A/N: Thank you all for reading my story! Hope you enjoy the epilogue.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Epilogue: The happy ever after

~4 months later~

The Angler Head pub was very crowded tonight, as usual, but that didn't stop Daphne from organizing a little get-together after their shift at the hospital. Today had been Sophie Beckett's first day at St. Bartholomew's as a fellow pediatric nurse, and Daphne was determined to make it a special occasion for her. Sophie was a young, pretty Asian woman who was still a bit shy in this new environment, but that made Daphne all the more determined to make her as comfortable as possible.

"…So, who's all coming again?" Sophie now asked as she and Daphne made their way through the pub while looking for an open table. "I know you mentioned some of the other nurses in the pediatric ward."

"Yeah. Leah and Stephanie are both stopping by," Daphne explained. "And also Kate, but she's arriving a bit later with my brother Anthony. The two of them are dating, but I think I already mentioned that to you. Then my fiancé Simon is coming by, as well as two of my other brothers, Benedict and Colin."

"Oh, okay. Do your brothers usually join you for these outings?" Sophie asked curiously. They finally found an empty table and sat down at it, taking off their coats. "I'm not complaining or anything, but it's just that your family seems so different from mine. My stepsisters and I hardly ever hang out together at pubs."

"I do try to spend as much time as I can with my siblings," Daphne smiled, looking a bit embarrassed. "I come from a big family and we all work different careers, so all of us don't get to see each other too often. My brothers can be a bit rambunctious, but I think you'll like them regardless."

"I'm sure I will," Sophie smiled.

"So what do you want to drink?" Daphne asked, getting to her feet. "I'll run to the bar and get it for you."

"Oh, no, that's alright," Sophie got to her feet too. "I can get our drinks for us –"

She made to turn around, but immediately bumped into someone, almost causing her to fall backward. "Ooph!"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" the man she bumped into apologized, quickly grasping her arms and steadying her. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh, no. It's… it's fine," Sophie stammered, looking up at the guy and blinking a few times. He seemed to freeze as he stared at her, and for a moment all they could seem to do was look at each other, their eyes wide.

"Benedict, try to be more careful," Daphne chastised her brother. "This is a new nurse at the hospital, Sophie Beckett. Sophie, this is my brother Benedict."

Benedict seemed to come to himself slightly. "Sophie," he said, as if testing her name on his lips. He realized his hands were still on her arms, and he slowly removed them. "It's… it's a pleasure to meet you, Sophie."

"Er… you as well," Sophie said, her cheeks blushing a bright pink. She cleared her throat, looking away. "Sorry, I had just gotten up to get my and Daphne's drinks at the bar."

"Please, allow me to go for you," Benedict offered quickly, shooting her a charming smile. "It's the least I could do after barrelling into you like that. What'll you have?"

"Erm… a rum and Coke?"

"Hm. Sounds delicious," Benedict smiled, still gazing down at her. "I think I'll have the same, actually. I'll be right back."

He turned to head over to the bar, and Sophie watched him leave, her cheeks still blazing red.

"Wait, Ben! Ugh, he forgot to ask for my drink," Daphne said, pouting at his retreating figure.

"That's okay. I'll get it for you," Simon suddenly appeared at their table, smiling down at his fiancé. "Hey babe."

"Simon," Daphne smiled brightly, and she leaned up to peck him on the lips. "Sophie, this is my fiancé Simon. Simon, this is the new nurse over at the hospital, Sophie Beckett."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Sophie smiled at Simon, and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you too. So, a vodka soda?" Simon turned to Daphne, who smiled up at him.

"Thanks, babe."

Simon headed over to the bar, and Daphne and Sophie sat back down just as two of their fellow nurses, Leah and Stephanie, joined them. The four women immediately began catching up with each other, talking about their respective shifts at the hospital, before Simon and Benedict rejoined them. The two of them had to grab some extra chairs from nearby tables, and Benedict made sure to place his chair right next to Sophie, who blushed once again upon being in such close proximity to him.

"Ben, is Colin still joining us tonight?" Daphne asked her brother after a few minutes. "I texted him but I haven't heard back."

"Oh, you don't know?" Benedict asked, and his face lit up excitedly. "He's not coming, and you'll never guess why."

"Really? Why?" Daphne asked, looking very interested.

"He's going on a date tonight… with Penelope Featherington."

Simon and Daphne both stared at Benedict, their mouths agape. "What?!" Daphne exclaimed, completely flabbergasted. "Are you serious? Penelope?"

"I didn't realize Colin even liked her," Simon stated, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "When did this come about?"

"I don't know when exactly it happened, but last week he confessed to me that he really liked her," Benedict said. "He asked me not to tell anyone since he was feeling really conflicted about it. He wanted to ask her out, but he also knew it would be weird since she's our sister's best friend. I encouraged him to just go for it, though, and he actually took my advice. I guess Penelope was just waiting for him to ask her out since she apparently said yes right away."

"Aw, that's actually really sweet," Sophie said, smiling wistfully. Benedict smiled back at her.

"It is sweet, isn't it?" he agreed, meeting Sophie's eyes. They gazed at each other for a moment before Sophie blinked and looked away, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, I'm happy for them," Daphne said, smiling as well. "And hopefully Eloise is happy for them too."

"I'm sure she is. And if not, she'll get over it," Simon shrugged. "Anthony eventually got over it when I asked you out on a date for the first time, didn't he?"

"Keyword: eventually. I think a part of him still wants to wring your neck for even daring to look in my direction," Daphne smirked at her fiancé. The others laughed as Simon grinned.

All of them continued to chat as the evening wore on, talking about work and about how Sophie's first day had gone at the hospital. Benedict seemed particularly interested in knowing how Sophie was getting on as the new girl at St. Bartholomew's, and she clearly felt a bit overwhelmed by all this attention from everyone.

