Surprise, surprise! Althea lives!
I know some of you were thinking that I'm such a horrible writer because chapter 24, the chapter which all of you were thinking was the last chapter, was absolutely crap. haha So let me explain everything to all of you my lovely readers...
Actually, this chapter contains the real ending of When in Paris. This chapter has been posted long ago but the problem was it had syncing problems because I was using the app in my phone. As a result, the chapter posted was the fanfic version of the story which I wrote ages ago. I wasn't able to notice it for a couple of weeks and when I did, I had to take it down and rewrite the whole epilogue.
So without further ado, I present to the real epilogue!I hope you'll enjoy it. x
Epilogue
"Nathan! What are you doing?" Cathreese laughed as she was scooped up into Nathan's strong arms, blinded by the bandana he had tied around her eyes. "Put me down." "No," he began to walk and she felt them leaving his childhood home.
She had been sitting on the couch when he snuck up behind her and hidden her eyes. He carried her out to his car, gently setting her down in the passenger's seat before moving around to the driver's side. Cathreese tried to slip off the blindfold but Nathan smacked at her hand, making a disapproving noise as he started the car. They drove around for what seemed like forever, going in circles and making random turns as Nathan tried to confuse his girlfriend.
"Nathan where are we going?"
"Here." Cathreese felt the car come to a stop and Nathan shut it off. A deep shuttering breath racked his body before he exited the car and cradled her in his arms once again. Cathreese slipped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest as his chin dipped down to settle on top of her unruly red curls. She felt them moving out of the weak Parisian sun and into a shady area, which she assumed was caused by a stand of trees.
Cathreese could feel Nathan shaking against her, his breathing uneven and his heart hammering wildly in his chest.
"Nathan, are you okay?" she struggled to remove the fabric blocking her eyes, growing worried about her boyfriend. He was acting weird. "I'm fine, stop it." His lips dipped down to hers and she stopped struggling as she kissed him back happily.
Three years they had been together, yet his kisses still felt like the first time. "I'm going to put you down now, all right? Don't remove the bandana until I tell you." Cathreese nodded against his chest as he gently settled her onto an unstable seat. She reached out and wrapped her hands around the rope of a swing. That's when she knew they were in the graveyard by her aunt's house.
"Okay you can look," Nathan's nervous voice sounded from somewhere in front of her. Cathreese slowly removed the bondage covering her eyes, hoping her instincts were correct.
They were. Nathan was down on one knee in front of her, his hands shaking as he held out a small velveteen ring box. "R-Ree?" his voice cracked and a hint of color played up his perfect cheeks. His eyes were filled with nervousness and he was biting his lip slightly as he stared at her.
"Will you, will you..." he stopped and licked his lips.
"Will you marry me?" His eyes flooded with hope as he looked up at her, tears beginning to fill Cathreese's green eyes. She didn't answer, throwing herself off the swing and wrapping her arms tightly around Nathan. He tumbled over backwards onto the grass of the old graveyard as she pushed her lips to his. His arms went up to encircle her waist and their legs tangled together as Cathreese's tears spilled onto Nathan's cheeks.
"Is that a yes?" he murmured against her lips, his heart beat beginning to slow now that his proposal had been accepted. Nathan sat up, pulling Cathreese's legs to bracket his hips as she sat in his lap. Her eyes were bright with love and ecstasy, a wide smiling splitting her face as she stared into Nathan's blue eyes.
He picked up her hand and slid the diamond onto it, stuttering an apology. "The ring isn't very big. I'm sorry. I wanted to get you a better one but I didn't have the money and I didn't want to wait any longer to ask you cause I wanted to ask you here and if I missed it this summer than I would have had to wait another year and..."Cathreese silenced him with a massive hug, her arms going around his neck and her cheek pressing close to his. "It's perfect, you're perfect, this place is perfect. Everything's perfect."
"I love you Ree," he whispered into her ear as he hugged her back. "More than anything."
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"Are you sure you don't need help?" Cathreese looked towards Phoebe, who was sitting at the kitchen table of their apartment bent over a bridal magazine. Nathan wanted to plan the wedding himself and had enlisted Phoebe as his helper. They were refusing to give Cathreese any say in it, but Nathan kept telling her she was going to love it. And she knew she would love it, whether it was in a church with her dressed in a flowing gown or in some back ally heck even in the middle of nowhere with the pair of them wearing trash bags. As long as it was with Nathan, it would be perfect.
"I'm fine," Phoebe waved her hand vaguely, flipping through the glossy pages of the magazine. "Your fiancé has been planning this thing for ages. I'm pretty sure he started thinking about it on the day you met."
"Fiancé," Cathreese let that word role off her tongue, smiling brightly.
"Speaking of him," Phoebe chucked Cathreese's phone at her. It had been resting on the table. "He's calling you."
"Hi Nathan," she answered, her happiness evident in the joyful lilt of her words.
