So, this is the epilogue of our little summer story. We hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. We promise this won't be the last story you will see on our joint profile; we may have something in the works for Christmas.

Huge thanks to MaggieMay14 and smmiskimen for sorting through this mess. We adore them.

We don't own Twilight, nuff' said.

Chapter Song: Golden by My Morning Jacket

BPOV

Edward and I stood on the edge of the sidewalk and waved as my parents' rental car pulled away from the curb. They were headed back to Washington, the proud parents of a new graduate with a seemingly useless degree. At least, that's what they had been telling me for the past four years.

So imagine my excitement and the look on their faces when I was able to tell them that I did, in fact, have a job that was pretty kickass with the Downtown Arts District Association, which was located where? Oh, that's right. Winston-Salem.

And where did Edward currently have a teaching job lined up? Winston-Salem.

Fucking. Win.

"I think that went well, don't you?" Edward said with a wink as he tried to stop my spastic flapping and waving since the car was out of sight. I couldn't help it; I missed them so much already. "Your dad's 'stache is even more awesome in person. Do you think I can pull that look off? It might help me maintain some authority over my students next year." I couldn't believe that Edward was actually worried about looking too young and not being taken seriously. I was more worried about the female population liking him just a little too much, both students and teachers, alike.

I paused for a moment and tried to imagine him with a moustache…it might just work - as a repellant.

"Um no. If you grow one, I grow one. Just think about that, why don't cha." Immediately his face fell and his lower lip came out. What was it with boys and their need to grow facial hair? I mean, a few days of scruff after spending a weekend in bed, sure. A full on Charlie 'stach - total libido killer. No matter how much Charlotte and Kate disagreed with me. Yeah, I almost moved out after they told me that they had a thing for my dad.

Gross.

I stood up on my tiptoes and planted a sweet little kiss on the end of his nose and just realized how perfect things were. "But to answer your question, yes it went really, really well. Both of them seemed to adore you and realize that you make me incredibly happy. There was barely any reaction when I told them that we were living together."

"Are you kidding? You totally missed your dad going for his gun when you blurted it out while we were waiting for our table."

"Which is why I told him here, duh? I knew that he wouldn't bring it to graduation and that we were totally safe. Besides, did you see the look on their faces when I told them that I had a job? After that bombshell, I probably could have told them that I was joining a nudist commune and they wouldn't have cared." I grabbed Edward's hand and started walking back to my old apartment. "Come on. We have to get on the road ourselves. Kate only reminded me eight-hundred times this morning that we have dinner reservations at Beaufort Grocery tonight. Everybody's meeting there at eight."

The six of us were headed back down to the beach for a week. A final hurrah. A last celebration before we had to do the responsible grown up thing and actually start working for a living. Even Peter who, even though he was starting med school in the fall, actually had an internship lined up for the summer so his carefree days were numbered as well. Kate, Charlotte, Garrett and Peter left early this morning, but since my parents weren't leaving until this afternoon, Edward and I were driving down separately.

We got back to the now empty apartment in Smurf Village and I took it all in. Four years of college life, packed into bags and boxes and sorted into keep, toss, or donate piles. Memories came flooding back to parties we had hosted, all night study sessions, and weekend visits with Edward.

"You know," I said as I turned and started to unbutton his white dress shirt with one hand while holding his tie with the other, "We have a few minutes before we have to leave for the beach and if we shower and get ready for dinner here, well then…" I felt his eyes rake across my body and I shivered. I tried to do the math in my head and figure out exactly how much time we had before we needed to get on the road, and then I realized that I didn't care if we're a little late for dinner.

As his mouth crushed down on mine, I felt pretty certain that Edward didn't mind it either.

The drive to Beaufort from Chapel Hill was monotonous. I-40 to Highway 70. That was it. Edward drove and I tried my best to entertain him, though he refused my offer of road head.

Seriously. Who refuses that? He mumbled something about his Volvo being low to the ground and 18 wheelers being taller, while I just pouted in my seat.

I only laughed a little bit at the "Eat Here, Get Gas" sign outside of Kinston. Okay, so maybe I laughed a lot. It was funny. Edward, of course, wanted to stop the car and take a picture but there really wasn't a good place so I promised him that next time we came down here, we'd actually take the exit and find the place.

