Author's Notes: I apologize for yet another late upload but I went on a rather impromptu vacation after Endgame ruined me and there was barely any reception where I was so I had to wait till I got back to get this up.

But this is it. I want to thank you all for taking this journey with me. I have another idea on the horizon but it might take a while before I get back to this fandom. I've got several Endgame fix-it ideas (that I'm sure I'll never get to anyway) because I'm already swamped enough with two jobs plus school so I think I'm gonna need to be a more responsible human being. But lbr, I'm gonna fail at that and I'll be back. See y'all then!

Chapter 10 - the world could die and everything may lie, still you shan't cry

Debbie hadn't dropped anything, she just needed to reach into the skirt of her dress to get to the thigh holster she'd secured there earlier. And right now, the only reason she hasn't gotten up from the sand is because she's down on one knee, holding open a small black velvet box with her free hand; her other hand still clutching tightly at Lou's, not willing to let go now or ever again.

"Deb, honey," Lou starts off slowly, as if she were approaching a caged animal. "What are you… What are you doing?"

"Baby, I think this gesture means pretty much the same here as it does in Australia."

From somewhere in the growing crowd, Amita exclaims, "Finally! I've developed indigestion, trying to keep this a secret like I'm part of a non-sci-fi version of the Marvel universe; I've been so stressed out."

"Dude, you knew?" Constance asks, lightly poking Amita with her elbow. "Not cool."

"I made the ring, duh," Amita explains and ducks her head when she realizes both Lou and Debbie are staring at her, in shock and in exasperation, respectively.

#

"I need another favor. And before you ask, it's nothing like the Met."

Amita eyes Debbie warily. Her expertise mainly falls under stones and metal, and as far as she knows, Debbie's never really been into jewelry. Unless to steal them, obviously. "Okay."

"You can't tell anyone. And I mean, anyone." Debbie looks Amita in the eye, her expression even more serious than when they'd been preparing for the Met Heist. "You have to swear."

"I—" A nervous laugh escapes Amita. "I don't know, Debbie. You know how much I love a good gossip."

"Not this time, Amita. Think of it as a job. You kept the secret about making additional replicas from the others."

"Yes, but it's messed up my metabolism! I think." At Debbie's eye-roll, she adds, "And at least I had Lou to talk to about—Wait, what's the favor? And why aren't you asking Lou instead? Why isn't she here?"

"Because out of everyone, Lou should never ever find out."

Amita gives her a look that's all kinds of skeptical. "What's wrong? Are you two okay? Do I need to call Tammy?"

"Yes, but—What?" Debbie looks at Amita with her head tilted in confusion until she sees the phone Amita's waving beside her. "Why—Why would you need to call Tammy?"

"For...damage control?"

"Damage control? What? No. We're working through some things but we're fine. We're great. We're amazing."

"That's usually what people say when things are falling apart."

Debbie looks to the ceiling for patience. "Amita, for Christ's sake, I want you to make a ring!"

"A ring?"

Debbie sighs and just pulls out the blue diamond she's been rolling around in her pocket since she left the loft this morning. It takes Amita a moment before she connects the dots. And really, Debbie should've foreseen this but in all of her planning, she forgot to prepare for what is possibly the worst trauma her ears have ever and, hopefully, would ever experience.

Just as the ringing in her ears starts to subside, Amita's squeal turns into little choked sounds. "Oh my god, I didn't even know you were already together-together! This is the best news ever. I just—I'm over the moon!"

"It's not—We're actually—I mean, nothing's happened, really. And nothing's changed but…" Amita's frown gives her pause. She hadn't really given this decision much thought. She just knows that it makes sense, that it feels right. "I'm sure."

"I kinda wish Danny was here to see this. He'd be so excited to walk you down the aisle."

Debbie shakes her head. "Not before he gives me so much shit for taking so long."

"Hmm."

"He, uh, pretty much predicted this." Debbie licks at her lips, scratching her nape at the memory. "Asked how long Lou and I had been together when he first met her. Asked when we'd tie the knot after the first job we ran with him and his crew."

