I'm finally back with the last chapter!

Hope you all enjoy!

"I really eat way too much every time I come here." He said, and I giggled as he motioned at me for another bite. The restaurant was small –tiny actually, with only 15 tables crammed in together and nestled between little book shops and cafes on a quiet, cobblestoned street in a quaint town of narrow alleys and crooked old buildings. Not far from the rolling hills and fields where red poppies bloomed in the spring, and just on the edge of Florence, it was easy to see why Tuscany was so satisfying. We were smushed comfortably in the far back corner, opting to sit next to each other as we sampled off each other's plates and indulged in flights of wine. The old brick walls seemed to dance in the flickering light of the votives on each table, the space so tiny that not much further illumination was required.

I was full of pasta and fuzzy from wine, soft and comfortable curled up next to him in the corner and laughing at his comment as he slung his arm over my shoulders. I swirled some penne through the creamy vodka sauce and fed it to him.

It had been an incredible trip, and we were reaching our vacation's finish line with three days to go. We'd already spent two days in Tuscany indulging of the 7th districts and getting lost in the splendor of the museums, and a week in England; where we tucked ourselves away in the cozy pubs of old London and took long drives through the countryside in Surrey before continuing on throught Kent, Basildon Park and Stevenson. It was incredible, and satisfyed some of the wanderlust I'd been plagued with for so long. The best moment by far had been our very first night in England.

We had rendet an SUV and before leaving the lot Rick had blindfolded me in the front seat, saying that it was a surprise. I of course replied that I'd never been outside Atlanta so it was all a surprise and there wasn't much need for a blind fold, to which he responded,

"I don't want you to see the sky. Just trust me." I had no clue what he meant but I trusted him so we chatted animatedly as he drove us to our destination. Nearly an hour later he stopped and powered down the engine, signaling our arrival. As he opened my door and helped me out I couldn't help giggling in anticipation of whatever it was he was planning. It was extremely cold, with fresh snow under my boots and it was eerily quiet. All I could hear was the sound of our breathing and our footsteps in the snow.

Finally, we stopped.

"Ready?" He asked, holding my gloved hands in his. I nodded, and I felt him work at the knot and the fabric fell from my eyes. I was met first with his lovely gaze, then looking around me I found us standing alone in a snow covered field several yards from the SUV, which was parked in front of the most charming, brick English cottage. Incandescent light glowed from the windows, and smoke puffed from the chimney. It looked warm and inviting and like it would be the perfect place to curl up with tea and a book. I was elated, and launched myself at Rick, hugging him fiercely.

"It's perfect. I love it." I breathed into his chest. He pulled back from me and smiled.

"That's not the surprise." He said, and motioned skyward. My gaze followed his own and I was left speechless. The black sky was smattered with glittering stars. Peppered heavily across the land; twinkling specks of light bright enough to rival the glowing white moon they danced around. I'd seen these kinds of skies in films, they never seemed like they could be real. An entire galaxy of speckled light that we were a part of: so far away and yet right there. Living in such a large city had unique benefits that set it apart from living anywhere else, but at the cost of some things that everyone else considers a normal part of life. A yard to run around in, a driveway for your car, and stars.

I caught Rick gazing at me the way every girl wishes a guy would look at her, and his arm came around to pull me close.

"When you told me you'd never left Atlanta, I knew that meant you'd never seen stars." He said, following my gaze back to the sky. "There are certain things in life that everyone should see. Snow, the ocean, and stars like these. You have to go to dimly lit parts of the word to see them, but they're worth the effort. When we get back to the states, we'll go to Maine. Maine has stars like these."

Between the chilly winter wonderland around us, the picturesque story book cottage we'd be staying in and the glittering midnight sky, I found my heart soaring with excitement and exhuberant joy, and just before I could start welling up, he grinned and kissed me.

