Fiction: When You Weren't Looking: Epilogue
And this is the last part of WYWL. It's the epilogue. *tears up again* Excuse me while I mourn the end. *takes a moment* I hope you have all enjoyed the story, the journey and the twists. Thank you for all that have read every chapter and that have waited patiently for me to finish. **hugs** I have the best cyber friends in the world.
Title: When You Weren't Looking
Epilogue: A New Journey Begins...
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The hospital stay for both was short and Coop was thankful for that. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms in their bed and convince himself that the whole ordeal was over, that she was safe. He wanted to spend the rest of their lives like that. Having her close was the only way he could really be sure that she was not still in that pond or kidnapped somewhere.
Kane was laid to rest next to the girl he always loved, Rebecca, two days after they got out of the hospital. Coop and Ashlee made the trip to pay their respects. Kane died trying to save them and for that both of them would always be grateful. Kate was waiting in a mental hospital for her trial to begin. He didn’t believe she would be sent to jail. Coop actually believed she was right where she belonged. With people that could help her and far away from Ashlee.
They planned to take a trip, just the two of them to really recover from all the hell of the past several months. Of course that would have to wait. He sighed watching all of Springfield file into Company to check on them both. He stood over in the corner with Remy and Frank, a cold beer in his hand. Coop hadn’t taken the first sip of his drink. His mind wasn’t focused on anything but Ashlee.
She smiled brightly at Daisy and Marina. Her long blond hair pulled into a ponytail that swung back and forth when she laughed. Coop grinned. Even from the distance he was, he could see her eyes sparkle. Light radiated from her. Joy was clearly written across her face. She stopped talking and turned toward him. Their eyes connected, locking together. They still haven’t made love since before she was kidnapped. Two weeks and a couple days doesn’t seem like a long time, but for him it was a freaking eternity. That was another reason they wanted to get away. They wanted to reconnect on that level as well.
Ashlee pivoted back around and spoke quickly with Daisy and Marina. They nodded, grinning in a knowing fashion. Coop’s eyes narrowed as many thoughts swarmed his mind. Something about the way she smiled at him when she faced him again sent his blood rushing through his veins. The way she walked toward him was almost predatory. Her stride was determined, her eyes sensual but sharp as well and her lips were curled in such a way that he knew he would most definitely like her plan.
“Hey,” she slid up and wrapped her arms around him, looking at Remy and Frank. “You mind if I steal him for awhile?” Coop’s eyes narrowed further at both Frank and Remy’s secret grins as they shook their heads. She took his hand and led him away from everyone and into the Company kitchen toward the Boardinghouse stairs. She spun around, pressing her back against the wall and tugging him to her. “Finally,” she whispered against his lips a second before he captured them.
Their mouths collided in a fury of need. Even with his arm in a sling he was able to mold his body to hers. There was no air between them, no room at all. Just her supple curves against his hard form. Her tongue slipped past his lips, enticing his to dance. Coop didn’t need any encouragement. He held her head firmly in his hand and angled it just enough to deepen the kiss further. She moaned deep in her throat and he responded in kind. His lungs began to burn. Lack of air and her body against his made his head swim. He didn’t want to break the connection.
Coop didn’t want to sever this moment. He could happily die as long as it was in her arms. Ashlee was the one that pulled back. He nearly whimpered at the movement. Their foreheads came together and he opened his eyes to see her staring at him. The smile on her face was one of pure bliss. Coop took pleasure in knowing that he was the one to put it there.
He kissed her temple, letting his lips linger against the smooth skin. She sighed, wrapping her arms around him tighter. He closed his eyes again, savoring the quiet. Since the kidnapping, shooting, Ashlee’s near drowning and everything else they had to deal with, they haven’t had too many moments like this. Sure they slept together, wrapped up in each other, but this was different. This was just them. No other thoughts, no nightmares, no panic attacks… just them. Just Coop and Ashlee.
“I love you,” he said softly into her ear.
“Mm,” she hummed. He felt the sound and heard it as well. “Say it again.”
“I love you,” he repeated, taking her hand in his and placing it over his heart. “I love you. I love you.”
Ashlee grinned, “I love you too.”
“Say it again,” he said pulling her up the stairs toward their room.
“I love you,” she repeated.