"Hi love," she could hear his voice smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm good. I miss you." Nathan had flown home to France and would be returning with his parents for the wedding in a few days. He hadn't wanted to wait and after proposing to her in May, the wedding was set for early July.
"I miss you too. 3 days."
"3 days," she repeated, her heart beating faster at the thought of the wedding. She couldn't wait. "I love you."
"Love you too Ree," Nathan whispered before hanging up.
"Are you nervous?" Phoebe swung around in her chair, the bridal magazine now in her lap as she studied her best friend over the large pair of trendy glasses she wore when she was attempting to look smart. She pulled a pen out of the pile of blonde highlighted hair on her head and circled something in the magazine.
Cathreese shrugged, "More excited than nervous."
"You guys are adorable together," Phoebe gave her a small smile. "He really cares about you."
"I know," Cathreese hugged her knees to her chest and smiled at the thought of marrying her one true love. "He's amazing."
"So yea or nay to this dress?" Phoebe held up the magazine and showed Cathreese the dress she had circled. It had a lace corset top inlaid with pearls that melted seamlessly into a large lacy skirt giving the bride the appearance that she was floating on air.
"I though you said you guys got me a dress already," Cathreese's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "We did," Phoebe shoved the pen back in her hair. "I was talking about for me."
"You aren't getting married."
"A girl can dream," Phoebe sighed and tossed the magazine on the table. "You're going to love your dress by the way. Trust me, it's perfect."
"Did you pick it or Nathan?"
"Nathan," Phoebe stood up and came over to where Cathreese was sitting, grabbing her hands and pulling me up as jumped onto the couch. "I can't believe you're getting married," she squealed jumping in place as she clutched her friend's hands tightly in her own. "Ahhhhh!" the two of them screamed and bounced around on the couch, collapsing in a fit of giggles when they were done.
3 days and Cathreese would be Mrs. Richards.
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Cathreese could feel her eyes beginning to tear as her bare feet tread carefully over the small, smooth white stones. She clutched my bouquet of pink roses close to her chest and felt the swish of the skirt of her white sundress. The same one she wore when Nathan and her first danced together.
Nathan smiled at Cathreese from a few feet away, looking breathtakingly flawless in a light blue button down and tan shorts. He too was barefoot. Cathreese took the final few steps towards Nathan, the beach house shading her from the left as the sun beat down on them from above. It was even more perfect than she had imagined it would be. Nathan was beaming at her, his eyes misty as he watched Cathreese approach. She reached up and tucked a red curl behind her ear, blushing as Nathan's eyes locked with hers. A lone tear of happiness rolled down her cheek and he reached out and brushed it away, whispering to her how beautiful she looked before they stood to exchange their vows.
A few minutes later Nathan was given permission to kiss his bride and Cathreese threw her arms around him. She was lifted off the ground as Nathan spun her around and kissed her so sweetly she thought she must be imagining it. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he murmured over and over between kisses.
The speakers Phoebe had rigged up to the house began to sing, Falling Slowly overpowering the lazy sound of waves crashing on a distant beach. Nathan gathered Cathreese tightly in his arms, her head resting in the crock of his neck where it fit so well. They swayed back and forth, dancing to the song that they had first danced to three long years ago. Nathan stopped moving every few seconds to steal another kiss from his new bride, his eyes bright with happiness.
"Was it as good as you imagined it would be?" Nathan nuzzled Cathreese's cheek with his, his hands lightly pulling her hips towards him as her hands went to drape his neck.
"Better," she stood on her tiptoes to plant another kiss on his soft lips, her mouth splitting into a smile once again. "It was perfect."
"The honeymoon is here. I rented the house for a week." Nathan seemed a little nervous. "I didn't know if that's what you wanted or if you wanted to leave the country or if I should have let Phoebe plan it or..."
"Nathan," she silenced him with another sweet kiss. "It's amazing. Thank you."
"Are you sure? Because we still have time to book a flight if you want to go somewhere exotic. I..."
"Stop it," she removed her arms from around his neck and placed her hands on his soft cheeks instead, forcing his blue eyes to meet her green ones. "I love you and I loved this wedding and I love your honeymoon spot. We could have gotten married in a garbage dump and it wouldn't have mattered. You're the important part." Cathreese went back to resting her head on his chest and she felt Nathan's head dip down to rest on hers. He played with the ends of her long red hair as they continued to slowly sway in place, barely noticing the sting of the hot rocks beneath their bare feet.
That night, with faint moonlight falling in through the open window, they fell asleep content in each other's arms, their bodies twisted together as one.
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Two and a half years later Cathreese would give birth to a strawberry blonde haired boy. Fifteen months later he would gain twin siblings; a curly haired little girl and a baby boy with blue eyes so stunning they didn't seem real. Every summer the family would make the same trip, traveling around Paris the way Cathreese and Nathan did when they first fell in love.
-fin-