A/N: After so much sadness, I decided to do a happy chappie! So tada! JARRICK FLUFFFFFFFF! Also, I finally reveal a huge spoiler for all my stories so if you're reading 81: the Ultimate Show, you're in for a shocker. Also, I know the ages are warped in Part Two, but oh well XD

~Part One: Stars: Setting: 2 weeks after the rebellion's end, in the Capitol~

~Song: In Heaven's Air by Samuel R. Hazo~

I climb up on a brick wall and sit there. Jack hops up and sits beside me just as the sun finishes setting.

We sit in the ruins of the Capitol, which was once so beautiful but is now a combination of ashes and fragments.

The war was officially over two weeks ago, and I finally got to tell him how I felt. And he told me that he loves me, too.

But now the death becomes real.

I look at the stars and tears well up in my eyes.

"You Ok?" Jack looks over at me.

"Fine," I mutter, but my voice cracks and he knows that I'm not fine.

"Tarrick, you can talk to me. You know that."

It was always my goal to protect Jack. He's younger, sweeter, more innocent than me. Even when he was in love with someone else… I still wanted to protect him with everything.

And it feels so weird… To let him see me cry… But when I look over, tears dot his cheeks, too.

He leans against me and I hesitate.

I know that Jack's had a pretty rocky past, so I try not to go too fast for him. I don't want to scare him with flashbacks. So I'm going step by step with him.

I wrap an arm around him gently and he curls up into my stomach, burying his face in my shirt.

"You're missing them, too?" I ask gently. He nods.

So many people died.

"I… I never got to know Grayson…" his green eyes look up at me, "Was he good?"

A tear tickles my cheek as it rolls down.

"He was good," I whisper, "He was very good. But he never got to show us who he was."

And he never will.

"You really loved him, didn't you?" Jack asks, voice shaking with tears.

I nod sadly, "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Even when Jane would tell him to hate me… Yeah, I cared about him through all of it. But I didn't know it until he died."

"You think he's happy?"

Now I bury my head in the back of his shoulder.

"That's one way to think about it," I whisper.

Finally I can't stand to talk anymore and keep my head buried. Jack slings an arm around my waist.

And both of us prepare for what's coming next. Jack bites his lip, curling up into a ball on my lap. I wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly.

He buries his head and sobs. There's nothing I can do to help him.

He hiccups with sobs. There hasn't been a night since that he hasn't.

"Jack…" I whisper, but he's too far gone to pay attention.

I take his chin in my finger and guide his head up. His whole face is red, cheeks drenched with tears, eyes already bloodshot. He looks at me for a second.

"This can't be easy… I... I know it can't be easy… That it'll never be easy. But you can't keep letting it tear you apart. Because there are people here that love you and we hate to see you so broken. And she wouldn't want you to be sad. She loves you and she wants you to be happy. To carry on without her."

"But it's so hard," he squeaks, "To go every day without seeing her face…" He reaches into his pocket. I already know why.

He plays with her last memory in his fingers.

"You're right," he whispers as he trembles in my arms, "You're exactly right… And it hurts so badly… But…I have to be happy. Because I know that's exactly what Emma would want."

Upon saying the name of his twin he collapses into my arms again and buries his face in my neck. I bury my face in his neck, too. Tears spill from my eyes upon the memory of Grayson and just upon seeing my boyfriend so broken.

After a while I think he's all dried out and he unburies himself, not moving from my lap.

Then I say the thoughts that have been crowding my mind since we first met.

"If you're still hung up on Marx, it's fine. You don't have to feel obligated to love me…"

"You think I'm still in love with Marx?!" he asks, turning to look at me, "You really think I'm still in love with her?!" he almost sounds hurt.

"I'm saying that if you are then it's fine with me… For real."

"I'm not. Tarrick, I promise that I'm 110% yours."

I take another look up at the stars, "But she was your everything… In your eyes… She's next to perfect." I whisper sadly.

He shifts on my lap, putting a leg on either side of my waist and wrapping his arms around my neck.

"But Tarrick…" he rests his forehead against mine, "You are perfect."

~Part Two: Sweet: Setting: three years after rebellion's end, Hourner orphanage~

~Song: Here's to Us (Glee Cast Version)~

"Hey kids!" Jack says. The kids in the orphanage look up, curious as to why their orphanage father had awakened them so early in the morning.

