Alice

I trust Elijah.

That's what I keep repeating in my head over and over and over again as he drives us back to the house. And I know he's right. We shouldn't let someone else dictate how we live our lives, how we feel about each other.

Because the truth is, I love Elijah, with all that I have. And I trust him with all that I have, too.

I guess that's why I don't hesitate when he asks me to close my eyes as we make it to our driveway. He just takes my hand, and I hear how he opens the wooden gate to our garden, the soft grass beneath my booth giving in as we step walk around what I assume is the corner of our house where we still wanted to plant some new flowers. Maybe that's what he did with Mona.

"Okay, I'll let go of you now, but keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them, okay?"

I nod my head, his hand leaving my own before I hear something that sounds like plastic crinkling for a few minutes before his hand suddenly finds my own again.

"Alright, open..."

It takes a second until I'm able to focus on what's right in front of me, and at first I don't know what to look at. Elijah kneels in front of me, behind him a patch of white, and red roses arranged in meticulous lines, spelling out the words that instantly send tears to my eyes.

Will you marry me?

"You know," Elijah speaks before I can even try to wrap my head around this situation, "This is kind of not how I wanted this to happen, but I guess we are pretty bad at doing things the conventional way anyway, so here we go..."

I don't even know how to react, I just feel the tears stream down my face while I shake my head, absolutely not grasping this situation.

"Alice, you know I'm not good with words. Mostly because every time I look at you I'm just goddamn speechless. I mean... Fuck, you're doing it again." He chuckles, but I can only shake my head again, covering my face with my hands, trying to calm myself somehow.

"No, please, look at me..." The way he begs makes me listen to him, and I take a few deep breaths before I remove the hands from my face, seeing his trusting grey eyes focused right on me, showing me once again that I'm the center of his attention. "Fuck, you're beautiful..."

I can't help but laugh at his inability to stay focused on anything but my face, and even if my laugh sounds more like a sob, I still feel my heart warm at the smile that crosses his face. He's such a stunning man. "Damn, this is a disaster," he chuckles, "Okay. Focus." Elijah shakes his head with a laugh before he continues.

"Alice... I don't think there's any word in the English language that could explain just how much I love you. You challenge me, you calm me, you make me feel at home. Because that's what you gave me. A home. You made me find myself again. You gave me back my life by entering it yourself. I know who I am now, and I have you to thank for that. And I know that I don't even deserve you, the encounter with my father earlier proves just that... But I'm selfish, Alice. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to call you my wife, want you to carry my last name, and I absolutely want to wake up next to you every damn day, because fuck... The one time I didn't, almost killed me."

We just look at each other for a moment, and even though my vision is blurry from all the tears that roll down my cheeks, I just see how much he means those words, how much love those grey orbits hold in them.

God, here I am, freaking out because Mona was here, when all she did was help him prepare this...

He reaches into his jeans pocket, pulling out a little black velvet box which he then opens and holds out to me. There's a vintage grey-gold ring set with an emerald in the middle looking straight at me, the beauty and uniqueness of it instantly taking my breath away.

"I was looking for weeks to find something that represented you, but I realized no ring will ever be beautiful enough to compare to your shine, and so I settled for something else. I saw this, and it made me think of you immediately. I saw your mesmerizing eyes; I saw the way you bring light to my life in the way the gold incorporates the steely grey... It seemed like the only thing worthy of being carried on your finger. If you'll have it, that is."

The fear in his eyes knocks the air out of my lungs, and I find myself kneeling right in front of him, needing to be on eye-level with him to understand this gesture, to grasp the weight of his words.

He places a hand on my cheek, rubbing away the tears that still keep on coming when he whispers, "Be my wife, Alice. Marry me. Please."

"Of course I'll marry you..." I don't even hesitate, my words instantly sending a smile on Elijah's lips.

"You do?"

I can't help but laugh as I nod my head, cupping his face with my hands as I just look at him, hoping he finds the answer to this question in my eyes. "Yes, I will marry you. I want to be your wife."

And I so regret not having my camera on me, because the way he smiles at me just then... That's the reason people fall in love, it's the reason I will continue to fall for this man, day after day.

"You'll marry me," he says again, the bright smile still lingering on his lips. And I guess it's that moment that I realize Elijah was right, all those months ago. It's not the picture that makes a moment memorable. It's the moment itself. I sure as hell will never ever forget this moment, and I will do everything I can to see this smile on his face as often as possible.

"Yes," I laugh, "I'll marry you. Now kiss me already."

Elijah doesn't even hesitate, he just throws himself on me, pushing me back on the moist grass beneath us before he kisses me with an intensity that makes me breathless and dizzy in a matter of seconds. I feel his love in this kiss; I feel how much he wants this, wants me, and I just know that this is our way of sealing our connection.

We don't need anyone telling us we belong together.

All we need is us. Together.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks since Elijah proposed to me. The weight of his ring on my finger feels like a privilege, like a reminder that it's the two of us against the world.

He doted on me like I was his own personal princess, even if I tell him all the time that it's getting ridiculous with the way he literally carries me everywhere I want to.

