A/N: I'm so sorry it's been literally YEARS since I posted. In case anyone is still reading this story, here's the promised epilogue.

Head Over Heels

Epilogue

Two years later

"Oh my God, it's out!" Mikan burst through the front door of Natsume's house. Although to be accurate, she supposed it was her house now too, seeing as how she had moved in with him and Aoi a year ago. She kicked off her heels at the "all are welcome, except that bitch Luna Koizumi" door mat (she had bought it for him as a joke Christmas present, and she honestly didn't expect him to actually use it) and made a beeline for the dark-haired figure perched at the barstool. "It's out!"

Before her boyfriend could manage to get a word out, she slammed a thick magazine onto the counter. The big, bold letters spelling out "ALICE" were emblazoned across a glossy image of a gorgeous olive-skinned model. Her fingers almost trembling with excitement, Mikan flipped to page 8. She ran her finger over the page, finally stopping at a point two-thirds of the way down.

"Lifestyle Editor: Mikan Sakura". It was just one line of text amidst the sea of black ink, but to her, it was one of the proudest moments of her life. She wanted to frame the damn thing and hang it on her bedroom wall.

"Lifestyle editor at the most popular magazine in the whole of Japan, and possibly Asia." Natsume set down his cup of coffee on the countertop and covered Mikan's hand with his much larger one. His gaze met hers steadily. "I'm so proud of you, you know that?" He ran his thumb over the smooth skin of her hand in languid, tender motions. "Remember how you were so down in the dumps after quitting that rag of a newspaper? And look where you are now."

"Hey, if I can survive having thirteen-year-old girls commenting 'you stupid lil ho' on my Instagram page every day, I can survive anything," Mikan laughed. She hadn't even drunk any alcohol, but the high of seeing her name in print on Alice, the hottest lifestyle magazine in town, sent thrills of excitement and warmth down her spine. She had felt the same way when she had published her first article in the Tokyo Chronicles, seeing her name in print. Except now, the feeling was magnified by about a hundred times.

Natsume's thumb on her skin suddenly paused midway through tracing a swirling pattern across her knuckles. Mikan could feel him stiffen next to her, and she quickly placed her left hand on top of his, trapping his hand between hers in a firm grasp.

"Natsume, stop. Look at me." She stared at him until he finally lifted his head and met her gaze. Emotions flickered through his ruby eyes in quick succession, but Mikan knew enough to recognize the pain and guilt that lingered.

"I was just joking, Natsume," Mikan said softly. "The mean comments don't bother me at all. I don't give a damn about the paparazzi, or the annoying fangirls, or stupid exes, or anything irrelevant like that. All that matters is that we're finally together."

Mikan Sakura was a lot of things, but she was not weak. If being the girlfriend of a world-renowned supermodel taught her anything, it was that you can't take insults too seriously. Not even if hate comments are splattered all across your social media pages. Or if pictures of you looking like a bleary-eyed lumberjack (honestly, did they have to choose such an unflattering picture out of the millions of paparazzi shots they snapped of her that day?) were splashed all over the tabloids and online gossip sites.

When the news of their very public and very dramatic escape from her "wedding" had first broken out, it seemed like it was all anyone could talk about. She couldn't go anywhere without reporters ambushing her, sticking their bulky cameras in her face and shouting inane questions at her. "Miss Sakura! Where did you meet Natsume? Did you cheat on your fiancé for him? Are you pregnant? What does it feel like dating the man who was ranked one of People's 50 hottest men in the world this year?"

She couldn't log on to her Instagram and Facebook accounts without seeing nasty comments calling her unworthy of dating Natsume Hyuuga and a slut for cheating on her fiancé, and judging every single thing she did.

She couldn't even go to the damn convenience store to buy sanitary pads without getting stared at and accosted by strangers.

Honestly, it was a little scary at first. She had been thrown into the spotlight out of the blue, after escaping from the clutches of her jerk of an ex and immediately falling into the arms of a man she thought had hated her.

At first, Mikan had been pissed off. She was finally together with the man she truly believed was the love of her life, after being through hell and back. But she couldn't even enjoy their time together without being hounded, without having her worth as a girlfriend and a human-being being brought into question. She wondered why people were so nosy. She was just a normal girl, trying to lead a normal life. She rented an apartment with her best friend, had a 9-to-5 job so she could pay the bills, trying to survive in the big city and find her place in it. So her boyfriend happened to be someone who walked on runways and appeared on magazines and TV. So what? Did that make it okay for her— no, their— privacy to be invaded?