Victoria lazily sucks her thumb but her brother Cyrus glances nervously at Jack. He gestures them over to the play area and sits on the floor there. The kids soon crowd in with him.

He glances at the door. "I swear if he comes in I will personally stab him," Jack mutters to himself. Tarrick loves to come help him at the orphanage, and it turns out that he's great with the kids. But today Jack doesn't want him anywhere near… Not now…

"What's going on?" Cyrus asks, concerned.

Jack blinks, looking over at his children. "I got you all up so early to talk to you about something very important. But it's also very secret. So you have to promise not to tell ANYONE."

All of the children nod. Then Jack reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little black box. "Today, well, tonight…" He swallows nervously, "I'm going to propose to Tarrick."

The older kids perk up at the words, some of the toddlers look confused.

"What's a'pose?" asks Flora.

Jack nervously lets out a laugh, "It means I'm going to ask him to marry me."

He waits anxiously for a reaction, but the kids all slowly start to grin. He gets tackled by toddlers and laughs. Yes, this is just what he needed.

"But you can't tell him. It'll ruin the surprise," he says with a smile. After 27 pinky promises, he jumps up, remembering the cupcakes that he put in the oven. He hurriedly runs over to the kitchen and grabs an oven mitt, throwing open the door and sweeping the tin out.

The tops of the cupcakes are slightly brown but they otherwise resemble the red velvet cupcakes he knows his boyfriend is crazy about.

Jack breathes a sigh of relief, pulling up the recipe in his cookbook for cream cheese icing.

But first he opens his video camera and puts it on the oven.

Once he hears the familiar beep of the recording, he grins. "Hi Tarrick!" he says, zooming out from the oven, "This is my proposing vlog, part 5. Ok, so I made the cupcakes without burning the kitchen down!" he says with a laugh, filming the cupcakes. "And now it's time for me to make the icing!" He zooms in on the recipe. "I printed it from the Internet so hopefully it tastes good. Oh man, I need to get moving if I want to surprise you!" he shuts off his camcorder and drops it, so it dangles from his neck as always.

Then he gets to work making icing. In the process, Jack manages to get the sugar everywhere: including on himself, but he works until the icing actually looks like icing.

Then he flips his camera on again.

"Hi Tarrick!" he says cheerily, "This is my proposing vlog, part 6. So here's the icing in it's beautiful cream cheese bowl. And here's the counter," he says, zooming out on the sugar-covered table. "And here's the fiancé-to-be." He turns the camera on himself and runs it up and down his body, "Covered in sugar, of course. Ok, well, I have to pick up this mess before you get here so I guess I'd better get started…" he smiles, switching off the camera and cleaning off the top of the counter.

Then he gets to work putting frosting on the cupcakes. Singing a happy song while he works, Jack smears icing on the cupcakes and time seems to fly.

Then he picks up his camera again. "Ok, part 7 of the proposing vlog. Look at those cupcakes! Look how beautiful!" he says proudly, zooming in and out on them.

"But I still have cleaning up to do," he says sheepishly, then proceeds to lick the icing off his free fingers.

"Mmm, it tastes really good!" Jack says, "And I'll admit that I'm both surprised and delighted at the same time. Ok, well, I still have cleaning to do before you get here. Also I have to hide these somewhere where you won't find them…"

He switches off the camera, licking the icing off his other fingers then washing his hands in the sink. Jack, realizing his time crunch, throws all the dishes in his bedroom and takes the cupcakes to a cupboard in the laundry room.

He turns on his camera and says, "Just so you know, Tarrick, I'm hiding the cupcakes in the laundry room. Because God the last time you were in this room." He laughs, "But I love doing your laundry for you, and I hope that you move in here and I can do all your laundry, all the time, always."

Then he switches it off and shuts the cupboard door. Cyrus and his friends help sweep the kitchen floor and Jack looks down at his sugar-coated clothes.

"If he comes, tell him I'm in the shower and keep him out of my bedroom!" Jack says to the kids, jumping in the shower.

While this is happening, Tarrick climbs out of bed around 8 and feels bad that he slept in. Astro jumps and yips at his legs and he pats his dog's head. Astro has been a lot better with the kids so Tarrick decides to let him tag along. Tarrick runs around and manages to get ready in 10 minutes. As always, his dark red hair sticks up in every direction and he covers it with his trademark white Stetson, and as always, he trips on Astro twice as he runs around his little apartment. And, once again, Tarrick runs out the door without bothering to shave.