“Again,” she laughed at his request.
“I love you,” Ashlee said louder this time.
“Again,” he opened their bedroom door. He yanked her hard against him and they toppled to the bed. He let out a grunt as his shoulder hit the bed. Ashlee started to move so that he could relieve some pressure from the wound, but he won’t let her. Pain didn’t bother him while she was there. Nothing bothered him as long as she was there.
She leaned over him. Her face was a mask of worry, “Are you okay?”
“I will be when you say those words again,” he grinned up at her.
Ashlee rolled her eyes, her smile returning full force. “I love you, Coop Cooper. I have never loved anyone the way I love you and I don’t see that ever changing. You are my heart,” she straddled his waist, placing her hands on either side of his head. “You are my soul and my life. I love you. I love you. I love you,” the last time she said the words it was in a scream with her head back. Ashlee looked back at him. “Are you happy now?” She asked raising her eyebrow.
“For the moment,” he conceded. Turning serious, he ran his good hand over her cheek and gazed into her summer sky blue eyes. “I have something for you.”
She rolled her hips over his groin and grinned saucily at him. “I can feel it.”
Coop moaned, his blood rushing south again. He forced himself to move so that she couldn’t torture him like that again. Not yet anyway. “I have something else for you.”
“Okay,” Ashlee eyed him. “What do you have for me?”
He eased her off of him and walked over to his desk. Opening the top drawer, Coop pulled out the manuscript he started months ago. With a deep breath, he handed her the thick stack of pages. “Months ago,” he started sitting next to her on the bed. Ashlee was looking at him and then at the papers in a stunned silence. “I started a story and you asked me to read it to you, but I felt like you should be able to read it on your own. This story isn’t just a story. It’s our story. It describes, as well as I can with the words I know, how much you mean to me. How much I love you. And how I’m so lucky to have you love me back.” Tears welled up in her eyes and his started to get misty as well. “I wasted a lot of time. I don’t want to waste anymore.”
Ashlee reached out and pulled him into a kiss. Their tears mixed as their faces came together. “I’m lucky to have you, Coop. I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life, but I’m so glad you are.” He wiped the tear from her cheek. “I can’t wait to read this,” she said excitedly.
“Read the title and the dedication first,” Coop urged.
She lifted her eyebrow in question then read the title out loud, “When you weren’t looking.” Her eyes turned back to his.
“When I wasn’t looking,” he started with his heart thundering in his chest. “You stole my heart. I never knew it happened until I almost lost you for good. And then I worried it might be too late. I know how blessed I am it wasn’t.”
“I’m blessed too,” she pressed her lips against his ear. “You stole my heart as well, Coop Cooper.” They kissed softly one more time, before he pulled away.
He nodded to the pages, “Read the dedication.” Coop got up from the bed and returned to the drawer. Grabbing some things from the desk quickly he sat back down.
“To Ashlee,” she began once he was seated next to her. “The woman that brought light and love into my life when I needed it the most. I love you with all that I am and will continue to until my dying breath.” She gasped. He watched her eyes get wide and she turned to face him.
“Finish it,” he told her quietly.
Her voice shook, her eyes watered again, “Will you marry me?”
Coop knelt by the bed and pulled out one of the items he got from the drawer. It was her red sharpie. Ashlee’s eyebrows came together in confusion. “You have to write your answer down, so that I have proof. Especially if you say yes. I don’t want you backing out. If it’s on paper, you can’t.”
Ashlee eagerly took the marker from his hand and wrote in big, bold letters across the page, “YES!!!!!!!!!!” He laughed quietly at all the exclamation points she used. Then she turned to him with a giant grin. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He took out the ring and grinned at her reaction. Another gasp escaped from her full lips followed quickly by a squeal. “I was hoping you would say that,” he slipped the ring on her finger and watched the diamond sparkle. He climbed back onto the bed and kissed her. “I can’t wait for you to be my wife.”
She rolled them so that she was on top and smiled down at him, “I can’t wait for you to be my husband.”
Their lips collided in a passionate kiss. None of the guest downstairs saw them for the rest of the night. Coop and Ashlee were too busy celebrating their engagement, their love and their hope for the future to be concerned with anyone else.
The End
Well that's it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story. **hugs**