Catching Avery

Epilogue

Avery~

It was hard to explain, but the same incident that had scarred me was the same incident that made me a stronger, more confident person. I wasn't ready to remove my reminder just yet.

Also, Eric had been sentenced to fifteen years in prison earlier this week. The district attorney had originally been going for the maximum sentence-mostly because Nicholas was wealthily unstable-but when the district attorney had said that Eric had been willing to accept a plea deal, I'd given him permission to offer one. The sooner that I'd been able to put this behind me, the sooner that we could all move on. This situation had affected my friends as well, and I just wanted us all to move past it, especially Nicholas.

It was karaoke night at The Shack tonight, and our man, Flip, was here putting it down like the dedicated karaoke DJ extraordinaire that he was. We hadn't been back since the night that the guys had crashed our work get-together, so we were due for some karaoke domination.

"Hope you guys are ready for a night with no shame whatsoever," I warned.

Quinn hooped and hollered. "They had the option to stay home," she pointed out before she downed her shot. "I make no apologies for my lack of singing ability or my choice in songs."

"Babe, with your looks and body, no one is going to be listening to a goddamn thing you're singing anyways," Chase assured her.

She flipped him off.

I laughed as I couldn't be happier. I was surrounded by the best group of people that I could ever know, and the way that we were all paired up was perfect. I knew that my friends weren't as cemented in their relationships as I was, but it was nice to fantasize about a perfect happily-ever-after for all of us.

I was contemplating which song would accompany my next five minutes of fame when Flip shocked the shit out of me with his karaoke announcement.

"And next up to our brave stage is Nick. Nick, come on up, bud."

You know when you whip your head around so fast that you get that painful rush of heated blood shooting through your neck? Yeah, that was me as I was whipping my head around while I witnessed Nick walking up to the stage and grabbing the karaoke mic.

Isabella sprayed her beer all over her blouse. "Holy shit, Ace. Does that say Justin Bieber?"

It did.

It really did.

I sat there dumbfounded as Nicholas began singing As Long As You Love Me by Justin goddamn Bieber. If I thought that I was in love with him before, that was nothing compared to how I felt about him now. It took everything that I had not to run up on that stage and maul him in front of the entire bar.

"Marry him, Ace," Quinn ordered. "Marry that man tonight. What I wouldn't do...hmm, hmm, hmm," she added dreamily.

We sat there and listened to Nick sing, and when he was done, Q, Iz, and I jumped up out of our seats, then clapped for him like the karaoke groupies that we were. Grinning, he made his way back to our table, but instead of sitting in his seat, he sat down in mine, bringing me down to sit on his lap.

"I love you, Imp," he said for my ears only, and my heart skipped a beat like it always did when he professed his love for me.

I was so caught up in this moment that I was sure that I'd heard Flip wrong when he introduced Chase to the stage. "What the hell?"

"Quinn, babe, this is for you," Chase announced as soon as he was on stage.

I looked over at Q, and if I didn't know her so well, I would have said that she was unaffected by Chase's gesture, but I knew better.

Chase started singing One of These Nights by The Eagles, and the way that he was looking at Quinn as he sang, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up pregnant tonight.

Damn, that man was sexy.

I knew it was a done deal when he finished singing and Quinn made no protest when he pulled her out of her chair, then kissed her like he was going to be doing it for the rest of his life.

Turning away from Chase and Quinn, I narrowed my eyes on Julian. "You're the only one left."

He smirked at me. "Not happening, sweetie."

Isabella smiled before quietly taking a drink of her beer. She remained silent for a full thirty seconds before Julian started dropping every curse word in existence. We all watched as he stormed off in the direction of Flip, then snatched the mic out of his hand so roughly that Flip paled a little. Julian was a formidable sight, but an annoyed Julian was intimidating as hell.

Then, because it wasn't enough that he was big and strong, and because it wasn't enough that he was mysteriously handsome, and because it wasn't enough that the man had dimples, it turned out that Julian could actually sing. He started crooning It Will Rain by Bruno Mars, and I was positive that I had just become pregnant.

Holy Mary, Mother of God.

We sat and listened in awe as he sang this sweet song to Isabella. Once he was finished there was a heartbeat of silence throughout the bar, and then the applause roared to life like a tidal wave. Julian had been amazing.

Isabella offered him a sweet smile when he plopped himself down next to her. He reached for a beer before he addressed her. "There's only one other time I will ever do that again, Dove."

"Oh, really? And when will that be?"

"Our wedding day."

I melted, and then I held my beer up in a toast. "To our beginnings. I love you losers!"

I really, really did.

The End.