Astro stays at his feet, rubbing up against Tarrick's legs and getting hair on his jeans.

Tarrick laughs at this, challenging the Australian Shepherd to a race down the sidewalk when Hourner orphanage comes into view.

"He's coming!" Jay says when the strong boy comes into view, "Everyone act natural!"

The kids all pick board games and soon all forget to grin giddily when the unknowing District 10 boy bursts through the door, panting slightly.

"Honeys, I'm home- where's Jack?" he asks, upon seeing the lack of ginger hair in the room.

"In the shower!" Victoria pipes up.

Astro, slightly disappointed upon not seeing Jack, instead walks over to Cyrus, who scratches the dog behind the ears.

"Alright. Did you guys already eat, then?"

The kids nod.

"Good! Wow, he must've been up early…" Tarrick says with a sigh.

Jay and Cyrus plop back on the floor and the kids get back to their games. Tarrick smiles, walking towards the bedroom.

"WAIT!" Magenta says, "Don't go back there!"

Tarrick looks down at her, confused.

"You're not's 'llowed!"

"Says who?" he raises an eyebrow.

Magenta looks around nervously.

Gunner looks over, then screams, "OWIE! I GOTS A OWIE!"

Magenta holds back a smile as Tarrick files over to Gunner.

Astro, uninterested by this and interested in the smell of frosting, wanders to Jack's bedroom and pushes the door open. He hops on Jack's bed and starts licking the icing from the bowl.

Gunner screams like he's in pain.

"You don't look like you have an owie," Tarrick says, but Gunner wraps his arms around the man's neck anyways.

Tarrick smiles and picks up the little boy.

Gunner squeals happily and rests his head on the ginger's shoulder.

Tarrick smiles, bouncing the little boy up and down. He thinks of Grayson and pain stabs at his heart for a brief second before he sees his boyfriend poke his head out the doorway.

Astro follows, feeling slightly queasy from eating icing and lying down on the floor to sleep.

Jack watches him wearily.

"There he is!" Tarrick says with a smile, putting Gunner back on the ground to play with his friends.

Jack comes out of the bedroom to give his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek in greeting. Then he smiles, "Forgot to shave again?"

"Come on. You could never kiss a clean-shaven face again and you know it."

"I couldn't kiss any face again," Jack comments, giving him a peck on the lips before heading to the play area to play a game of Chutes and Ladders with Jay and Gunner.

Tarrick smiles, "Was someone cooking this morning? Something smells good."

Jack swallows hard, "Nope!" he lies.

"You Ok?" Tarrick asks, sitting Magenta on his lap.

"Fine," Jack says.

"Alright," but older boy sounds unsure.

The afternoon comes and soon the evening.

Jack's nerves are out of control by now. The kids all take their dinners to the play area and eat quietly, eavesdropping.

Jack dims the lights, lights a candle, and serves roast beef and noodles for dinner.

"Jack," Tarrick asks, slightly nervous, "What is this?"

"Tar, you have done so much for me. So I want to do something special for you, for once."

"Oh…" the stronger boy takes on a whole new and very delicate disposition, cheeks and ears turning bright red. He pulls the hat down over his blushing face and Jack laughs, "Well, come on now! Take a seat!"

The older boy, still bright red, gently sits in a chair.

"Let me see those eyes?" Jack asks, amused at his boyfriend's suddenly timid nature.

Tarrick shyly looks up. Jack laughs, "You're so used to spoiling me. But now I'm spoiling you! And you don't even get to lift a finger!" Jack teases with a loud laugh.

"You stop that!" Tarrick says, turning even redder.

"Fine," Jack says with a laugh, "As long as you say hi to the Damn Cam!"

"Oh, no," Tarrick groans, "Not the damn cam! You know I hate myself on film!"

Jack laughs, "I know. So just say hi! To my vlog, part 8!" He turns on his camera and zooms in on the smiling face of his boyfriend.

"You're doing another sectioned-one?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I am," Jack says.

"What about?"

"You'll see!"

"Alright, alright…"

"Now hold on! I'll be right back!" Jack shouts, running to the laundry room and grabbing the cupcake tray.

Tarrick thinks about this but his mind is sent elsewhere when he sees the cupcakes.

"You made cupcakes!?" the tall man asks, eyeing the treats hungrily.

"I did!" Jack says with a laugh, putting the tray in front of him and taking one for himself.

"I sure hope these are good," Jack says.

