Page 49 of You Saved Me

“I do. I think it’s a good idea. We can talk to your parents about it, see what they think. I don’t think they’ll say no to you. Not if you explain it to them how you explained it to me. And I’m here for you. I’ll back you up if you need me to. I don’t think Momma and Pop will say no to both of us.”

Lucas sighed and leaned his head back on the couch, rubbing his shoulder. It was still in the sling, but I wasn’t sure it actually hurt anymore. He said he hadn’t felt much pain from it in a while. I think he was remembering the pain of the knife slicing through his arm—phantom pain.

We sat in silence, absorbing the enormity of what we went through. If I were being honest, I thought coming to see the cabin was a step in the right direction. Lucas had a cleansing cry that helped him in a soul-deep way. I could see where things happened and came to terms that there was no other option. I had to kill Greyson to save Lucas. I stopped beating myself up about not getting there sooner, although that wasn’t easy.

We would survive this. We had to. Because we had each other. He had me, I had him, and we had love. So much love. From each other, from our family, from our friends. We would make it through. It wouldn’t be easy. It would be a tough road for us, but we were walking it together, so I knew we would come through on the other side.

“I love you, Tris,” he said softly, reaching his hand out to me.

I scooted over to sit beside him, grasped his hand, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “I love you too, Lucas. Forever.”

Epilogue

Lucas

One Year Later

We were celebrating. Not only had Tristan’s first book made theNew York Timesbestsellers list when it was released two months after Cassie signed him as her client, but it stayed at the top of the charts for three months. It sold millions of copies and was published in over one hundred other countries. Now, the follow-up book was getting the same numbers, and Tristan had just signed a contract to turn both books into movies. Cassie and I decided to have a small, intimate dinner with our closest friends and family to celebrate. My parents, who couldn’t do anything small, bought out an entire restaurant so we could mingle how we wanted. It wasn’t very many of us, but I was thankful. I invited Billings, who I had gotten closer to over the past year through our shared trauma. I knew it was still a sore spot when people stared at her prostheses, so buying out a restaurant was great. She was doing well, though, her physical therapy going strong. She decided to see the therapist that Santana vetted for Tristan, and her mental health was coming along as well.

Santana and I also became good friends. Unfortunately for him, he was shot six months ago and almost didn’t make it. I showed up for him just as he showed up for me. We formed a friendship, and I helped him get himself together when he was forced to give up his position and retire from the Bureau after fifteen years. It was a shock to discover that Santana was only two years older than me. He didn’t look old, but his position as interim, then permanent, Division Director had me thinking he was older than me by at least a decade. He moved to Atlanta since he didn’t have family, and we became each other’s family. He and Tristan had bonded when I was in the coma, so I knew he would be happy to see Santana here tonight, even though they saw each other at least twice a week when they went running together.

Cassie, of course, was there, looking every bit the successful businesswoman she was. She didn’t use any of our parents’ money to buy her building or start her publishing company. She had been saving since she started at Brickmans and was able to pay up a year on her building lease. She also got a business loan that she was able to pay back almost immediately after the sale of Tristan’s first book. A few of the editors came out to celebrate their second bestseller, people Tristan worked closely with to make sure both books were fantastic reads and perfect the scripts for the movies, which he had almost full creative control over. A few of the other newer authors signed to Casswell Publishing were here as well, starstruck by Tristan, who seemed embarrassed by the attention. It was adorable.

Momma and Pop were mingling, having come back into the country after I told them about Tristan’s book and wanting them to be here while we celebrated. They both retired shortly after moving to Atlanta, where they decided to stay. They spent most of their time traveling, enjoying their retirement years abroad. I think Momma was happy to be done. They were almost sixty, and I was sure she was ready to slow down. Pop seemed sad that he was retired and had to stay home most days. But the traveling was doing him good, and they both still volunteered at various charities when they were in the country.

The few people we had to celebrate this moment with were perfect. Both of us were pretty private and low-key, not wanting too many people around us all the time. If it weren’t for Momma and Pop being extra, we would have done this at our new four-bedroom, three-bathroom house we bought together six months ago. We wanted to fill it with kids, so we figured we would go ahead and get the house now to be prepared.

This was better, though. It gave us time to get out, which we didn’t do as often since I was in school to become a physical therapist. After going through my own physical therapy and seeing how I was helped, I wanted to do the same for others. Another year and I could take my boards and become a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

We visited the cabin that weekend to celebrate, checking on the kitchen’s progress. It looked good, unrecognizable from the one I grew up in and the one Tristan fell in love with me in. But it was a welcome surprise. We decided to keep the stove and refrigerator, which Tristan loved, but him, my parents, and I decided on a different color scheme and layout. We had plans to go up in the morning, all of us, to spend a few days. Tristan and I wanted to visit the meadow again, to lay out in the sun, carefree and in love.

Cassie got everyone’s attention when she noticed all of our guests had arrived. “Okay, y’all. Let’s have a seat and order some food. We can make our speeches for the man of the hour after we’ve stuffed our faces.” There was scattered laughter, and I walked Tristan from the lounge area of the restaurant where we were mingling to the dining area. We sat down, and the waitstaff came out immediately to take our orders.

“Momma and Pop are so extra.” Tristan laughed.

“Yeah, they are, but they mean well. They’re proud of you like I am.” He smiled at me, beamed really, and I kissed him on the cheek. He blushed and brought his lips to mine.

