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When we pull away, he smiles. “Now let’s get the fuck off this island.”

Epilogue

Landon

FIVE MONTHS LATER

After what feels like forever, I’m finally home.

I put my car into park and let out a heavy sigh as I lean back into my seat. The traffic out here is fucking insane. I don’t know why everyone and their mother has to live out here or be on the road 24/7 for that matter.

Once Courtney explained that all of Lily’s doctors are here and that she needs that familiarity while she tries to heal, that was the end of that discussion, nothing more to think on or debate. After everything we went through, how could I say no to Courtney?

Spending a single night without her wasn’t an option for me, so despite the constant cloud coverage, the asshole drivers and the vastly overcrowded city, I couldn’t be fucking happier.

After our “wedding,” two guys brought out that chest I thought had been left in the middle of the forest, while someone else handed us the key we had “so successfully” retrieved.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, I mean, they said the chests contained our freedom. Who the hell knew what that was supposed to mean, though?

When we slipped the key into the lock, and the latches fell free, my heart was hammering through my chest.

We lifted the lid and found… money. Not traditional US dollars, though, or even currency from any established government. Instead, it looked like play money from a children’s board game.

I lifted one of the pieces of pink paper up and inspected it. It had the show’s logo on the front of it and said it was good to the value of one dollar.

Alex smiled excitedly and said, “Your five-million-dollar grand prize is good for anything you need here on the island. So it looks like you two don’t have any reason to leave after all!”

Panic filled Courtney and me before he cracked up laughing, along with every crew member around us.

“Just kidding! The money will be wired to you momentarily, and your ride home lies there,” he said, gesturing to the two laminated pieces of paper leaning against the pile of money.

Valid for one person’s airfare to any destination of their choosing. One way. Courtesy ofLocked In: Season One.

Commemorative plane tickets?

“Those ones are actually good. Julia will take you two to the airfield. It’s been such a wonderful time! I look forward to seeing you both very soon,” Alex said with a wide smile.

Courtney let out a sarcastic laugh. “No offense, Alex, but I’ll be thrilled if I never see you again.”

Alex chuckled as he walked away, while we were whisked off to the tiniest airfield ever, where a plane was running, waiting for us. I was shocked. We trekked across this whole goddamn island and we never came across anything like that.

I still wonder where the hell that island was. I know it took over twelve hours to land in Seattle, though for a while it felt like they were driving in circles just to disorient us, so who really knows?

Once we landed in Seattle, we went straight to the hospital, where I met Gretchen. She hugged Courtney like she was her long-lost daughter before hugging me with that same enthusiasm. Then she rushed us to the PT facility where Lily was just finishing up a session.

When she saw Courtney, she took off running and leaped into her arms. Courtney held on to her for so long, crying into her shoulder as Lily kept excitedly asking if she’d won.

Courtney cut her a sharp look, one that screameddrop the topic, before introducing me. That sweet girl gave me the biggest hug, like she’d been waiting her whole life to meet me. I was so stunned at being so welcomed into Courtney’s life immediately. But with everything in me, I knew I was exactly where I belonged.

Courtney and I were given our phones back after the plane landed, and we both quickly checked our bank accounts, shocked to find that the grand prize wasn’t five million dollars total, like they’d advertised, but five million dollarseach.

I was able to pay off all of Dolores’s debt and retire her properly. She asked me where I’d been. Last time we spoke, I’d told her I was taking a job that required some travelling and promised her that when I came back, I would have the answers to all of her problems. There wasn’t anything in me that thought losing was an option. Granted, that was before I knew the hell we’d have to endure to win, but still, in the end, I kept my word.

When I slapped money down in front of her and told her to go pick out a porch swing to spend her days on, tears filled her eyes. Though, not as many as when I told her that I’d found the love of my life and I was moving to Seattle. I promised her I would visit often, and though it was sad to say goodbye to the woman who raised me into the man I am today, she told me to get the hell out of there and get my ass back to my girl.

She didn’t have to tell me twice.

After helping Dolores, paying off Lily’s medical bills and buying a nice home for us just outside Seattle, Courtney and I still had enough left over for me to open my own tattoo shop and for her to quit several of her jobs. Now she just works at the hospital part-time, which means there’s more time to be home and actually be a full human.