She wondered how celebrities tolerated it. She wondered how Natsume lived with it. It was at that point that Mikan suddenly felt sick to her stomach as a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. Wasn't that essentially what she was doing to other celebrities as well, being a gossip columnist? Poking around their personal lives, invading their privacy and shoving every aspect of their life into the spotlight? God, I'm such a hypocrite, she had thought to herself bitterly. She had never really thought about it before. It was just a job to her, a way for her to pay the bills.

In high school and college, she had discovered a proclivity for writing. Fresh out of university, she had applied to every single publishing house, and had been thrilled to land a job at one of the biggest newspapers in Japan, even if it was just a small role as a gossip columnist, writing trivial entertainment news. She didn't really think too much about it. It was a good job. She could do the one thing she loved— writing. She could pay rent, buy groceries and eat out on the weekends. She had good colleagues.

But now that she was on the receiving end of the never-ending gossip, she suddenly realized that she didn't want to do this anymore. She physically couldn't. She had witnessed first-hand the pain that mindless gossip could inflict on the people she loved. Aoi and Natsume had been hurt by her, whether directly or indirectly. It didn't matter. She couldn't continue to stay in this industry. Mikan was contrite that it had taken so long, that it had taken being subjected to the same toxic treatment, for her to wake up. But after the wave of self-loathing had somewhat subsided, she realized that it wasn't too late. Yes, it was the horrible truth that hurtful gossip would probably never disappear. It was in human nature to judge and see drama as entertainment, and who better to judge than the people who seemed to have it all— celebrities and the people around them? But Mikan could make a choice to stop contributing to it. And so she did.

The next day, she had tendered her resignation. Her supervisor had been taken aback, and had reassured her that she had definitely not been fired for that offending article that had almost torn apart her relationship with Natsume. "You've already cleared your name, Mikan. We all saw the evidence, and Shina has already been fired. Why do you want to leave?" Mikan had simply given him a tight-lipped smile; she had already made her decision.

After weeks of job-searching, she had finally landed a job as an assistant at the Alice magazine. She had been overjoyed, and was determined to work her ass off to show them what she could do. She was thrilled to still be able to use her skills with words and her experience in getting the latest scoop, but for good this time. She researched all the latest trends in food, travel, beauty and style. Being the girlfriend of a famous model who had access to insider knowledge on all the newest, hottest things was definitely a plus point too, she had to admit. She could bounce ideas off Natsume, and he was more than supportive, but she drew the line at accepting his help to get interviews with famous designers. It had been a difficult line to draw, but Mikan knew she had to do it based on her own abilities.

She had to prove to herself and to the world that she could do it. She couldn't rely on her boyfriend to get further along in her career. That would reek of distaste, and it went against every fiber of her being. It had been difficult, to say the least. Getting her ideas shot down time after time during meetings, feeling small and insignificant amongst the experienced, sophisticated editorial team of the biggest magazine in the country. But as anyone who knew her could attest, the words "give up" did not exist in Mikan Sakura's dictionary. Finally, after two years of blood, sweat and tears, she had been made a full-fledged editor in the Alice editorial team. And today, the issue with her name listed on the "meet the editorial team" page was released.

It had been two years, and you would have thought that people would have gotten used to the idea of her dating Natsume Hyuuga. But every so often, she still received hate comments online. Mikan no longer cared though. All the times she spent with Natsume over the past two years made everything worth it. After all, the trolls spreading vitriol anonymously online were probably just holed up in a basement somewhere, being bitter at the world, while she was living her best life, working hard at a job she loved and having the man she loved with her whole heart by her side.

Shaking her head to bring herself back to the present, Mikan tried to explain this to him for the hundredth time. She knew he still felt guilty for pulling her into the spotlight with him so abruptly. He was there when she saw and heard the uneducated comments calling her a "hoe" for ditching her fiancé at the altar for a supermodel, not to mention the comments calling her an "ugly bitch next to Natsume". He was there when they went out together and she got flustered by all the paparazzi trailing them. "Natsume, I really don't care. I have the thickest skin ever, seriously. That's why I was able to be a gossip columnist for so long. You don't survive in this industry being a pushover."

A grudging smile tugged at Natsume's lips. "I know. That's how we first met."

Mikan laughed. "Yes. So you should know me better. My god, we've been dating for over two years. I'd be mad if you still don't realize that I literally don't care about stupid stuff like that. If I see you get upset because of this again, I'm not going to let you choose what we watch on Saturday movie nights anymore. And you know how much I love my Barbie movies."