Amita perks up even more. "And how did Lou react?"

"Oh, she didn't know. Thank god for small miracles, right?"

"Then…" Amita, pauses, chewing her bottom lip. "Don't take this the wrong way but, why did it take so long?"

Debbie half shrugs, smiling almost sadly. "Timing?" She shakes her head. "We're idiots. Or, at least I am."

Amita squints at her for a little while before she turns back to the diamond in her palm, uncharacteristically silent.

"What, that's it? Aren't you supposed to say 'No, you're not, you just needed time.'?"

"You mean I'm supposed to lie?" Amita retorts, batting her lashes in feigned innocence.

"Fuck you too, Amita."

"No," she says, managing to keep a straight face. "When you finally get down on one knee, Lou will fuck you. Gladly. For the rest of your lives."

Debbie's face contorts this way and that, unsure how to respond and uncomfortable with the heat spreading up her neck, cheeks, and up the tips of her ears. So instead, she chucks a crumpled piece of paper she finds on the table straight towards Amita's head.

For the rest of their lives? Well, how about that?

#

"Listen," Lou whispers as she moves closer. "You don't have to do this, Deb. It doesn't matter what story we tell them; they'll twist it way out of proportion anyway. If they still don't believe it, then who cares?"

"I do. I care, because they shouldn't be calling you names except your own." The determined expression on Debbie's face relaxes into an easy smile. "Although I wouldn't be opposed to hearing them call you by mine. Miller-Ocean has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Stop."

"No, Lou—"

"Stop. This has gone far enough, don't you think?"

"Lou—"

"Toni's already done damage control. Just one more week, and we could put all of this behind us." Lou shakes her head and looks up to the skies for some strength. "Sal and Harry appreciate our efforts and at this point, I really don't care what the tabloids say—"

"Louann Ilithyia Miller!" Debbie interrupts. Upon gaining Lou's full attention, she sighs then smirks; using her full name works every time. "Hollywood can go to hell. I don't care who sees. This is me, Lou. And I want you."

Silence.

"Are you—Deb, is this—"

"Real? Yeah, baby. You are not just my first call; you are my only call, the only one that matters."

Lou huffs but her eyes, still wide and incredulous, remain locked on Debbie's. "If this turns out to be a joke, I will—"

"It's not. It's not." Debbie emphasizes her point by squeezing the hand she still has in her grasp. "And it's not a lie either. Because I may lie—and I do, a lot—but never about this and never to you. You weren't wrong when you said the white picket fences and two and a half children weren't part of my plan. But that's because I don't have one. I don't care what it'll look like or what it'll become, as long as it's with you. It's always been you."

Lou stares at her, all other sounds drowned by the pounding in her chest. "Are you doing this to prove you're staying this time?"

This time. Okay, that hurt. But it's fair.

"No, baby. How many times do I have to promise I won't ever leave again before you start believing me? I'll do it every day for the rest of my life if I have to."

Lou wants to apologize for doubting Debbie but this is all so sudden and overwhelming. She knows what she wants. She's known for years. But can it really be this easy? Can she really just take it as it's being offered on a silver plate? Or, more accurately, on a platinum ring with a huge-ass blue diamond?

"I'm doing this because I love you." At this, she sees Lou's eyes widen even more. "I love you. I probably have since that first night we met. Or that first successful job we ran together when you were so nervous but got into character anyway, like a pro. Or the night you drove me around New York on your motorcycle – I hated what it did to my hair but I loved having my arms around you." Lou scoffs at this but she's doing quite poorly at hiding her smile. "Or that first time you cooked for me. Or the first time I cooked for you and you had to throw away your favorite pan—"

"It was our only pan," Lou couldn't help adding, the amusement on her face overpowering the exasperation.

"—because I ruined it beyond repair and we ended up staying at a motel because we couldn't get the burnt smell out of our apartment. Or the one time I got sick and made you miserable with how horrible a patient I was—"

"Still are."

