Author's Note and Epilogue

                                    

                                          
Hello there, people!
                          
What a ride, honestly. I conceptualized Here's To Us around mid-April going to early May, so during ABNQ times. When I published the first author's note and prologue on May 28th, I had ZERO idea that it was going to get this far. We had #1 on the Shourtney tag, #1 on the Rhett and Link tag, and #33 on the Smosh tag (out of 4k  stories, so holy crap indeed)!
                          
In short, all I want to really say is thank you. So much. When I started writing fan fictions for Smosh, I didn't really expect for them to blow up. I just wanted to write out how much I loved these people and how much joy they bring into my life. And I am so happy that I get to take pieces of them and make them as other pieces of joy for other people. Thank you so much for wholeheartedly accepting the joy that I can give.
                          
Shayne and Courtney, if you're reading this, I don't think it'll happen in real life because of the pandemic, but I love you both. That's all. I've ordered some merch a while back, and I can't wait to get my hands on them. Anyway, love you.
                          
Another big thanks is to everyone who literally shared this story either here on Wattpad or on Instagram! I was really terrified of it at that time, but I really really really am grateful! Through your shares and shoutouts, we made a nice little community in here. Let's go, Shourtney shippers! Thank you for sharing this story, much love!
                          
After I published the last chapter of this book, I also published a new Shourtney book, titled "When the Clock Ticks!" It'll be my last book for a while, because I have to do so much stuff for classes in August. Cover's up there in the media section, woot woot! Go check it out on my profile or through this link:
                          
https://my.w.tt/7R3Kp05b47
                          
I would also like to apologize if any of my content has offended you, made you feel uneasy, hurt you, etc. I really do hope that, if you do feel conflicted about what I write, you can address it to me for me to improve my writing skills as well as to avoid problematic content. It's 2020, let's all be socially aware, woo hoo!
                          
Anyway, if you haven't read my other books, go check 'em out! If you haven't followed me on Instagram (@shourtney.longknee), go check it out too! But for now... thank you for reading Here's To Us, a Shourtney fan fiction. Thank you, Smosh. Thank you, Shayne and Courtney. Thank you, guys.
                          
Without further ado, Shayne's POV, and see ya!
                          
-/-/-
                          
AUGUST 2021
                          
-/-/-
                          
"Awww, look at this place," Courtney mumbles as we enter our hotel room. "Rose petals on the bed."
                          
"You know what that means," I tell her, and she laughs. "You wanna do it?"
                          
"Mm... I was thinking of kinda resting first," she says, yawning. "We could also go look around for a while, and when we come back tonight, then we can do it."
                          
"Sounds fun, where do you wanna go?" I ask, putting our bags inside the closet. "I mean, this place is huge. We could get lost anywhere."
                          
"Well, a year ago, we kinda got lost in here but made our way back to the room," she answers, grinning as she freshens up in the bathroom. "But that was with alcohol in our system, and we agreed that tonight..."
                          
"No alcohol," we say in unison.
                          
"Yeah, we can't get married too many times now," I reply, looking at my brand new wedding ring, much simpler than the last time but much more genuinely given. "We might get lost, yeah, but it's okay. Just hold onto my hand for the entirety of the time."
                          
"I can walk in Vegas alone, Shayne, I'm 26," she tells me, poking out her tongue. "I'm worrying for you getting lost. Your 'stache might make strangers mistake you for Gus Johnson."
                          
"Gus is tall."
                          
"Ooh, self-burn." Courtney laughs as she puts her mascara on, and I wrap my arms around her waist. "Huh? Who would have known we'd get this far?"
                          
"I think everyone," I whisper. "Like, before we even got married for the first time, I think everyone kinda suspected that we were gonna get this far."
                          
"Yeah, and the shippers," she remarks, putting her makeup back in her bag on the bathroom sink. "So... you wanna go?"
                          
"Mm, I just wanna stay inside now," I mumble, sighing. "Hey, Courtney, do you wanna fly?"
                          
"What?" she says before I lift her up and run towards our bed. "OH MY GOD, SHAYNE!"
                          
"HERE WE GO!" I exclaim as I literally toss her onto bed before jumping into it myself. "THERE WE GO!"
                          
"You scared me shitless, dude!" she exclaims, laughing. "You can't just ask your wife if she wants to fly!"
                          
"I know my wife wants to fly though," I tell her, winking at her as we both lie down on our big white hotel bed, "because this is the happiest both of us have ever been."
                          
Courtney leans into me and kisses me softly. "I love you," she mutters, smiling. "And I swear to God, I'm gonna get you back for that proposal. Can't be topped."
                          
"That's my surname after all."
                          
"And mine too," she says, holding my hand. "So if we're gonna stay in before doing it, do you, like... wanna take a nap or do you wanna watch some stuff?"
                          
"I was thinking we could watch something on TV, and I wish we could sign in our Netflix account on this," I reply.
                          
"Aww, I wanted to take a nap," she mumbles, leaning on my chest and fake-snoring. "See? I'm already asleep."
                          
"I got an idea on how to solve this," I say, jamming my hand into my pocket to find a penny. "Just like old times."
                          
"By old times, you mean last year."
                          
"Definitely," I tell her as I place the coin on my thumb. "Okay, so heads, we're going to Netflix. Tails, we're going to sleep."
                          
"Oh, you know what?" she says, sitting up straight and looking at me. "Screw coins. Let's just straight up do it."
                          
"I'm suddenly scared of you, but do you want champagne with that?" I ask her as she puts her hand on my chest and kisses me. "Oh, okay. No alcohol, I forgot. Come on, come on."
                          
"Now, don't go too rough, man," she tells me, laughing.
                          
"Ha, you won't have to fake anything," I tease her, grinning like an idiot.
                          
And then we play a really long and frustrating adventure game on my phone. Don't get your dirty minds up now. We get some champagne too, and as we clink our glasses and say three familiar words, I realize that we're breaking our only rule. 
                          
But I think we've broken worse rules before.
                          
-/-/-