"All right, all right, you win," Natsume conceded. He pulled his hand out from between hers and moved to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "My balls shrivel a little every time I'm forced to watch one of those. If I have to sit through one every Saturday…" He shuddered, giving her a crooked grin when she snorted.

"Oh yes, we must protect your family jewels," she teased.

"I just worry about you a lot," he admitted, the hand in her hair now trailing down to cup her face. "You've had to deal with so much shit because of me. So much of it was caused directly by me. Because I was a dumbass and you're too good for me."

Mikan's heart swelled with love and affection for him. Sometimes she wondered if it was physically possible to love someone so much without her heart actually bursting. It always made her want to weep from happiness to be able to see this side of him. To the rest of the world, he was Natsume Hyuuga, the talented and arrogant supermodel. But Mikan knew that behind that mask was a gentle, loving man so full of compassion and love he had never dared to give to anyone in the past. Now, the unbridled way he showed his love to the few people in his life he cared about was one of the countless things about him that took her breath away.

"So you can't blame me if I want to keep you safe in my pocket and protect you from the scum of the earth, like Reo Mouri and all those stupid haters. You can't blame me if I still wonder sometimes what I ever did to deserve you." His eyes flickered to hers, his gaze like molten lava. "God, what have you done to me, Mikan Sakura? You've turned me into the sappiest, cheesiest piece of shit. And you know what? I'm not even mad about it."

"I can protect myself, Natsume," Mikan smiled. She scooted over on her barstool so that her body was almost flushed against his chest. She could feel his body heat, warm and familiar. "I have my wit, my charm, and my sparkling good looks," she joked. "Not to mention my five-inch stiletto heels." She circled her arms around him, feeling the tight muscles in his back relax under her touch. She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the soft cotton of his shirt against her cheek. "And I don't blame you one bit. I thank the gods every day that you're mine, and I'm yours. You say you're not good enough for me. But you know how some people say I'm not good enough for you?"

Natsume made a noise of protest, but Mikan shut him up by pressing her lips to his neck, nipping softly at that spot she knew he loved. The noise turned into a groan of satisfaction, and Mikan smiled against his skin. "What does being enough mean? What does not being enough mean? I don't know, but what I think is that as long as we're happy together, we're pretty damn perfect for each other, no matter what anyone thinks. What do you think? Are you happy being with me?"

"Fuck yes, you make me feel like I'm the happiest man in the entire fucking world." Natsume growled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him completely. She yelped, almost falling out of her seat, but he adjusted her so that she was half straddling his thigh. He gripped her hair firmly but gently, causing her to lift her head from his shoulder. Before she could warn him about his language jokingly, he had crashed his lips against hers. She instantly forgot what she was going to say, as his hand in her hair tightened and he deepened the kiss. Even after two years together, every kiss with him just got better and better. She wound her arms around him and kissed him back fervently, but too soon, he drew away, breathing hard. He stared at her, his pupils so dilated his eyes were almost black.

They sat there in near silence, waiting, the only sound in the kitchen coming from their breaths and the ticking of the clock on the wall.

"Wait here," Natsume finally said, breaking the silence. Reluctantly, he disentangled his hands from Mikan's hair. "Wait for me." He slipped off the barstool, his long legs allowing him to land gracefully on the floor. He walked across the wide expanse of the living room, disappearing into one of the spare guest rooms.

Mikan let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding, and hauled herself back into her seat. Her face felt hot, and she knew her cheeks were crimson. Somehow, being with Natsume always brought out the… wilder side of her she didn't know she had until she had met him. Really, being together had brought out facets of each other that they had never seen before. It was an exhilarating feeling, learning more and more new things about each other every day. Mikan smiled to herself, toying absently with a stray thread on the bottom of her shirt. A minute or so later, Natsume appeared again, holding two boxes in his hands. One was flat and rectangular, and the other was taller. Both were wrapped in gold and white patterned paper, topped with slightly wonky-looking bows.

"Presents to celebrate your promotion to lifestyle editor," Natsume grinned, placing both boxes on top of the counter and pushing them towards her. "Open them."

Touched, Mikan smiled and started undoing the bow on the flat package. Then she paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "But I swear to God, if you splurged on some stupid crap like designer bags again, I'm going to clobber you on the head. You know I hate when you spend money unnecessarily on me."

She remembered the first Christmas they had spent together. The first Christmas present she had received from him was a Chanel bag she knew cost almost 500,000 yen. She had shrieked and almost dropped the damn thing, and proceeded to nag at him for wasting so much money on a mere bag, something that she could buy from Harajuku at 2000 yen and get good use out of for years. He had tried to protest, reminding her that he was, in his exact words, "filthy rich". But Mikan had just glared at him until he finally conceded and promised he would try not to spend that much money on her again.

