One month later.
“I was perfectly content until you came along, you know that?” I told her as I tugged gently on the hem of her shirt.
It was a lie – I’d only thought I was content, but really, I was running on empty – my life before her was nothing compared to now.
Charlotte made me a better person, she had this way of bringing me to my own attention – she made me see things about myself that I didn’t know, or perhaps didn’t want to see, and then without even saying a word, helped me become the person I could be.
I wasn’t me without her.
“Me? What’d I do?” Charlotte asked as she glanced up at me from where she was painting her toenails on the end of our bed.
Our bed…
“You made me want more,” I told her, my voice already shaky with nerves.
“You’ve got the entire world eating out of the palm of your hand, rock star, what more could you possibly want?” she asked absentmindedly as she applied another coat of black polish with the tiny brush.
“You,” I stated. “Forever,” I added in a voice so quiet I wasn’t even sure she’d hear it.
She heard. She froze mid-stroke of the brush. Her wide, blue eyes coming up slowly to meet mine.
Yip… she heard alright.
“You want what now?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“You heard me.”
We stared at one another for a beat, with her too scared to ask, and me too scared to repeat the words that were hanging between us.
“Do you still have that music box I gave you?” I finally asked her.
“Of course I do,” she breathed, her expression turning tender.
She loved that thing – I knew she wouldn’t have gotten rid of it under any circumstances. It was the gift I’d bought for her when I was out of town, back before all that shit had gone down on social media. We’d well and truly moved on from that scandal, but I knew Charlotte would cherish the antique wind-up music box forever.
“Can I see it?”
She pointed at her toenails. “They’re still wet.”
“I’ll get it,” I offered.
She smiled gratefully. “It’s in the top drawer.”
I retrieved the box and sat it down in front of her on the bed. “Open the back,” I instructed.
My heart was beating a million miles an hour as I watched her carefully screw the lid back on the nail polish and set it down.
I’d never planned how this was going to go. I’d half expected her to have discovered what I’d hidden in the back of the box of her own accord. But she hadn’t, and here we were.
“Okay…” she replied, uncertain about why she was doing this.
She opened the back slowly, revealing the cogs and mechanisms that made the whole thing work.
She was moving so slowly I had to resist the urge to grab it out of her hands and do it myself.
She was nervous. I could tell. Her eyes were wide and her skin was flushed.
“Okay… now what?” she asked quietly.
“Tip it,” I instructed.
She looked right into my eyes for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the box. She slowly tipped it up on its end.
Nothing happened.
“Shake it.”
She gently shook the box and I heard the clank of loose metal bumping against metal.
She bit down on her bottom lip as she shook it again.
It was like it happened in slow motion. The two-carat, antique diamond halo ring fell from the small hole and dropped onto the bed between us.
“Is that…” Charlotte trailed off.
Hell yes it is.
“That music box wasn’t the only thing I bought for you that day.”
She looked at me, shock written all over her face.
“Whaaa… what?” she stammered. “I don’t understand? You bought me this box months and months ago, Parker…”
I nodded. “I knew I wanted to marry you within two weeks, legs.”
She gasped.
“You’re lucky I waited this long.”
She picked up the ring in slow motion, like she was afraid it wouldn’t really be there when she reached for it. She clasped it between her thumb and finger and brought it up to her face to look closely at it.
“Charlotte, look at me,” I commanded.
Her lip trembled as her eyes met mine.
I got up from my spot and slowly rounded the bed as she watched my every step like a hawk.
I stopped at the edge of the bed and grabbed hold of her to turn her around gently so she was facing me.
Her first sob broke free as I dropped down onto one knee before her.
I may not have been willing to ask her father for her hand in marriage, but I was going to do this thing as old fashioned as I could.
If I had my way, this would be the one and only time Charlotte was proposed to, and she deserved it to be like they did in all those chick flicks she loved to watch.
I reached for her hands and held them gently in mine. I could feel the ring in her hands.
