A/N: I just decided to end the story so that it would actually have a conclusion. For those of you still reading, thanks for sticking by this story when I pretty much lost the words with which to tell it. If you want to read it and leave a review, that's always appreciated. Thanks so much. :)

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Stephanie's rehabilitation was arduous and a lot of days she would get frustrated at how weak her legs were. But being a McMahon didn't afford her the luxury of quitting. She hated being in a wheelchair when she went out, and she hated having to rely on others to take her places. So she had fought her way back, and now she only had to walk with the aid of a cane. She still had a slight limp, but she went to the gym with Chris every other day, and she was getting stronger and stronger.

Chris had been such a help to her, and she couldn't help but fall a little deeper in love with him every day that she was with him. It was the simple way that he was there for her every day, through her ups and her downs that she went through trying to rehab from her accident. He heard her ranting and he sat through it and when she wanted to give up, he would quietly encourage her to push herself further, knowing that the end was in sight. And he had been right, and she was grateful for his undying support.

"Hey, you ready to go to the restaurant?" Chris asked her as he walked into the bedroom.

"Yeah," she said, putting her earring in. "Are you sure that you want to go though, we don't have to go."

"I think that we kind of have to go," he told her with a laugh. "It's not the kind of event I think your parents would appreciate us missing, or my parents for that matter, or anyone."

"It's going to be all about my miraculous recovery," she told him. "I'm a little tired of walking around and having everyone marvel at the way that I'm able to walk. I feel like I'm a baby who's walking for the first time."

"Everyone is just happy that you're up and your mobile," he told her. "Especially me of course."

"Of course," she told him with a wink. "I thought you would hate it since I can move around when we have sex now and I don't just lie there like I'm a bump on a log."

"Any time I get to have sex with you, it's something pretty great," he told her, and she simultaneously blushed and glared at him. He laughed and bent down to kiss her cheek. "I think that we'll be okay tonight, don't you think?"

"I think we're okay every night," she told him, and he smiled at that too.

Their relationship couldn't have been going any better if she tried. It was hands down the best relationship that she had ever been in before, but it was also the first relationship where she felt the give-and-take that should be the foundation of a relationship. Yes, they fought, probably more than most couples did, but they understood how fortunate they were to be where they were, especially Chris. He had seen what life was like without Stephanie, and he knew that it was a bland existence, so he tried extra hard to be patient with her.

Stephanie, for her part, was learning that it was okay to lean on someone else, and she didn't need to always be in control. She didn't have a real say in the matter, however, since she had been pretty immobile for the first few weeks of their relationship. There was nothing that said good relationship like having to be carried up the stairs every night because you couldn't climb them yourself. But it was okay to rely on Chris, and he was always there to be relied upon, and she had learned just how to appreciate that.

"My parents will be amazed to see you walking, so I'm warning you right now, if anyone is going to marvel at you, it's going to be them," he told her.

"That's okay, they're allowed," she said. "I'm just glad that I'm not still in the wheelchair, I just felt so ineffectual in that."

She stood up and Chris handed her cane. She took it and leaned on it as they started to walk out of the room and down the stairs, Stephanie holding onto one of Chris's arms to steady herself. They made their way down slowly and at the bottom, Stephanie kissed him, relishing in the way his lips felt so soft and inviting. This was something they did, just a silent way of constantly thanking him for being there for her. Again, it was the little things that made this relationship really work.

The restaurant was buzzing with people and they were applauded when they walked inside. Stephanie guffawed at everyone, but Chris just ate it up, bowing and doing a little twirl as he led Stephanie over to their table. Before she could sit down though, Chris's parents, whom she had become great friends with since she had been with Chris, came over, hugging her and Chris.

"You look wonderful," Loretta told her.

"Thanks," Stephanie said. "I tried to look nice, you know."

"You look happy," she whispered and Stephanie nodded eagerly. "I can't believe how well you're walking now. You probably don't even need the cane, do you?"

"It relieves some of the pressure," Stephanie said. "But I don't really need it, I'm not going to use it tomorrow or anything. I've been practicing walking without it, so I don't need to garner any more sympathy."

Chris leaned over, "Because you hate the sympathy so much."

"Don't be sarcastic with me," she responded. "I hate when people pity me, and I'm not going to have anyone pity me tomorrow. There will be a lot of people who haven't seen me in a while, and I want them to see me as I was, not that shriveled up vegetable who was in a coma for so long."

"You're going to be great," Loretta told her. "I'm just happy that you're walking again. I know that it must've been hard."

"Stephanie's tough though, aren't you? Surviving a coma for that long, she's gotta be tough," Chris said proudly as he wrapped his arm around her.

"It was like a long nap. I think it was the best sleep I ever got," she joked. Chris loved that she could joke about it, that they could joke about it now. It hadn't been much fun while it was happening, but now that it was all over, now that she was almost back to one hundred percent, he could look at it with a laugh and a joke.

It could've turned out differently, he reminded himself everyday. It very possibly could've turned out differently, and he thanked God every day that it didn't. He had thought the woman laughing next to him was going to die, and that had been the worst feeling he could ever imagine. The thought of her going to the grave and never knowing how he felt about her…but he didn't have to worry about that now, because she knew exactly how he felt about her, how he had felt for a long time.

