Epilogue
Casey: Christmas Day
“Shit! Shit, it’s fucking cold!” Lee yelled as he ran from the water.
I was laughing my ass off, watching as he bravely accomplished his dare from Vail, which was to completely dunk himself in the ocean.
We were the only ones on the beach, as most families were inside today celebrating the twenty-fifth of December as a family.
Well, so were we… just in our own way. Shaw, Vail, Lee, and I ventured out after breakfast and found a secluded spot on the coast near our cabin, and we huddled together on a blanket I’d set out over the sand.
For Floridians, it was a cold twenty-five degrees Celcuis, but for us, this was t-shirt weather.
It still didn’t make the water any warmer, though.
Lee ran back to the blanket, his skin covered in goosebumps.
I got up, grabbing a towel to give to him, so he could dry off, earning a kiss as a thank you before we took our seats again.
Shaw was snuggled into my side, his head in my lap as I combed my fingers through his hair.
Thanks to the heat, he was slowly getting used to not hiding beneath a hoodie, but still preferred to be directly at my side when in public.
I could see how uncomfortable he was at not having something to hide behind as we walked down the streets together, but I gladly took his hand, and together, with Vail and Lee, we took on those demons day by day.
Lee sank onto the blanket and, much to my disappointment, pulled his shirt back on, hiding his beautiful god-like perfection. With a wide, wicked grin, he turned his dark gaze to Shaw. “Your turn.”
I could feel him cringe before he let out a long moan.
Lee loved giving Shaw the most ridiculous dares, as though hoping it would get him to come out of his shell.
Though he never showed it, I think Shaw liked performing the stupid shit that Lee had him do.
It was rare that he did something that was silly, a little out of his comfort zone, but safely.
“What is it?” Shaw snapped, not moving his head from my lap.
Lee smirked at him and rubbed his hands together as though what he had planned was something so incredibly diabolical the anticipation would be worth the wait as he paused.
“Oh God,” Shaw muttered, now sounding a little panicked. “What is it? What?”
“I dare you…” Lee said slowly, twisting the knife as he paused, the suspension building, making Shaw only more nervous as he waited.
Even Vail was watching, curious but quiet, as we waited.
In fact, Vail had been quiet most of the morning, which had me reaching over every so often to squeeze his hand, reassuringly, wondering what could be bothering him.
“I dare you… to act like a chicken until your next turn.”
I burst out laughing, the sound echoing against the cliffside where we’d settled, ringing down the beach. Shaw peered up at me, the corners of his lips lifting in the tiniest of smiles, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d seen today. Well, that and Lee’s glorious body.
We all watched as he slowly sat up on his knees, casting Lee a death glare, though that little smile never went away, and folded in his hands to his sides, elbows sticking out, and muttered, “Cluck cluck…”
Lee fell forward on the blanket, laughing like a maniac, while Vail and I both threw our heads back, cackling as Shaw even bobbed his head forward and back a little.
“Oh my God… yes!” Lee crowed triumphantly, fist-pumping as he rolled to his back, looking up at the sky. “Yes! Shit, wish I’d thought of this one before.”
Shaw rolled his eyes, still bobbing his head slightly before he turned to Vail. “You ready? Cluck.”
Vail’s smile slowly broke out upon his face, and I knew he was enjoying seeing Shaw making a fool of himself. But to his credit, he didn’t give him a hard time, and simply nodded.
“Cluck. Spank the person to your left… hard.” His grin widened even more. “Cluck.”
At that, Lee instantly stopped laughing and scowled while Vail tossed his head back, losing it. I giggled at the appalled look on Lee’s face. “You son-of-a...”
“Ass in the air, Knight. This is gonna sting.” Vail began rolling his right shoulder, like he was preparing for a good workout.
“This is for your dare, isn’t it?” Lee grumbled as he complied, resting forward on his forearms, butt up, and head down towards the sand, his face hidden behind his dreads.
“Cluck, cluck, motherfucker.” Shaw grinned, his elbows moving back and forth a little as though he was flapping his wings.
Vail actually got to his feet, moving a few steps back, stretching his arm out, and whirling it like a windmill. I stuffed my fists to my mouth, trying to hold back a giggle fit as I watched poor Lee brace himself. Vail even did two practice ones, bringing his hand in close but making no contact.
