The words scrape something raw out of my chest.
“I want the rest of my life with you.”
I open the ring box, letting her see it before I say anything else.
The rose gold catches the diner light, warm against all the grime and exhaustion. There is still a fleck of my blood on it, dark and dry in a place most people would never notice.
“Brooke, will you marry me?”
She looks at the ring for a second before lifting her eyes back to mine, as if nothing else in the room exists.
“Do you even have to ask?” Her lips tremble around the smile trying to break through. “Yes, duh.”
The tension leaves mt chest all at once with a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
I take the ring out of the box and reach across the table for her hand. My thumb rubs over her knuckles before I slide the ring onto her finger. The warm metal looks beautiful against her skin. Mine, finally, where it always should've been.
Outside, headlights sweep across the window as a car pulls into the parking lot and idles.
I glance toward it, then back at Brooke.
“Time to go.”
Before either of us moves, the television above the counter crackles louder. The screen flashes bright colors as the New Year’s broadcast cuts in. The crowd on the TV starts counting down, voices rising together.
Ten.
Nine.
Brooke lifts her hand, and the ring catches the cheap diner light. She gives me a look that says ‘You did that’ and she isn’t letting me forgetit.
“Okay,” she murmurs. “Husband.”
My mouth quirks. In that moment I feel the happiest I have ever felt.
“Soon baby,” I squeeze her hand and stand. “Let’s disappear first.”
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Brooke grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me down.
Five.
Four.
Three.
She kisses me hard, her hands sliding into my hair as the last numbers echo through the diner.
Two.
One.
I kiss her back just as fiercely. I hold onto her like I’m not letting anything take her away from me again.