As we drove, I started thinking about the next time, and the next time after that, and how I wanted to come down here with our children. Yes, I said our children, because I had thought that far ahead. I grabbed Edward's hand from its rest on the gear shift, his car was an automatic, but he liked to pretend. Testosterone was a funny thing. I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles and watched the landscape pass by in a blur, my eyelids getting heavy and the quiet vibrations of the road lulling me to sleep.

"Hey, none of that." Edward pulled his hand away and cranked up some Mumford and Sons. It wasn't exactly Rage Against The Machine, but the volume at least served its purpose and I gave him the stink eye. He didn't like it when I slept in the car, claiming it made him feel lonely.

"First of all, sleeping wasn't my original plan, but you told me no. This is all your fault. All of it." I stuck my tongue out at him and the next thing I knew, we're flying across the highway and off an exit ramp. He pulled into a vacant parking lot and before I could even breathe, my seatbelt was undone and he pulled me over to his lap where I felt that, while his conscious was telling him no, his body was very much in favor of my suggestion.

We were going to be so late for dinner.

"Hold on a sec." Edward stopped me by the door and swept his thumb just under my eye wiping away some errant mascara or eyeliner or something. I knew that I must look like a hot mess with my hair all tousled and make up all askew. Edward didn't look any better, what with the obvious mark right where his jawline met his ear. It had to be done though, I remembered how the hostess looked at him the last time we were here and I was all about claiming what was mine.

And Edward was most definitely mine.

Besides, I had my own mark. It was just hidden, though I swear I could still feel his teeth on my inner thigh as I thought about it. His green eyes darkened as he looked at me, eventually shaking his head and muttering something about how it was a lost cause, but I saw him smirk and the way he strutted into the restaurant made me thud. As much as I loved and adored how sweet and endearing he was, when he showed his cocky side, subtle though it may be, I was done for.

If I wasn't starving, and if we weren't already forty-five minutes late, I would have tried to figure out how to get out of dinner altogether. What could I say; Edward made me crazy insatiable. The other two couples were already seated and at least two drinks in by the time the hostess decided to even acknowledge us.

I totally glared at her and she eyed Edward up and down. M.I.N.E.

Charlotte jumped up and hugged me like she hadn't just seen me that morning before graduation and Peter and Edward did the man handshake half hug thing. Garrett and Kate smiled, but I could tell that they were a little irritated and for a split second I felt a bit sheepish for being late. I had it all planned out in my head, getting ready to blame it on bad traffic in Raleigh. Yeah. That. Traffic.

"Rough ride?" Kate quipped, sipping on a drink that actually managed to look bitchy. Edward started to choke on his beer and I didn't even bother to lie, instead I just winked and shrugged. What else could I do, really? She knew me too well.

After the waiter came by and took everybody's order, I looked around at this crazy table thinking how much had changed since this time last year. New friends, new love and new lives together – all because of chance. If I hadn't met Kate, who knew Tanya, who was related to Garrett, who knew Peter who lived with Edward. It was getting all kinds of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon in my head, which then made me think about the dance scene from Footloose with the tractors. He was yummy back in the day.

I actually found myself getting a little emotional about it all. Not Footloose, but the direction our lives were heading in. I was happy, my life was awesome and if things went the way I wanted to, I'd never again be forced to spend weeks at a time away from the man I loved. I cleared my throat and held up my glass, "To good friends."

"To good friends," everybody echoed and I felt like quite the grown up. It made me giggle and I leaned my head on Edward's shoulder. The look and pointed glances Kate and Garrett were giving each other did not escape my notice though, but before I could ask them what was going on, Charlotte chimed in with her own toast.

"To paid off Student Loans." She was met with four gawking expressions and a high five from Peter. "What can I say; I'm good at what I do." Edward squeezed my hand and we both laughed, because yes, yes she was. I have a little velvet bag of toys in my luggage to prove it.

More looks were exchanged between Kate and Garrett. "Something is up with them," I whispered nudging Edward and looking back at the two of them as they whispered back and forth. They looked very intense, yet very happy…until Garrett stormed off and Kate looked like she had tears in her eyes.

Holy emotional whiplash.

By this time, Peter and Charlotte noticed that something was up, but Kate wasn't talking. I was this close to going to the bed and breakfast across the street to see if they had any vacancies because I was not going to spend my weekend playing guess the issue, when Garrett came back with a bottle of champagne and six flutes.