"—but you nursed me back to health anyway. Or that night you gave me the best sex of my life—it's true, you can be smug about it. Guess being a player really does pay off in that department, huh?"

"I knew it!" Tammy whisper-shouts and it somehow carries over to Lou who then finally realizes they've got an audience, and a huge one at that. But it doesn't matter.

Lou chuckles nervously before responding. "Do you know why I got the reputation of being a player?"

Debbie briefly glances at some movement in her peripheral vision. "Because you actually were before you became reformed?"

Lou blinks. "Alright, that's fair," she shrugs one shoulder. "Actually, no, because being a player suggests lying and taking advantage and leading someone on. I never did that; everyone I've ever been with knew exactly what they were getting into." She shakes her head, wincing a little at how this seems to be going wrong. "But I digress. What I meant was… You asked me when I stopped, and I told you. What I didn't tell you was why."

"Why?" Debbie asks softly when Lou doesn't seem keen on continuing.

"I just kept seeing you. In all of them. But when I looked closer, it wasn't you at all and…" She takes a deep breath, licking her lips. "I wanted it to be you."

"I'm here now, baby. Just say yes."

"We're not even actually together," Lou says, seeming to have realized that little fact just now. "Isn't all this a bit drastic?"

"I know. But haven't we wasted enough time pining after each other?" Debbie asks and is relieved when Lou tilts her head and agrees. "Our friends have started a betting pool on when we'll get together. Our brothers and the rest of our...found families already gave us their blessing. Sort of. Not that we need it but it's always nice to feel their support. But more importantly, we already live together and we've planned our lives together. The only real difference I can think of is the sex and we already know it's amazing."

Lou concedes to all Debbie's points but she shakes her head slowly, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "I'm scared," she whispers, so soft Debbie barely hears it.

Debbie's smile is small but genuine and soft and so in love. "Me too. But what scares me even more is not being there for you when you need me. And not making you happy. And, more importantly, not spending the rest of my life with you. Ocean, waves, sand, and shore, baby. Always."

The reminder makes Lou smile a little. And if it were any other day, Lou would tease her for being a giant sap but not today. Because today—

"I've been in love with you for so long, Deb, but it's all been in secret or from a distance." She pauses, chewing on her bottom lip, still hesitant. "I'm not sure I know how to do this."

"Neither do I." Debbie's unsure how she's keeping such a calm facade here; that revelation just had her heart beating a mile a minute. "You don't have to say yes to marriage, Lou. Or even to a relationship." Lou frowns in confusion. "We don't need to fit into a mold. Just say yes to me, to us. Just tell me you want this because Tammy told me that more than one thing can make me happy. But I realized that she was wrong. Because you make me happy, Lou. You. Everything else just follows." She pauses, clearing her throat after her voice nearly cracked. "I want this more than anything. And I want it with you."

Well, that's that.

A lone tear rolls down Lou's cheek when she drops down on her knees in front of Debbie and kisses her fiercely, whispering the sweetest "yes" in between kisses, oblivious about the fact that cameras were rolling as cheers and applause were resounding.

Debbie pulls away, just enough that their lips still brush when she speaks. "Just so we're clear, that's a yes to what exactly?"

"Everything. I want everything with you."

Debbie's smile is blinding and it matches Lou's. She gently pulls away again so she could slip the ring on Lou's finger. "It looks perfect on you, baby."

Lou rolls her eyes and then a thought occurs to her. "How long have you had this?"

"Got the diamond in May – a blue one too, to match your eyes and my name. I've been carrying it around ever since." Debbie looks intensely into Lou's eyes and then it hits Lou.

"Honey, is this a proposal?"

"Baby, I don't have a diamond yet."

Yet.

"Those five years, eight months, and twelve days spent planning were leading to this. It was just a matter of timing and execution but ever since news came out that this is legal, I knew I was always going to end up here: on one knee, asking you to marry me."

