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I froze in place, stilled by Brandon's call. Then, slowly, I turned around, hearing, rather than seeing, his footsteps move across the bar.
"You didn't even let me answer."
My hands were pressed into my face, trying to hide the tears threatening to spill over. I had to get out of here. His answer? His interminable silence had been answer enough.
"Oh God," I mumbled to myself. "Oh God."
I was wrong. This was so much more painful than limbo.
"No, Red, it's just me."
It was a familiar line that, much like my dress, echoed from the not-so-distant past. A joke he'd made the first night we'd met, with a snowstorm whirling around us in the middle of the Boston Commons. The first time we'd touched.
I dropped my hands and hiccupped back a sob when I finally saw him. No, this couldn't be real.
He was the one kneeling now, a bright beacon in the middle of a crowd who had covered their mouths in surprise. He was holding a box, the kind that every woman knows––small, square, and open to reveal a delicate circlet of diamonds that gleamed.
"You didn't think I was going to let you take this away from me, did you?" he asked with a good-humored smile that managed to brighten the entire room even though his eyes were still wet with tears.
I choked back another sob, unable to speak, although somehow I managed to step closer to him. Was I dreaming?
"This is real, Red," he said, with that uncanny ability to read my mind. "Skylar Ellen Crosby, you're the love of my life. You didn't just give me love; you gave me back my heart. All the things I have, any direction I go, none of it means anything if you're not there with me. So I'm asking you too...will you marry me?"
It was one of those moments where it felt like time stopped. I knew I'd always remember everything from that night. The dark wood walls of the bar. The hazy air laced with smoke from outside. The rows of clustered faces, all eagerly awaiting my response. I remember it all with crystal-clarity, but in that moment, I genuinely didn't know whether or not it was real.
"Red," Brandon whispered, interrupting my reverie. This time his voice was shaking. "Think you can answer now?"
A dam inside me broke.
"Yes," I whispered, as the emotion bubbled up from within me. A tear slid down my cheek. Then another. And then another.
"Yes?" Brandon's voice was, low, incredulous.
I exploded. "Yes-yes-yes-YES!!"
I was swept off the ground by Brandon's strong arms, and the room erupted in loud, raucous applause as Brandon covered my mouth with a kiss, the kind of kiss I'd been craving for what seemed like forever. I returned it back in full, wrapping my arms around his head, wanting to feel his love with every part of my body. When he finally pulled away, it was with a grin I hadn't seen in a very long time––a million-watt smile that seemed to make the entire room glow.
"Drinks on us!" he called out without breaking eye contact with me.
I grinned back, and the entire room cheered, congratulating us both with slaps on the back and raucous whistles. But we paid no attention, lost to anything but each other.
"You know that I paid for an open bar, right?" I said with a grin.
"I don't fuckin' care." Brandon leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine. "Do you love me yet, Red?" he asked, low enough that only I could hear.
I smiled at the familiar question. The same question that had been at the end of every letter he'd sent me. There was only one answer now.
"Always," I said, and kissed him again.
~
