I looked up at the door as the tiny bell rang for what seemed like the fiftieth time, except this time, it really was the person I was hoping to see. George strolled over to me and sat down at my table. I looked up at his face and saw he had a black eye. "I'm sorry for that. I should've-" I began, but George cut me off. "Aurora, I really need to talk to you," he said with an urgent look on his face. I nodded. "Alright. About what?" I asked. George looked around. Everyone in the café was looking at us. He shook his head. "I can't tell you here. This is private. Here, let's go back to my place, and I'll clean you up first. Then we can talk." I started to open my mouth to protest, but as he helped me up from my chair, a guy at the bar looked at me and whistled. I nodded and quietly added, "Let's get out of here."
We walked to his house in silence. When we arrived at the door of his flat, he unlocked the door and let me in first. I walked in and stood by the door as he walked in. "Well, c'mon, sweetheart. I'll clean you up." I followed him through his living room and into his bedroom where he made me sit down on the end of his bed. "You don't have to do this, George. It's just a few small cuts and bruises. I'll be fine." He shook his head as left the room to get a washcloth and cool water to clean the gash on my forehead. He came back a few seconds later and sat down next to me on the bed. I tensed my jaw as I felt the sting as he slowly cleaned the blood from the gash in my forehead.
A few long, painful minutes went buy as he cleaned the rest of the cuts on my arms and my face. He then took a band aid and put it over the freshly cleaned gash just above my left eyebrow, and he gently kissed my forehead. "You ought to be more careful, sweetheart. One of these days when you're alone and being chased by drunkards, no one's going to be there to save you. What were you doing alone this time of day anyway?" He asked. "Well, I had gone to a night club to see some bands perform, none of which were very good, and my friend, Addison, had come with me. After an hour or so, Addison had to leave with her boyfriend for a date and left me there alone. After the last band played, I got up and walked out of the club only to find those three drunks waiting outside the door. As I walked out, they whistled at me and-" George had cut me off.

"Wait, why didn't you just walk back into the club and call your boyfriend to come get you?" He asked curiously. "I don't have a boyfriend, and besides, there wouldn't have been-" George cut me off again. He looked taken aback. "What do you mean you don't have one?" I sighed and shook my head. "I just don't have one. Honestly, after seeing how most guys act, I'm not sure I really want one anymore." George's expression had sunk into sadness at that point.
"What's wrong, George?" I asked sympathetically. He shook his head. "It's nothing. Anyway, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about," he said with a small sigh. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I wanted to talk to you about relationships." The confusion must've shown on my face because George started to explain. "I'm engaged." I put on a fake smile and hugged him gently, then pulled away. "That's wonderful, George. I'm happy for you." I wasn't truly happy for him. Not even the slightest bit. When I ran into him and looked up to see his face, I knew I was still in love with him, but when those words hit me, my heart sank.
"Yeah, well, that's not all I wanted to say. I have a problem, Aurora." He looked down, and his jaw tensed for the slightest second. "I still love you..." He mumbled quietly. "I was just going to go through with the marriage before because I thought there'd be no way I'd ever get to talk to you again. I'd figured that you'd be married now or at least had a boyfriend or fiance. But when you ran into me and I saw that it was you, I knew I couldn't go through with marrying someone else. I had to try again. Then you said you're not sure that you even wanted a boyfriend anymore after seeing how most men act, and I have to be honest, it broke my heart a little." That explained his morose expression after I had said that. "George, I didn't necessarily mean that you act the same way as everyone else. The person who wins your love couldn't be with a better person. It doesn't matter now if I love you still or not anyway. You're promised to someone else now. I can't take you away from them even if I do want to be with you."
George looked up at me. He moved closer to me and took my face in both of his hands. He slowly leaned closer to me, a far too familiar sparkle was in his eyes, and I had a feeling I was the only one who had ever seen it. And then he kissed me. A wonderful, happy sensation had taken over me immediately, and I smiled slightly against his soft lips. I kissed him back but then pulled away suddenly. "George, we can't do this. You're to be married to another woman." The sparkle still remained in his eyes as he looked into mine. "I know, but I want you," he said wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer to him, and he whispered in my ear, "I want to marry you."