All Natsume did now was to grin even wider, gesturing for her to continue unwrapping the box.

She finally managed to peel the paper away to reveal a large gold picture frame. The "meet the editorial team" page from the newest issue of Alice magazine had been carefully cut out and enclosed beneath the glass pane. A lump appeared in her throat, and she swallowed, trying to blink back tears. God, I'm so freaking sappy. Fancy crying over a page in a magazine. It's not even like I've been made editor-in-chief too, people will think I'm overreacting and being a silly country bumpkin, freaking out over things like this, a part of her brain was saying. But to hell with it. She couldn't help it. Yes, it may have looked trivial to others, but to her, getting promoted at a job that she enjoyed and had worked hard for was a huge deal. And the fact that Natsume had known it, had gone out to buy a copy of the magazine, had framed and wrapped it, made it even more special.

"Oh God, Natsume. I love it," Mikan cried, running her thumb across the intricate ridges in the gold frame.

"With the way you're acting, people might think I'd gotten you a priceless Monet," Natsume said wryly.

"To me, this is more priceless than any piece of art in the world." Mikan put the frame down gingerly, and leapt down from the stool. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him. "Thank you."

"You're most welcome." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Now, don't forget the other present."

"What is it?" She pulled away from him and eyed the package curiously. She undid the ribbon and tore away the wrapping paper. "Oh my God."

A brown shoe box was staring back at her, the words "Christian Louboutin" in elegant white cursive printed across the top.

"You spent a bomb on me again!" She wheeled around to face him, her hands on her hips and her brows etched together. Her mind flickered to all the times in the past she had flipped through fashion magazines, gazing longingly at pictures of the gorgeous heels and then balking at the price printed discreetly at the bottom of the page.

"Shh, let's not get into that argument now," Natsume said, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her back towards the box. "Open it."

Gingerly, Mikan lifted the lid. She removed the red dust bag and placed it on the counter. She parted the white tissue paper in the box to reveal a pair of stunning black Christian Louboutin So Kate pumps, complete with the distinctive red sole. The black patent leather was glossy under the light from the chandelier.

"It's stunning," Mikan breathed, carefully touching one of the shoes. The leather felt cool under her fingertips. She had always been a heels kind of girl, being very petite, but the ones she owned were mostly from the sale section at Forever 21. She had never thought that she would one day own a pair of Louboutins, one of the most iconic heels in the world. But to her, what made this pair of shoes so precious wasn't that it was expensive and gorgeous. It was that the man she loved had chosen them for her.

Natsume picked up the left stiletto from the box and dropped onto one knee in front of her. Mikan's heart almost leapt out of her throat. He couldn't be—

He wrapped a hand around Mikan's left ankle and lifted her leg gently. Mikan almost burst out into hysterical laughter. Oh, of course he wasn't going to… he wasn't going to… He was just putting on the shoe for her. Her face flushed, and she shook her head, trying to banish the embarrassing thoughts from her mind.

Natsume slipped the shoe onto her foot carefully. Mikan wondered if this was how Cinderella felt when the prince helped her put on her glass slipper. And like Cinderella's glass slipper, the shoe fitted Mikan perfectly. Natsume stood up, bringing himself to his full height. The height of the heel was perfect as well, Mikan found out as she put her weight on her left foot, lifting her body off the ground. It brought her face much closer to Natsume's. It was the perfect height for kissing him.

"Put on the other shoe, or you're gonna fall on your face," Natsume smirked, gesturing to the other shoe still nestled in the box. "I'm already the prettier one out of the both of us, we don't need you to mess up your face to prove that." Mikan laughed. His snarky humor, and the way he could switch between being tooth-achingly sweet and teasingly funny was another thing about him that stole her breath away.

"All right, pretty boy." She stepped out of the lone shoe she had on and turned towards the counter again, moving to pick up the shoe that was lying on its side in the box. "It's so stunning and it fits so well that I can't even be mad at you, Natsume. But honestly, you don't—"

Wait.

Was that…

Mikan bent her head to take a closer look, and this time, there was no mistaking it. It wasn't a trick of the light, making the leather shine unusually bright. It wasn't her imagination going into overdrive.

She reached out a shaky hand to touch the glint of gemstones and diamonds at the heel of the stiletto.

"Natsume… Is that…"

"Remove it," Natsume prompted her, his voice laced with excitement and nervousness.

