Epilogue:
Yet They Love Us
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

TW: brief mention of death, very brief

"I think..." Primrose sighed dreamily, her eyes fluttering shut as she rested her head on Stanley's shoulder. Tucked behind her ear was a carnation, a fake one, courtesy of her boyfriend. "I think that.. If I were to die tonight.. I think I would be okay with that."

Stanley paused, his smile faltering as he adjusted his position to look down at her. "Wait, what?"

"I mean.. I'm happy. I'm happy with the things I've done, how I've done them, and I don't have many regrets. I think that's a really beautiful thing that most people can't say truthfully." Pimrose began, a distant look lingering in her eyes as she raised her head to meet his eyes. "I think death can be a really beautiful thing, depending on how you look at it. Death.. death is really only the next stage of life. I don't think it's as final as people believe it to be. We're all just.. moving to our next phase of existence."

Stanley blinked slowly, rolling his lip in between his teeth. Primrose pulled her eyes away from him, inhaling the salty sea air as she let her eyes flutter. "I'm glad I met you in this existence, my handsome Stanley. And I hope to meet you, and Sydney and Dina in my next."

"I'm glad I met you, too." Stanley squeaked, his cheeks dusting pink as Primrose reached forward and rested her hand on his cheek.  "You're not like anyone else.. You're cool."

Stanley's hand instinctively moved to rest on Primrose's waist as she closed the gap between them. She sighed in content as he pulled her closer to his body.

As Primrose pulled away from the kiss, Stanley couldn't help but let his mind wander, barely even registering that she'd begun untying the twist tie wrapped around the bag of whole grain bread.

She smiled in satisfaction as the raised the red tie in front of her. She turned to her boyfriend, holding her hand out to him.

Stanley rose his eyebrows in confusion, but rested his hand in hers without uttering a question.

Primrose grinned, mumbling a thank you under her breath as she took the tie, carefully pulling it around his ring finger.

"What... What are you doing?" Stanley's voice was shaky as his eyes danced over her face. The fading sunlight cast a warm glow across her skin as it began to sink behind the distant horizon. Silence washed over the couple, the only sound coming from the ocean's waves lapping softly against the sandy shore.

Primrose's glossed lips curved into a grin as she flickered her eyes up to meet his gaze. "Oh, my handsome Stanley.. There's nothing to worry about."

Her voice was sweet and airy, drawing Stanley in with every simple word she spoke. Even after nearly a year of officially dating, Primrose still had that alluring aura that put Stanley in a trance. Even after all this time.. she still left him speechless almost every day. Primrose liked to celebrate their anniversary as January 21st, the day they met. She claimed it was because that was the day that Aphrodite allowed her soulmate to waltz into her life.

Stanley's heart fluttered as her fingers delicately wrapped the small red tie around his ring finger, tying  it in a neat bow. He gulped, glancing down at his hand for a split-second. "What's this for?"

"I love you." Primrose answered simply. Stanley's breath caught in his throat as she sighed in content, turning her face towards the clouds. Her eyes brightened and her lips curved into a grin at the sight. "My handsome Stanley, look, right there.. Look, that cloud looks like a frog. I love clouds, don't you? They're so incredibly massive, we can barely begin to understand the sheer.. power they have. Clouds can produce so many lovely things that feed our mother earth.. They can destroy entire towns, forests.. anything.. in the blink of an eye. Yet they remain effortlessly whimsical and graceful. No matter how much the world changes, for better or for worse, clouds remain the same. Hovering over our heads every day.. Watching over us, protecting us, all while being looked over and ignored. Sometimes even ridiculed for 'ruining a good day'  Yet the clouds love us anyway. I think that's really beautiful."

Stanley gulped, the feeling of butterflies overtaking his stomach capturing him in their hold as he listened to Primrose's delicate tone as she spoke.

"Besides, I think that a cloudy day is just as beautiful as a sunny day." Primrose continued, her voice lowering her as her sentence came to an end. "Every day is beautiful, you just have to look at it that way. I'd like to think that I live every day looking through rose-"

"I love you too." Stanley spoke softly, his voice unwavering as his gaze warmed with love.

"You do?" Primrose's eyes remained on the clouds as her smile brightened, "Really?"

Stanley leaned forward, pulling her head towards him and pressing his lips onto hers. Primrose's arm snaked around his neck as his hand came to rest on her hip.

Stanley pulled away, warmth spreading through him as he reached forward to tuck a stray piece of hair blowing gently from the evening California breeze.

Primrose and her dad had taken a trip back to see her grandmother, and they'd decide to take Stanley along to meet her.

"I just gotta know, though, what's the tie for?" Stanley rose his free hand, wiggling the finger Primrose had tied the twist tie around.

Primrose smiled, almost wistfully as she turned her attention onto him. "Have you heard of the red thread of fate?"

Stanley's heart skipped a beat as he slowly nodded. "I-I think so."

"It's a beautiful legend, really, it stems from East Asia.. and it represents the pull of two people who.. who are destined to meet. No matter what." Primrose explained dreamily. The corner of her lip quirked up as she intertwined their fingers, raising them in front of his face to show off the red twisty tie wrapped around each of their ring fingers. "The legend says a red thread... but all I have is this, but the meaning is the same. We were destined to meet, Aphrodite worked with the universe to make sure of it."

Stanley grinned as Primrose brought his hand to her lips and pressed a warm kiss against the back of his hand.

"I'm asking for your hand in marriage." Primrose

"Wh-Wh... Wai- Huh?" Stanley sputtered out, his face flushing as she mindlessly played with his fingers. "You-You can't be.. Are you.. You're serious?"

"I believe Aphrodite would smile because of that." Primrose hummed, "My girl, my girl, talkin' 'bout... my girl..."

A disbelieving laugh escaped his lips as he shook his head in shock. "Woah, woah, slow down, woman.."

"Hm? Oh! Oh, yes." Primrose nodded, "The red threat of fate, I didn't finish, did I? As I-"

"Yes." Stanley finally said, tears pricking in his eyes.

Primrose paused, blinking rapidly as she processed the words Stanley had said. "Yes?"

Primrose's voice was barely above a whisper as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait-"

"Yeah." Stanley grinned. Primrose's eyes lit up as she registered what he had said. "Yeah, yes, one-hundred percent. Without a doubt. What else do magic eight balls say?"

Primrose laughed in ecstacy as she tossed her arms around Stanley's neck. An oomph left Stanley's lips as she knocked him down onto the red and white checkered picnic blanket.

"I love you." Primrose grinned, her strawberry blond hair falling into her eyes as she hovered over him. "I love you."

Stanley smiled, resting his hands on her waist, gently rubbing his thumbs in circles on the fabric of her dress. "I-I love you too.."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: i hope this was a satisfying ending.. im sorry we had to say Goodbye to prim so suddenly. if you have any questions about her life after, what she did id be happy to answer them! it was an honor to write for her and im gonna miss her and you all so much. see you in the next phase }

• santa is still alive and thriving

• so is harold 2.0, along with harriet the third (a lizard they found on one of their adventures)

• dina and sydney are together and very happy

• Stanley still has the coin of course

• primrose decided to apply to college for environmental science

• yes, they did end up getting married. January 21st, per Primrose's not so mild suggestion

{ Edited: No }