Hayden

"Vira ... you have made me the happiest man in the past five years." Nick paused seeming very nervous.

I nodded encouragingly holding my breath. This was it, the moment of truth.

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek box. Holding it out he started again. "Will...will you make me the happiest men alive and," he opened the little box to revel a necklace and bracelet pair. "Become my wife?"

Vira's hands were over her mouth, and she was silent for a solid thirty seconds. "Nick...I..." Vira's eye filled with tears. "Yes!" She final managed to get out. "Yes. Yes! YES!"

I watched as Nick stood up embracing the girl he love more than anything in the world. I watched him pull out the necklace before clipping it around her neck. It had Nikolaev on it written in a beautiful cursive.

The bracelet Nick also pulled out. He slid the leather cord around his wrist and ran his fingers across the four letters on it. They spelled out Vira in a matching font.

Glancing sideways, I saw Nicola wipe a tear from her eye as Nick once again wrapped Vira in a hug. Vira and nick both had tears in their eyes, tears of joy.

After the commotion died down, we all started talking and I pulled out a board game. Ocean was still wrapped in the fluffy blanket Jayden had gifted her.

DIsapointment and giult filled me as a wached her smile and pull it closer. Maybe I had made a mistake. Clearly my gift wasn't what she was expecting, or even something she liked.

She ws always so sweet and thoughtful, but I had messed up somehow. I knew it. I tried to push the feeling of frustration away, bery it deep down so nobody would see.

The guilt kept coming back in waves. She knew me so well. Her gift was amazing, defiantly beating what I got from my friends.

From Jayden I got a pink hairbrush and a sick new video game. Nick had given me a couple new pairs of jeans, and some t-shirts and a Barbie doll. It's a thing we do, get a joke gift and a real gift. It's something the guy's love doing, the girls not so much. But they love the laugh.

Vira got me a new bag, which was much needed. From Nicola I got a desk slight shot. I can't hate it to be honest, its cool. Oceans gift took the cake though. No question.

She knows me best. Her gift was a leather notebook. The same emerald green as my eyes according to Vira. At first I wasn't sure about it until I opens it. Instead of regulating lined paper, there were music staffs written on the inside. The leather book was held closed by a flap that had a small slit in it. The slit aloud a loop to come through and it was held there by a pen. Perfect for writing music.

We were playing clue with the six of us when I realized that Ocean was avoiding my eye contact. I felt sad but didn't do or say anything about it. We played three rounds before realizing that it was lunch time. Everyone went to put their stuff upstairs except Ocean who went to put the books in her reading room. I watched her go with a slight sadness in my heart. She didn't reappear for a while, which worried me. The other girls went to prepare sandwiched. Sitting in the living room I kept glancing down the hallway, hoping to see Oceans smiling face.

Not able to take it any longer, I found myself wandering down the hallway like a lost puppy. Coming to a stop in front of the door Ocean was behind, I knocked softly while calling out her name. I heard shuffling behind the door before it opened.

Oceans face was redder than before, and it almost appeared as though she had been crying. Stepping inside the room, I closed the door behind me.

"Ocean," I stared. She turned away from me quickly.
"Ocean what's wrong?"
She stood there unmoving staring at something.
I moved closer, hoping she wouldn't freak out. I wrapped my arms around her from behind, surprised she didn't flinch. I felt something hit my arm as I rested my head on hers. I glanced around the room trying to pick out what she wanted me to see. Finally, my eyes found it. A photo.
The Photo.
It was what she was staring at. It was the photo of her, her mother, and her father.

"You miss them don't you?" I felt bad saying it out loud.
She responded with a nod, and I felt my heart drop. I hadn't realized that this would take such a toll on her. Suddenly she turned around burring her face into my chest. I rested my head on hers as she cried.

I had no idea how long we had been here, but she slowly stopped crying and I managed to convince her to come eat lunch with us. Sitting down, I wrapped an arm around Oceans shoulders, pulling her closer at the long side of the table.

It wasn't till Ocean went to do dishes, despite my protests, that the questions started.
"What did you do?" Vira's glare made me shiver.
"Nothing I swear."
"Really then why..."
I cut her off. "Ocean isn't the person you think she is. It's not my place say."
"That's Bull." Vira shook her head.

Instead of trying to argue with her, I stood and walking over to the kitchen to help Ocean with the dishes. We worked in silence, quite a comfortable one at that. It was odd, I wasn't normally one to love silence but with Ocean it was different. I don't know why but it was.

When we were finally finished, I noticed the little box that was on the counter. It was the gift I had given Ocean. She moved over to it and began tracing over the edges of the box with her fingers.
"D-do you like it?" A voice that sounded like my own ask.
She nodded without missing a beat. I walked over to her, open the box once more.
"There's one more thing." I lifted the necklace out slightly. I opened the latch and the heart locket opened. I felt Ocean stiffen as she took the necklace from my fingers. Inside there were two pictures. She turned around her eyes never leaving the locket.

When her blue-grey eyes met mine I could see tears on the verge of falling. I knew that the pictures of her parents would do that, but it felt horrible. When a single tear fell, I found my self repeatedly whispering, "I'm sorry."

I was cut off by lips pressing themselves against mine. The kiss wasn't sweet, it was salty. It tasted of tears and sorrow. There were so many emotions in this kiss, I almost started to cry. The pain and sadness that poured from Ocean were also mixed with joy and happiness.

Ocean pulled away before pulling me down into a hug, one that said something.
Thank you.