So here it is… Sorry it took so long to get this up. Life got crazy all of a sudden, and I wasn't happy with the epilogue I originally wrote, so editing turned into rewriting it.

Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter and to these awesome people for reviewing:

sharon mayes 353 - Thank you, I hope you enjoy this one too!

Guest – Thank you!

I still haven't managed to buy Eric or Divergent.

Epilogue

Two Years Later

Gabby's POV

I wake up to the feeling that something is poking my right eye repeatedly. I open my other eye slowly to find Alexandra standing next to the bed. When she sees my eye open she tilts her head to the side and smiles at me mischievously, slowly pulling her hand away from my face after a moment. I close my eye again and pretend to start snoring.

"Geh up," She responds with a giggle, reaching forward and squeezing my nose lightly.

I chuckle softly and reach my arms out over the side of the bed. She tries to climb up into my arms, but she can't quite get her leg up high enough and she slides back down. I chuckle again and pull her up, rolling onto my back so that she can sit on my stomach. "Good morning, Lexa," I say softly, trying not to wake Eric up quite yet. "Are you hungry?" I ask through a yawn.

She smiles again, "Mmm hmm."

I glance at the clock sitting on my bedside table expecting it to be around seven, but instead I realize that it's nearly eight-thirty. I feel my nose scrunch up and I let out a low grumble, why are we always late for everything?

The kids wake me up at or around seven every day, except for the days when we should be awake early, then they sleep in. I look back at Lexa and nod my head toward Eric, "Do you wanna wake daddy up?"

She doesn't answer me, but instead responds by crawling over to Eric and flopping onto his stomach. I hold back a laugh as he lets out a half surprised, half pained grumble.

"I'm up, I'm up," He mumbles as she crawls the rest of the way onto his stomach. He opens his eyes and stares at her for a moment before reaching up suddenly to tickle her. She giggles and he smirks at her for a second before turning to look at me. He leans over to kiss me while balancing the baby sitting on top of him.

"Morning, Gidg," He says sleepily before glancing around the room. "Where's the other one?" He asks through a yawn.

I sit up and stretch for a second, "I think he's still asleep, she just woke me up." I yawn again as I start to climb out of bed, "We have to leave in half an hour."

"Great," He mumbles before turning his attention back to the blonde little girl who is currently tracing the tattoos on his right arm with her finger.

I climb out of bed and wander through the hall to the room next door. Those of us who chose to stay in Chicago in the aftermath of the experiment being dissolved got first pick of where we wanted to live. We considered staying at Eric's apartment at Dauntless but decided to pick somewhere a little less dangerous for small children. We ended up in a three bedroom apartment on the highest floor of the Hancock building. Much like Dauntless headquarters, the Hancock building had been a place only the Dauntless used so most of us who live here are former Dauntless.

It took a long time to get used to the city becoming one society instead of five. Although it's been a little over two years, you can usually still spot someone who lived here during the experiment and guess their former faction based on their job, clothes, or even by phrases that they use.

"Jesse," I sing as I wander into the twin's room. We picked this apartment because they could each have their own room, but for now at least, they refuse to sleep in different rooms.

Jesse is awake, laying on his back, mumbling to himself and looking at the ceiling sleepily. When he hears my voice he closes his eyes tightly and wiggles a little further under his blanket, pretending to be asleep.

I smirk and kneel down next to his bed, "Hey buddy, time to wake up." I reach down and tickle his ear and he laughs but tries to wiggle the rest of the way under the blanket. I move my other hand to tickle his side through the blanket and he lets out a loud screech that turns into a giggle.

I smile down at him for a moment before picking him and the blanket up. He pops his head out of the blanket and smiles at me, "I'm hungwry."

"Okay," I stand up and walk back to my room, but Eric isn't there anymore. I turn around and head into the living room. Lexa is sitting on the floor with a picture book and I can hear Eric opening and shutting cabinets in the kitchen. I set Jesse down on the floor next to his sister and he toddles over to coffee table where a couple of toy cars are still sitting from last night.

I watch them play for a minute before heading into the kitchen to find Eric. "Good morning," I say into his back as I wrap my arms around him. He shuts the fridge and turns to face me, a carton of milk in one hand and a pack of eggs in the other.

He pulls away just long enough to set the two cartons down on the counter before he pulls me back to him, his lips crashing into mine. "Morning," He replies when he pulls away again, "I'm going to make breakfast really quick and then we can go drop the kids off with your mom."

"Sounds good," I agree, glancing into the living room. "While they're behaving and you're making food, I'm going to take a shower."

He nods and I head back to our room. I take a quick shower and throw on a comfortable pair of dark blue jeans and a t-shirt. I stop to glance at myself in the mirror for a moment. The woman standing before me looks almost nothing like the girl I saw in the mirror four years ago today when I defected to Dauntless.

Despite the fact that Dauntless no longer exists, I have kept most of the Dauntless physical traits I adopted. My hair is still streaked with blue and I've added a couple of new tattoos. I run my finger over the two smaller gears that I had added to the tattoo on my hand after the twins were born.

