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Kevin was surprised, to say the least. "Brianna, what do you mean?"

"I can't marry you. I don't want you to feel like you're trapped. I'm only 21; I have my whole life in front of me. I would love to spend it with you, but not because you felt you had to stay because I was pregnant." She pulled her jacket closed to ward off the chill in the air.

"I know I want you, baby!" Kevin said now standing in front of her. "I can't picture myself with anyone else. And I'm still with you because I want to be; that's a choice I make everyday. What are you choosing right now?" he began to plead. "Bree, don't I make you happy?"

"Yes...and I love you...and I'd love to be Mrs. Brianna Richardson." Before she could take a breath, Kevin was against her, pulling her close, kissing her hard. She lost herself in his kisses and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

By the time the kiss broke, Brianna's lips were aching. Kevin buried his face in her shoulder and relaxed against the warmth of her body heat. Brianna tangled her long fingers in his hair and held her close. They stood just like this until one of the guards got their attention.

"I hate to interrupt you two, but the fireworks are about to start and we'd like for all of you to be in the same place just in case. You know, with all the Y2K stuff we have to be prepared for anything."

Kevin nodded and waited long enough to give Brianna one more long, deep kiss. Taking her hand, they allowed themselves to be led back to the rest of the group.

****************

"They're on their way back over!" Bianca whispered excitedly pulling Nick's arms tighter around her waist. "I wonder if she said yes!"

"Well, we'll find out in a second," Nick whispered back.

Brianna and Kevin walked up to the group, who seemed to be growing very impatient.

"Well...?" they asked expectantly.

"Well what?" Brianna asked laughing.

"What did you tell him?" Ivy asked with wide eyes.

"Did you say yes?" Nicole chimed in to the chatter.

Looking up at Kevin, Brianna stated, "Baby, how come they knew before I did?!" Looking back at the group, she beamed with delight. "We're getting married!"

"Yay!" Bianca cheered, hugging her best friend. "I'm so happy for y'all."

"Look," Ivy gasped. "The fireworks are gorgeous."

They all turned just in time to see the fireworks explode all the way down the Eiffel Tower.

Kevin leaned in to smother Brianna with his hot kisses. Tonight would definitely be eventful for them. "Bree, I don't want to spend another minute without you." He trailed a few kisses down the back of her neck. "I love you. And next year, when we're married, your life's gonna be as close to perfect as it can be." Brianna smiled up at him and returned each of his kisses lovingly.

Everyone stood in awe, gazing at the sky. They all stood admiring everything before them, none of them saying a word., just admiring the splendor of their surroundings and enjoying being in the company of best friends.

Brianna leaned into Kevin's warm embrace and whispered over to her best friend. "Hey, Bianca, isn't life amazing?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with happiness and her cheeks flushed from the air's chill.

"Huh?" Bianca asked amused, but confused, at the point of Brianna's question.

"I mean," Brianna continued, "doesn't it always succeed in blowing your mind?" One minute, you're up, the next you're down, but you never fail to be where fate wants you to be at any given time."

"Damn, chick, you did do a lot of serious thinking while you were at home, didn't you?" She pondered her response for a moment and then grinned broadly, showing off her straight, white teeth. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We always do end up right where we need to be." She stood up on her tip-toes and kissed Nick on the cheek before finishing her thought. "And I think when fate brought the nine of us together, it knew how badly we needed each other." She reached out and took Brianna's hand. "I love ya, girl! I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm really happy for you and Kev."

Brianna smiled and felt happy tears stinging the backs of her eye-lids. "Thanks, Bean, that means a lot to me." And it did. Brianna felt like she had been gone forever and was glad to see that everyone had missed her instead of just moving on.

The two best friends returned their gaze to the skies, thrilled with where life had led them so far and hopeful about where it would take them next.

THE END