“Charlotte… I don’t even know where to begin. I don’t know how I could possibly tell you everything that you mean to me…”
There aren’t enough words in the world.
“I read something once, it said that perfection was not achieved when there was nothing left to add, but when there was nothing left to take away.”
I paused for a moment and watched as a tear slid down her face and fell into her lap.
“And I’ve realised how true that is about life. Life isn’t about seeing how much you can get, it’s not about wanting more and more… it’s about realising the things you can’t live without.”
I reached out and wiped away her tears that were now falling freely.
She smiled gratefully at me.
“You’re it, legs. You’re my point of perfection. You are the thing I can’t live without…” I kissed her hand. “I know I’m meant to ask your dad for permission, but I thought, well to be honest… fuck that…”
She laughed through her sniffles.
“So, I did the next best thing,” I told her with a smile.
I knew that she wouldn’t be expecting this. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
Charlotte looked at me in confusion.
I grinned and hit play on the voice recording.
“Short-stuff!!” the chorus of men-children began.
Her eyes flashed up to meet mine. “You asked my brothers?” she whispered.
I nodded and tried to force down the emotions that were threatening to spill out. Watching her realise that her life was changing forever was the most incredible thing I’d ever been a part of.
“Lover boy came to see us…” One of the twins made kissing noises in the background – I couldn’t tell which one, they were the most identical twins I’d ever seen or heard.
“You know what we told him, Lots? That if he wanted to marry our baby sister, he had to go one round with each of us.”
Charlotte groaned and I chuckled.
“Please tell me they’re kidding?” she demanded.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Sweet baby Jesus,” she muttered as the boys started up again.
“So, he went for a spin in the car with Floyd…”
“Scariest three minutes of my life,” I interjected.
“Then he went a few rounds in the ring with me,” Louis piped up.
I grimaced as I remembered how easily he’d kicked my ass. They didn’t call him ‘The Destroyer’ for nothing – I was sure he’d broken at least one of my ribs.
“And well, my job isn’t all that scary,” Tyler jumped in. “So, I fucked with him and told him I needed him to be my inside man, and then I tripped the alarm.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened. “I’ll kill them,” she stated, matter of factly. “All three of them.”
I chuckled again.
“Don’t get your knickers in a knot, sis, it was a set up,” he added.
“I take it back… that was the scariest three minutes of my life.” I chuckled.
“Seriously though, short-stuff, he’s a good guy, even dumb and dumber can see how much he loves you.” There were noises of a scuffle in the background and if I had to guess I would say that Louis and Floyd were involved in some type of wrestling match.
Charlotte sighed and looked right at me with so much love in her eyes. I could see how much she really appreciated me doing this for her – even if her brothers did drive her crazy.
The scuffle ended with a groan from one of them.
“You’re a smart girl, Charlotte, so we already know you’re going to say yes, but we wanted you to know that you’ve got our blessing… all three of us.”
Another tear slid down her face. I reached out and wiped it away with my thumb before cradling her face in my hand.
“We love you, short-stuff,” one of the boys told her, his own voice thick with emotion.
“Love you,” the other two joined in.
“Just make sure you have some hot bridesmaids,” Floyd, if I had to guess, chimed in before the recording ended.
“You really let them do all that stuff to you?” she asked with her eyebrow raised.
I nodded. “I’m really that crazy in love with you,” I confirmed. “That…and they’re kinda terrifying. Tyler seems to have a head on his shoulders… but those twins.” I grimaced. “They haven’t got an ounce of fear between them; I thought they might go easier on me if I went willingly.”
Charlotte giggled between her sniffles and I took her hands back in mine.
“So, what do you say, legs, you want to try for a lifetime with a rock star?” I asked her in the same cocky voice I had that very first night when she’d shot me down – I just hoped that this time she had a different answer for me.
She laughed loud and free and I knew that she was remembering that night where it all began too.
I sucked in a deep breath in anticipation of her answer.
“Hell yes I do.”