all, huh?” She shook her head as tears began to pour from her eyes.
“Yeah…” He brought his arm around and opened a small white box. Inside was a diamond ring that damn near blinded her. “So, here it is. I know I did this shit all wrong. I messed it up. I was supposed to show you the damn ring, then ask to marry you. My head is all crazy right now.” He chuckled, then raked his fingers through his hair.
“It’s all right. I like messed up. I like crazy. I like you.” She kissed him, and they entered the same daydream together – one created by just the two of them.
“Well? Do you want me for life, baby?”
“I do.” She shivered and giggled, feeling giddy, as he took her hand and slid the ring down her finger. Moments later, they sought their underwear and the rest of their clothing. Everything was so surreal. When he unzipped the tent, the light was almost too much. They emerged, finished with their afternoon delight, and Aries stood shirtless, his hand on his hip and his phone cradled against his ear. He tossed her a glance over his shoulder, winked, and turned in the direction of the mountains.
“Aiden, Lauren said yes…”
Lauren burst out laughing when she could hear the kid cheering on the other end. She eavesdropped as Aries called various people he knew, excited, announcing that he was getting married. She grabbed her phone, too—totally taken aback that Aries had proposed in the first place. He’d kept the secret so well. She dialed her close friends, then her mother. After it rang once, she hung up. As if on cue, Aries quickly ended his call and gathered her in his arms.
“I couldn’t do it, Aries. I don’t want him to ruin this for me,” she finally uttered, shaking her head, her joy temporarily stolen at the thought of her father storming in with his judgments and the arguments that would ensue. “I’m happy right now, Aries. If I tell my mother, she’ll tell my father and he’ll steal my joy. He’ll take it into his hands, ball it up, and crush it. All because he’s apparently miserable. I can’t let him have it… I can’t, Aries.” She hadn’t spoken to the man since the day he’d treated Aries so unkindly.
“Then don’t tell them right now, baby. Let’s just enjoy this time together. And let me tell you something,” His expression grew stern. “Nobody, is going to break us apart, all right? Even if those we love disapprove of our relationship—we’re a united front. We’re one. We’re different, but damn if we’re not good together.”
She couldn’t help but smile as he placed a kiss against her cheek, released her, and began to set up a fire. They were going to have a full night of cooking smores with extra fluffy marshmallows, and hotdogs over an open flame. Then, they’d take an evening walk in the park and he promised to tell her corny ghost stories in the tent. There would no doubt be more fooling around before the night was through, too.
Her heart fluttered with the newness of the moment, the beauty of it. She looked down at her ring and fought tears of joy, but in the back of her mind, she knew what was to come. And it wouldn’t be nice. It wouldn’t be pretty. You come in from the outside, the cruel world, to get comfort. You run to your family, the ones you love. What do you do when the enemy is on that side of the wall, too?
…Sometime later
“But I don’t understand.” A sliver of cool air escaped his mouth as he stood outside Lauren’s home, his eyes red from lack of sleep. It was six in the morning and the air was crisp. Lauren had on a fuzzy pink robe, as well as a matching paisley print silk scarf wrapped so tight around her head it was amazing she hadn’t passed out right in front of him. On her face was a look of utter confusion. She scratched her head and yawned. “Boy, you are crazy. Come on in this house. It’s cold.”
He tracked in behind her, his chest pounding from a heartbeat that wouldn’t stop.
“I know it sounds crazy, Lauren, but I spoke to my father’s lawyer. I told him we hadn’t had any luck finding this final part of the letter and then, like I told you just now, I got to thinking about what