The Kippens | Tyrus

Epilogue

TJ's POV

Present Day

Cyrus and I are sharing the new olive green sofa chair, leaving the couch for Amber, Andi, and Walker, with Jonah sitting on the armrest. Buffy has little Sabrina on her lap in the other sofa chair, which has a bronze diamond pattern that doesn't at all match the one Cyrus and I are in, and Marty's pulled up one of the kitchen seats to be next to her. After finally finding the time to do a mass shopping spree to furnish the house, Cyrus and I now feel like the place is ours enough that we could host this dinner potluck with our friends.

Everyone's finished supper at this point, so now our guests are nibbling on the deserts that Cyrus and I spent 3 hours making in the kitchen. While the rest of the group is caught up in conversation about Sabrina learning how to clap, I get a sudden impulse to bring my lips to my husband's cheek. Cyrus, who's sitting half on my lap and half off due to the lack of space, grins and switches his view to me to kiss my lips. Although still contained enough to keep it PG for our guests who aren't even paying attention, his kiss is strawberry whipped cream: soft, full, and sweet enough to make me crave more.

"Did you ever think we'd have this?" he says as he leans his head against my shoulder.

"A new chair?"

"No," he responds with a laugh. "This. Us here with our friends in our own house with a life and just . . . this. I'm excited for everything coming next."

"Me too," I agree with a smile. "I'm also excited to see something else coming pretty soon."

Cyrus furrows his brows. "What?"

"You'll see," I reply. "Any time now."

Any time turns out to be any second, as Andi suddenly stops talking, and Cyrus and I look to see her staring at the cupcake she's holding. I don't spot it at first, but then I see the twinkle of the ring coming from the top of the icing, and Amber takes a knee to propose to the dumbfounded Andi.

"Andi, when I met you, I had no idea we'd become so close. I always knew I wanted you to be at my wedding, and I remember the promise we made when we were best friends in high school to be each other's bridesmaids. But now, I'm hoping we could tweak that a little bit. Instead, I want you to be my bride."

All of us watchers wait in suspense for a moment before Andi finally nods and stands up to kiss Amber. The two girls are practically glowing with happiness, and it makes me smile to see my sister completing a storyline that's been playing out since she met her soulmate, first as enemies, now as partners.

"You knew about this?" Cyrus whispers me to.

I nod.

"I know about something else."

That something else happens to be Jonah lowering down on his knee, saying, "Well, now I have to top that."

At first, Walker looks confused until Jonah takes out the ring he's been carrying in his jacket pocket. Walker lets out a chuckle, which Jonah catches like a cold, and soon the two boys are both in tears of laughter until Walker finally pulls Jonah up onto his feet to kiss him, answering the question he hadn't yet asked.

And just like that, the middle school ships that Cyrus and I hypothesized when we were younger are complete, and I take a little pride in knowing that I was right. We've been watching each other grow up since we were teenagers, and, although we've drifted apart, the streams have always converged again, keeping us together. The world surely must know what it's doing. It knows that we're supposed to be together, because no matter what happens, they're always the ones who will be there when others won't.

Cyrus' hand squeezes mine, bringing me out of my head and back to this moment, and I realize how similar my fantasy is to what exists before my eyes.

Cyrus' POV

11 Years Ago

Buffy, Jonah, Andi, and I all sit on the furniture in Andi's yard. It's nearing 1:00 a.m., and the party's been dead for a while now, but the four of us are still wide awake, energized from all the events of the night.

"I can't believe TJ Kippen likes me," I say, unable to control the grin on my face. "I have a boyfriend."

"I'm so happy for you!" Buffy says. "Who would've thought TJ Kippen would turn out to be . . ."

"Not a horrible person," I finish for her. "Actually amazing. Mine."

My three friends share a collective glance, smiling at how much I'm smiling.

"You guys are really cute together," Andi says. "I wonder if you'll get married someday."

"Marriage," I respond, "is a very uncertain variable in the future."

Buffy ignores my statement, focusing on Andi's comment instead. Her excitement level goes from zero to a hundred in an instant. "Can I be a groomswoman?"

"Me too," Andi piggybacks on.

"Add me to that list too," Jonah says.

My face is burning up with embarrassment, but the fantasy of TJ and I possibly getting married one day makes butterflies rush through me.

"If he happens to be the person I marry, then sure."

A/N: It's done. I hope you all liked this story! I sure did. I'm hyped to continue We Are KAAFF, and I think it's gonna be rad as heck. Thank you for reading, and I love you all!