A content breath of air flowed out of my nose as Nathan continued to raked his fingers through my hair absentmindedly while my head rested on his naked chest.

My fingers traveled in circles along the soft planes of his stomach, my mind focused, and relaxed as it steadied on the rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took.

For the first time in about a month, I was happy.

"Be careful," Nathans deep voice rasped, his lips moving against the top of my head. "If your fingers go any farther down, I might never let you leave this bed."

My lips rose into a sappy grin.

"Who says I have any plans on leaving this bed anytime soon?"

I felt the hair on the top of my head move as Nathan let out a breathy laugh, his arm that was secured around my waist, gripping even tighter.

"You're insatiable, Ms. Merrick."

"Are you saying you aren't up for the challenge?"

A surprised yelp erupted past my lips as I felt myself being spun over suddenly. Before I had time to even think about what had just happened, I found myself on my back with Nathans ruggedly handsome face hovering above mine, smirk and all.

"I look forward to it, Ms. Merrick." His lips tilted up into my favorite lop sided smile of his, his eyes filling with a combination of playfulness and lust.

My stomach flipped in excitement as he brought his mouth down onto mine. His lips smoothed over my own lovingly, pulling at them sweetly and I ran my hands up the warmth of his bare back and locked my arms around his neck, reining him in closer to me.

His body collided with mine and my recently sated hormones quickly perked up again at the feel of Nathans member becoming all too excited against my hipbone.

Then, Nathan hummed out an short noise before towing his lips away from my reddened ones.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah I am," I replied anxiously, wrapping my legs around Nathan's torso, trying to bring his body back fully into mine.

A light chuckle echoed through the room as Nathan shook his head above me, locking his bemused eyes onto mine.

"I meant for food, minx," he said with an adoring smile, his diamond blue eyes sparkling into mine.

"I just remembered that you haven't eaten yet," Nathan clarified as he rolled to his side, propping himself up on his elbow next to me. "And you just took part in a hefty work out. You're undoubtedly in need of some refreshments."

My breath hitched as Nathan brought his lips down to my ear, grazing them across the skin softly as he spoke.

"And if you want to pick up where we just left off later, then you'll need to recoup if you expect to be able to keep up."

"So food it is!" I declared as I sprang up from the bed and shuffled my way out of the sheets, setting out on a mission to find my discarded clothes.

I heard Nathan chuckle and the sheets rustle as he flopped himself back down onto the bed, watching me with gleeful eyes as I redressed.

"You know, we could always order room service. That way there'd be no need for you to put any clothes on for the rest of the day."

An incredibly un-lady like snort came from me and I threw a suggestive glance his way as I pulled my underwear on.

"As nice as that sounds, I don't think this hotel does room service. Plus, then the bellboy would see me naked and you would go ape shit on him and probably murder him and then we'd have to hide the body," I continued to drone on as I found my bra and secured it around my chest.

"Or," I exclaimed enthusiastically as an idea popped into my mind. "We could liquefy his body like they did in Breaking Bad! But neither you or I know anything about science so...that's probably off the table. Either way we would have to get rid of the body and then we'd have to flee to Mexico and have a donkey for a pet and I would obviously have to learn how to make the best tacos in all of Mexico so we could support ourselves and our children."

I strolled over to Nathan who was still on the bed and sunk down next to him, clad in just my bra and panties.

"Now, I don't know about you, but all of that sounds like way too much of a hassle to me for ordering room service."

I stared at Nathan with raised eyebrows, waiting for his response to my ludicrous explanation. His radiant, deep, blue eyes shone back at me, gleaming with so much love and elation. His lips rose up into the sweetest of grins before they spoke and ultimately rendered me speechless.

"Marry me."

My mouth, which was set firmly in a playful pout, popped open at his words.

Holy shit.

My heart began to race, my breathing had intensified, and I was all but dumbstruck at the suddenness of his question.

We just got back together not but a half an hour ago and now, this?

Was I ready?

"Are you serious?" I asked in a jarred whisper, my heart leaping for joy but my mind forcing myself to be logical.

He nodded confidently.

"I am. But I'm not officially asking you now, so you can stop having the mental breakdown that I know's going on in that crazy mind of yours."

His lips drew up into a soft smile, his eyes radiating warmth. His arm slipped around the naked skin of my waist and shifted me closer to his body, bringing our faces even closer.

"I'm not asking now but I am asking for the future," he said in a smooth, intimate voice as his fingers lifted to caress the side of my cheek. "I know without even having to think about it that I want to marry you someday. There will never be anybody else for me, minx. You're it."

His eye bored into mine with such intensity that I was finding it hard to breath but what struck me with the most force was how sure of himself he sounded. Even as I searched his eyes for any sliver of doubt, I came up with less than nothing.