Lou starts feeling overwhelmed with emotion but then she looks Debbie up and down quickly and toys with the string of her bikini beneath the sundress. "Where'd you hide it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Debbie winks before throwing her arms around Lou's neck and kissing her hard. Just because she wants to. Just because she can. Just because nothing in this world matters more to her than this woman – her partner, her lover, her fiancée, and, soon, her wife.

-x-

The next morning, their little scene makes headlines. Among them is a statement from one Rose Weil, where, during an interview taken on the same night of the proposal, she announced her desire and willingness to dress both brides for their wedding.

"Why? Well, darling, the answer to that is simple: Love is love. And I heard theirs was nearly two decades in the making. With a story like that, I don't need to know them to celebrate them. Plus, did you see them at the party? Elegant and eccentric! On a beach!"

"Nicely done, Rose." Tammy says, surprised from her seat on the couch in Daphne's living room where the rest of the girls decided to hang out, awaiting the news of their friends' engagement.

"HAROLD, THEY'RE LESBIANS!" reads a headline and it has Constance cackling at the reference, especially since that headline was from the same tabloid that initiated the mistress angle in the first place.

"Oh my god! Wedding bells! It's like Paris all over again, but with more love in the air!" Amita had exclaimed upon bursting through the doors of the house last night. And now, upon seeing the news on TV, she says, "I've known about the ring for months but seeing how it actually happened just then… I'm gonna cry!"

"Again?" Constance asks, not bothering to hide the judgment in her expression.

"Leave it to these two to make front page news after trying so hard to keep Lou's face out of the public eye," Nine Ball shakes her head.

Daphne rolls her eyes but she's smiling when she complains, "And stealing my spotlight."

"You're cool but, like, lesbian love trumps lesbian fragrance any day, yo."

"Especially if said lesbian love took only about two decades to finally come together," Tammy reminds them. She had spent most of their breakfast sharing her observations of the couple back when they were all young and green, running jobs together. And to her utter satisfaction, they were all facepalming at how obvious and oblivious the two women were even back then.

But then Constance lifts her head from the table. "Hehe, come together."

"Mind out of the gutter, Constance!"

"Yeah, I can't believe I said that about Mom and Dad." Constance shudders. "Gotta admit, they're both a smoke-show. But I think I just scarred myself for life."

"I never got to ask, how did this whole mom and dad thing start?" Daphne asks. "When I first got to the loft, it was already in place."

#

Lou spots a familiar head by the bar of her club. She had just read Debbie's text that night about seeing each other for the first time in nearly six years at the cemetery. Their reunion, and Lou can feel the sudden onslaught of adrenalin threatening to burst out.

"Shouldn't you be, I don't know, not here or inside any other club?"

"I'm 20, leave me alone. 'Sides, my being here shouldn't be held against me but against your staff."

"Oh, look, Eli served you the only thing you're legally allowed to drink." Lou teases, eyeing the glass of milk in front of the younger woman.

"Oh, this? I ordered it, lawful citizen that I am." She says, feeling quite proud of herself and it has Lou fighting a smile as she shakes her head. "You know, in, like, the five minutes since you sat down, I've noticed at least three women and a clueless, hopeless man eyeing you. So, what's stopping you?" When Lou just shrugs, she continues, "Doesn't make sense. I pegged you as, like, a player or something. Different woman on your arm every night."

"Maybe I was."

"Was?"

"Why, are you applying?" Constance sputters, almost spitting all the milk she just drank out through her nose. "Sorry, kiddo, you're beautiful and I do so enjoy your eccentricity and your energy but, you are way below the age bracket I normally go for."

"What, you don't wanna be a Sugar Mommy?" At Lou's murderous look, she recants, "...Daddy?"

Lou's brow rises before she narrows her eyes at the young girl. "No."

"Ooh, you like the idea, don't you? Definitely not for me 'cause that'd be, like, incest or some shit. But for someone." Lou just hums and Constance stares at her, eyes squinting. "I'll find out soon enough, Lou. I'm nosy," she warns, touching a finger to her nose for emphasis.

