Epilogue

Tony sighed and closed the old antique desk that sat in his living room and stood up. The desk was the only piece of furniture his family had given him. It had been a week since Alyssa had left his life and his house was a little too quiet now. He had even woken up to the eerie sounds of silence in the middle of the night expecting to hear Alyssa talking to herself in her sleep, but to no prevail. He really missed her.

His guest room was now stripped of everything that was hers. The sheets were back to the old brown ones he had on the bed before she moved in, the walls were bare once again, and the closet was totally empty. The room had a creepy sadness that was heavy and obviously present; it was almost as if a ghost had lived there. Tony always felt a small pang of sad in his heart every time he looked in the room.

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Tony had been hard at work ever since she left. He now had other things to focus on. He passed her school every day on his way to work, not on purpose but by choice, the route was shorter that way. He often looked over to see if she was waiting for anyone, he even got into the wrong lane a couple of times as if he was still going to the school to pick her up. He had pissed a lot of people off at that intersection through wishful thinking.

When he sat at his desk at work he often let his mind wander to elsewhere, of course that all was brought back by Gibbs' slap to his head, but when Gibbs wasn't around Tony let himself go. He often wondered what exactly was in that drawing book of hers that Ziva had given her the first day they met her. Tony sometimes pulled it out, but before he was going to look he always stopped himself. He felt compelled to keep whatever it was a secret until Alyssa gave him the say-so, but now the chance of that would be nil.

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Alyssa sat in her room and stared into space. Her new family was incredible, everything she could've ever wanted, but still something felt like it was missing. Alyssa had everything she could ever want, she had new parents and siblings, she had Ray as her boyfriend, and her father was gone forever, but she still wanted to see Tony again.

Now her new parents weren't stopping her from seeing him, but she figured that she should move on. Whenever Alyssa would see birds now on walks she'd think of Tony, almost everything in her room reminded her of him, and she couldn't go one day without almost calling him. She felt like he was her ex, the one you can't get over.

Alyssa rolled over on her bed, grabbed her phone and almost dialed, but stopped herself before she did, Tony was probably at work right about now and he needed to be answering real important calls, with that she set her phone down and walked off to the hallway of her new house and listened carefully as her computer played "Broken Wings" by Alter Bridge, breaking all the silence in her mind.

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Tony wasn't working like Alyssa's had theorized, but in all reality he was sitting on his couch, flipping through old pictures. Doing so always comforted him. He smiled a little as he saw one particular picture; it was of him and Sarah. They were sitting on the front porch of Tony's childhood home, Sarah was sticking her tongue out and trying to lick Tony's ear, Tony was laughing and telling her to stop. Tony's mom had snapped the picture at just the right time, before Tony had taken off running away from his psycho sister.

Tony laughed and held up a more recent picture of him and Alyssa. The one where they were trying on hats in the store and sticking their tongues out, making weird faces, Tony sighed.

"Oh Sarah," Tony said. "You would've loved Alyssa, she's a great girl, and she'll go far one day."

Tony held up both pictures and looked at them. He reached over on his side table and grabbed the double framed picture frame he had been meaning to put something in. He carefully placed the photo of him and Sarah in the first slot and the other one of him and Alyssa in the bottom one.

Tony's computer beeped and he stood up to go see who had just gotten an IM from.

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Alyssa sat at her computer; she had just Im'd Tony. She felt like she had just released the elephant in the room from his prison. She patiently awaited a reply.

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Tony couldn't believe his eyes when he read the IM.

Brokenangelswings15: Hey Tony it's me Alyssa, how are things going?

Tony couldn't wait to respond, he immediately typed back.

NCISsingerTony32: Hey kid, how are things going with you, things are fine here, quiet…but fine!

Brokenangelwings15: Things are good here, my new families' awesome and they live in Ray's neighborhood so we can see each other all the time now.

NCISsingerTony32: That's good, you know I miss you too much, you should come see me sometime.

Brokenangelwings15: Yeah I should, I will one day, I honestly thought you'd rather me move on then be attached to a person I can never really see?

