"But, you could have just shot him. Why did you have to burn the entire house?" Aaron asked her.

"I don't leave my balances unsettled. He burnt your house, I burnt his. Tit for tat", Lia smirked at him.

"When did you plan this?" I asked her as the house burnt to ashes and the officer started calling the fireman.

"Well, you know how we paid the cleaners to fit the cameras for us, right? So, I secretly told Peter to send a few extra men with the cleaners to clean the whole house with kerosene instead of water. I didn't know Aaron was planning to shoot Marcus dead. But, I had decided that I will not leave tonight without burning this blasted place to ashes and Marcus with it", Lia winked at me.

"Wait, if the kerosene was planted in morning what exactly were you confirming with Peter before he gave you the lighter?" I frowned at her.

"Oh, just that no one was inside except him. I don't wanna harm anyone for no reason", Lia explained.

"Then, what was all the acting with the gun?" Daniel asked her.

"We had a loaded gun and we had a target. Don't tell me you didn't have fun shooting him", Lia gave him a sly grin.

"You know you are crazy, right?" I chuckled and shook my head.

"I know. But, congratulations, Special Squad. We completed our mission", Lia grinned.

"Yup, we did it", I smiled back.

"We finally did it", Aaron whispered looking at the sky.

"She got her justice, brother. Now, her soul will finally rest in peace", Daniel smiled.

"Yes", Aaron sighed with a small smile and wiped his tears.

"Group hug?" Lia asked and we all joined in one.

"By the way, Peter. I think you need to rethink where your loyalties lie. Are you my secretary or Amy and Lia's?" Aaron asked Peter with an eyebrow raised as we pulled apart.

"I am your secretary and their friend", Peter winked and chuckled as Lia and I grinned at each other.

"I am so going to fire you one of these days", Aaron shook his head and hugged him.

"Amy and I have a deal. You fire me, she hires me", Peter chuckled hugging him back and I nodded seconding it.

"Thanks for tonight", Aaron smiled at him.

"I did what I felt was right", Peter smiled back.

"Is your bromance over? Because I am hungry as fuck", Lia groaned.

"You are always hungry", Daniel rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is your problem? You don't want to eat? Then, starve to death. Let others eat", Lia told him angrily.

"Weren't you both on a truce?" I reminded them.

"The sun is rising! Truce is over!" they yelled together.

I looked around with surprise. Indeed the sun was rising. The entire night had passed and it was morning. I smiled at the metaphorical situation.

Today, as the sun rose, the darkest night had ended for all of us and this was a new morning in all our lives.

"By the way, here are the new phones and sim cards for all of you that you had asked me to order", Peter said handing a bag to all of us.

"New phones! Finally, it has been years since I got one", Lia smiled excitedly.

We put our hands in the bag and randomly picked a phone each.

They were all iphones. But, unfortunately, there were two white and two black phones.

I got a white one and I didn't like it. I like black phones more. They get less dirty. I was about to open it when Aaron took it from my hand and gave me the black phone in his hand.

He smirked at me as he understood what I was thinking.

Hence, we sorted it out peacefully, while any guesses who might have had an issue?

"Give me that", Lia told Daniel offering her white phone to him.

"In your dreams", Daniel retorted extending his arm to get his black phone away from Lia.

"I don't like white phones", Lia frowned at him.

"Even I don't. You picked that box. Your loss", Daniel shrugged.

"Here, don't fight. Lia take this one", I told her giving my black phone.

"No, you picked it so, it is yours. Besides, why should you give it up for him? He is a man. He should be chivalrous", Lia told me.

"Gosh! This woman and her logics! Her definition of feminism and chivalry changes at her own free will", Daniel rolled his eyes.

"That's not true", Lia glared at him.

"It is. You are a female chauvinist", Daniel glared back at her.

"And you are a drama queen!"

"Lia, take it. I am okay with any", I told her to just stop this argument.

"Take it, Lia. I will buy Mel a new black one later", Aaron told her.

"Promise?" Lia asked Aaron and Aaron chuckled and nodded.

I just chuckled and shook my head as Lia took the phone from me and gave me the white one.

"You should learn from your brother", Lia taunted Daniel.