"You're quiet, I told you that we didn't have to come, things would've run smoothly without us," Stephanie whispered to him.

"No, I'm not being quiet, I'm just thinking," he said to her.

"About what's going to happen?"

"No, just about what happened to you, you know, the accident, the coma, all of that, and how we can joke about it now. It didn't seem like we could before."

"Well, with me being comatose, yeah, it would be difficult to joke around with me."

"You know what I mean," he said, dropping his voice to belie the seriousness of his words. "When you are in a coma, I thought I'd never get to tell you how I felt, that I'd have this…unrequited love for you forever, and I would ultimately regret that I never got to tell you how I felt."

"Oh, that's sweet, you would've pined for me forever."

"I didn't say that I would pine for you," he protested. "I probably would've moved on, but then you would've always weight on my head, you know, because you're…I would've never gotten to tell you just how much I love you."

"I decided that I just couldn't die and not hear that, I needed to live so I could know just how much of a sucker you were for me, and wow, it's a lot," she giggled, but then her face turned serious too as she laid her hand on his cheek. "Seriously though, Chris, I think on some level I knew, and so even if I had died, I would hope that you knew that I felt it too."

"It just seemed a waste, not getting to tell you."

"It would've been," she nodded, "and I never would've been able to tell you just how much you meant to me."

"I mean that much to you."

"No guy would ever wait for a girl to walk before he could have everything he wanted," she explained. "I just don't see many guys being as patient with me as you are. I know that I've been horrible sometimes in this rehab process-"

"You haven't," he interjected, and she rolled her eyes and shook her head, her eyes calling him out.

"Yes, I was, sometimes I'd get so frustrated, like when I threw that statue at your head, and you had to duck out of the way before I put you into a coma. I mean, you stuck it out with me through every frustration, and you never needed to. You never needed to sit by my bed for those months I was gone, and you'll never know how grateful I am that you did that for me."

Sometimes it amazed Chris how much he didn't know about Stephanie and yet had still fallen in love with her anyways. There were so many facets to her, and when he would sit by her bed, he wondered if he really knew her at all, and it turned out that he hadn't, not the deep down things. But he was learning, and had learned so much already, and he felt like he could step up to anything with her. They had weathered a storm already and they had come out alright.

"Speech, speech, speech!" Shane started shouting as he clinked on his glass.

"From who?" Chris asked loudly to Shane.

"Who do you think? You guys," Shane answered and Chris groaned audibly. Shane stood up and spoke, "Come on, you have to give one, it doesn't even have to be long, you jut need to give one."

"Stephanie can do it," Chris said, glancing over at her. She bit her lip and gave him a look, but she stood up.

"Okay, so everyone wants me to make a speech, so I hope I don't disappoint…Thank you all for coming here tonight, it means a lot to me personally. Some of you I haven't seen in a while, and most of you, I have, but I know that you're thinking to yourself, 'wow, she's made a miraculous recovery,' and in part, yeah, I have. I have because I've worked hard, and more importantly, I have because I have a great guy who didn't give up on me. Chris, you never gave up on me, not one single day, not when I was hurt, not when I was stuck in that bed without being able to communicate to anyone, and not when I was getting better. I love you for that, and if anyone questions what kind of heart you have or what kind of person you are, you never need to worry because I'll be there to tell you that you're the best. You've helped me so much, and you've loved me so much that I think it makes my heart hurt sometimes because I don't know how I can possibly repay you short of putting you into a coma and then staying by your side," everyone laughed at that, "I'm happy to be with you, and I'll always be happy to be with you. I love you…simply put, that's all, I love you."

Chris grinned so wide it threatened to hurt his entire face. She sat down and he pulled her into a hug as everyone clapped for them. He didn't need to tell her he loved her, but he said it anyways, just to tell her, just to get those words out. When she pulled away, she tugged on his hair a little bit, making him look her in the eyes.

"I meant every word of that, you know…"

"Yeah, I kind of figured," he told her with a smile. "I wouldn't do it all over again though, just so you know."

"Oh really, you wouldn't?"

"No way, I'd never wish you into a coma again, so I guess if I had to do it over, I'd have to be a man and just tell you how I feel."

"I can live with that," she said. "I can definitely live with that."

By the time they got home later that evening, Stephanie was pretty exhausted and needed to hang onto Chris's arm when they were walking up the stairs. When they reached the middle of the staircase though, he just decided to sweep her into his arms and carry her upstairs, much to her protest.

"I don't want you tired out for tomorrow," he told her.

"How noble of you then," she joked with him. But truth be told, she was kind of happy he had carried her. She was getting tired and she didn't feel like walking up the stairs. That was still a problem with her. Her legs got tired very easily, but with more strength conditioning that too would be a thing of the past. She just needed to keep working on it, give it time. And she did need to keep her strength up for tomorrow, it was a big deal for her. She told herself it would be worth it tomorrow.

And it was worth it.

Because Stephanie got to walk down the aisle in her wedding dress, no cane, no limp, just a smile towards Chris who was waiting for her.

He had waited for this, for her, for his life to begin.

And now it could.

THE END