Paris was every bit romantic as you would hope it to be. I had been surprised yet again when Rick ushered me into a beautiful hotel and the bellhops had delivered our luggage to the room and left by the time we opened the door to the suite, and my state of awestruck enchanment only continued. Where the English cottage was cozy and quaint with it's warm flannel blankets, shabby chic furniture, rustic fireplace and old world charm, the suite in Paris was opulent; with expensive silks and hand-carved barroque furnishing, crystal chandeliers and uniformed hotel staff with crisp white gloves carrying silver trays from room to room. In England he had payed top dollar for quiet, romantic countryside just outside London. Here his hard-earned money was buying King size goose feather beds with bottles of Cristal on the nightstand and a wrought iron balcony that looked out over the city and served as a perfect perch to gaze at the Eifel Tower. We were both so damn happy that we broke open the Cristal, got hammered, had wild sex and spent the entire next day in bed with horrible hangovers. After sampling the incredble art and even more incredible food, we would drag ourselves back to the hotel, slightly drunk on chocolate-dipped croissants, rum-soaked petite madelines, and raspberries dranched in chamapgne. He would close the door, push me up against it, and kiss me deep and slow so I could revisit the tastes of sugars and liquors off his tongue.

I was roused from deep, drunken slumber by the bed shaking slightly. I turned over to find Rick tossing and turning, clenching the sheets and squeezing his eyes shut as beads of sweat rolled down his brow. I sat up and moved to comfort him, soothing my hand across his cheek, calming him almost instantly. His eyes blinked open and his hand went to cover mine.

"What happened?" He croaked, panting as he tried to pull himself calmly into the waking world. His clouded, tired gaze met mine and his eyes widened. "Did I-"

"-No. Nothing happened, I'm fine." I interjected. He had told be before that nightmares could cause him to lose control and have violent outbursts, and that I could get hurt. He didn't want me to risk that, and said I should just ignore it. But I didn't care about any of it.

"Are you okay?" He said nothing as he sat up slowly, wiping the sweat from his brow. I scooted closer to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He exhaled, and he raked his fingers through my hair.

"It's always the same dream," He said, focusing his attention on the twisted sheets. "I wake up to a blinding light above me and three dark figures come into view. It's the surgeons, and they're confused. Looking at me, then at each other, back and forth. They don't speak, and their confusion quickly shifts into panic when they realize their mistake. The worst part is how alone I feel. No clue who I am or how I got there, what they wanted, with no one to help me. They implanted me with a defense trigger. I had no choice but to save myself at all costs. I can still hear the screams."

I sat in silence listening, whishing I could offer any form of comforting advice. He took my hand in his and looked at me.

"It's gotten better though. I used to have that nightmare every night. But when I came to live with you, those numbers shrank. In the months we lived at your place I got some of the best sleep of my life. I only had that nightmare two or three times." This offered me a shred of hope. We laid back down and I let my body melt into his.

"I don't mean to make light out of the situation," I started softly. "But if it helps, maybe this all happened for a reason. What if there's some big, cosmic reason that we should be in each other's lives? Maybe this was the only way we would've met." The feel of his fingers gently running through my hair and softly stroking my scalp sent waves of warmth curling through me, and just as my mind was slipping under, he murmured softly,

"That's a good way to think of it." He kissed my head and sleep claimed me.

One Year Later

"'Chonne, babe, let's go." He called from the living room.

"Two seconds I swear!" I slipped on my heels.

"You said that ten minutes ago. We're gonna be late." I straightened my white chiffon dress – the one I wore to the the charity gala – and stumbled out the bedroom, practically skidding to a stop in front of him. He was texting as he stood near the front door, looking sleek in that all black suit I loved, and his eyes slid from his phone to my feet and slowly climbed my body before meeting mine. He grinned wickedly.

"I've been wondering where that dress went."

"Of course you did." I laughed. "Are you gonna make fun of me again? The last time I wore this you said it was smaller than it's how-to-wash tag." I teased.

He laughed, which was such a beautiful sound and took my hand as he pecked my cheek.

"Yeah well, guys make fun of girls when they like them." He said with a gleeful mirth in his eyes. I smiled as he pulled me out the front door and we began our dissent to the parking garage.

"Besides," he added coolly. "I never said I didn't like it. I love that dress. I love seeing you in that dress."

We got in the Aston Martin and he looked at me as he rolled the engine over and the car purred to life.

