Epilogue
MALIA
I put my hands on my hips and eye the fancy pizza Caleb is holding when he turns away from his front door and shuts it behind the LetsEat driver. “My Vincenzo’s isn’t good enough for you, mister?”
He sets the (delicious-smelling, to be honest) pizza on the counter and then comes back to gather me up in his arms. “I wanted to spoil you a little bit tonight,” he says, nuzzling my neck and then kissing me.
“You buy yourself a Lexus and suddenly you’re a big spender,” I tease.
He chuckles. “It’s not that fancy of a pizza, babe.
Come on, we have a mission starting in five minutes, and I will not have Macie mocking me again for making us late.
” He grabs my hand, picks up the pizza in the other, and heads for his gaming room.
We’re here 90% of the time when we’re on mission.
Despite dating him for over six months now, I haven’t upgraded the gaming room at my own house.
His is just so cozy. There’s no need to mess with perfection.
He sets the pizza down on the coffee table and then heads back into the kitchen for plates and sodas, finally settling next to me with just a couple minutes to spare. I’ve already logged in for him, though, so we’re good.
His phone dings just as he settles in next to me, and I glance over to see it’s a text from his sister, Carlie.
Carlie
You sure you know how to do the screen recording?
I can’t help a laugh. “Carlie is questioning your basic tech skills?”
“She’s my sister,” he grunts in explanation as he types back a response.
Caleb
You have to be kidding me.
“What are you screen recording for her?” I ask, leaning forward to grab a plate and some pizza.
“A surprise or something for Law,” he says distractedly.
When I sit back, I see that she’s sent another message that says, And you’re sure the cameras are on?
“Hmm. I don’t think I want to know the details.” I grab my controller.
“Exactly.” He taps something else on the screen, then puts his phone aside, picking up his controller.
We get settled into the game, chatting off and on as we complete the tasks for our latest mission in Shadow Heroes.
“Malia, Caleb, you guys need to get back to the safehouse, ASAP,” Macie suddenly breaks in.
I share a look with Caleb. He frowns in confusion.
“Everything okay, Mace?” I ask.
“Just get here quickly.” Then there’s an explosion of gunfire.
“Not another traitor,” I mumble as Caleb and I abandon the supply run we were on and locate our vehicle as quickly as possible. Caleb drives, getting us back to the safehouse location in record time. I run in ahead of him, weapon out and worried I’m going to find Macie’s character injured or worse.
Instead, I burst in to find the entire safehouse decked out in an explosion of flowers.
Rose petals litter the floor, and candles flicker romantically from dozens of places around the room.
And then, in the back of the room—a spot that’s normally crowded with boxes of supplies—are light-up marquee letters spelling, “Will you marry me?”
I gasp. I turn to look at my boyfriend and find that he’s somehow slipped off the couch without me noticing and is kneeling next to me, just like his character is kneeling next to me in the game.
He holds up a red velvet box opened to reveal a stunning oval solitaire diamond set on a beautiful rose-gold band.
There’s a cheer in my headset, and I glance up at our screens to see that Caleb has added a livestream video of us in real life so our team can share in the moment.
“Malia,” Caleb says, and I cover my face in my hands.
This is so … so perfect. I’m giggling and crying.
The setup in the game! The screen recording request from Carlie and making sure the cameras were working.
It was all about this. This thing we share together, but he also made sure the people we love could be here too. It’s amazing.
“Yes,” I say before he even asks anything.
There’s a squeal of delight in my headset that is distinctly Carlie.
I hear, “I can’t believe how cute this is in a game.” That’s totally my sister. My boyfriend—now fiancé—logged our friends and family in to the game to watch this.
I drop down next to Caleb and throw my arms around him. “Yes, yes, yes!” I cry.
He leans in and kisses me, pulling me into him. When he pulls away just enough for me to look at him, he’s grinning so wide I can’t help but take his face in my hands and kiss him more.
“The ring, Malia!” Carlie cries, and I remember with a laugh that I’m still wearing my headset. “Put that ring on!” she demands.
I hold out a hand to Caleb, and he obliges. “Yes, a million times yes,” I whisper to him.
“Hold it up to the camera, Malia,” Skye demands.
I look at Caleb, and he points to a camera on the TV stand. I walk over to it and flash the ring for Skye. She gasps in awe.
“Caleb, can we come over now?” Carlie asks in a pleading voice.
“Bruh,” Macie whines. “I wish I lived in Houston.”
“Same,” Skye says with a sigh.
“Come on over.” Caleb laughs. “Hey, team, thanks for your help. It turned out perfect. You’re the best.”
There’s a chorus of congratulations in our ears, and then we sign off.
I return to Caleb, who’s now standing next to the couch, and hug him close once again. “It really was perfect, Cal,” I whisper against his cheek. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, Malia.” His voice is soft and stirs the hair escaping my high ponytail to flutter against my temple. “The night I asked you to be my fake girlfriend was the best decision I ever made.”
“It really was,” I agree. We laugh, and then Caleb pulls me up off the ground.
“Come on, future Mrs. Gallagher. People are on their way over to celebrate us, and I told Carlie she could only come over if she brought cake.” Still he holds me in his arms for a moment, kissing the top of my head.
“Mmmm. Mrs. Gallagher. I really like that.”
Caleb and I get about ten minutes to celebrate by ourselves before Carlie, Law, Jett, Ava, Devin, Jenna, and their kids show up at the house—with cake and ice cream. Hudson asks if it’s someone’s birthday, and then shrugs when Jenna tells him it’s to celebrate that Caleb is going to marry me.
I stand next to Caleb, my plate in hand, listening to the laughter and chatting around me and thinking about the night I told Caleb I’d come to Carlie’s wedding with him. The night I took a chance that fake could be real.
I marvel at how I could have thought it was a stupid decision. I marvel at how well it all turned out.
“Malia?” Caleb asks, looking down at me and probably wondering about my zoned-out expression.
I turn to look up at him. My future husband. “Hmm?”
“I love you,” he says softly.
“I love you,” I reply.
Husband and wife. Best characters we will ever be.
(Well. Besides maybe Mom and Dad, but I’ll check in on that later.)
Thank you so much for reading Malia + Caleb’s story.