Tarrick takes a huge bite and his green eyes go wide. "Jack… These are… Amazing!"

"Really?"

"So good! I'm absolutely crazy about red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!"

"I know!" Jack says, laughing, "That's why I made them!"

The darker-haired boy swallows his bite of cupcake before kissing the lighter-haired boy on the lips. "You are amazing," he whispers.

"I know," Jack teases.

Tarrick goes back to eating cupcakes with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. Jack finishes off his cupcake and opens his camera, "Vlog, part 9! Say hi, Tarrick!"

The strong boy swallows another bite of cupcake and waves. Then he slows down his eating to not look like a pig on film.

"Why do you keep filming me?" Tarrick asks suspiciously.

"You're about to find out," Jack says, shutting off and setting down his camera at a good angle on the table.

His green eyes grow to the size of dinner plates.

"Jack. Landon. Hourner. What the hell are you doing?! You're not. You're not. You're not," he spews out, shocked more than anything.

Jack presses the button on his camera and says, "Vlog post number 10." He takes a breath as he gets on a knee and takes Tarrick's hand in his own.

Finally realizing what it is, Tarrick's heart beats hard and fast in his chest. "Oh God, Jack. You're not. You're not… You're not…"

Jack laughs, "Shut up and let me do it!" he grins.

Now both of them are shaking, Jack from nervousness, Tarrick from overwhelming happiness. He puts a hand over his mouth as Jack starts.

"Tarrick… You helped me through. I loved you from the day we met, and you just helped me to discover it. I don't know where I'd be without you. I need you in my life, I need you to be with me and only me for the rest of eternity. I am yours, forever and always. And I want you to be mine-"

"Just ask me already and stop making me cry!" Tarrick screams through his hand, even though tears are already forming in his eyes.

"Fine, fine, fine! Tarrick Tailor-Bates, will you marry me?"

"Yes I'll marry you, idiot!" Tarrick says, yanking him up off his knees by the shirt and pulling Jack on his lap in a kiss.

"He said yes!" Magenta says to the rest of the kids.

Everyone cheers from the other room, causing Jack to break away and both to turn bright red.

"I love you," he whispers, straightening Tarrick's hat.

"I love you, too," Tarrick whispers in his charming deep voice.

Then Jack climbs off his fiancé and slides the ring on his finger.

"Ok, children, you can come in!"

And they all run in and hug both men's legs, including Astro.

Jack grins from ear-to-ear, picking up Victoria and bouncing her up and down.

"And I found some people to look over the orphanage in the evenings and mornings, so we can get an apartment!" he says.

Tarrick nods, "But it'll be hard to leave this place."

"Don't worry," Jack says, "We're going to ease into it. It'll be perfect, I promise."

"You think?" he asks with a grin. Jack nods.

"And, while we're here… Cyrus. Victoria."

The little boy looks up upon hearing his name and his sister looks up nervously.

The two men exchange a look and smile.

Tarrick picks up Victoria, Jack takes Cyrus. "How would you two like to be Hourner-Tailors?"

"You're adopting us!?" Cyrus asks, "For real!? People don't adopt package deals, though!"

"Well we do," Jack says, "And you've been here for so long that we can't stand to see you leave with anyone else but us."

Cyrus wraps his arms around Jack's neck and hugs him tightly. "I love you so much."

"We love you too," Tarrick says, kissing both kids and then his fiancé, "And you will all be mine for the rest of my life."

~Part Three: Take Me All the Way: Setting: the next night, at Tarrick's apartment~

~Song: Love Somebody by: Maroon 5~

"You can just throw those dishes in the sink," Tarrick says.

I've become way too used to just messing up my boyfriend's… Well, I guess he's my fiancé now… So… My fiancé's house. But every time I try to help, he just swats me away.

We've been dating now for a while. Everyone's been saying it's about time we're engaged.

"So, now what?" I ask.

"Dessert," Tarrick says, shoving a cupcake in my face. My exclamations are muffled by his pressing the pastry to my mouth. I laugh when he finally removes it, licking the chocolate off my lips and grabbing a cupcake from the table, for revenge. I completely cover his face in icing and double over laughing.

Then I snatch the hat from his head, throwing it across the kitchen.

"Fine. That's how you're playing it, eh!?" he asks, opening up a cabinet, "Then we'll have to do it traditionally. Can't have a date without the flower, right!?" he asks, proceeding to pour a whole container of flour on my head.

