Waking up next to Lo in the morning is amazing. It’s been a week, and she’s slept over at my place most nights. I never imagined that we’d ever end up like this. To have her back in my arms, to have her at my side... It’s the best thing that has happened in years. It’s still new and a little unreal, but I’m getting used to it bit by bit.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only person with a secret project. In the last week, Lo has finished a story she was working on, a love story, a romance about two people who are given a second chance at a relationship. She’s let me read it, as she’s always done, as we always did together. It’s really good, nothing less than what I expected from my girl.

My girl.

I had no idea that she’d been working on this, and the similarities of that story and our own... it’s, yeah, very coincidental. But it’s not like I can say much. My own photography project was based on one of her stories, this is based on us. I guess we were both dealing with our feelings in our own way.

It feels good to watch her work. The fire in her eyes, her fingers moving so fast. There are stories, worlds, coming right out of her, and it makes me so proud to know her, to have her as my girlfriend.

“B?” Lo is standing in the doorway to the bedroom, wearing a lacy bra and thong. “Have you seen my dress?”

I shrug, looking at around. “Hallway?”

She sighs, rolling her eyes. Then she stalks to the hallway, and a moment later comes back with her dress. We may have taken it off her last night before we even made it to the living room.

Last night there was a party to celebrate the end of the movie project. We’ve finished now. There is just the first screening tonight left. The location is already set up, and we don’t have to do much for it anymore. But, since summer break is starting for the people in the project, and Tamara wanted everyone in one place a final time, we had a party. Of course Lo was dressed in another one of H’s dresses. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just start selling those things, they’re good enough for it. And we may have left the party a little early. We were no longer able to keep our hands off each other, and we didn’t really want to do a repeat in the supplies closet.

“Okay.” Lo pulls her hair up into a bun as she steps back out of the bedroom, the white of her hair already growing out and showing her darker roots. “I’m seeing Jo about the finished story, and then Hanna is helping me get ready for tonight.” She turns to me. “I’ll see you at my place at seven?”

“Of course.” I get up, going over to her, wrapping my arms around my beautiful girl. “I’ll come pick you up. But I’m still wounded that you’re leaving me all alone here today to work.” I try to pout, but she just laughs, giving me a quick kiss.

“Hey, you’ve gotta finish those ideas. You can’t let a client who commissions you to design the inside of a hospital wing down.” She smiles, leaning in, putting her head on my shoulder. “And you’ll be fine. I’m just talking shop with Jo, and then I have to sit still for a long time while Hanna ruins my hair with chemicals, again.” She lets out a light laugh.

“I guess.” I give her a kiss on her exposed shoulder, slowly letting her go. “But I’ll still miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. I promise.” She kisses me again, and I push in, trapping her between the wall and myself. She lets out a small sound, but then her hands fist my shirt and she intensifies the kiss. Lips, tongue, teeth, invading me, but I push back, and when we pull back, we’re both breathing hard. Lo’s cheeks are flushed, and her lips darkened. “I love you.” She’s almost purring.

“I love you too.” She has no idea how much. But I’ll show her.

She puts her hand on my chest, and I take a step back. “I need to go, really.” She licks her lips. “See you tonight.”

“See you tonight.” I laugh, watching as Lo tries to compose herself as she steps out of the door.

She looks back one last time, sticking out her tongue at me, and I can hear her laughter as she closes the door and starts walking down the hall.

I’ve told Lo that I had to work on designs for the hospital-wing client today. Which I do have to do, but it’s already mostly finished. What I’m really working on today is something totally different.

Tonight will be a night to remember, I’m sure of that.

I’m not exactly sure why, but somehow I’m flanked by both H and Damon today, walking with me as we go to the mall. I’m not sure how they caught on, but something made them think that something was about to happen and they insisted that they should be joining in on the ‘fun’. So today they’re my wingmen, because I’m looking for a ring.

Yes. A ring.

It’s all last-minute and everything, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the idea that counts... I hope. Because it’s all I have.

I asked Lo to marry me before. We were young, and we thought that nothing would ever get between us. But this time around I want to propose to her because I’m very aware of how quickly things can change. How rare that connection I have with her really is. Nothing in life will ever be easy. But I want her to share the rest of the time we have on earth with me. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her.

And this will be part of it. Our plans may have hit pause for a while, but today I’m hitting play again. Today, I’m starting our story again, and we’re going to make it through.

“Any idea where you want to go?” H looks around.

“No clue.” I sigh. I didn’t really think this over that much.

There are three parts to the plan. One, get ring. Two, propose. Three, get married. That’s about it. I’ve done what I can for part two, the actual proposal, but that still means I need to complete part one, the ring.

“Well... there is a place around the corner that you can try.” Damon shrugs. “Do you have her size?”

“About.” I grin. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.

“Okay.” Damon rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Honestly... I never thought that I’d go ring shopping with two guys on the day of a movie premiere I’ve worked on. Let’s go.” He starts walking, and we follow him.

When we’re right outside the jeweler, we stop and nerves settle in my stomach.

“Are you sure?” There is an edge to H’s voice, and when I look at him he looks... I don’t know... worried?