"I had my first official team meeting with all the other nurses this morning," Sophie was telling Benedict. "The Chief of Medicine was there and gave us the rundown of everything, which I found really helpful. Although there was a weird moment where he over-emphasized the sexual harassment policy and handed me like eight pamphlets about it."

Leah, Stephanie, and Daphne all groaned, rolling their eyes. "That was because of a doctor who used to work with us at the hospital. Tom Dorset," Leah explained to Sophie.

"He was a real piece of work," Stephanie added, shaking her head. "It would take all day to talk about all the women he screwed over."

"Wait, Tom? Didn't he get fired a couple months ago?" Simon asked Daphne, who nodded.

"Yeah. He slept with one of his patients," Daphne explained to Sophie, looking disgusted at the very idea. "She was married, too, and her husband found out about the affair. He divorced her, obviously, and apparently he demanded Tom be sacked and get his medical license revoked."

"Oh my God," Sophie said, looking shocked at this information. "Is that what happened to him?"

"From what I heard, lawyers got involved on both sides and Tom ended up just getting transferred to another hospital," Daphne said. "He got an 'unprofessional conduct' mark on his record too – which is way too lenient for him, I feel. But, then again, I'm biased."

"It's because the hospital wanted to cover its own arse," Leah rolled her eyes again. "They knew that Tom's actions reflected badly on them, so they did everything in their power to sweep it all under the rug."

"It was an awful situation," Daphne agreed. "But as long as we don't have to put up with Tom anymore, I'm happy."

"Hear, hear," Leah and Stephanie held up their drinks in a toast, and the others laughed.

"…Oh, would you look at that?" Benedict said, gazing over toward the front entrance of the pub with a grin. "The lovebirds have finally arrived."

Everyone turned to see Kate and Anthony step in through the front doors, holding hands while smiling at each other. Anthony was saying something to Kate, his face close to hers, and she giggled before responding back, a sweet smile on her pretty face. Anthony leaned down to press a kiss to Kate's lips before eventually pulling away and tugging her toward the bar so they could get their drinks.

"You know, as happy as I am that Anthony and Kate got together, their PDA can sometimes be a bit much," Daphne grimaced as she watched them. "Especially since Anthony's always said he hates public displays of affection."

"No, he only said he disapproved of PDA when you and I got together," Simon pointed out to her. "The bloody hypocrite."

"That's Anthony for you," Benedict chuckled, shaking his head, and Sophie bit back a smile.

"…Hey everyone," Anthony greeted the group after he and Kate approached the table, their drinks in hand and their arms around each other's waists. "Sorry we're a bit late."

"It's no problem," Daphne waved off, and she gestured to Sophie. "Anthony, this is the new nurse down at the hospital, Sophie. Sophie, this is my brother Anthony."

"Hi, pleasure to meet you," Anthony smiled, lifting his beer toward her in greeting. "Kate's told me a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Sophie smiled politely. "Yeah, Kate's been a wonderful help over at the hospital. Everyone has," she added, glancing at all the other ladies in their group.

"I'm sure you'll fit in just great at St. Bartholomew's," Kate smiled at Sophie before turning her smile to Anthony. "But Anthony and I actually have some exciting news that I don't think we'll be able to keep to ourselves for much longer."

"That's right," Anthony grinned at his girlfriend, love and happiness shining in his eyes, and he turned to look at the others. "I just asked Kate to move in with me, and she said yes."

Everyone at the table immediately made exclamations of delight at this news; Daphne got to her feet to give Kate a big bear hug, and Benedict got up to shake his brother's hand.

"Congratulations, bro. This is awesome news," Benedict grinned. "Anyone with two braincells can see that you and Kate are perfect for each other. Glad to hear you haven't screwed it up yet."

"Er, thanks Ben," Anthony smiled in amusement at his brother's backhanded compliment.

"I'm thinking I'll move in next month," Kate was saying to Daphne. "I'll have to break my lease early, but my landlord is usually pretty lenient about this sort of stuff. Edwina offered to sublet from me in case I'm unable to break the lease, so I'm not too worried about that."

"Well, that's a relief," Daphne smiled. "I know how much you like Anthony's apartment, so I'm happy the two of you are finally taking the plunge and moving in together."

"I do love Anthony's apartment. Mostly because his building allows dogs when mine doesn't," Kate stated, turning to Anthony with a hopeful smile. He chuckled.

"Kate really wants us to get a dog. Specifically a corgi," Anthony informed the group, smiling down at Kate's pleading pout. "I told you I'd think about it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but that always means no," Kate pouted, and the others laughed.

"Regardless, I think this deserves a toast," Benedict picked up his drink and lifted it into the air. The others followed suit. "First, a toast to Sophie, for joining the St. Bartholomew's team." He nodded toward Sophie with a smile, and she smiled back. "And to Daphne and Simon for getting engaged last month. And also, a toast to Colin for finally asking out Penelope."

"Wait, what?" Anthony interrupted, eyes wide with surprise at that news.

"…And, finally, to Kate and Anthony," Benedict went on, gesturing to his brother and Kate. "For taking the next big step in their relationship. We're all so incredibly happy for you guys. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everyone chorused, lifting their drinks in the air before clinking them together and taking a sip.

Anthony turned and smiled at Kate, holding his drink out to her. "Cheers," he said quietly, so only she could hear. "To us."

Kate smiled brightly, the love and happiness shining in her eyes as she clinked her glass with his. "To us."

A/N: Thank you all for reading my story up until the very end! I had a great time writing it. And for anyone wondering if I'll write a Benophie fic one day, the answer to that is… maybe ;)

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