"Why don't you both fight later and get some medical help first?" I asked them looking at Lia and Aaron's faces.

"Get in the car", I told all of them.

"I'll check over everything and get something for you to eat", Peter said and left as we all got in the car.

Lia opened her bag and brought out the medical stuff. She started cleaning her wounds and suddenly winced and yelled, "Motherfucking, son of a bitch!"

We looked at Daniel who shrugged, "What? I didn't do anything. She poked her own eye."

Aaron gave him a hard look and Daniel sighed.

He rolled his eyes and told Lia, "Here, give it to me. I will help you clean the wounds on your face."

"I don't need your help. I am a doctor. I can do it by myself", Lia frowned at him.

"Then, do not use such colorful words when you poke your eye again", Daniel warned her and she handed the cotton over to him.

Daniel helped Lia clean her wounds as I cleaned Aaron's. I hadn't got hurt at all just like Daniel. But, Aaron was punched a lot of times.

"Aaron, remove your shirt", I told him.

"Wo ho! Car sex is definitely fun but, at least, let us get out first, Amy", Daniel joked and I blushed.

Before I could react, Lia hit him on his head.

"Your brother is shot on the arm, you dumbass", Lia yelled at him.

"I know, crazy woman! I know! I was just kidding!" Daniel yelled at her angrily.

I chuckled as Aaron removed his shirt.

"First mom, then this ass and now you. My head is not open for anyone and everyone to excercise their smacking skills", Daniel said angrily, making me and Aaron purse our lips to stop ourselves from laughing.

Lia just rolled her eyes and continued cleaning the wound on her hand.

My eyes fell on Aaron's shirtless body and I couldn't take my eyes of his.

Now is not the time, Amy.

I shook the dirty thoughts out of my head and cleaned Aaron's wound on his arm. I was about to wrap a bandage when Lia stopped me.

"Wait, Amy. Don't tie it like that. I think he needs a shot so that it doesn't get infected. I have one in my bag. I can give it to him. Later, you can get it checked at the hospital", Lia said and got the injection ready getting out of the car.

"I'd be scared for my life if I were you, Aaron. She is more of a thief than a doctor", Daniel joked.

"Do you want me to jab you with poison? I swear I can do it", Lia told him angrily.

Aaron and I laughed as they started arguing again.

Usually, we would be groaning but, after such a long stressful night, their kiddish arguments were a much needed change.

Soon we were all done cleaning up and eating the food Peter got us.

We went back to our hotel as Peter told us that he will take care of everything and we should rest. As soon as, we reached the hotel, I took a long shower and got dressed. The events of the night were finally taking a toll on me and I was feeling really tired.

When I left the bathroom and went out, I saw Aaron already dressed and staring out of the window.

"You are ready already?" I asked him.

He was brought out of his daze and turned to look at me with a smile.

"Yes, I used the bathroom in the other room while Dan and Lia were fighting over who uses the bathroom first", Aaron chuckled.

"So, the monkey won in the cat fight, huh?" I laughed.

"Are you calling me a monkey, Mrs. Kingston?" Aaron asked miserably fighting back his smile.

"No, I am calling them cats, Mr. Kingston", I laughed.

Aaron laughed and shook his head.

"You didn't wet your bandage, right?" I asked him.

"No, I didn't."

"Does it hurt?"

"No, not much. Dr. Lia said I should be good in a week", he smiled.

"Why did you get in the way?" I asked him sadly.

"You are really asking me this? Look where I got shot. If I wouldn't have got in the way, you would have been shot really bad. Maybe your neck or head. The bullet just grazed me", Aaron told me.

"Still, you shouldn't have put yourself in danger for me", I told him.

"That reminds me. Why did you not run away when I told you to? You could have been safer with Peter", Aaron narrowed his eyes at me.

"Please. You were lucky I stayed. Imagine me being gone and Marcus pointing the gun at your forehead", I told him with a scared look.

"He wouldn't have shot", Aaron rolled his eyes.

"How do you know?" I asked incredulously.

When he didn't answer I continued, "To think of it there were so many loopholes in this plan. We were wearing bullet proof jackets under our clothes but, no one thought of our arms or worst, our head. What if Marcus's men would have shot bullets the minute they came in? What if I would have failed to distract Marcus from shooting one of the times? What if Peter wouldn't have arrived on time or Lia would have got caught by the men before? Or-"

"Mel, relax. It is over, okay? We are safe", Aaron tried calming me down.