“For the love of all that is holy!” Lee shouted, “Get it fucking over with alread-”
Vail struck before Lee could finish, with Vail bringing his hand up high before swinging it down with a resounding smack , right on target.
Lee actually grunted from the impact and remained where he was for several seconds, as though he was summoning any remnants of his pride he had left, before glaring up at Shaw, who watched him with the smallest of smug smiles.
“That dare was bullshit.” Lee sat up as Vail took his seat again. “We shouldn’t have dares that impact other players.”
“Hey, hey,” I laughed, “Don’t be a sourpuss just cuz you…
got your ass handed to you.” I keeled over, my head brushing against Vail’s leg, as I collapsed into uncontrollable giggles.
I could hear the others chuckle as I remained where I was on my back, the sky above me a beautiful blue, speckled with fluffy white clouds.
I hadn’t smiled or laughed this much since…
well, I couldn’t remember. These past few weeks with the boys have been a dream, one I never wanted to wake up from.
Vail’s face suddenly obstructed my view, leaning over me upside down, his mask in place, and I immediately sobered up.
“Cooper…” he said slowly.
“St. James.” I arched a brow at him, trying to maintain a cool facade as I awaited my dare.
Instead of speaking, he reached down, his fingertips running along my cheek and he leaned in, his kiss so featherlight it was barely there. “I dare you…” He moved his lips over to my chin, pressing the smallest of kisses there, before moving to my nose, another kiss, “to marry me.”
I stiffened beneath him, eyes widened, his words repeating over and over in my head. “Uh, what?”
Vail pulled back, and I quickly sat up, turning to face him while the other two watched.
I stared into the depths of Vail’s hazel eyes, searching for a sign that he was bullshitting me.
His mask fell, and the almost timid, humbled look in how he’d been holding himself up, and all the apprehension that was written all over his face, shot straight to my heart.
Vail vulnerable. It was such a bizarre yet tender thing to behold.
He shifted so that he was on one knee, looking down at me as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was a pearl, with little flower petals adorning the band… like Mom’s hellebore. “Marry me,” he whispered.
“What are you… how did… huh ?” I couldn’t get a coherent sentence out to save my life.
“Bastard!” Lee said, but he was grinning like a maniac. “So you get the first kiss and you call dibs on marital rights?”
“Of course.” Vail’s moment of uncertainty dropped for a mere second as he looked at Lee, that familiar cocky smirk coming back. “I’m the leader. It’s my right.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Lee rolled his eyes and winked at me.
“What about us, you dipshit?” Shaw had wholly dropped the chicken act, and though he was calling Vail out, I could sense the feeling of hope in his words. “You not gonna share?” he nodded to me, but he was smiling, too, like he already knew what the answer was.
“We’re a family, period,” Vail said, turning back to me, reaching for my left hand to hold the ring up to my fourth finger.
“So no matter what, we’re together. All of us.
” He met my gaze again, and that assuredness dropped away to one of trepidation.
I stared at the ring he was holding and glanced around at the others before looking back at him.
All of them. All their faces. My love for them all was overwhelming at this moment.
I felt like I was floating. For some reason, the first words out of my mouth were, “We’re only seventeen… ”
“And I’ll be eighteen in January. Come November twenty-fourth next year, I’m marrying you as soon as the courthouse opens that day.
I love you, Casey. We love you. No matter what, we’ll all be together, because we’ve all always belonged together.
But I want it official.” My breath hitched, and I could feel the tears slipping free as they slowly slid down my cheeks onto the blanket below.
The corner of Vail’s mouth lifted ever so slightly, and he leaned in, pressing his forehead to mine.
“So, darling? What do you say? Do you accept the dare?”
I swallowed hard as I gathered myself together, more tears falling as I lost myself in his gaze, feeling so fucking happy, I didn’t want to say anything that could ruin the moment. So I just whispered one word, “Yes.”
Vail smiled like he’d never had before. It was radiant and beautiful and so unbelievably happy that I couldn’t help but match it as he slid the ring onto my finger.
Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around me, holding me flush against his body, and I buried my face into his neck.
Around us, the other two crawled over, and soon, I felt both their arms wrapping around us.
The future was still uncertain. Where would we be? Would we ever be safe from Elias and the Faceless? Would we ever return to Ashland? Would we even want to? What about school? Careers? It was all part of a broken web, but one thing was absolute… we would be together, as we were always meant to be.
The End