If You Need Me

Epilogue: It's Alright

"Say it's all right (it's all right). Say it's all right (it's all right). It's all right, have a good time. 'Cause it's all right, whoa, it's all right. We're gonna move it slow. When lights are low. When you move it slow, it sounds like more. And it's all right, whoa, it's all right. Now listen to the beat. Kinda pat your feet. You got soul, and everybody knows. That it's all right, whoa, it's all right. When you wake up early in the morning. Feelin' sad like so many of us do. Hum a little soul. Make life your goal. And surely something's got to come to you" - Solomon Burke

It was a beautiful sunrise. It was the kind of sunrise that you'd felt in your bones even before you'd fully woken up. It washed over your shoulders and cheekbones and down all the way to your toes as you stood at the end of the small patio deck overlooking the ocean. 

"You and I still share a love for early mornings, I see."

You turned and smiled as Étienne wrapped his arm around your waist and the two of you continued to look out over the water together. The south of France was a warm splash of sunshine wrapped in a cool breeze that smelled like strawberries, citrus, and heaven. You couldn't believe you'd waited this long to come after too many attempts at Étienne to get you here. 

It finally felt right. 

"This could be every day," you whispered to yourself as Étienne squeezed your hip and chuckled under his breath. 

"It's ... the right place to be," Étienne agreed, "Did you sleep well?"

"Better than I have in a while," you admitted sheepishly, "The bed was so ..."

"Cloud-like? I know," Étienne rolled his neck, "I haven't had a stiff back or sore muscles waking up in months."

You smirked, "Wow, it's almost like you're living the dream."

The two of you shared a quiet moment that dragged on a little bit longer. You wished it could have gone on forever, but the world was starting to wake up around you. 

"Do you ever wonder sometimes what our lives could have been like?" Étienne asked you as you leaned your head against the soft fabric of his shirt. 

"In what way?"

Étienne shrugged and he pulled his arm from around your waist, his hand now resting comfortably on your back. "I guess I've had a lot of time to think over the past few years, you know? We went through so much so quickly and in such a short span of time so many life decisions were made for us. We weren't given the full scope of our experiences to make choices based on the trajectory of our future, but simply by what we were trying to survive and overcome at the time."

"Wow. Deep," you nodded, turning to face him. 

Étienne's warm eyes, the same as Tony's, looked down at you, "I'm really happy for you though. For us."

"Me too," you smiled widely, "I'm grateful for us too."

The sliding glass door to the villa opened behind the two of you and Peter stepped out with a mounting pile of fruit on a plate. 

"She's gone insane," Peter stated flatly, "There's too much food."

"She's never hosted before," Étienne rolled his eyes, "Cut her some slack. Plus, we didn't know the two of you were coming."

"Just a quick detour," Peter popped a piece of peach into his mouth and smiled at you, "We won't be here long. We have places to be."

"You can stay as long as you'd like," Étienne shrugged, reaching around you to grab some grapes from the plate as Peter set it down, "But you are on your first vacation together in over a year, so I figured spending all your time alone and not with us was more the speed of your itinerary."