I blink, staring at him in amazement. Well I didn't think he'd actually do it.

Now it's a good thing I know my way around his kitchen so well. I open up a cabinet and take out the sugar.

"If and when I pour this all over you, will the world explode?"

He rolls his eyes, "Why would it?"

"Because you're already maximum sweet. What if I made you sweeter?"

He rolls his eyes again but grins, shoving me backwards. The flour pile on my head goes everywhere and covers the floor even more than it already was.

I lunge for him, pouring the sugar all over him and laugh.

He laughs, too, "Ok, ok. Now hold on."

He walks to the fridge and I watch cautiously.

He opens a carton and takes out a couple of eggs.

"Close your eyes and mouth," he warns with a laughs, cracking an egg on my forehead, "Because you are just TOO egg-cellent!" He opens it and the cold insides hit the top of my head. I roll my eyes at his joke, shaking the egg off my head and stepping forward. I snatch an egg from his hands.

"You're EGG-cellent, too!" I crack it and pour the contents on his beautiful red hair.

He laughs, throwing a piece of bread at my face, "Real original bun there."

I laugh, "Good bun," I say, throwing it back at him.

"Oh, come on!" he says, still laughing.

"Fine, fine, fine. I mean, coming up with my own awesome food pun? Piece of CAKE!" I say, laughing maniacally and slamming a whole delicious chocolate cake on his face.

He laughs, face even more covered in icing than it already was.

"So cheesy," he says, covering me in spray-able cheese all over the head.

"Gross!" I shout.

He laughs, "You asked for it!"

I shake my head dramatically, sending food everywhere.

Then I throw some flour on him, "Have your flour back!"

"Oh, Jack…" he says with an evilly sweet smile, "You are… Milking… The hell out of that one," he hisses, and the freezing gallon goes right on me. I scream with laughter and shiver.

Then I pick up the spray-able nozzle on the sink and shoot him with freezing water, "WATER YOU DOING TO YOUR FIANCE, TARRICK!?"

He laughs at that one as I grab another can from the fridge, "You are as sweet as a bowl of cream," I tell him, holding the nozzle of the whipped cream can and running it around on his head.

Both of us laugh so hard we get cramps.

"I think this is the most tamed my hair's ever been!" he says.

Then he whirls around and holds a bottle of vegetable oil in his left hand.

"Nooooo!" I scream.

He grins wickedly, backing me into the fridge. My gaze never leaves the food in his hand.

He unscrews the lid, both of us laughing so hard we're red in the face.

"I have two options here," he says when we're both fairly calm again, "I could either pour this all over your head, or…"

"Or?"

"Or one of our trademark make-out sessions," he says with a smile that looks different than I've ever seen before.

"Oooo, I like the second one…"

He laughs and pours the oil all over me.

"Hey!"

"I picked both, of course," he says with a low chuckle and I feel the oil drip down my hair as our lips press together.

As our kiss progresses, it starts to speed up. My heart beats out of my chest as Tarricks strong hands wrap around my waist.

This is something that I've never felt before in my life. All I want is for him to be as close to me as I can manage to be. I find myself stepping off the fridge to lessen the distance between us. Suddenly his strong body pushes me back into the fridge and his whole figure presses mine against it from head to toe.

A new kind of chills runs all over me.

He breaks ever-so-slightly, panting. He keeps me tight against the fridge.

"Hold it," he mumbles against my lips.

"You're not going into protective mature mode, are you?" I mumble back.

"Just for a second," he says, husky voice sending chills through me.

"What?"

"I know what you've been through," he mumbles, "I don't wanna push you into this."

"I trust you more than anyone else in this world," I whisper, hugging closer and nibbling on his ear for a second.

Feeling him with chills is intoxicating.

"And we've gone slow, yes, and you know that I'll always appreciate it. But I'm ready for you now."

I grin up at him and he grins back. Finally I jump on him, hugging him tight with legs around his waist and arms around his neck. We both laugh slightly.

His husky whispering voice is one of the sexiest things in the world at the moment, and he whispers in my ear, "Well then… I guess we butter take this to the bedroom."

A/N: Wow, that first part turned out to be a lot more spoiler-filled and depressing than intended. Oh well, the rest was happy, right? So that kind of counts for something, right? And, yeah, I know, the ending was kind of pushing the T rating but I don't think it was too bad… If it is then I guess I'll change it… *sigh* Ok, back with depressing chapters (hopefully!) sometime soon.