Lou just snorts. A few seconds later, however, she mutters, "Love is for children." She was aiming for indifferent but it came out bitter and Constance's eyebrows almost disappear into her hairline.

"I never said anything about love but alright, alright." She quickly taps on the table between them five times. "Who—"

"No one," Lou cuts her off, rather sharply.

Constance raises her hands in surrender. "Ayt, chill! We cool, we cool."

When she sees Lou emerging from the subway the next morning, she isn't alone. She's walking, elbows brushing with another differently styled yet equally stylish woman. And all Constance could think of was, "'No one', my ass," quickly followed by, "HOLY SHIT, I HAVE A MOM!"

#

Lou's standing in front of the mirror, fixing her tie for the nth time to keep from fidgeting in place.

"Hello, it's me, your best man," Harry says without preamble as he enters the room, dropping his heavy hands on her shoulders and smiling at Lou through the mirror.

"Yes, Bub, everyone knows you're the best man." Lou fondly rolls her eyes.

"Of course, it's me. Who else do you love the most in this world? No one."

Sal, who's watching them adoringly from her perch on Lou's bed, replies, "Honey, Lou's getting married. To Debbie."

Harry's brows furrow and he almost pouts. "Yeah, but I'm still her favorite."

"Without a doubt," Lou says, indulging him only because the sight of his beaming smile always melts her heart.

"Perfect," he exclaims. "Like you are. Debbie wouldn't know what hit her." He kisses her on her temple before Sal ushers him out of the room with a note to help Tammy make sure everything's in place.

Lou runs her hands down the front of her white tux, admiring the fabric, the texture, and the fit of the beauty that Rose had created for her. Everything about it was perfect and the design certainly screamed Lou Miller to anyone who even remotely knows her.

After the whole media craze about their engagement and the subsequent public announcement by Rose with regard to what they'll be wearing to their wedding, Rose had actually asked to meet with them formally, once individually and once as a couple, without the distraction of the rest of their crew. They both expected the meetings to be solely about their outfits but much to their surprise, the topic was never brought up. It wasn't until a little over a month later that she'd called on each of them separately for a fitting.

And as cheesy as it sounds, the suit she has donned for this momentous occasion just proves that Rose has truly captured not only her but also what this milestone means to her. She only hopes that Debbie feels the same way about whatever dress Rose had ended up designing for her.

A knock resounds on the open door of her room and she looks up to see Constance smiling smugly as she teasingly reminds Lou of a conversation they had before. "All this," she pauses, gesturing at the loft as a whole – decorated all over, both on the inside and out on the rocky seaside, with whatever wedding paraphernalia Tammy and Daphne had thought of. "From the woman who said love was for children?"

Lou meets Constance's eyes through the mirror before she shifts her gaze to stare at her own. She's finally marrying the love of her life today. Surrounded by Sal, Harry, and the twins, all the girls, Yen, Reuben, Rusty, and someone else she'd managed to track down a week ago that she knows Debbie will either kill or kiss her senseless for, maybe both… Her found family, her family of choice.

She really can't defend her past self for having said such a thing so instead of trying, she simply smiles. "Well, I am a child at heart."

Make-up be damned, Constance aggressively rubs at her eyes like a child – Lou's seen the twins do it enough times in a way that reminds her of Harry as a toddler – while claiming there was a twig stuck in one of them.

Lou's laughter carries over to the joint bathroom in between hers and Debbie's rooms—which, for once, is locked to keep with the tradition of not seeing the bride and the...bride, well, each other—where Debbie's putting on the finishing touches to her hair. When she exits to her room, she finds a note on her bed that wasn't there when she'd entered the bathroom.

"I hear congratulations are in order." The words are written in a familiar scrawl.

"What?" Debbie asks herself then shakes her head, trying to make sure this isn't a trick of her nerves.

But then from behind her, a throat clears followed by Danny's familiar deep baritone. "Congratulations."

Debbie freezes for what might have been a second, a minute, a lifetime before she turns on her spot, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

A/N: Forever by your side.

May the fourth be with you. Always.