Chapter 139: Worth Every Fight

Quin's POV

The look on Tyler’s face got my attention immediately.

Five months of marriage had taught me a lot of things about my husband. One of them was that Tyler only looked like that when something had either gone very wrong or very right. There was rarely any middle ground.

I pushed away from the pool wall and swam toward him. He was standing at the edge with his phone in one hand, water still dripping from his hair and shoulders. His eyes were wide.

“What happened?” I asked.

Tyler looked up. Then he turned the phone around.

At first I didn’t understand what I was seeing. A hand with a diamond ring. Then my brain caught up.

I grabbed the phone. “What?”

Tyler laughed. “Cassie.”

The message at the top of the screen read:

~SHE SAID YES!!!

I blinked. Then I looked again. There was another picture. Mara on one knee while Cassie with both hands covering her mouth, probably crying. The third picture was somehow worse. Cassie had clearly been crying for several minutes. Her mascara was slightly smudged. She looked ridiculously happy.

I couldn't help but laugh. laughed. “Oh, wow.”

Tyler grinned. “Right?”

A new message appeared.

~CASSIE: I’M STILL CRYING.

Another.

~CASSIE: TYLER I CAN’T FEEL MY FACE.

Then another.

~CASSIE: I SAID YES BEFORE SHE FINISHED ASKING.

Tyler snorted. I shook my head. “That sounds like what she's capable of.”

More messages flooded in.

~MARA: SHE STARTED CRYING BEFORE I GOT TO THE IMPORTANT PART.

~CASSIE: THAT’S NOT TRUE.

~MARA: IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

~CASSIE: I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

~MARA: ALL LIES. YOU THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BRUNCH.

Tyler burst out laughing. I couldn’t stop smiling. The messages kept coming. Photos, videos and voice notes. Apparently neither of them had any intention of waiting until we got home.

“Well,” Tyler said, “that explains the five missed calls.”

A voice note arrived. Tyler pressed play. Cassie’s voice exploded from the speaker.

“WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!”

A second voice immediately interrupted. “Stop screaming into the phone.”

“I WILL NOT!”

The recording ended. Tyler nearly dropped the phone laughing. I rubbed a hand over my face. “They’re impossible.”

“They really are.”

Another message arrived.

~CASSIE: WE HAVE ANOTHER WEDDING TO PLAN.

Tyler and I looked at each other and started laughing all over again. Because somehow the statement felt completely ridiculous. And completely inevitable.

The wind moved across the pool deck. The sea stretched endlessly beyond the hotel. And for a few minutes all we did was stand there looking at engagement photos from people we loved. It felt strangely familiar. Maybe because five months ago we had been the ones getting married, now another wedding is coming up.

"Our lives just keep getting better and better. I'm soo happy right now I could cry." Tyler said, still looking at the messages and pictures.

Something tightened in my chest. Even after everything. There were still moments when I caught glimpses of the person Tyler used to be. The version of him that expected disappointment and good things to eventually disappear. That version showed up less often now. But sometimes he was still there. Preparing for a disaster that never arrived. He rarely ever talks about his mother which I feel is ok because she doesn't deserve to be in his memories. But Gracie said talking about it once in a while would make him free from all the trauma she caused.

I stepped closer. Wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed his temple. “You know,” I said quietly, “I still can’t believe how far we've come.”

"I can't believe it too, but here we are. So you better behave or I might run away from you."

"Don't forget the plot where I kidnapped you and kept you locked up with me forever."

He gasped dramatically."Are you threatening me Mr McKenzie?"He shoved my shoulder.

I laughed. "Yes my darling, yes."

A notification interrupted my thoughts. Another message from Cassie.

~WHEN ARE YOU KIDS COMING. JAKE AND DYLAN ALREADY AGREED TO A CELEBRATORY DINNER.

We stood there smiling. I knew the creation of this group chat would be a disaster since the day Cassie talked about it. Now we are stock with her for life.

Later that evening we ordered dinner in our room. Neither of us felt like going out again. Tyler sat cross-legged on the sofa scrolling through engagement photos he had already gone through while I finished answering emails.

Eventually he looked up. “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

He threw a bread roll at me. I caught it. “Im serious right now.”

I set my laptop aside. “Okay.”

Tyler hesitated. Which immediately made me suspicious. “What?”

He looked at his hand before looking at me. "Can we skip the last two countries for now?"

I smiled."is that the serious thing you wanted to talk about."I started laughing."For a second I thought you were going to tell me you were pregnant." I kept laughing.

Tyler stood and walked across the room. Then settled into my lap. Like it belonged to him. Which technically it did. My arm automatically wrapped around his waist. He pushed me away slightly like he was sulking but didn't attempt to stand up.

"I forgive you for laughing at me but first I want a star." He muttered in a sulky way"You were so strict about the whole sex checklist I thought you wouldn't agree."

Hey, look at me." I stopped laughing and used one hand to turn his face towards me." There is nothing in this world you want that I won't give unless it's out of my reach." I placed a soft kiss on his lips."If you want to go to your friends, or rather our friends that wouldn't be a problem. We can leave tomorrow."

I continued. “Being married to you feels…” I searched for the right word. “…peaceful. I wouldn't give up my peace for two countries.” I placed another kiss but this time was to his jaw.

His entire face softened. He leaned in again and connected our lips deepening the kiss. Tyler really was my everything. The world felt less sharp when he was beside me and less threatening and lonely.

He broke off the kiss and hugged me.

I wouldn't be the man I am if it weren't for Tyler. Maybe I would still be sleeping around with humans that aren't worth my time because I convinced them to dye their hair to the same colour as his.

Tyler shifted slightly. “What are you thinking?”

I smiled. “You.”

“That’s suspicious.”

“It’s true, my thoughts and everything in my head revolves around only you..”

He smiled. "As it should be.”

I laughed. Then kissed him again. When we finally pulled apart, Tyler rested his forehead against mine.

“You know,” he said quietly, “I’m really proud of us.”

My chest tightened. Because I’d been thinking exactly the same thing. “Me too.”

His eyes searched mine. “We did good.”

I nodded. “We did. It wasn't easy but we made it.”

For a few seconds we sat there. Listening to the ocean. Watching the last light disappear beyond the horizon. Then Tyler’s phone vibrated again. We both looked.

A new message from Cassie.

~CASSIE: IF YOU TWO AREN’T EXCITED ENOUGH I’M CALLING AGAIN.

Another appeared immediately.

~MARA: Please don’t.

Then another.

~CASSIE: I’M CALLING.

Tyler groaned. I laughed. The phone started ringing. Right on schedule. Tyler answered. “Cassie—”

She immediately screamed. I pulled the phone away from my ear. Tyler winced. And somewhere in the middle of all the noise and laughter and excitement, I found myself smiling again.

Because life kept moving forward. Not away from the people we’d lost or from the things we’d survived. Just forward. Toward new memories, new beginnings and new chapters. And for the first time in a very long time, the future didn’t feel uncertain. It felt exciting.

Tyler caught me smiling. “What?”

I shook my head. Then pulled him closer. “Nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing. It was everything. Everything we’d fought for. Everything we’d survived. Everything we’d built. And every single thing is still waiting for us on the other side of tomorrow.

I brought out my phone and messaged Jake in a way Tyler wouldn't see, notice or read the text.

~Hey man. How much will it cost to buy a star or name one after my husband?

~ Jake : This is the height of it. I'm fed up. I'm putting a ring on his finger tomorrow. I refused to be impressed.

I laughed out loud and when Tyler asked me why I was laughing, I told him I went down a funny memory lane. He might not have believed me, but he didn't say anything. He just wrapped his hand around me.