I get grab the bag I use to carry around the twins things before glancing at the clock again. We need to leave in less than five minutes so I hurry out into the living room and switch places with Eric so that he can change while I get the kids cleaned up and ready. Once everyone is set we each grab a baby and head for my parent's house. We leave the kids off and then head for the pier.

That first year after the experimented ended was rough. Everyone was confused about who they should be now and the old prejudices made working together almost impossible at first. The city nearly fell apart.

When the day that would have been the Choosing Day rolled around tension was at an all-time high. It was a former Erudite who came up with the idea that we could use the day that the Bureau had used to divide us into groups to bring us all together. That first year was only a few weeks after the attack on the Bureau, tensions were high and it was an extremely stressful and awkward day, but in the long run it was worth it. It was a lot of the city's inhabitant's first real chance to experience what this new society could be like.

The next year was much better, still awkward, but it was much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Now that even more people have come in from the fringe and other cities it has become something more than just a day to celebrate being free of the factions. There are still a mixture of former faction related activities planned, but it's also just a general day to celebrate how far we've come and step away from the work we are all putting into rebuild our home and lives.

When we get to the pier there is already a large group gathered, I spot Andrew amongst them from a block away. He looks somewhat awkward, his scrawny form and pail skin that rarely sees the sun in stark contrast with the paintball gun held tightly in his hand and eye black smeared on his cheeks. It's still weird to see him do things that I associated with the Dauntless.

"Drew," Eric calls when we are a few feet away, "You made it." It took a while for them to get back to where they left off when we were all Erudite. Between Eric leaving Erudite, Andrew worrying about us dating and him hurting me, and the stress my supposed death put on their friendship I was worried that they wouldn't be able to get back the relationship they'd had before.

"There you are, Gab," An excited Meghan says as she pulls me into a hug.

"I'm glad you got him to come to this, I figured he'd hide out at mom and dad's until the game ended," I reply, nodding my head toward my brother as she pulls away.

She chuckles, "Oh he tried to chicken out, but I wouldn't let him."

"Having a desire to avoid being pelted with balls of paint being shot at my at a high velocity is not a sign of cowardice, it's self-preservation."

She laughs and grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together, "You're such a Nose."

I never would have guessed that the two of them would end up dating, they're so different, but they're surprisingly good together. She watched out for him for me during the few months that we were at the Bureau before Eric came to get him, they became really good friends during that time, and somehow that turned into something more about a year ago.

"Morning," A tired looking Justin mumbles as he appears between his sister and I. He's been working with Eric and George to get the police force trained, he must have worked late.

Before I can say anything, Christina runs over with a huge smile on her face and Uriah close behind carrying a big box. "Good morning," greets before motioning to the box. There is a hole cut in the top, just large enough to reach your hand in through. "Everyone grab a bandanna. Green team is meeting at the carousel, yellow is at the fun house, and blue is starting here. If you don't have a gun yet grab one from the table over there."

I reach in first, pulling out a green bandanna and immediately tying it around my wrist. "Tris and Four make it?" I ask her as the others fish around in the box to find out what team they're on.

She shakes her head no as she watches Andrew give Meghan a panicked look when she pulls out a blue cloth instead of a yellow one like the one he is holding. Christina chuckles and then turns to face me, "No, Will is teething so he kept them up last night and they didn't want to leave him with someone for the game. They're coming later though," She informs me.

My attention is drawn back to the box when Eric pulls out a yellow cloth. He smirks at me and as he ties it on his arm, "Sorry it had to be this way, I hope you won't be too sad when you lose."

"That won't be a problem," I reply, returning his smirk, "But try not to cry when I beat you."

He laughs, "We'll see, but may the best man win."

I nod and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Oh, she will," I say as I pull away before running off to get my gun and go meet up with my team.

XXXXXX

An hour and a half later I am walking back to the base area set up for the losers to come and wait for the game to be over. I am almost to where the first aid tent are set up when I hear someone running behind me. I don't pay much attention until they stop next to me and wrap an arm around my shoulders.

I look up from the ground to find Alvin walking with me, his shirt covered in splattered paint. He motions to the blue paint smeared across my left side and stomach. "Who got you?"

I shrug, "They were hiding in the trees, it all happened too fast."

He smirks and we walk in silence for a moment before he stops suddenly, grabbing my arm when I fail to stop too. I follow his gaze to the first aid tent. I don't see anyone we know at first, and I am about to ask what he is looking at when I spot Eric.

He is sitting in a folding chair just inside the tent. As we begin to approach I notice that he is soaking wet and looks extremely annoyed. Just beyond him, Andrew is sitting on one of the makeshift examination tables with his shoe off, his ankle and foot wrapped in a bandage.

We are almost to them when Alice appears holding an icepack. "Hey Babe," Al calls, kissing her on the cheek as we reach her. She hands Andrew the icepack and he sets it on his ankle very gently, grimacing slightly at the pain the movement causes.

