Well, my lovelies, this is a short chapter, but this story has come to an end. However, the first chapter of the sequel, Burning Up, is now up, and I do hope you all will enjoy it! Dedication—I forgot to do this in the beginning; I'm terribly sorry. But, this story goes out to Steph, aka Mark's Maureen, my real-life close friend. We've known each other for almost two years, and she read the original, very sucky drafts of this story and encouraged me to keep going.

Thank you so amazingly much for all the reviews and support, and a special thanks to the 22 of you that have this story on their favorites, and the 37 of you that have this story on alert. That means so much to me!

Oh, and because some of you might've been wondering about the title?

"I think they meant it/When they said you can't buy love/Now I know you can rent it/A new lease you are, my love, on life/Be my life…"

--"I'll Cover You"

Chapter Twenty-Four
Perfectly Marvelous

"3… 2… 1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The cheers that erupted over Times Square were deafening, but everyone was oblivious. It was officially 1993. There was snow on the ground, and the air was freezing, but none of them could feel it at all.

As soon as the word "one" had left his lips, Mark had pulled Trai to him in a long, passionate kiss. She melted against him, surrendering to the rush of emotions that she still felt during every kiss since their reunion—happiness, hope, love, everything. She was so glad to have him back again.

She sighed contentedly as she pulled away, breathless, her face flushed, and murmured, "Happy New Year, Mark."

Mark kissed her cheek, holding her by the waist so that she was close to his body. "Happy New Year, Trai," he whispered into her ear.

With Lauren being taken care of by Roger's mother and Rachel by Maureen's, the boho gang was free to party, and party was what they planned to do. They'd gone to Times Square as they had the year before and the year before that, this year with one more—Trai.

It was barely a year since she'd joined them, barely two months since she'd left, only a week since she'd returned. And yet she had become part of the family. No one denied that it had been a tough year for Trai and Mark, but everyone agreed that they were glad that Trai and Mark had finally made up.

1992 had been a landmark year, even in the terms of the bohemians. There had been new lives, and lives lost. Mark and Trai alone had begun their own romance, ended it, and begun it again, all in the span of twelve months. There was love, and anger, and guilt, and joy.

Despite the turbulence of the year past, Trai and Mark weren't thinking about it as they walked back to the building, Trai's hand in his.

"You had me worried," Trai remarked. Mark had forgotten his camera and gone back to get it at 11:30, not coming back to join them until 11:45.

"Sorry," Mark said with a sheepish blush, though he was hiding a smile. A glance at Roger's expression showed he was doing the same. "Won't happen again."

"It better not."

Mark pecked her cheek. "I promise."

"Annnnd… no padlock!" Roger laughingly announced as they came to the door. Benny rolled his eyes, as if to say, You're never going to let me live that down, are you?

Everything was set up in Mark's loft, and so they headed up the stairs. Mark opened the door—and when she saw the interior of the loft, Trai gasped.

Candles were lit everywhere. Roger and Mimi's slight smiles revealed that they knew where they'd seen this before—Christmas Eve of 1989, when their own relationship had started.

"Mark, what're you—?" Trai started to question where all this had come from—it had not been there when they left—when shock made her break off, for Mark had taken a jewelry box from his coat and gotten down on one knee, taking her hands.

Even Mimi was surprised. A glance at Roger—and at the grin spreading across his face—told her he'd already known.

Already, Mark was smiling.

"Trai," he began, "I love you. I love… I love everything about you. Every time I feel like I know you by heart, you come up with some way to surprise me.

"A year ago, I was convinced that I'd never find anyone to spend my life with. A year ago, I didn't think that by this time next year I'd've fallen for this… this beautiful, amazing, stubborn, crazy writer."

He was stumbling over his words, just a bit, nervous beyond belief, his stomach in knots. He watched her face, encouraged by her expression, which was ecstatic.

"Trai, a year ago, I couldn't picture spending my life with anyone. And… and now, a year later, you are the only one I can picture spending my life with."

Trai was crying from happiness. The others watched, holding their breath.

Mark opened the box. The ring inside glittered in the light from the candles, promisingly.

Promising love.

Promising happiness.

Mark looked up at his girlfriend and whispered, "Tracy Roseanna Buscemi, will you marry me?"

Trai was speechless for just a moment, paralyzed from shock and joy and the overwhelming urge to kiss him.

When she finally regained her voice, her answer was an emphatic, "Yes!"

Mark leapt up and pulled his now-fiancée into an embrace, dipping her low to the floor in the first kiss of their engagement. As they kissed, he took the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger.

When they broke apart, their tears mingling on each other's cheeks, Trai could only stare into his eyes, whispering, "I love you, I love you so much…"

Mark kissed her again, tenderly, and whispered, "I love you too."

They pulled apart slowly, and saw that the others were just as happy as they were. Mark smiled and nodded inside. "Champagne, anyone?"

The agreement was unanimous. Wrapping his hand around his fiancée's, Mark led everyone into the loft and closed the door.

1993 had officially begun.

A/N- Again, everyone, thank you so, so much for the love and support LFR has received. I love each and every one of you that reviewed; this story alternated between driving me crazy and keeping me sane.

The sequel, Burning Up, is already up and running. Run wild!

"Perfectly Marvelous" is yet again from Cabaret, the song Trai sings to Mark earlier in the story.

LifeIsTooQuick- Thank you very much:) I hope this is satisfying. If not, there's always the sequel!!

Sundrynotes- Haha, thanks! Yep, Trai has been the project of a year's worth of notes and revisions and a lot of time and thought! You may have noticed that a lot of things in her come from myself, but she's also been sketched from a lot of research, talks with friends, and the occasional caffeine high:) I also love all my other OCs dearly (Angie, Danny, Micah, etc.), hence the OC drama.

Scififreakmi- Thanks:)

Tina101- Haha, yup, they're fixed. And wait 'til you read the sequel…

Srgirl6889- Wow, thanks for reading all that in one day! My kudos to you! Oh, yes, I really do enjoy writing Roger myself. Believe it or not, until I started roleplaying, I did not like Roger at all! RPing changed my mind and led to the Roger you see here :)

Readerfreak10- Hehe, thanks!

NotEASYbeingGREEN- Yay, I'm glad you're all happy now! Haha, yep, Trai and Mark are happy, but they are definitely not out of the woods (check out Burning Up and you'll see what I mean!). And I think I had Roger call Trai honey before—it was mostly because he was concerned for her and trying to comfort her.

Birdhearted- Thanks :) I have friends who went/are going to see Anthony and Adam! I've met Anthony twice, actually; he signed my copy of Without You and a little thingy they gave us at the concert of his I went to. And, I kid you not, I am paler than he is. We compared hands!

Diva Actress- Thanks! Now have fun with the sequel!

Lena- Wow. You gave me one of those reviews that make my day. As I've said before, I love writing my OCs and even characters that aren't mine, and trying to do this as realistically as possible—and I'm glad to hear I've pulled that off. Thank you so, so much, and enjoy the sequel!

Thank you so very much, my lovelies. See you in Burning Up!

- Sally