Page 88 of Lift Me Up

"Thank you for wanting to be here."

Near the end of the path, I notice more and more luminaries. Their bright yellow shines and takes my breath away, a gentle glow in comparison to the bright colours of the lights in the night sky. As we get closer, that's when I notice that the luminaries are intentionally there, that they're taking form into words. First I see the M's, then the E, and then when we're standing right near it, I can read it clearly as plain as day surrounded by a heart of:

MARRY ME?

I squeeze Noah's arm tightly in excitement, "Oh, Noah, look! Someone's getting engaged tonight!"

"They are." He agrees.

"Look, everyone, someone's getting enga—wait, where did everyone go?" I look around me, trying to find our group, but it's just Noah and I in the middle of this park with a proposal message in the snow.

"Georgie." His voice calls to me, pulling me out of a dream and into reality.

"Seriously, where did they go?"

"Georgie," he says with a chuckle, holding my hand and centering me. "Focus."

"But—"

"Goddess," Oh. That does it. I shut up and look him dead in the eyes as he says, "I have waited my whole life to find the missing piece to a puzzle."

"Noah?" I knit my eyebrows in confusion.

"I wasn't looking for it because I... I didn't know if it could ever be completed. I–God, I am messing this all up. I had this whole speech and—" He's shaking, but he's smiling. "You came into my life at a time I needed you most. You were a breath of fresh air, of new light⁠—"

"You met me in the dark of a broken elevator." I remind him with a laugh.

He chuckles. "I did. But you were... everything, Georgie. You were witty and kind and a little scared, but you warmed up to me, and you let me in, and you asked me to stay."

I did. I asked him to stay, and he stayed. I feel the rush of tears brimming my eyes. I squeeze his hands and say, "I remember asking, 'Tell me something good?' So, Noah, tell me something good."

He ignores the way my voice breaks, kissing my gloved hands and says, "well, it's Christmas."

"That's good," I say with a laugh.

"Our families don't hate each other."

"That's really great," I say, giddy.

"I love you," He tells me.

"That's... perfect. I love you too."

"I want... I want everything with you, Georgie. I want a life with you. I want the future we talked about, the ups and the downs and the in-betweens. I want it all. You're it for me. You always have been. You are my best friend. You are my person."

"You're mine," I say with a shaky voice.

"Don't freak out, okay?" He whispers.

"Why would I⁠—"

He falls to one knee. With a ring box in his gloved hands and a hopeful smile on his face. This, all this was a setup. This whole thing was for us. Noah. Noah is the one proposing. To me. I'm the one being proposed to.

"What?" I squeak, hand covering my mouth to hide the shock.

I let him take my hand and bring me close as he grins up at me, his eyes wide and full of so many emotions, love and hope and gods- so much fear you can see him shaking.

"Georgia."