Five years had gone by since she had seen him, her life had taken a standstill when he had first told her about his plane ticket to New York where he was hoping to set up a career.

At first, she thought they'd work it out, after all, four years of being together had taught her to fight it out for the sake of her relationship.  But the first year he was away, she couldn't hold herself back from turning green at the pictures of him with other girls. She trusted him plenty but thoughts like those haunt even the best of relationships.

Second year away, they spoke less. They didn't share the same glances as they did before. She hadn't wanted to read into things yet she found herself looking deeper into his eyes to check if he still loved her. And frankly, she couldn't tell anymore. It broke her inside to see the spark in his eyes gone for her.

The third year, calls were restricted to once a month, and soon the time span increased so much so, that one day when she opened his call history, by mistake, it was dated a year back.
She knew it was over, they didn't say it to each other but it was.

She didn't wait for him, well, that's what she liked to believe. She hadn't seen any other guy the same way she had seen him and astonishingly she started realising she couldn't. She had promised him her heart and it was long given, no turning back.

Now, it had been five years, she herself had taken up a job in a research institute and was working hard on a self earned project. His name still brought a painful strike in her chest, which she often ignored.

The proposals received by her weren't scarce, she met quite a few fine men but none the ones she thought comparable.
She had unknowingly stalked him on his social media coming to know about his advancing career, he had lived up to his aspirations and now was a hair's breadth way from his goal. It made her wander, did he still put her in his picture of the future?
Because she still dreamt of their forever, it all seemed rather far fetched now. He surely wasn't going to come back at the prime of his life. She was his past and his future held so much more than her. She had come to terms with that.

But somehow, sitting alone in her apartments balcony on valentine's day as the street was littered with couples in each other's arms, her heart ached some more.

She recalled all those times they had spent together on days like this. It wasn't ever just one day for them, every day was a declaration of love but this particular day they lived for each other. They were perfect in her mind but she knew love isn't easy to get and even harder to keep.

Her cat purred at her leg, she had bought him- Timar- in her lovers memory. He had loved cats, well, he said he preferred them but everyone knows, you're either a cat person or a dog person. There is no inbetween.
Her notions of many years prior consisted of how cats were being of selfishness, a few years with them she knew why they were loved by many.

Her doorbell rang, making her get up from her comfortable spot and mutter her way through the living room. No one was due to arrive today. Her parents had gone out on their routine dinner on valentine's day and her sister had travelled to Paris with her husband. She didn't really have many friends to account for and hadn't been shopping online for years.

She had done little to nothing to make her appearance presentable as she had just pulled on a house coat and opened the door.

Noone stood infront of her, well, if you count a dog to be someone then yes, a beagle sat before her with a small carrier dangling from his neck. She took out the ribbon tying it around its neck and scrutinised it.
The box was small and fit right into her palm. She patted the beagle's head lovingly and then concentrated on how to open the box with minimal force.

Inside it, there was a glittering engagement ring. Her mind was so baffled by the intricate design, she didn't even noticed the kneeling figure infront of her.
The box, sans ring, fell to the ground as she recognised the familiar brown eyes. He hadn't changed one bit. His hair still stood up the same, his face still clear of a beard or a mustache.
She was stunned to silence as tears streamed down her face. He had come back. He had come back to her.

"Amie, it's so good to see you. I know this is all too sudden and I'm too late but it was now or never. I love you, those few years away had been tortuous. I don't know how to apologise for how the things turned out, this is not what I had in mind, believe me. I love you, everything about you, your smile, your eyes, your smart ass attitude, your love for anything imaginable, your kindness. The list is a bottomless pit, sweetheart. And I can't spend another day knowing you aren't mine. So, Amie Rodriguez, will you marry me?" She had stayed paralysed during his entire speech. He had spoken words she could only have heard in her deepest of fantasies.

"Yo-You want me to marry you?" She asked again, just to confirm his intentions. This was all so overwhelming as she too fell to her knees.

"More than anything in my life."

"What about New York? What about your career, Ryan? I can't move, my life is here."

"You don't have to. I have a job offer here." He stated looking in her eyes hopefully.

She still looked at him questioningly, not knowing what to say next. Her heart screamed to agree to his proposal, after all this is all she ever thought of.

"I-I." She stammered.

"Say yes this time, Amie. I think you can let go of your habit of rejecting all my advances now." She laughed at his reference to their relationship. She used to always, just to irk him, say no to every plan he made and it had soon become an annoying habit she couldn't shrug off, but this time would be an exception.

"Yes."

He pulled her in his arms and dare she say it didn't feel right.

It really was like a fairytale, their fairytale.

******

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Love,
Rojesta 💜