Semper Fi: Always there for you.

Epilogue:

She was impatiently waiting, her fingers fidgeting with the envelope enclosing another secret.
Almost two years had passed since that tearful night. After Cal finally chose between her and his brother.

Cal had driven blankly until he reached the Canadian border. One more step and he crossed the tipping point.
Then he realized the impact of what he was about to do.
Being a wanted man was not the worst. The minute his parole officer would notice he was missing, the whole police department would go after him. Sending alerts to the Canadian forces, which would reactivate Oyster's hunt. Harassing his brothers to know if or what they knew about his runaway, having them and their families supervised and taped. Getting a warrant to enter, searching their whole houses in hope of digging out clues about where he had fled.
He suddenly slammed the breaks. Full force.

Jessica.

As his girlfriend, she was first in line for the grilling. Even as a law student with a famous name and with all her staff and Claire to have her back, they would make her life miserable. Stain her name. Call her a liar. Jeopardize her career. Make her cry. Destroy her.

No. He wouldn't let this happen.
Cal had punched the steering wheel until his knuckles turned red with blood and stopped, panting.

Think Cal! THINK!

On the brink of his life, he had to make a good decision, for once. Think about himself, what he really wanted. Needed.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned, their last argument echoing in his head.

Jessica. She had filled his mind, his needs, his lacks for the very beginning. She had completed him, perfectly. He just realized how lucky he had been to have her, to have known happiness with her.

Happiness. His mom would have loved that. She always had talked his ears off with it. The poor woman hadn't had time to taste happiness, she always had struggled with useless husbands, kids to raise on her own, sickness. She died before she was 40, whispering in his ear to take care of Teddy and have a better life than she did, in her last breath.
Maybe it was time for him to shake his thoughts and live. A "happily ever after" life with Jessica sounded so good.
Then, he couldn't renounce his brother.
He had to find a way to have both, at any cost.

Chris drove back like a madman, slammed the door open, terrified by his mistake, hoping it wasn't too late.
There she was. Prostrated, in the middle of his living room, exactly where he had left her about half an hour ago. She hadn't moved a toe, frozen, doing her best to not collapse into pieces. Not to die.

One big stride and he caught her, crushing her against his chest, her legs found their right place around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck.
Everything that had happened next was blurry, like they were surrounded by haze. Time stopped as they clutched to each other, smelled each other, just to be sure it was not a dream. The tears they shred were real though, fear, hope, pain, relief were running down their cheeks.

They shared a few kisses and apologies but their only one need was to feel united as one.
They stayed like this for what seemed a lifetime, their tears slowly running dry, their hearts synchronizing their rhythm, their souls connecting back and eventually, forgiving Chris for what he had done.

At one time, Chris had to move and lean against the counter. His legs, back and arms burned, tired from carrying her, but he wouldn't let her go. He needed to feed off her and cradled her against his chest until he realized she had fallen asleep.
Even sound asleep, Jess was tightly wrapped around him, like a second skin. The side of her head nested in the croock of his neck, her breath steady and slow, her exhaustion had knocked her down.
Like he could blame her. That emotional rollercoaster of a day had killed him too, he barely could stay awake, drifting in and out of sleep, lulled by Jess's heartbeat.
He carefully held her closer and walked them into bed. He just found the strength to kick off his boots and fall asleep, Jessica still spread over his chest.
This felt like Heaven.
At the crack of dawn, he woke up to her strokes and they made love again, this time to seal their love forever.
And this felt like Heaven.