"I just want you to promise me that whenever I do ask... that you'll say yes."

I felt Nathan's thumb run over my bottom lip as he waited for me to answer, his eyes still set on mine certainly.

Someday. Not today, but someday I could be Mrs. McCoy.

Even just as the thought of the name zipped through my mind, I found my lips wanted to rise up into a smile; and I let them.

I think I like the sound of that.

I was positive that I wasn't ready for it today but whenever that day came, there would be no other person I would ever say yes to other than the man sitting across from me now, staring at me with love filled eyes.

He was it for me too.

Shifting myself closer to where I was practically sitting on Nathans lap, I secured my arms around his neck and gazed down into his eyes, alight with curiosity and perceived joy that I was sure copied my own.

"I do."

Both of our mouth rose up into a smile simultaneously as I answered. Nathans lips struck down onto mine with a passion and happiness pushing his lips forward over mine that overwhelmed all of my other thoughts and left my mind blank, letting it only focus on the movement of his smooth lips on mine.

Seconds later, he broke the kiss, both of our breathing now somewhat labored. Our stares were set on each other's, both eluding obscene amount of undiluted bliss as Nathan spoke.

"Good to know."

After another half hour of both of us getting dressed, playful touches, and a plentiful amount of flirtatious comments and glances, we finally managed to get out of the hotel room and onto the street. The restaurant was only about a ten minute walk so we decided that some fresh air would do us good.

As we strolled up to the restaurant ten minutes later that Rachel initially told me they were going to bring me back food from, which Nathan informed me was a total lie and that all three of them were in on the plan the whole time, a terrifying thought hit me.

"Oh my god," I said as my feet stopped in their tracks, bringing Nathan to a stop as well since our hands were interlocked.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked hurriedly, his voice laced with concern.

"You can't be seen with me. That would hurt your chances even more of keeping your job!"

My frantic eyes met Nathan's as I started to turn around but something in his stare stunted my feet from going any further.

"What is it?" I asked.

Nathan's eyes scoured over the vast street signs, buildings, and nature that surrounded us before settling his gaze on me.

"Don't freak out," he began.

"Oh, my god. What happened?"

My stomach was churning and every morbid thought about what he was going to possibly say was spinning through my mind, causing me to do the exact opposite of what Nathan instructed.

"Nothing. Just... I don't exactly work for the university anymore," he spoke slowly, his eyes glued to mine.

I felt every hope inside of me be crushed violently as my head began to swim with guilt.

"I- I'm so sorry," I managed to say through way of a weak whisper, shaking my head as despair filled my mind.

"No. Don't be sorry, Alex," Nathan said as he as both of his hands gripped at the sides of my face, steadying my shaking head and forcing my stare on his insistent one.

"None of this is your fault. I made the decision to be with you and it's not a decision I would change for any job in the world."

Nathan's stare was intent on mine. A shred of confusion seeped into my own stare as I watched Nathans light up with a bit of optimism.

Did he know something I didn't?

"Plus, I'm not being fired."

I blanched at him, my expression dropping completely. "What?"

"I'm being transferred. I'll be teaching at a school not too far away at all." Nathan chuckled a bit as he watched me piece the puzzle together in my head.

"That... was so mean!" I cried out and playfully slapped his arm as he took a few steps back to escape from my attack.

"I couldn't resist! Ouch!" Nathan yelped as I swatted at his head, jumping up to be able to reach to his full height.

"You are so being punished for that later," I growled out as I halted my jumping, crossing my arms over my chest with a huff.

"Oh, I like the sound of that," he said with a sly wink thrown my way.

A pair of arms wrapped around my form, bringing me into his broad chest.

"Tell me you love me," he ordered playfully.

I lifted my head up to meet his gaze and shook my head, pulling my lips in between my teeth. Nathan's eyes sparked with mirth as that infamous smirk of his formed on his full lips.

"Tell me you love me," he demanded again, bringing his face down to mine and placing his lips on my chin, kissing the spot before moving down to my neck, my head falling back slightly to give him more access.

But still I remained silent.

"Last chance," Nathan mumbled out against my neck. My lips stretched into a full blown grin but still, I kept my silence, curious to see what he had in store for me if I didn't comply.

A shriek tore past my lips as I felt Nathan's fingers dig into my sides suddenly. Laughter wracked my body as he tickled me relentlessly, my body writhing against his.

"Tell me you love me!" He bellowed out through laughter of his own.

"Okay, okay!" I yelled out as his fingers continued their assault on my stomach.

"I love you! I love you more than anything!"

Relief flooded my body as his fingers stopped their actions and his joyful face came into my vision, triumph floating in his sapphire eyes.