"So, what happened?" I ask carefully as I turn my attention to my soggy husband.

He shakes his head, "Your brother pushed me into the lake."

I fight as hard as I can to hold back a laugh as I look between him and Drew, "Oh?"

"It wasn't on purpose. I tripped on something in the path and I accidently knocked him in," He corrects. Eric gives him a look and he moves his hand to rub the back of his neck nervously. "Okay, I might have been looking over my shoulder and not paying attention to where my feet were," He replies quickly, "But it was still an accident."

"You thought you heard a gunshot and tripped in an attempt to run away," Eric corrects with a half glare half smirk. He glances up at me and shakes his head, "It was a tree branch snapping."

"Hey, at least you didn't get shot," Andrew complains, swiveling his torso so that I can see the yellow paint splattered on his back. I raise a questioning eyebrow and he chuckles nervously, "They shot me while I was on the ground."

I can't hold in the laugh this time, "Sometimes I wonder how we're related."

XXXXXXXXX

It's the end of a long day, there's a large group of us hanging out on the roof of the old Dauntless building. I watch for a moment as Meghan and Andrew play with the twins before glancing around at everyone else. Alice and Alvin are talking to Tris about something while Christina talks to baby Will and Uriah bounces him on his lap.

Justin, Zeke, and Shauna are watching from a distance as they talk. Hannah comes over and sits next to her son. She says something that causes Shauna and Justin to start laughing hysterically, and Zeke just shakes his head.

I push myself to my feet and move over to the edge of the roof where Amar, George, Four, and Eric are standing.

"Are you sure we can't change your mind?" Amar asks as I approach.

Four shakes his head no, "I'm done with guns, unless they shoot paint or water."

"Well if you change your mind, we could always use your help with training," George replies.

Four nods, "I appreciate the offer, but from what I hear Eric's got that handled."

George nods and Eric shrugs, "We can always use another trainer, it's going to take a lot of people to set up a large enough police force."

I smile, remembering the days when Eric would have rather shot himself in the foot than admit he needed Four's help. I grab Eric's arm and he glances down at me for a moment before turning back to the group "I'll talk to you about my plans for this next round of trainees on Monday, George."

The older man nods in response before Amar says something and the three of them walk back toward the others, leaving Eric and I alone.

I lean my head on his shoulder and look out over the city. The windows are glistening in the light from the setting sun, it's beautiful.

I find myself thinking back to that girl standing on the stage at the Choosing Ceremony. It feels like it was a lifetime ago, it's hard to believe it's on been four years. I remember looking from the Dauntless coals to the Erudite water and wondering which path to choose.

The path I chose wasn't always easy; so many times over the last few years I have found myself making hard decisions and doing things that I didn't think I was even capable of. Like choosing to believe in Eric when no one else would, enduring Jeanine's experiments, and trying to save our city from multiple threats. It's been a long, rough journey. There have been some amazing highs, and there have been some low moments that I didn't think I could possibly survive.

I try to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't defected. It might have been easier, but it wouldn't be better than the choice I made. Choosing Dauntless started me on the path that led me to Eric. It led me to meet amazing people like Jessica, Meghan, Justin, Jeff, Uriah, Alvin, and Four along the way. It led me to being the mother of two tiny little fighters who mean the world to me.

Choosing Dauntless led me to this moment, and I wouldn't change that decision for the world.

Well, now that it's over, let me know what you thought! I always love hearing from you guys!

***READ ME***I am going to write a couple of little tiny fic-lets that take place at random points in Gabby and Eric's future. I'll post them separately, so if you want to read them make sure you are following me or check back in. I have a couple of ideas, but if you want to send me a suggestion for a scene that you want me to write, please feel free to send me a pm on here or message me on tumblr! I'm also going to go back and edit these stories from the beginning, just to polish them up. ***

It's insane to think that this is all finally over. I posted the prologue to The Distance a year and half ago and I honestly didn't expect a lot of people to read it. I was so happy when I got my first review, I was just thrilled that someone actually read the first chapter. I had no clue that I would get such a great response and that I would have so many amazing readers.

But here we are, 68 chapters later and you amazing people have left 499 reviews between the three stories. As of the time I'm writing this, between those 68 chapters the series has been viewed a total of 184,114 times and the stories have been favorited 501 times. I have no idea what I did to deserve you amazing people but I'm so honored that you chose to spend your time reading about Gabby and Eric.

Thank you, all of you, whether you reviewed and messaged me or just followed one/all of the stories or if you have been silently reading as a guest!

It took me a while to finish editing this last part because I didn't want it to be over. I was so sad that the end had finally come, but I know that it's time to move on and to tell a new story. In the words of Shel Silverstein:

"There are no happy endings.

Endings are the saddest part,

So just give me a happy middle

And a very happy start."

You guys have no idea how happy you have made me and how much this journey meant to me. Thank you.