melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xxxviii. EPILOGUE

~*~
October 28, 1990

     "Do you, William Hargrove, take Mary to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, through sickness and in health, til death do you part?" 

     "I do," Billy said, smiling as he slid the ring onto her finger. 

     "And do you, Mary Henderson, take William to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, through sickness and in health, til death do you part?" 

     "I do," she said, sliding the ring onto Billy's finger. 

     "Then it is my honor to now pronounce you, Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove," the pastor finished. "You may kiss the bride." Billy stepped forward, immediately connecting their lips. Their family and friends in front of them cheered, the two smiling as they slowly pulled away. The two turned to walk out of the church, Mary looking to see their daughter was sitting in one of the chairs. She opened her arms, Ella running to them. Mary picked her up, her and Billy both kissing the little girls cheeks. They walked out of the doors, going back to where they got ready. 

     "I finally get to call you Mary Hargrove," Billy said, leaning towards her and taking her free hand. He kissed her again, smiling. 

     "Daddy, I want a kiss!" Ella shouted. The two laughed slightly, Billy kissing Ella's forehead. Steve then walked in with Mandy next to him, seeing as he was the best man and Mandy was the maid of honor. 

     "Hey, newly weds. Who's ready for an amazing reception?" Steve asked, walking to the two. 

     "Come on, Max, El, and Robin will be here in a second. We've got to fix that hair," Mandy said, rushing Mary into the make up room. 

     "Okay, uh, I'll see you soon!" Mary shouted to Billy. He tried to wave at her and Mandy then shut the door. Mary set Ella on the counter, then Mary sat on the counter. Pretty soon all the girls got into the dressing room, talking and joking around. Billy was in the other room with Steve, Dustin, and Andrew. He would have put Alex in the wedding, but he couldn't overlook what happened in high school and Alex understood that. 

     "How does it feel to be a married man?" Steve asked, patting Billy on the back. 

     "Fucking amazing," Billy said with a sigh. 

     "And good news, you're both twenty-one and not pregnant anymore so you can drink legally all you want," Dustin added, Billy scoffing at him. "But if you ever hurt my sister I will hurt you." 

     "I'm not going to hurt her, I promise," Billy said, laughing a bit at Dustin. 

     "So, you two still planning on getting the hell out of dodge?" Steve asked, fixing his hair in the mirror. 

     "Depends. Mary's still going to school at night to try and get a degree to work, and I've got my mechanics shop," Billy said, leaning back in his seat. "I think we'll leave and go somewhere bigger once we feel ready." 

     "Well, when you do leave I'll try not to miss you guys too much," Steve told him. 

    "Where did you and Georgia settle?" Billy asked, looking to Andrew. 

     "Still in San Francisco. We wanted to stay near our family," Andrew answered him.  

     "I think right now we're looking at Illinois," Billy said, all the boys looking at him. "Not Chicago, but somewhere just outside of it."

     Mandy fixed Mary's hair as Nancy was helping tie the train of her dress to her skirt. Max and El were watching, not really knowing what to do to help. So they were preoccupied with Ella. 

     "How does it feel to be a married woman?" Nancy asked, placing her hands on Mary's shoulders as they looked in the mirror. 

     "It feels so amazing," she said, looking to Nancy. "I can't believe we got this far just from my senior year calculus class." 

     "And then four different encounters with the Upside Down," Max chimed in. 

     "And two different encounters with Russians," Mandy scoffed. 

     "And one encounter with death," Mary said, the girls all laughing. "And a pregnancy." 

     "Regardless, we are all happy for you," El said, smiling at Mary. 

     "Thanks, you guys. Having you all here means a lot to me," Mary said, smiling at them. 

     "Oh, times up, we gotta get to the reception!" Dustin yelled, standing and going to the door. "Let's go people. Move!" The boys all left their room, the girls walking out at the same time. The bridesmaid's and groomsmen went out first, then Steve and Mandy. Mary turned to Billy, reaching her arms around his neck and smiling at him. 

     "I guess we turned out okay in the end," she said fixing his hair a bit. 

     "We did," he said, leaning his head against hers. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" 

     "Not enough," Mary joked. 

     "Well, Mary Hargrove, I love you," Billy said. He kissed her lightly, hearing their names being called. "Now, let's go have our first dance to the first song we ever danced to, and spend the rest of our lives together." 

     "I'm completely okay with that," Mary told him. "And I love you, too." Billy took her hand, picking up Ella in his arms as the two pushed open the doors to the rest of their life. 

-----

hey everyone.
that was it. 
that was the final moments
of their story. 

oh my god. 
wow.
that's it.
i'm not crying, you're crying.

anyways... stick around for a final thank you note!

i hope you enjoyed, angels!