The Beautiful Monster

Scott\'s mother and father smiled at each other before turning to keep listening to Elias.

"He was firm in his beliefs. Maybe that made him stubborn, but he could be reliable too,"

Elias continued as a hint of a smile crossed his face. "I\'m grateful for what he did. I\'ll never forget him."

Melina lifted her hand to gently wipe her tears away with a light sniffle.

Elias nodded to the speaker before moving back to his spot with Alyssa, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

There was more to say about Scott, but he wanted to keep some things to himself. He wanted to remember Scott in his own way because the experiences that he had with Scott were unique and different from everyone else\'s.

The rest of the funeral flew by. Everyone said their goodbyes before Scott\'s coffin was lowered into the ground and everyone dispersed.

What was left of the group lingered around together outside of the private graveyard. They knew that they had more goodbyes to say.

"That was a nice service," Melina said as she leaned against Tyler\'s side.

Elias nodded his agreement. His family pulled out all the stops, which he was glad about. He wanted Scott to have a nice send-off. He deserved it.

Because of Scott, he got to go home to New York with Alyssa by his side. He wished that he had been able to thank Scott more, but their time had been limited.

"When are you guys leaving?" he asked Melina and Tyler. Their time together was coming to an end soon.

Melina glanced at Tyler, holding his arm.

"In the morning," she said. "I\'m going to miss you guys."

"We\'ll see each other soon," Alyssa replied with a warm smile. "We\'ll have to fly out to Colorado one day to visit you."

"We\'d love that!" Melina exclaimed, looking excited as she shared a smile with Tyler.

Elias took Alyssa\'s hand, giving it a squeeze. At times, he had to remind himself that she was alive and real.

He had been so close to losing her. He didn\'t want to ever go through that again. It was a fear that was hard to stomach.

"We have to keep in touch," he said. He didn\'t want to lose contact with his sister after everything that they had been through. It was quite the journey, and it was one that he would remember forever.

He had experienced some of the most terrifying moments of his life during their trip, but there were certainly some silver linings.

They saved the world, and he got closer to his sister that he hadn\'t even known existed before all of this.

"We will. I promise," Melina replied before moving forward to hug Elias. "I can\'t just forget you."

Elias smiled as he hugged her back. He didn\'t know what the future held for them. He didn\'t know how often they would see each other, or if they would ever drift apart.

He wanted to stay close, to maintain the relationship that they had worked so hard to build.

"We did it," he murmured to her. He still couldn\'t wrap his mind around it.

"I knew we could," Melina said as she pulled back to face him. "We were meant to defeat him."

Maybe she was right. They came together after years of being separated and took down their biggest enemy.

It had been hard. They faced failures and death, but they did what they came together to do. They defeated the odds.

"Yeah, we were," Elias agreed before reaching out to shake Tyler\'s hand. "Take care of her."

"Always," Tyler said with a nod.

Elias stepped back to let Alyssa tell Melina and Tyler goodbye. It hurt to watch the group split up, but he was happy that they had gotten to this point. They could finally go home. They weren\'t stuck on the road, running for their lives.

Melina lifted her hand in a wave before she took Tyler\'s hand and led him away. 

Elias watched them walk off toward their car, a sigh drifting from him. He had reached the end of a chapter. It was weird having to figure out what to do now.

He was used to just running and hiding. Now, he didn\'t have to do that any longer. He could do anything that he wanted.

"I can\'t believe we can go home now," he told Alyssa. It almost felt like some sort of trick.

Alyssa cracked a smile and nodded as she turned to face him.

"It doesn\'t feel real," she said before a serious look took over her face. "It\'s going to be hard to break out of that habit."

Elias didn\'t even realize how much trauma was going to follow them from this experience. For a while, they would be looking over their shoulder, wondering if someone was coming after them or not.

They would be fearful for a little while until they eventually realized that they were safe. Alaric was dead.

"We\'ll get through it together," he assured her. No matter what, they wouldn\'t be alone. That was what mattered the most. They made it through this trip because they stayed together.

He almost ruined that toward the end, but they found their way back to each other once again. It was the natural thing for them to do.

"As long as we\'re together," Alyssa said as her face brightened. She reached out to take his hand. "Promise that\'ll be forever?"

"I did tell you that I was going to marry you," Elias pointed out as he pulled her toward their car.

He had big plans for their future. He just had to put them into action, and he could do that when they returned to New York.

Of course, they had plenty of things to take care of first. She had to figure out her clinic idea, and he had to catch up with things at work.

From the updates that were sent to his phone periodically, things seemed to be up running fine still. His company would still be in one piece when he got back.

"Soon?" Alyssa asked him with a hopeful look on her face.

Elias chuckled, glad to see that she was just as excited to get married as he was. He stopped by their car, turning to her.

"Soon," he promised her. He could hardly wait, and he wanted them to have a new beginning.

After everything that had happened, they deserved a fresh start and an opportunity to leave the past behind them where it belonged.

He couldn\'t think of a better way to do that than to officially start their lives together as husband and wife.

Alyssa wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body close to his.

"I\'ve wanted to marry you since college," she admitted.

Elias placed his hands on her hips, caressing her curves as he peered into her eyes.

"Even when we broke up?" he asked as he lifted an eyebrow at her playfully. There had definitely been a time when they weren\'t on the best terms.

He couldn\'t blame her for not being the biggest fan of him, though. He had broken her heart, leaving her alone with all of the broken pieces. He hated himself for what he did to her.

Alyssa smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"I can\'t speak for myself then, but I can speak for myself now. I can\'t wait to marry you," she told him.

That was fair to Elias. They had a complicated history, but what mattered the most was that they made their way back to each other.

They were meant to be and the events that happened throughout their lives proved that. Nothing could convince him otherwise.

"You won\'t have to wait for long," he replied before leaning down to kiss her sweetly. He swept his hands around to her back, pulling her body flush against his.

Alyssa smiled into the kiss, threading her fingers through his hair.

Elias already felt like he was home. She was home in a kiss, a touch, a smile. He would follow her anywhere, but he knew exactly where she wanted to go.

He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers as they shared a smile with one another. Just the sight of her glowing face made him lose his breath.

"Let\'s go home."