"Now, was that so hard?"

"Is that Mr. McCoy?"

Both of our heads snapped in the direction of the voice as we realized in that moment that we had gained ourselves quite the audience.

Busted.

It seemed that the restaurant Rachel had chosen was quite popular as at least half of my photography class was there along with random people we had never met before, but apparently they knew us as they were filming Nathan and I's playful interaction.

Reporters.

"Oh crap," I muttered under my breath as I took in the thirty or so people staring at Nathan and I like we were in some kind of exhibit.

"It is!" The same student that interrupted Nathan and I just moments ago exclaimed, drawing in more attention from the onlookers.

Nathan turned towards them and gave them an awkward wave as he slipped an arm around my waist, bringing me into his side.

"Hi, guys," he greeted in a semi professional manner, trying to salvage any authority he had in his previous student's eyes.

"God, this is so weird." Another student's voice came from the crowd.

Tell me about it.

"Nathan McCoy! Can you tell us if you're still employed with the university that Ms. Merrick here attends?" A reporter yelled out from the crowd of people, gaining everyone's curiosity.

"Uh," Nathan stumbled a bit as he ran a hand back over his neck, walking us both up closer to the crowd to answer.

"No, I'm not."

A gaggle of gasps and outcries of protest came from the crowd.

"They fired you!?" A girl from our class screeched.

"No, I've just been transferred," Nathan answered back in a deep, somewhat exacerbated voice.

He didn't want our business out there anymore than I did, and now his hand was forced.

I had to do something.

"Guys, can we just get through? We just wanted to get a bite to eat," I tried to reason with the information hungry crowd.

"Yeah guys! Let 'em eat in peace!" A familiar voice came through the crowd as I saw Mia's head pop through the swarm of bodies, followed by Ben, Rachel, and Brian.

"Wait, wait! So that means that you two can like... be together, right?" A student asked quickly, trying to get their question in before Nathan and I took off.

I liked this question though and it appeared that Nathan didn't mind it either as his arm tightened around my waist as he looked down at me lovingly.

"Yeah, it does," he answered with a smile, his eyes shining into mine.

A smile stretched onto my lips as I took in the look he was giving me, which I was sure matched my own at this point.

A sigh of 'awws' made its way across the crowd as they took in our tender moment, causing a blush to burn onto my cheeks. I pushed my head into Nathans shoulder, eliciting a soft laugh from him as he wrapped his arms fully around my body, bringing me into his chest.

"They are so cute!"

"You should kiss her!"

That produced a copious amount of agreement through the small crowd and a bundle of nerves and excitement to rush through my body.

Everyone was so accepting of our relationship and seemed to welcome it with open arms. The pure elation that I was feeling at that moment was only amplified as the crowd started to chant.

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!"

I threw my head back in laughter as they went on, growing louder with each chant. I glanced around and met Rachel's stare, thanking her a million times in my head for pulling this off as well as she did. As if she knew what I was thinking, she sent me a wink and a large smile as she too began to chant with the crowd.

"Teach her a lesson, McCoy!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Both Nathan and I shared a laugh as our eyes met, both of our stares glistening with so much happiness as I nodded my head to him, my cheeks almost beginning to hurt from the amount of smiling I was doing.

He took the cue without hesitation, turning my body into his and planting his smiling lips down onto mine.

A cheer of applause erupted from the crowd behind us that only amplified into whoops of encouragement as Nathans slipped his other hand around my waist and dipped us backwards, my back arching with the kiss and he bent me back.

I slipped my arms around his neck and kissed him with as much passion as he was giving me.

We both heard the clicks going off around us, knowing that we were being filmed and photographed, but neither of us cared.

All that mattered in that moment and for the rest of our lives was each other.

Nathan's lips parted from mine, both of our breathing erratic. He rested his forehead on mine as we stared at each other, catching our breaths, and grinning like the two biggest idiots in the room.

And in that moment, I knew. No matter what obstacles life threw at me, no matter who tried to bring me down, I would get through it.

Because I had him.

Because I fell in love with my professor and just so happened to be lucky enough to have him love me back.

And that's all I would ever need.

Okay, so who else couldn't stop smiling the entire time while reading this? lol I know I was almost shaking at one point I was so happy from this chapter lol They are back together and finally happy like they deserve :) 

But guys! This was the last official chapter :'( BUT THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE in which you should all stick around for to see some incredibly adorable Nathan and Alex in the future :) Big things happening for them!

Please vote and comment your love for them and for this story. I love you all so so much and could not have done this without you. Please stick with me for my next story Desires of the Forbidden! It would mean the world to me to have amazing readers like yourselves for that book  as well! 

With much love! Until the next, final time :(