He poured one for each of us, lifted Kate's left hand and said, "She's not pregnant."

Kate's tears had spilled over by this point, but she looked completely elated. "That's not the big news though. What is, is that when I realized that I wasn't, I realized that I wanted to be."

Holy. Shit.

"Close your mouth, Bella. You look like a trout. I meant that I wanted to be eventually. Not right now, God," Kate continued as she scooched over, closer to Garrett and I knew then, what was going on.

"He asked you to marry him?" Charlotte shrieked and I started bouncing up and down until I looked over and they were both shaking their heads.

"Nope," Kate replied.

"You're NOT getting married?" I asked in complete confusion, because otherwise I had no idea what was going on with them. Nothing else made sense.

"Oh, we're getting married, alright," Garrett said, fist bumping Edward with one hand and grabbing Kate's ass with the other. Some things never changed. "But I didn't ask her. She asked me."

SHE DID WHAT?

"That's right," Kate agreed beaming and looking happier than I'd ever seen her look. "That's why we wanted you all here tomorrow. We're not just getting married, we're getting married tomorrow."

EPOV

"Next time you get married, bro, do you think you can give us a bit more notice?" joked Peter as he adjusted his tie and looked into the mirror beside me. "I am one handsome man. No wonder Char can't keep her hands off of me."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but there won't be a next time, buddy. Kate's it for me." I couldn't help but notice how sincere Garrett was in his words. It was amazing how much he had truly changed in the past year. Hell, we had all changed a lot. Peter was madly in love and about to go to medical school. I was going to be teaching in the fall and I had finally gotten rid of those pesky hiccups, but Garrett had the biggest transformation of all. From complete douche to loving soon-to-be husband. "Sure, things didn't look so good back at Christmas when Tanya filed for divorce, but their issues are not our problem."

Ah yes, the divorce of the century.

As it turned out, I lost the bet. In early September when Tanya and 'Lazer got back from their extended honeymoon, I got to hear second-hand from Bella and Garrett about how their marriage was falling apart. 'Lazer would call Kate and complain and Tanya would do the same to Garrett. I had $100 riding on the fact that their marriage wouldn't last until December 1st, but Peter bet me it would be January 1st, so he friggin won. Douche.

It seemed that Tanya and 'Lazer had an open marriage, and her husband was a lot more open than Tanya preferred. She walked in on him in his office with his secretary, two female paralegals and another partner. The scandal stayed under wraps for a few months but when the divorce proceedings began to heat up and 'Lazer wasn't willing to be meet Tanya's outrageous demands, she went to the papers. The shit hit the fan, but Garrett and Kate saw the entire thing as a blessing in disguise. No more hiding behind people's backs and what not. However, it also meant no big wedding with both families, so here we are.

"Did you ever think last summer that you would end up back here, a year later, to marry Kate?" I asked Garrett as he slipped on his sandals and gave me a huge grin.

"Not in a million fucking years! That girl drove me fucking insane last summer and not in a good way, but fuck...she's worth it. Every single argument with my sister or parents, each tear I've had to wipe from her cheek because her dad made her cry or threatened to cut her off...everything has been worth it."

"When did you turn into such a chick?" Peter asked with a laugh as Garrett reached forward and smacked him upside the head. "Don't fuck with the hair."

"Oh shut it," Garrett yelled at him as there was a rough knock on the door and Charlotte peeked her head in.

"Everything is ready. The minister is here and we're ready to get the show on the road," she said sweetly before winking and licking her lips at Peter. She shut the door quietly behind her as I looked at Garrett.

"Are you ready, man?" I asked simply.

"Never been more ready. Let's do this shit."

Thirty minutes later, I sat perched on a chair on the beach with Bella on my lap. Garrett and Kate were posing barefoot on the beach while getting pictures taken by the neighbor, who was also a photographer. I still couldn't believe they were married. I watched as Garrett rolled up the hem of his khaki pants and pulled Kate, in her knee length white dress, into the waves of the ocean with him. They were blissfully happy and I couldn't have been more excited for them.

"Kate certainly follows through when she puts her mind to something huh?" I questioned as Bella nuzzled closer to me in my arms.