NCISsingerTony32: Psssh! Kid like that could ever happen, you honestly think I'd ever get sick of you if you do then you've got another think coming :D

Brokenangelwings15: Oh that's good ^_^ Hey tony can I ask something of u?

NCISsingerTony32: Sure, anything for you kid.

Brokenangelwings15: Can you take the sketchpad Ziva gave me and take the pictures out of it and give them to the right people, I think once you see the pics you should b able to tell whose is whose k?

NCISsingerTony32: Sure thing, may I ask exactly what it was you were drawing?

Brokenangelwings15: I was drawing Team Gibbs…

Tony paused for a moment and grabbed the sketchpad out of his NCIS bag. He tore it open and stared at the pictures Alyssa had drawn. They were so good and realistic that Tony felt as if they were going to pop right off the page.

NCISsingerTony32: They're beautiful Alyssa

Brokenangelwings15: Thanks 3 I spent forever on them. I hope everyone loves them.

NCISsingerTony32: I'm sure they will, hey it's ten o' clock aren't you supposed to be asleep?

Brokenangelwings15: Yah technically I am, my parents and my brother went out for the night and I decided to stay behind, might play guitar in a little bit though.

NCISsingerTony32: Learn any new songs?

Brokenangelwings15: Oh just about every single one in the book you gave me

NCISsingerTony32: Gee whiz kid, anyways I have to get up for work tomorrow, but I'll definitely give the others your pictures, ok, now practice a little guitar then go to bed ok?

Brokenangelwings15: U got it! ;) Have good dreams Tony.

NCISsingerTony32: You too! Goodnight.

NCISsingerTony32 has signed off

Tony turned around in his office chair and went to go get ready for bed.

Alyssa turned around in her office chair and went straight for her guitar.

Alyssa pulled out her tuner and began to play the first few chords of a familiar song she knew all too well.

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Tony began to get into his pajamas; he looked over at his guitar. He hadn't played since Alyssa left…

He pulled a t-shirt over his head and walked over to it, he plucked each string to make sure it was still in tune, it was. Tony pulled the guitar strap over his head and neck and began to strum.

"Come stop your crying it will be alright," he sang. "Just take my hand hold it tight…"

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"I will protect you from all around you," Alyssa sang, her house was too quiet she needed to fill it with music. "I will be here don't you cry…"

"For one so small," Tony stood up and walked into his living room while he played. "You seem so strong, my arms will hold you keep you safe and warm, this bond between is can't be broken, I will be here don't you cry…"

"Cuz you'll be in my heart," Alyssa sang. "Yes you'll be in my heart, from this day on now and forever more…"

"You'll be in my heart," Tony sang. "No matter what they say, you'll be here in my heart…always…"

Tony and Alyssa both simultaneously without the knowledge of each other doing so, sang the net few choruses and lyrics of the song. They were now at the end.

"Just look over your shoulder…" Tony sang.

"Just look over your shoulder…" Alyssa sang.

"Just look over you'll shoulder…" Tony sang.

"I'll be there…always…" they both finished.

Tony stood up and placed his guitar on his living room stand, he smiled one last time at the picture of him and Alyssa, turned off the lights, and walked to bed.

Alyssa smiled and set her guitar down on its stand. She walked over to her bed, turned the lights off in her room and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

Well that's all folks! It's been great! I can't believe I actually had the dedication to finish this whole story! I am so glad everyone who read it loved it and that they took the time to stick with me through 19 chapters!

I would like to thank all my reviewers and readers alike for helping me out by reviewing and reading, it really warms mah heart that there are so many people who really felt for Alyssa, Tony, Gibbs, and everyone else in this story! And why do you ask am I using so many exclamation points? Because of how excited I am!

Also there were a lot of OC (other characters) I added, if you'd like to see a story about them just say so or with them in it!

If anyone has any questions or anything feel free to review or PM me.

Anyways…this story is now done and I am proud to say…I'm on to my next one!

Happy holidays to everyone and have a great life!

:)