A/N: A nice little bonus chapter to tie it all together. I want to say thanks to everyone who stuck around! I was surprised by the attention the story got- I kind of expected people to rip it apart because of the pairing, but it's nice to see that some people just want to see happy endings regardless. This was a fun exercise for me considering I had never written Haylen nor Danse before- and I still have some work I need to do on their characterizations. But it just opens the door for more stories in the future.

Haylen smiled as she watched the murky waves crash in against the beach- all from the dry safety of the rickety front porch.

The hint of salt in the air had never smelt so sweet to her before; she swore she could almost live the rest of her days listening to the waves as they broke in against the littered sand bar.

Once upon a time, back in the desolate Wasteland, she had absolutely despised any large body of water- whether it was a flooded town, or an overflowed lake- or even heavy rainfall. One too many trips into a flooded basement for supplies, and one too many nights spent hoping her base hadn't been washed away while she was gone would make the hate valid.

Not to mention, the wet, unhappy trudge to find a dry spot to take refuge in- only to have to wait days for her clothes to properly dry.

And wet socks.

Wet socks could drive any man crazy.

Not to mention the easy transportation of diseases into open wounds, potential of gangrene, and trench foot- the list could go on.

Hell, when the Prydwen landed over the Boston Airport, which had nearly sunk into the ocean itself, she refused to spend more than the necessary amount of time on it. She didn't so much as want to look at water unless it was in a clean bottle. Which was why the long trip from the Wasteland to the Commonwealth had been such a godsend for her- there was nothing but land as far as the eye could see.

But now... now her views on untamed water were a little different.

While Haylen had never saw herself living on the coast, next to radiated crashing waves, the location certainly had its own perks. The place was growing on her- after all, it was certainly better than any bunker, or police station- or flying airship for that matter.

Out here was utter isolation asides from the few Mirelurks who crept out every now and again- and even then, they were easy to scare off.

Leaning against the handmade railing, she heard it creak against her weight, but felt it hold firm as she sipped at the lukewarm cup of coffee in hand. It felt like it had been ages since she had last been able to enjoy the quiet and some coffee to boot. There were those few rare times she had been able to sneak to the roof of the police station for a few minutes to enjoy the solitude- although the hissing of nearby feral ghouls had always ruined it.

Not to mention if anyone was caught on the roof they were obligated to fix the constantly breaking spotlight, which was somehow still in too good of shape to retire. Even if the Raiders had shot it to hell, but had managed to never actually break the glass- which was the result of either shit aim, or shit bullets.

... None of that mattered now though.

It was the quiet mornings like this that made her look back with absolutely no regrets.

That made her look back and be damn glad that Nora had been on their side the whole time; and that the woman was able to offer them a way out if they wanted it. And both she and Danse did, so they took whatever offer Nora could give. Which, looking back on it now, was more than generous.

Her and her Minutemen had been patching up this old coastal cottage for some time now- supposingly they pulled a large transport truck out of the house itself, which Haylen had yet to take as the full truth. Although it would explain the busted floorboards and minor sinkhole underneath the house. Either way, they were able to get it back into decent shape before their priorities shifted; they were apparently able to clear the Mirelurks off of an island nearby, and keep them off, providing yet another safe haven. So all of their resources and focus went to the new settlement for now- considering it was much larger, and a better use of their time.

Either way, since everyone had forgotten about the cottage for the most part, Nora offered it to them.

And while it was a little rundown, it was an easy fixer-upper. The cottage had four walls and a door, which made it secured enough- with the exception of the hole in the floorboards, which Haylen was working on. There was a small boathouse on the property as well, which Danse was working on fixing it up; they hadn't decided what exactly they would use it for, but it was worth keeping around until they made a choice on it.

Semi-white sands, a small picket fence, and an oceanfront view- it was all a little hard to turn down.

Not to mention, Nora had struck a deal with Maxson that said as long as he kept his soldiers away from her Minutemen settlements, she would assist the Brotherhood where she could. And it took some debating, apparently, before Maxson agreed. Nora said it was the worst thing she had signed herself up to, but she had to protect her people first, and it would keep the Brotherhood off of their backs in case any of them wandered into the area.

A lot of hassles, Haylen understood, but it certainly made faking her death to a bunch of Super Mutants all the more worth it. It was a shame that all that was left of her was her helmet, her ripped vest, and some blood- but that's just how it went with those cannibalistic monsters.

... Haylen still felt a ping of guilt at having to leave some of her brothers and sisters behind- namely Rhys. But she knew he would carry on well without her, and he would continue to go on to make the Brotherhood proud.

She needed to be here anyways.

It was more important for her to be here.

Haylen heard the sound of the floorboards creaking behind her, and pretended not to notice them- instead focusing her actions on the cup in her hand, and the sounds of the waves breaking. The corners of her lips lifted though as she felt a pair of arms slip around her and felt his head press against her shoulder. She quietly laughed at the subtle gesture, before she felt him momentarily lift her off of her feet as he pulled her back into a tight embrace.

It was hard to ignore just how small she felt against him.

Or how tightly he had her pulled to him.

"Sleep well?" she asked, wiggling slightly in his grasp until he set her back on her feet.

"Better than I have before," Danse answered, as he moved his hands to the railing in front of her, somewhat pinning her between the two of them. She watched as he looked out to the ocean front, and swore she caught the relaxed hint of happiness on his face- which was something she was seeing a little more every day. "We got a long day ahead of us, you know."

"Hm-hm," Haylen nodded, taking one more sip of her coffee, before she offered him the cup- which he took. "I need to finalize the basement, and make sure it's sturdy enough to withstand the floorboard weight before I install the hatch. And you need to finish patching up that old boathouse so we can get the doors to close and lock on the inside. If we're lucky, and we finish early, we can start work on the dock again- hopefully with more success this time."

He laughed into the cracked ceramic cup, before he handed it back to her. "Well maybe if you hadn't fallen into the water yesterday-"

"Well maybe if you had secured the plank correctly," she interrupted.

"It was secured."

"Oh? Is that so?" Haylen pressed, as she turned around to face him, although she had to physically look up in order to do so. "Then why did I end up in the water after stepping on it?"

Danse hesitated, the words stumbling on his lips as he tried to put them together. And something told Haylen that she might not like his answer. "... You have horrible balance," he finally spoke. "Look, the boards are sitting in the middle of the water; they probably got wet when the tide came in, and you slipped on one and fell in."

"Then how did the board come in with me?" she asked, before she gently prodded his chest with one finger. "And I would be very careful with how I answered that if I were you."

"Look, we have a long day ahead of us, we can't exactly sit around and argue," he deflected instead- much to her amusement. He never had been one to easily admit that he was in the wrong. "How about when we work on the dock later, we try to re-create what happened yesterday and see who was at fault?"

"Fine, but I'm giving you a heads up right now- it was you," Haylen insisted, as she wiggled her way out from underneath his arms, before she headed back into the refurbished cottage- hearing him briefly laugh behind her.

Despite hating water, she didn't necessarily mind taking the unnecessary dive the day before. Sure, she got soaking wet, and had to change immediately- not to mention douse herself in clean water and take a Rad-Away or two. But somehow cuddling up with him for warmth while she waited for her clothing to dry didn't seem quite so bad.

It was the first time she had heard him laugh in a long time though- like that loud, genuine laugh that was rare to hear from him in the first place.

He had still been concerned about her safety, but even she had to admit that she broke the surface laughing as well. It was just something that couldn't avoid being laughed at- not even for the two of them.

Despite all the protests, and the fighting it took to get here... there were no regrets.

They were happy.

They were safe.

And they had each other.