Mikan carefully lifted the shoe out of the box and held it upright, positioning the heel of the shoe over her other palm. The ring that had been placed around the tall, skinny heel slid down its length and fell into Mikan's waiting hand. All she could do was to stare at it, at the beautiful red-orange spessartite garnet and accent diamonds adorning the corners and sides of the stone, all set on an elegant platinum band.

"I…" Mikan suddenly found herself at a loss of words. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear the frantic thumps in her head.

Natsume gently removed the shoe she was holding and placed it back on the counter. He picked up the ring from her palm, and looked straight into Mikan's eyes, which were wide and glossy with unshed tears.

"Mikan, first of all, I want you know that before this, I literally had no idea how to propose, and I had to search up marriage proposal videos on YouTube to see how people do it. How they kneel, when they kneel, how they hold the ring, which finger to put the ring on, all of that," Natsume admitted, his face flushed and eyes bright with mirth and love. "I never thought that one day I would ever propose to anyone. Heck, I never even thought that one day, I would love someone enough to want to spend the rest of my life with her, and only her."

Mikan's hand flew up to cover her mouth, and she could feel her tears threatening to spill over. Her chest was tight, and all she could do was to stare back at Natsume, waiting for him to continue.

"And then, I met you. We may not have started off on the best foot, pun fully intended. You came and shook up my world like a tiny five-foot hurricane with crazy shoes. You made me challenge all my pre-conceived notions about myself," his voice was thick with emotion. "Earlier, I said that you make me feel like I'm the happiest man in the world. Will you give me a chance to make you the happiest woman in the world too? Wait, or is that too presumptuous of me? To assume that marrying me would make you the happiest—"

"Yes, I'll marry you," Mikan spluttered out.

"—woman. Damn, what am I doing? Why have I rambled on for so long… Wait, did you just say you'll marry me?" Natsume's eyes snapped back into focus as he realized what Mikan had just said amidst his uncharacteristic muttering.

"Yes, you dork," Mikan laughed, holding out her left hand. The tears were streaming freely down her cheeks now.

"I didn't even get to ask you whether you wanted to marry me! I didn't even get to the kneeling part yet!" Natsume exclaimed, flustered. A myriad of emotions were swirling in his eyes. Joy that Mikan had agreed to marry him, confusion that he had heard her wrong, embarrassment that his proposal had taken such a strange turn of events despite his rehearsals, which consisted of him talking to himself in the mirror every night for the past week.

"Wow, we're just a couple of idiots in love, aren't we?" A smile spread across Mikan's face. Her heart was still thudding away like a runaway train in her ribcage, and she felt light-headed with anticipation and nervousness.

"We really are." Natsume ran a hand through his black hair, making it stick up in the back in an absolutely endearing manner. "Okay, I'm doing it for real this time." He inhaled deeply, and went down on on knee in a single, fluid motion. He lifted his gaze and stared resolutely at Mikan. This time, there was no doubt about the emotions in his crimson eyes.

"Mikan, will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will," she replied, nodding her head vigorously.

Pure, unadulterated joy spread across Natsume's face, and he slid the ring onto the fourth finger on her left hand. It fitted perfectly. He stood up, and put his arms around Mikan, enclosing her in a bone-crushing hug.

"I love you," he whispered, his soft breath caressing her cheek.

"I love you too," Mikan whispered back.

"Do you know why I chose this gemstone for the ring?" Natsume asked her suddenly, holding her left hand up so she could take a closer look at the beautiful reddish-orange stone.

She shook her head, mystified.

"Your name means 'mandarin orange', and mine means 'jujube'. Orange and red, together forever." He ran a thumb over the garnet, a wistful smile on his lips. "I told you, you've turned me into a cheesy mess."

Mikan had finally stopped crying a minute ago, but now she felt a new wave of tears threatening to spill over. God, she freaking loved this man.

"I love you," she choked out again. She would never be able to say it enough. "I love you." She cupped his face in her hands. "Now shut up and kiss me."

Natsume laughed, bending down to bring his lips to hers. "Your wish is my command."

~The End~

I hope you guys enjoyed the ~5000 words of tooth-rotting fluff HAHA. A big thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and/or favorited this story! I'm completely blown away by all the support I've received over the years. I don't think I deserve it at all, but thank you for making my day and giving me hope that there are actually people out there that enjoy reading what I've written.

It feels kind of surreal writing again after so long, and I think my writing style has somewhat changed. I sometimes cringe reading at what I had written in the past, but fanfiction and Gakuen Alice were a huge part of my childhood and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Regardless, I hope you find this long-overdue epilogue a satisfactory ending.

Thank you again for being on this long journey with me!