"Luckily", I nodded.

He stared at me with an unreadable expression.

I stared back at him with a smile.

Aaron pulled me in a hug and we stayed like that for a few seconds.

Once again, I felt safe in his arms. I was so happy that this was finally removed from between us. The only thing stopping us from being together was gone. Now, I had my Aaron completely for me. The man I fell for is with me without anything pulling him back.

Should I tell him now?

Should I not wait until Monday?

Big deal, right?

Today, Monday. It is all the same. What matters is that I tell him.

I pulled away and gulped to gather my courage.

I started to say, "Aaron, I-"

Just then my phone rang cutting me off.

This time I felt like killing whoever was on the other side. I removed the phone angrily and looked at the caller. It was Luke.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Amy! Thank god, you picked up! How did it go? I saw the news and I was so scared. Lia wasn't picking up. I didn't know if you were okay-"

"Luke, Luke, relax. We are fine. Lia is in the shower I think. Everything went according to the plan. What's on the news?" I asked him and nodded at Aaron to switch on the television.

"They are saying the house blasted due to short circuit and Marcus died", Luke said as Aaron switched on the television.

"Luke, I'll call you back", I said and hanged up without waiting for his reply.

I joined Aaron as he switched the channel to the news one.

The reporter said, "Devastating news were heard this morning as a fire suddenly started in the Lawson Mansion, Seattle. We have lost the businessman, Marcus Lawson in the fire. The police say it was caused due to the short circuit. Some of our sources are saying that no one lived in the vicinity of at least three miles so, there is no way that it could have been reported earlier. Police say that they received the news of the fire when a passerby called 911 and informed them of it. We are still waiting for his sister, Amelia Lawson to come to Seattle. Sources say that they are not in New York currently which makes us believe that they might already be flying. Let's hear what some of his business partners have tweeted."

Aaron shut the television.

"Aaron, what if one of the policemen backs out and tell them what happened tonight?" I asked with fear.

"Nothing will happen, Mel. They won't speak a word."

"How are you so sure?" I asked him and Aaron looked at me with contemplation in his eyes.

"Because none of them were policemen", Aaron told me.

"What?" I asked with confusion.

"Remember, I told you Marcus had contacts in mafia? I had met Officer Sean while working on collecting the proof and information. He had been looking into Marcus Lawson's illegal activities for a really long time. He wanted Marcus dead as much as we did. Those men were from a special operations team who look into arresting these type of people. They will never come forth because they work in real secrecy. And if they do, Officer Sean will handle it without bringing our names in the middle. They can't declare to the authorities that we were there while it all happened else they will be in trouble. Don't worry. We are clear", Aaron explained.

"Do Lia and Dan know too?" I asked.

"Only you and I know. Not even Peter", Aaron told me and I nodded.

"That was the last bit, right? No more secrets?" I asked him.

"No more secrets", Aaron smiled and I breathed a relaxed breath.

"Go take some rest before you leave", Aaron told me nodding towards the bed.

"Do I have to go?" I nodded towards the television.

"You are expected to as Amelia Lawson and it will only bring forth rumors, if you don't", Aaron shrugged.

"You will not come with me?" I asked him.

"I wish I could but, my face tells a whole different story right now", Aaron chuckled pointing to the black and blues he had got due to all the punches he suffered.

"We can try makeup. They may speculate", I suggested.

"It is risky. Just tell media I am overseas if they ask. Take Dan with you. Lia and I will stay back", he told me.

"How soon?" I asked him.

"You still have at least two hours of sleep before you have to do the show", Aaron told me.

"Good cause I am dead tired", I groaned and threw myself on the bed as Aaron chuckled.

The next few days passed real quick. I was supposed to tell Aaron on Monday. But, it never happened with all the show we had to do for Marcus we couldn't leave Seattle for at least three days. People turned up to give their condolences but, even I could tell that most of them were really happy inside. I didn't feel a bit sorry. A man like Marcus doesn't deserve anything.

