The Lonely Widow (Completed) (Editing)

Epilogue

Daisy stood in the kitchen, running her hands under the cold tap, scrubbing at the fingers hurriedly. Her hands, now red raw were shaking, trembling nervously. Nothing could have prepared her for this day, no matter how many times she was told it would be okay, her nerves still had the better of her.

Turning off the tap, she dried her hands on the first available towel and turned to the tray of food on the worktop. With an exhausting sigh, she lifted the tray up just as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

The tray fell from her grip, dropping its contents on the worktop.

“Shit, shit, shit.” She murmured as she scooped up all that she could salvage, placing it back on the tray. A deep laughter emanated around the room.

“Oops.”

“I’ll oops you in a moment.” She growled.

“You’re so jumpy, Daisy Chain.” He placed a kiss on her lips and smiled. “Relax.”

“I can’t relax!” she snapped, turning around, shoving the tray into his arms. “Remember what happened last time we were all together?”

He frowned. “Yeah, but this is different.”

“How?”

He placed the tray on the worktop beside her and pulled her into his arms once more, leaning his lips down to her ear “Because,” he whispered, “You love me.”

She scoffed. “And that makes it all better, does it?”

He nodded. “Sure does.”

She passed him back the tray and pushed him away lightly. “Here, Mister I’m So Sure Of Myself, help me with these.”

With a hearty chuckle, he led her into the dining area where their friends were waiting. Luke, Lindsay, Kurt, Darren, Jade, Cody, Jay, Joel and Sophie all sat around the huge table chattering away.

This last year had been an eventful one of sorts.

Luke, after Jade’s divorce had wasted no time in making her his own, making her the happiest woman alive. Already married and with a baby on the way, he’d vowed to never be like Steve, to never hurt her – and she knew he wouldn’t.

Lindsay continued her shameless flirting until Darren finally resisted, accepting her advances, of which Kurt found suddenly hilarious. Darren, being not the type to settle down was now happily just that. Settled.

Kurt was reluctantly single and happy to just be friends with Daisy. As much as he’d wanted her to be his, after extensive thought into the situation, he could see that she was happy, that she was in love with Lee and that to his dismay, was never going to be anything but.

This last year had been especially hard for Joel. After surviving being shot, he didn’t want to be wasting his life anymore and decided to get into rehab for the drugs and anger management for the animosity he held for Lee. Even though he’d helped Daisy to evade Brandon, every time he saw Lee, the anger seemed to boil up inside of him, pushing him to breaking point. In the past year, he’d managed to come to terms with the loss of his father and understood that it was an accident.

Jay had gone searching for Sophie the moment that Lee had fully woken up. Realising that life is just too short for baring grudges; he’d accepted both Sophie and Maddie into his life, forgiving the lies, the deceit.

Last of all, Lee and Daisy. The last year for them had been lovely, spending all the time they could together, understanding the problems they faced together. Lee was in therapy for the OCD, gaining more and more strength each and every day, forcing the thoughts of grabbing the bleach from the cupboard to the back of his mind.

“Come on, everyone. Just eat.” Daisy told her friends as she sat at the table. Reminiscing thoughts entered her mind of the last time they’d all been in this room together. The arguments, Jade running out into the road, the accident, the baby. Under the table Lee squeezed her thigh, reassuring her that it would be okay, that nothing bad was going to happen this time.

The conversation drifted from Jade and her bump to a five year old Sophie and her schoolwork, to Kurt being ‘a loner’- Luke’s words, which earned him a slap across the back of the head from Daisy.

“Daisy.” Lee whispered, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

“Yeah?” she asked, leaning in, closing the distance between them.

He whispered something in her ear and Daisy practically fell of her chair, her face as white as a sheet.

“What’s up with her?” Lindsay asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, God, already?” Luke asked. “I thought we might get to the end of the night before this.”

Lee laughed. “Nope.” Sliding off his chair, he pushed it aside before bending down on one knee and rummaging through his pocket. “May as well ask this properly, seeing as the reaction you just had told them all anyway.” He laughed again. “Daisy Elizabeth Jayne Carter.” He opened the box, revealing  a diamond engagement ring. “Will you marry me?”

Daisy fell to her knees in front of him, blinked once, twice, then a tear fell from her eye as she nodded. Wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, she murmured a muffled ‘yes’ across his lips.