"She's insane. It's like...look out Martha Stewart," Bella laughed as she lifted her sundress a bit so it wasn't dragging too much in the sand. "They got engaged two weeks ago, hid it from us and planned the entire thing in fourteen days. She even bought you guys' clothes, doesn't that say something?" I actually hadn't minded that she picked out white dress shirts, khakis and a tie for each of us; I just found it weird she knew our sizes without having to ask.

"She was just determined. One day you'll be like Kate, right?" I asked with a wink.

"When we get married, it's gonna be bigger than this, but not too big," Bella replied as we watched Garrett lift Kate up in his arms and walk through the water as their friend snapped more pictures. "Neither of us have big families, so just a small affair would be nice. At least that's what I am thinking. What do you think?"

"I think it's great that you think about that…marrying me, that is." I smiled brightly as Bella grabbed my face in her hands and kissed me full on the lips.

"Well, I think about marrying you now. I used to think about marrying Joe Jonas."

"Really?"

"No, not really," Bella laughed as I let out a small sigh of relief. I wasn't sure I could compare to Joe Jonas, but that's because I had no idea who the fuck he was. "So…are you thinking of asking me to marry you?"

"Not today. Two of our friends stole my thunder," I answered as Bella grinned and Charlotte and Peter came over, both of them holding champagne for us. "I can't find it in me to be mad at them though."

When Garrett and Kate were done with their photos, we took a few with the six of us and then went into the house for a casual dinner that Kate had catered by Grocery, where we had dinner the night before. It was the extent of their reception; well dinner and then we had a fire on the beach.

Just like the summer before, the three guys curled up in chairs on the beach with our women and blankets across our laps. With beers in our hands and stars high in the sky, it felt like so much but nothing had really changed.

We reminisced over last summer and Kate and Garrett told us they were going to drive up to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon and to visit Garrett's grandmother who lived in Buffalo. It was very random, but it was also very Kate and Garrett.

"So…how did Charlie take the news of you guys shacking up?" Kate asked as she sipped on her Sam Adams while Garrett looked to be nuzzling on her neck.

"He reached for his gun…"

"He left the gun back in Forks," Bella quickly interrupted as Peter and Garrett laughed loudly at me. It wasn't funny at the time though because Bella failed to mention the lack of gun. I totally expected him to shoot off my junk.

"Neither of you would be laughing if it was you in my shoes," I challenged my friends as they continued to laugh. "You weren't stuck alone with him for ten minutes while the girls disappeared to the bathroom at breakfast."

"Charlie is harmless. He wouldn't harm a hair on your head," Bella said sweetly as I felt her fingers thread through my hair slowly.

"Speaking of hair…Charlie's 'stache is looking mighty awesome these days. Not many men can pull of a moustache like that and still look handsome," Charlotte replied with a wink in Bella's direction. My girl proceeded to cover her ears with her hands and ramble on loudly about artists and colors. Apparently she didn't want to hear whatever Charlotte was saying about her dad.

"I told you, if there is one thing that is off limits it would be taking about my dad like you want to date him," Bella shouted in frustration.

"He's a DILF, deal with it," Kate replied as Garrett nudged her and looked disappointed.

"What does that make me?" he questioned.

"A HILF? Husband I'd Like to Fuck."

"And that's our cue. Goodnight all, my wife and I are leaving you for the evening. Don't do anything we wouldn't do and stay out of the hot tub, we haven't had it cleaned yet after our visit a few weeks ago," Garrett yelled as he dashed up the stairs and onto the deck pulling Kate behind him as she giggled incessantly. "Just so you all know, there are ear plugs in all of your rooms. Kate figured you'd want them."

"Thank god," we all answered at the same time, which resulted in more drunken laughter.

"She also put condoms in the nightstands." I looked and Bella and we both nodded our heads and out of the corner of my eye I saw Peter and Char do the same thing. Within seconds Peter and Charlotte were gone from beach as I kept Bella close in my arms and we enjoyed the privacy for a bit before heading up to our room.

The next morning, as I lay in bed with my beautiful girlfriend asleep in my arms, I couldn't help but watch the sun rise in the east and think about how much I loved her and how far we had come. Life was perfect, if anything, I would say it was coming on easy.

Story Rec's:

CPW just caught up with Inside Man by ooza and is forcing Risbee to read it, so you should all do the same. Risbee has been reading Stigmata Tomato by BellaFlan and will be arm wrestling CPW into reading it soon too.

Thanks for reading!