Here is the final installment! This chapter is way sappy, just so you know. If you don't like sap, you may become nauseated.
I swore I would never write an engagement fic, because there are so many and marriage is not something I tend to romanticize... however, I was struck by the book idea last Spring and couldn't resist those bunnies.

Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments, and also for continuing to read and be interested in the story, despite my 3-month break from writing. This fic helped me get back in the game. Happy, fluffy holidays!

After leaving the apartment, he had gone to the corner coffee shop and settled himself on the outside bench. It was made of stone – hard and cold, with a dedication plaque digging into his back. He mindlessly stared at the passers-by, who were dressed in everything from workout clothes to church attire. Each time a man with a wedding band on his finger strolled past, Danny's breathing faltered. Would that be him soon? Why did he suddenly want that, after never wanting it, and even being repulsed by it, before? That's where she had changed him – underneath all the layers he was still the same Danny Messer, but now he had a taste of what he wanted in life. For life. Something told him she felt the same way. It was in her fascination with the stories he told, the silly ones from his childhood or wayward adolescence, that made other people just roll their eyes. She liked them, and it made him feel like she wanted to know everything about him. Just like he wanted to know everything about her. That's what gave him the courage to take this leap. As there was still so much to learn, he wondered if a lifetime would be long enough.

It wasn't all perfect, of course. Some of her habits grated on his nerves, and he knew there were probably nights she considered strangling him in his sleep. Learning to balance the good and the bad was something they had grown better at. For every incident of frustration or annoyance, there were ten more of bliss – remembering that was important.

Each minute made his anxiety level rise, as he wondered what she was doing and if she had figured out his message yet. Too nervous to take a single sip of the coffee he had bought, he finally chucked it into the garbage bin once it grew cold. I should go back now, he thought, glancing at the clock on the street post. Plenty of time had passed. It wouldn't take her long – Lindsay was a detective, after all, like him. They were trained to search for those minute details, to discover the patterns that would lead them to answers.

Coming back through the door was the hardest thing he had ever done. It was an entire lifetime squeezed into a single second, his life flashing before his eyes as he stepped into their apartment. No matter what happened, things would never go back to the same as they were before.

There she sat, on the floor, surrounded by scattered books, tears in her eyes. A notepad and pencil lay nearby, where she had jotted out the answer to the puzzle:

Ways to Earn a Living From Home
Interior Design for Dormitories
Leadership Skills for Teens
Linguini and Other Pasta Made Easy

Ultimate Kick-boxing Workouts

Molecular Biology IV
Antietam – Grant and Lee
Rocky Mountain Bed and Breakfast Guide
Rhodesian Ridgeback Owner's Manual
Yesterday's News – Today in History

Mysteries of the Pyramids
Elizabeth I – Her Life and Reign

In her hand, she clutched the sparkling object that had been inserted between pages 493 and 494 of Elizabeth I – a diamond ring. Merely an allotrope of carbon, maybe, but an expensive one. Even after the painful down payment, he would be paying it off for awhile. Wanting it to be the very best, he had spent hours on the internet one night, researching cut and clarity and carats. Ultimately he had gone with a bauble that was simple and classic, yet stunning. The characteristics reminded him of Lindsay, and seemed a perfect fit for her.

Watching her now, his stomach flopped one direction, then the other, and his heart began to beat as though he were running a marathon. If she was going to say yes, he wanted to know now. If she was going to say no, he wasn't quite ready to hear it. Only at this very second did he realize how terrified he was that she would turn him down. In his life, Danny had been beaten to a pulp, had a gun pointed at him, watched his brother nearly die, and yet he had never been so terrified as he was now. He was truly at her mercy.

"Well?" he finally forced out in a hoarse whisper. His future was hanging by a single moment, depending on her to pluck it out of space and rescue him. What would she say? They stared at each other.

"Are you going to just stand there?" she asked softly. "Or are you going to get over here and put this ring on my finger?"

He threw back his head, gasping with relief. "Is that a yes?" he cried.

She nodded, cheeks damp and flushed with emotion.

He dove down on the floor in front of her, on his knees. "Then I need to hear you say it," he pleaded. He needed to hear that single-syllable word he had been praying for.

"Yes," she affirmed, leaning over to kiss him. "Yes." Kiss. "Yes." Kiss. "YES!"

He felt like the world was spinning, this was all too much to process. She was willing to throw caution to the wind, and jump head-first into a life with him. "So you will marry me?"

"Uh, generally, that's how 'yes' would be interpreted here." Her face twisted up into a frown. "Did you really think I could possibly say no?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I was just so… it was the… I can't even…". He shook his head, frustrated at his own ability to find the right words. He just let them flow. "All the good things in life, they get taken away too soon. And Lindsay, of all those good things that have happened to me, you are the best. This is for better or worse, Montana. I'll do everything in my power to make sure there isn't a single minute of 'worse', but I can't promise."

She met his gaze without hesitation. "I am not afraid, Danny. I want this just as much as you do. You're stuck with me now." Chuckling suddenly, she added, "All this because I signed that check with your last name?"

"That just made me realize that maybe you wanted this, too." He smirked, his confidence creeping back up. The mood never remained serious for long with the two of them. "And I guess my instincts were correct."

Lindsay was still laughing, the result of multiple emotions bubbling to the surface at once. "This is crazy!"

"And spontaneous. No better way to live life." He laughed too, looking at the situation they were in. There they sat on the floor – her eyes puffy from crying, hair still wet and stringy, wearing baggy clothes which did nothing for her figure. But to him, hell, she was the most delicious thing on the face of the planet! The books were scattered all around them. Perhaps it wasn't the most romantic way of asking her to make a lifetime commitment to him, but it was the one most fitting to their relationship. They were not a proposal on a bridge at sunrise, or a ring hidden in a bouquet of roses. He could have taken her back to Cozy's, request that the band play some romantic tune, then get down on his knee. But that was notthem. They were secret smiles shared over decomp, taking risks and following instincts, taking everyday moments and turning them into games.

"Us. Married. Wow. We won't ever buy those cheesy matching 'I Heart My Husband' and 'I Heart My Wife' bumper stickers, will we?" she asked worriedly.

Danny clutched his chest, feigning hurt. "You mean you don't heart me?" he asked.

"Of course I heart you. You know I heart you. But I don't think we'll ever be like that."

He shrugged. "If we are, would it be so bad?"

"No." Her smile spoke volumes. Their future was unknown, a little scary, and completely exciting.

They lapsed into an awkward silence for a few moments, the hum of the refrigerator annoyingly loud. She cleared her throat, and held up the gemstone she was still clutching tightly. "Would you like to do the honors?" she asked.

He thought his heart might explode from his chest. "Nothing would make me happier," he admitted.

He took her left hand in his, her trembling fourth finger stiffer than the others, expectant. Now, the ring he was holding was shiny and sparkling, new. But Danny wondered what it would look like in thirty years - he wanted to see it clouded with age, dirtied from the wears and tears of everyday life. He slid the gold solitaire on, and in that fluid motion, he knew his life had started over. He was done. Done searching, done guessing, done waiting. But no, this was no ending. This was the beginning of his forever, and it looked promising with her by his side. Granted, he knew it wouldn't be without struggles, but they would be able to overcome them. For no matter what obstacles they encountered, they were sure to be always committed, always understanding, always together.

Always learning.