And just when you thought it was all over........here's the conclusion.

The Word document that this story is in is titled "Endings", which was the original title for this story.

Therefore I really thought that there was no better title for the epilogue to this story than it's original title.

Here it is; the 16th, and last part of this story. Enjoy.

It's only short, but I quite enjoyed writing it; I've never written in future tense before, but I think it's strangely fitting.

Dedication: To everyone who's reviewed. I write as a form of catharsis, but it's your feedback that makes it worth it.

Endings

These are the ways in which it might end:

He will stay with Lauren.

And he'll be happy.

She will die on a mission, driven near-suicidal by the way in which he will have moved on.

He will grieve.

But he will know that he could have prevented it.

Or

She will marry his best friend.

They'll be very happy.

But he'll never be able to move on in the way in which he has.

He'll love her forever.

Or

He will stay with Lauren.

They'll be happy for awhile.

But in the end it won't last, and they'll be driven apart by words said in anger that they won't really mean.

He'll ring her four years after he abandoned her, and he'll say, "Joey's Pizza."

She'll take him back, and then he'll tell her that he loves her.

And it'll all be all right, in the end.

Or

She'll have moved on.

She'll be married.

She'll tell him that she loved him. That she'll always love him.

But it won't be enough.

And he'll be alone in the end, wondering what if.

Or

He will call her.

She will be standing behind him.

She will tell him that she fell in love with him on this pier.

He'll tell her that he can't deny that he loves his wife. Because he does.

But not the way he loves her.

He will tell her that she makes him complete.

And then he will tell her that he wants it to work.

There will be a day when he catches her on his laptop.

There will be a day when he pins her to the fridge, not out of passion but out of fear and anger and betrayal.

There will be a day when she tells him that she has to leave, that she has to find her parents.

That she has to find out why there's a hole in her mind.

Or

She will already be dead.

The woman that he has loved for the past six months will be a double.

She will tell him that emotions only get you killed.

And then –

Then

She

Will

Kill

Him.

But he won't care, because he'll get to be with her again.

Or

They will marry six years to the day after they met.

They will have a daughter at first, a brilliant little girl called Katie.

They will never have a fairytale life.

But somehow he will think that he is living happily ever after.

One day they will be called in by Kendall, and told that they can finally take down Sloane.

He will lead the mission, and she will insist on taking part.

It will be a trap.

Sloane will demand her as a hostage in exchange for letting the rest of them go.

She will tell him that she's not afraid.

He will believe her, because she's the most courageous person he's ever met.

She will nearly go with Sloane.

She will be saved by Marcus Dixon.

But not before she is killed.

She will tell him he has to be strong for her, for their daughter.

He will pick up their daughter and let her sob on his chest, asking where her Mommy is.

He will tell her that she's gone to heaven.

He will be better this time.

It won't hurt so much this time.

Because he knows he'll see her again.

And because he will know he can't afford to let himself go this time.

Because he will know he has to be strong for Katie.

And so he will.

Or

They will take down Sloane easily.

Katie will be joined by Sophie and Adam in time.

They will move out of LA, to a small country town.

They will grow old together, surrounded by family and friends.

He will, one day, go to sleep and not wake up.

Or maybe she'll be the first to go.

Either way, it doesn't really matter which order they go.

They'll be together in the end.

And they'll know that love is the only thing in this world that really matters.

.

These are not the only ways it might end.

But it will end somehow.

He will be with Lauren.

He will be with his family.

He will be with her.

He will be alone.

He will be alone again.

He will be killed by a woman wearing her face.

He will be with his daughter.

He will be with her.

It will end.

None of the choices he will make as he will sit on this pier will change that.

Death comes to all men.

The only things that his choices can change are the way in which he will live, and the way in which he will die.

And so he will call a number, and in this world he will call a brown-haired woman.

In another he will call a blonde-haired woman.

In another still he might call his best friend, or make no phone call at all.

We will not know how it will end.

Just that it will.

*

finis



Um. Yeah. There's the fic. 22,393 words, and 59 pages of looking inside of Vaughn's head. Anyone tired now?


It's been a pleasure to write for you, and I thank you for all the wonderful reviews.


Em