I know he still feels bad for the way everything went down with Mona. I told him that it's okay, that I understand what he was doing now and that I'm over it. He doesn't seem to believe me though, because he insisted that I meet her, that I get to know the woman he refers to as his "sister".

And that's how we find ourselves in our garden, sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine in our hands as we wait for Mason and Mona to arrive. Apparently they're getting to know each other again. As it turns out, it wasn't just Mason who still wasn't quite over that love.

Elijah asked Mona for help with this project when I visited Jake all those weeks ago. He planned the proposal weeks before I even knew he was even thinking about any of that, and that fact alone still blows my mind, honestly.

But apparently, they didn't just talk about our love. When Elijah told her about his plan she ended up telling him about Mason, and the fact that she only goes into that pub to see him, usually from afar. It was coincidence, or maybe fate, that she got there later than they did, meaning they'd see her entering the bar.

It made me think about the way life just happens sometimes. Everything spoke against Elijah and me. His stubborn, closed-off, and rough exterior definitely doesn't fit well with the woman riddled with anxiety and depression that's also pretty stubborn herself.

Maybe it was fate, maybe it was just a causal chain full of coincidences, and maybe it was just us experiencing a disguised love at first sight... I realized it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter why we're here, all that matters is that we have each other.

"Dude, you really did go all in, huh?" Mason's voice pulls me out of my thoughts, Elijah's laugh rumbling right through my body as he tugs me closer into his side.

Mason and Mona walk around the corner hand in hand, their eyes set on the floral arrangement in front of us.

"Have you ever known me to do anything else?" Elijah asks, and I can't help but grin as I look up at him, knowing just how right he is about that.

"Yeah, she did turn you into a softie, huh?" Mason quips, grinning brightly at the two of us, while Mona almost hides behind the mountain of a man next to her, shooting us a wave from afar.

Elijah just rolls his eyes at his best friend's remark, pulling me even closer and thus right into his lap as he whispers into my ear, "I assure you, nothing about me is soft around you, love."

"Elijah!" I gasp, hiding my face in the crook of his neck while his deep laughter vibrates right through me again.

"Oh man, I don't even want to know what he just said, do I?" Mason asks again, but Elijah just shrugs, obviously not paying any attention to our guests.

I take a deep breath, shooting my way too handsome fiance a warning look before I turn back around, "Excuse him, he has no manners..." I mutter, feeling Elijah's body rumble beneath me again as he stifles a laugh.

"Hi, Mason, hi, Mona." I shoot them a smile as I wave them over, gesturing to the two lounge chairs opposite to us. "There's still some wine in the cooler on the table behind you, if you're interested."

"Wow, this hospitality blows my mind. Usually I have to bring my own scotch..." Mason mutters, earning himself a glare from Elijah.

"Says the one who just walked through the backdoor instead of ringing the damn door bell like a normal person," he quips back.

"Well, I..."

"Okay, boys. Calm down, will you? Mason, that hospitality can be revoked if you don't stop pestering my fiance..."

Elijah laughs, nodding his head as he presses a kiss on my temple while the other two get settled, finally.

And as the evening continues, I realize more and more that any concerns I ever had about Mona were absolutely ridiculous. Not only is she probably the sweetest girl I have ever met, she also only has eyes for one man around here: Mason.

It's cute to see how subtle they think they are, stealing kisses when Elijah and I seem distracted, throwing each other those heated and loving glances... It's sweet, and it somehow calms my heart. I'm glad Mason has someone in his corner. As much as he can seem like an asshole, he's also a really good friend to Elijah, which is all that matters to me, really.

"So, when's the wedding?" Mason asks, swinging the last of his wine in his glass.

"Well, if I had any say in it, we'd get married tomorrow," Elijah says, narrowing his eyes at me. "But this one here thinks we should take our time, for whatever reason."

God, he's such an idiot sometimes.

"The reason is that we should do this properly," I clarify, fighting hard not to roll my eyes at my beautiful man.

But again he just shrugs, looking absolutely unimpressed by my explanation. "I don't get it. Properly means we go there, get married, and then we're husband and wife, right?" Elijah asks, looking to Mason for help.

"Yeah, I gotta agree with him there..." his best friend obviously is on his side, not that I didn't expect that already.

"You guys are insufferable..." I laugh, "I'm just saying let's do this exactly the way we want it to be. Let's not settle for something that could ruin that memory."

"The only memory I need is hearing you say I do, love."

I can literally feel Mason's eye-roll before he swallows the last of his drink, saying, "Alright, that's my cue to get some new drinks. This shit is too sappy for me..."

"No, no, you stay seated. Elijah, you get us a new bottle of wine from the cellar while I let these two convince me, without your influence." I scoot off his lap, to which Elijah only reacts with furrowed brows, obviously not liking that he has to leave me here. "Come on, prove Mason he's wrong about your hospitality skills."

"I don't care about..."

"Elijah!" I laugh again, this time basically shoving him out of his seat. "Go!"

He looks utterly surprised by my roughness, and I am, too, honestly. But this is important. "You're lucky I love you."

"I know I am," I shoot him a wink before sending him inside with another push.

His laughter still echoes around the garden as he closes the terrace door. "Wow, you really..."

"Shh!" I silence Mason, "Okay, we don't have much time. But I need a favour..."