Coming to the post traumatic stress, in the first two days, I had some nightmares about Aaron or Lia being shot to death. Aaron was there with me every night and pacified me each and every time. They died away after the third night and I started falling back asleep peacefully. Aaron's arm was worst on the first day and then the pain slowly went down. Lia has no regrets whatsoever. She was back to her normal self the right next day. Daniel was another story.

No, he didn't have any traumas. He had suddenly became even more dramatic in the days that followed. Everytime a newspaper article would write about how devastating it was, he would yell at how it was not true and how he wished he could yell to the world what the truth was. We had to calm him down by reminding him that what we did was actually not legal at all.

After those three days, Aaron and Daniel left to Tennessee to see mom and dad. Since, it was all over, they decided to come clean to them about everything. Lia and I decided not to join to give them some time as family. After all, Julia was the closest to them.

So, while they went to Tennessee, Lia and I returned to New York with Peter. We didn't hear a word from them for a week. After a week, they finally left Tennessee and I got a call from mom and dad.

"Hey, Amy", mom said softly.

"Hey, mom. How are you?" I asked her with a smile.

"Good. We are trying to let things sink in", she gave me a sad smile.

"Don't worry. She is in a better place. Aaron and Daniel avenged her really well", I told her.

"That is what we actually called you for", dad whispered.

"Amy, Aaron told us everything about what he did to you. As a brother he felt it was right and he did it. But, he isn't a bad person. I cannot justify what he did. Nothing can actually. Leading you to believe things, dragging you into this mess. It is....", Dad sighed.

"I understand him, dad. I have nothing against him. I forgot it", I smiled at him.

"Amy, as his mother I understand what he did as a brother because my daughter didn't deserve it. But, I guess as your mother, I am not letting Aaron go this time. He hurt my daughter and I will not forgive him this easy. Make sure he works hard all his life if he has to for making it up to you", mom smiled at me.

"Mom, I hid about Lia too, right?" I told her.

"That's different. You were scared. That man had made you do something which is illegal. But, Aaron could have handled it better", she told me sternly.

"Fine, you can give me ideas on how to make him pay, alright?" I joked.

"Call me anytime of the day, dear", mom winked at me.

"Also, Amy, just so you know, we don't care about who your...real parents were or anything of that sort. You will always remain our daughter and are always welcomed in our home and hearts no matter what", dad smiled at me and mom nodded.

"Thank you", I smiled back at him.

"Now, go, sort your differences you both and give me grandkids fast", mom yelled making me blush.

"Diana! You should be telling her to leave Aaron and go. At least, that's what I would want her to do", dad told her.

Mom scoffed, "All of us know that isn't happening. If anything, it will be like they divorce, live separately for a few months, miss each other terribly everyday and then all the drama later, they marry again. No, thank you. Just sort it out now. These two love each other so much. I could see it in their eyes even when they were not even dating. Besides, they are as foolishly in love as we were", mom smiled at dad.

Yes, we are. So foolishly in love.

I smiled at them and we had talked the whole time until Aaron reached home.

When I saw Aaron first after a week, it felt like a lot had changed in him. Of course, his bruises had faded and some were even gone.

But, something was off in his demeanor too. He had been acting a little distant since the night we broke into Lawson Mansion. At first, I thought it may have been due to anticipation. Later, I thought he was still dealing with the whole revenge being over and stuff.

But, I had excepted that when we see each other again, with everything finally gone from between us, Aaron would be more free and act even more sweeter, adorable and flirtier than before. On the other hand, it has been three days since he came back but, he has not kissed me even once.

No, he wasn't avoiding me or anything. He was smiling but, his eyes were lacking the shine. He would talk to me but, it didn't feel the same. I don't know. Something seemed very off.

Maybe I am being too deceptive about this. Maybe he is planning a surprise for me too.

Like in F.R.I.E.N.D.S, when Chandler tries to act distant from Monica before he was going to propose to her. I know cause I have seen it with Lia. It is her favorite show.

But, his plan fails and Aaron's plan will fail too because today I am going to confess to him.

I already have a plan set. I am going to take a half day from work, go home cook his favourite dishes and share a romantic dinner with him.

After dinner, I will tell him and then, if things go according to the plan, maybe before tomorrow morning, I will be his in every sense of it.