“Yeah. Yeah, this is the right thing. I’m very sure.” I look around. It’s quiet. Then I look at H, remembering what he told me, remembering the look in his eyes as he talked about the days after I left Lo at the hospital three years ago. “I remember.” I swallow hard. “I remember what happened.”

H’s eyes grow, but the worry doesn’t go away. “What exactly do you remember?”

“Enough of it. Throwing my phone at you. The darkness in my head. Grabbing the broken bottle. You bandaging my arm. Enough of it.” I don’t really want to go into detail, not here, not now. But I need him on my side. I need H to be there, I need him back as a friend.

“Right.” He nods, his eyes softening, but they’re still dark.

“I’m sorry.” He doesn’t know how sorry I am. “I’m really sorry that I behaved like that. That I hurt you. That you had to find me like that. That I shut you out in the years after. I’m really sorry.”

He relaxes a little now, sighing. “Thanks. I’m sorry about being an ass to you too.”

“No.” I shake my head. “You were right. I was behaving like a little shit. I deserved that. I just... I hope we can stop doing that. I hope you can forgive me enough to at least be friends again somewhat.”

He nods, then a hardness sets in his eyes. “Just don’t ever hurt Lo again. Ever.”

“I won’t.” I take a deep breath. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Good.” H smiles a little. “We can try again. Maybe we can even become brothers-in-law at some point.”

My mouth falls open. “You... What?”

“Hey, you never know.” He grins, his eyes shining.

“Right.” I laugh. “Right.” I turn around. “D, Damon.”

He looks up, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for being such a crappy leader during the project. You’ve been a better friend to me than I deserved. Thanks.”

Damon shrugs, grinning. “I had to protect the twins. Lizzy is my friend and I can’t have anyone hurt her sister. And you’re not a bad guy. Just... a little stupid and dense sometimes.”

“Hey.” I bump my shoulder into his. “Keep this up, and you’re not going to be a groomsman at my wedding.”

Damon and H burst out laughing, and I can’t help my own laugh too.

Wedding. Getting married. Finally marrying the girl of my dreams. But that requires a ring and a proposal first.

I take a deep breath, pushing open the door of the jeweler.

Let’s do this!

Tamara decided to put all the leaders from the different groups on stage with her, letting us all say something. I’m trying not to panic, trying to look like everything is perfectly fine, but my hands are sweaty and I’m totally unprepared.

Tamara finishes her speech, letting one of the others talk about the project. I asked Tamara if she would put me on stage last. She looked at me weirdly, but then shrugged. I guess that she doesn’t care what the reason is, or maybe she already knows. It’s nerve-racking to be sitting here, knowing that I’ll have to wait until the end for my own part. But I didn’t want my crazy idea to take away from the rest of the people in the group.

Lola stands up, going up to the microphone. She looks stunning in a dark blue dress, hugging her curves, her hair all up and very nice makeup. I was stunned for a moment when I went to pick her up so that we could all go here together.

I know that both H and Lizzy, as well as her parents, are in the audience, looking on. My parents are also somewhere, but I didn’t really have time to talk to them before everything took off and we were pulled backstage.

Then the clapping slows down and Lo looks at me, smiling, as she steps away from the mic, letting me take it.

Okay. Now or never.

I step up to the mic, looking around the room. “Okay, I actually didn’t go to college here. Tamara graciously asked me to participate in this project, and I don’t think I can ever thank her enough for that. I’ve loved working on the set, getting everything going, visualizing and then creating things that before that moment were just words on a page. I think that this is potentially the most amazing thing I’ve ever worked on. So thank you for that, Tamara.” I nod her way, and she grins. “And I want to thank all the people who put up with me for the last months. Especially Damon, who didn’t pull his punches sometimes when I needed to move my ass and get things going. Thanks!” I try to find him in the audience, but I have no idea where he is. I take a deep breath. “There is someone else I want to thank. When I started this project, I knew one person already. Without knowing about our connection, Tamara asked the both of us to participate, and we didn’t find out about this until the first day of the project.” I look back at Lo, who looks like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, her eyes wide, her cheeks and neck slowly coloring.

“Thank you, Lola, for these past months. For not giving up. For being too stubborn to let me ruin an amazing opportunity for you.” I turn back to the audience. “I used to know her. We went to the same high school. We actually dated for a long time. And then...” What am I even going to say? There are no ways to nicely explain what happened. “Then things went bad, and I left her. I fled.” Oh, fuck. This being-real-about-things doesn’t get easier. “I left her when she needed me most. But at the time, I didn’t understand that. I was too wrapped up in my own problems. So I hadn’t seen her in years, and we didn’t really end everything on the best of terms.” I smile a little. “But because we were both too stubborn to give up on our own dreams, our own opportunities, we got to know each other again.” I glance at Lo, who is now red as a beet.

“And that’s why tonight I have something to ask of her.” I fumble in my pocket, trying to get the small bag out of my pocket, since a box would have been too obvious in these jeans. “Not only is Lola an amazing writer and a great group leader, she has my heart.” I take the ring out of the little bag and turn to the side, making sure I’m still near the microphone, and hold out the ring.

“Lola, I love you. I don’t want to ever live without you by my side. Will you marry me?”