said. “I just don’t know how to say what I want to say.” He paused here and then added, “I haven’t felt this safe and secure in forever. Ever since that nastiness with my father, I’ve basically been living on the run. Until now. Until you. And it feels nice. And I know it’s not just the situation. It’s the fact that it’s with you.”
“Are you trying to make me cry?” She asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “It depends on how you handle the next question.”
“Which is?”
He brought the case out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. As she looked at it and things started to click, Alex got up from his seat and took his left knee in front of her. He then opened up the case to reveal the ring inside.
“Would you marry me, Amanda?”
She clapped a hand to her mouth and waited only two seconds before she nodded her head vigorously.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Of course I am.”
“I’m… well, sort of a mess. You know that.”
“I’m a mess, too,” he said. “But the mess makes more sense with you.”
She smiled down to him and kissed him on the lips. “Yes,” she said when the kiss was broken. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
They embraced warmly, and by the time Alex took the ring from the case and slid it onto her finger, several of the restaurant’s patrons were applauding them.
Beyond that, there was Amanda’s voice in his ear as she hugged him again, the ring on her finger. “I’m so happy right now,” she’d said through tears. “I didn’t think I’d get that again.”
“Same here,” he said.
In the years that came, Alex missed the freedom of being in the Unknowns, and he also missed the constant thrum of a bike beneath him. But as pleasant and familiar as the noise of a bike’s engine was to him, he’d live the rest of his life remembering the noise of those people clapping for him and the love they saw between him and Amanda more than anything else.
“Are you trying to make me cry?” She asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “It depends on how you handle the next question.”
“Which is?”
He brought the case out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. As she looked at it and things started to click, Alex got up from his seat and took his left knee in front of her. He then opened up the case to reveal the ring inside.
“Would you marry me, Amanda?”
She clapped a hand to her mouth and waited only two seconds before she nodded her head vigorously.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Of course I am.”
“I’m… well, sort of a mess. You know that.”
“I’m a mess, too,” he said. “But the mess makes more sense with you.”
She smiled down to him and kissed him on the lips. “Yes,” she said when the kiss was broken. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
They embraced warmly, and by the time Alex took the ring from the case and slid it onto her finger, several of the restaurant’s patrons were applauding them.
Beyond that, there was Amanda’s voice in his ear as she hugged him again, the ring on her finger. “I’m so happy right now,” she’d said through tears. “I didn’t think I’d get that again.”
“Same here,” he said.
In the years that came, Alex missed the freedom of being in the Unknowns, and he also missed the constant thrum of a bike beneath him. But as pleasant and familiar as the noise of a bike’s engine was to him, he’d live the rest of his life remembering the noise of those people clapping for him and the love they saw between him and Amanda more than anything else.
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