent down and picked up what Riley saw.

"Huh…" he trailed.

"What is it?" Riley asked.

"It looks like a jewelry box," he replied as he looked up at her knowingly.

Riley's eyes widened slightly as he took ahold of her hand and smiled.

"Riley, despite the distance, we proved that we had something between us. For me, it's hard to believe that we met nearly three years ago. It's as if you've always been in my life. You've been there for me through the toughest times I've ever been through, especially during these past couple of weeks. If you haven't been by my side, who knows where I would be right now." Lucas knelt down before her on one knee and opened the lid. The jewelry box revealed a beautiful princess but diamond, nothing less for his princess. "Riley Matthews, would you give me the honor of becoming my wife? I know it won't be easy being a military wife, but considering all that we've been through so far, I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather have by my side."

Tears threatened to spill over Riley's eyes as she bit her lip. She knelt down in front of him and cupped her hands on his cheeks and whispered, "Yes," before placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

A/N: And there it is, the ending of Dress Whites and Gold Wings. Be sure to stay tuned for a one shot sequel that I wrote when this story was barely off the ground. Be sure to catch that on Saturday!

Now for an announcement. After some long and serious thought, I've decided to take a break from writing fanfiction for a while. The combination of high levels of college stress and writing is really taking a toll, and lately writing fanfiction has felt more like a chore than fun. You may see a one shot by me pop up every once in a while and some of my work in Life Between the Pages, but requests and multichapter stories are done for now. I'm hoping that I'll be able to pick it back up by the time one of my longer college breaks come, but we'll see. If you need any help proofreading or expansion on an idea, my inbox is still open to those.

Until that time. ~cowgirlangel95 out