"I love the thought of peeling that dress off you."

We pulled to a stop outside the restaurant as I unlocked my seat belt and reached for the door. We were meeting to dinner with all of our friends from the army. But it felt more like a family dinner to us. It was nice to see Hershel again. After everything was over and the higher ranking officers that were connected to Negan had been exposed Hershel had been promoted and was kept very busy. Rick and I had been travelling for a few months until Rick had gotten new orders to go on Tour of Duty. Things have been hard during that time, even for me, but we were glad to finally reunite with everyone again.

"Good to see you, Rick." He said as they hugged. He turned to embrace me and pecked my cheek.

"Michonne, dear, how are you?" I smiled and replied that I was well and that Rick and I had missed him before turning my attention to the others.

"Michonne! Rick!" Maggie squealed with mist in her eyes. She gave me an energetic embrace. "I'm so glad you guys made it! It feels like we haven't seen each other in forever. How have you been?"

The anxiety I was feeling only intensified every time Rick and I locked eyes. He still managed to give me a reassuring smile. We had some news to tell everyone.

Rick sighed contently after coming down. After a moment he collected himself and I crawled up to lay down next to him.

"You're welcome." I said with a shit-eating grin. He burst out laughing and I playfully pushed him, which gave him perfect opportunity to grab my wrist and pull me across him as he rolled and pinned me to the mattress. He laughed and gazed at me, his eyes shining in the dark.

"I think you meant to say '"Thank you, Rick.'"

"Oh get over yourself." I said, and whacked him with a pillow. He sat there stunned, his face shifted from stupefied to the sly, cunning animal ready to pounce. Excitement surged in me and I knew what was coming.

"Oh, you're messing with the wrong guy, Michy." And that was the start of our pillow fight turned wrestling match turned sweet and passionate kissing; the deep toe-curling kind.

"I love seeing you like this." I said to him as he hovered over me, his face close to mine. "You seem happy."

"I am. I'm better than happy. I'm at peace, and it's all because of you. My life changed completely after I met you." I considered his words for a moment before adding,

"Well, none of this would have happened if I didn't have this condition."

He smiled at me.

"I'm glad you've openend up about that." He said, moving a few strands of hair from my eyes. I shrugged.

"I'm not afraid of it anymore. You taught me that. I felt powerless for so many years until I met you, and now I know I can live whatever life I want because I've always been the one in control. When the world finds out about me, I won't be afraid. Especially because I've got you." A calm serenity washed over his features.

"You have no idea how much power you have. I'm completely useless against you." He laughed. "When I saw you in Hershel's office that first day, I was done for. I was ready to end it all. I was so fucked up, and I saw you and that was it. It was like ... suddenly feeling a heartbeat when you'd only ever known yourself to be dead. It scared the shit out of me. I never thought I could have a life like this. I was so damn sure that I'd never be in love. I've never even had a family. But now ..." He paused, and I felt his hand stroke my lower belly. His gaze fell down towards it, and I saw him smile.

"You're my everything."

He said and embraced me, burying his face in the crook of my neck, and I started welling up. My arms wrapped around him and my fingers laced into his hair.

"I love you, Rick." I felt him grin and he pulled back and kissed me.

I knew that life would never be the same for either of us, it would never be what we'd always known because since meeting each other everthing had changed. We faced fears, embraced faults, I learned to take control while he learned to let go of some. He saw through my insecurities to the woman who wanted to embrace life, and I saw past his terrifying demons to help him realize that life was worth living and that if he had to suffer, he would never suffer alone. We were two lonely, broken people slowly healing because we knew that we would never have to feel alone again.

He was my cure.

That's the end of this story everyone! Thank you so much for sticking with this story till the end and thank you to everyone who left reviews! I never expected so much wonderful feedback! I'm currently still working on the sequel, and it might take me a while to sort everything out that I have planned. I'll start posting chapters after I have a couple of them finished, so you guys don't have to wait too long between chapters. Also, when you head over to my profile you can find the link to my tumblr.

Let me know what you thought of this last chapter, and also let me know if there's anything you hope to see in the sequel.

Thank you for your attention and kind words,

Till next time! x