“I’m proud ofyou,” he said against my lips. “You’re doing so well in your classes. You’re getting everything you want. I love that for you.”

I smiled at him, but I was suddenly nervous. I would know by the end of the night if I was to geteverythingI wanted. Tristan, knowing me so well, saw the change in my demeanor and frowned. “You okay? You having your dark thoughts again?” That’s what he coined the moments I spaced out, drawn back into the past.

“No, just hungry.” I was a terrible liar. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it further. I was glad. I needed to wait, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be on my mind until I did it.

We got our food and stuffed our faces like Cassie said. The food was excellent. Of course, it was if this was Momma and Pop’s favorite restaurant. After everyone was finished and we were nursing our drinks, Cassie stood up and tapped a fork on her champagne flute.

“Thank you all for coming out for our Tristan,” she began. “He worked hard to get where he is now. I remember the first time I readOut of Time. Wyatt was so real to me. He jumped off the page and grabbed my hand, taking me on a trip to London. I’d never read anything like it. From the first four chapters Tristan sent me when he was on his journey to the last line I read, I knew it would be big. I knew my best friend would have the bestseller he had always dreamed of, and I am honored that I was among one the first to read it. And the second book, I had another front-row seat to Wyatt’s antics, this time in Canada. I felt like I was in Winnipeg, experiencing the brutal cold and high-octane action he took me through. Tristan…” she said and looked at him, “… I am so glad you took a chance with me, an unknown publishing company, to give your book life. To put Wyatt and his story out there for the world to enjoy. Here’s to you, love. You deserve this and everything else. To Tristan!”

Everyone repeated, “To Tristan!,” and we drank. Cassie winked, and I knew it was aimed at me, but Tristan didn’t. He blushed at her and blew her a kiss. I tapped his shoulder, indicating for him to give a speech. He gave me an exasperated look, making me chuckle before he stood up.

“Okay, this is awkward.” He rolled his eyes, getting a laugh from those assembled. “Thank you everyone for coming out. Honestly, I always saw myself as a romance writer. I love ‘love,’ and I wanted other people to experience that, too, through reading my work. But last year, I had one shitty day…” he looked over and said, “… sorry, Momma,” making everybody laugh again. “As I was saying, I had a crappy day, and it caused my best friend to send me away. While I was driving to my destination, I pictured Wyatt. I looked over, and he was sitting in the passenger seat, telling me his story. And he wouldn’t leave me alone until I started to write it down. Day in and day out, Wyatt showed up, telling me about his exploits as a CIA agent, his highs and lows, and how he solved the biggest terrorism case in London history. And when he moved on to Canada, he took me along with him so I could tell that story. Wyatt is a fictional character, but he was real to me. I breathed life into him, and now we haveOut of TimeandThe Days Cold Heat. I’m not sure if he wants to tell me more, but if he ever does, I’ll be here, waiting for him. He will always have a special place in my heart. I’m thankful I had the pleasure of being the person he chose to tell his story to.

“I want to thank Cass for believing in me. making me feel like I could do this and make my wildest dreams come true.” He winked at her, causing her to drop her head and blush. “I want to thank Momma and Pop as well, for loving me, taking me in when I had no one, and believing in me as well.” Pop gave Tristan a thumbs-up while Momma dabbed under her eyes, smiling warmly at him. “And, of course, Lucas. My Wyatt, my muse. Without you, I would have let my self-doubt overwhelm me, and I wouldn’t be here.” He looked deep into my eyes, tears threatening to fall, then blinked them back and continued. “So, let’s give a toast to Wyatt. My character and my muse, for choosing me and making me the happiest man in the world.”

Everyone repeated, “To Wyatt!,” and we drank again. Tristan sat down and gave me a gentle kiss and squeezed my hand. Now it was my turn. Taking a deep breath, I stood up. Tristan looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I grabbed his hand to pull him back up. I walked him to the front of the room so everyone could see us without craning their necks.

“Thank you all for coming out,” I said shakily. I looked over at Cassie, who nodded her head and gave me a brief thumbs-up. I told her my plan earlier this evening, and she was absolutely thrilled. “Some of you here don’t know how me and Tris met.” He groaned and rolled his eyes, making the room laugh. “Let’s just say, he did not like being around me. He basically banished me to my room for a week.” He gave me a sidelong look, but I pulled him in for a kiss to wipe the look from his face. He gave me a lopsided smile, unable to stay mad at me.

“But when I finally got to know him, I found out he was smart, funny, creative, tough, strong, and so, so compassionate. I was having a tough time when we met, and even when he didn’t like me, he tried to help me.” I turned to him and met his eyes. “You saved me. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with you after that. And thankfully, you fell in love with me too. And I want that love. Forever. So,” I took another deep breath and dropped to one knee. Tristan’s eyes went wide, and he looked over at Cassie.

“Tristan Anthony Michaels, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t know where I would be if you weren’t in my life. I want you, all of you, forever and past that. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I took the box from my pocket and opened it, showing him the platinum ring.

He nodded and whispered, “Of course I will.” A few tears dropped from his eyes as I slid the ring on his finger and stood up, taking him into my arms. Everyone was clapping and offering congratulations, but I paid them no mind. My attention was on him, my Tris, on the blush on his cheeks, the tears flowing from his eyes, and the smile that stretched across his face.

“I love you,” I said to him, kissing his lips. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby. More than words can ever express.”

We kissed, holding on to each other, knowing our future was bright. Knowing we would be okay because we were going into our future as one. Together.

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