Whoever invented the phrase 'Butterflies in your stomach' had no idea what they were talking about.
KNOCK KNOCK
Louis's stomach felt like a zoo when he stood outside the door of Lee Everett. Lee was the adoptive father of Clementine, Louis's girlfriend. He'd met her on the first day of senior year, when her dad had been transferred to their town. Their first impression hadn't been a good one, Louis knew. He'd bumped into her clumsily and caused her to drop all her books. After helping her, he'd mumbled his way through an introduction and she'd bounded off with a nervous frown on her face.
Fortunately for him, his motto was 'first impressions don't mean anything'. His best friend Marlon had teased him about her for a full semester, before she'd actually agreed to go out with him. When she did, Marlon had to reluctantly give Louis five bucks. Sweet, sweet revenge, thought Louis with a smile.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open and Lee stood in front of him. After 5 years of knowing him, Louis had already surpassed Lee's height, and he stood tall over the older man. Unfortunately, that was the only thing Louis had going for him against Lee. Clementine's father could be a scary dude when he wanted to.
"Louis?" Lee asked, looking around, "where's Clementine?" he added raising an eyebrow. The girl in question had moved in with Louis just last year, and Lee had had a hard time adjusting to his little girl leaving her home.
"Hi sir," Louis said awkwardly raising a hand, "Clem's not with me tonight. I'm afraid it's just me," he told Lee.
"Come in," Lee replied, stepping aside to let the young man through. "Is everything okay?" he asked as they walked over to the sitting room and took a seat on the couches.
"It is, sir," Louis responded, nodding eagerly. "I actually came over to talk to you about something."
"It's not another business idea, right?" asked Lee, sighing, "I get it, a piano-based trivia competition would be amazing for the school," he said for the tenth time that month.
Louis chuckled and shook his head, "No, I wanted to talk to you about something a little more serious."
Lee did a double take and widened his eyes at Louis, "Oh my God, are you okay? What happened?" he exclaimed, placing his hand on the young man's forehead.
Louis was not amused, however, and raised an eyebrow, "You know, it would be a lot funnier if Clem didn't do exactly that every time I say the word 'serious'," he told Lee.
The older man leaned back, a smile tugging at his lips, "where do you think she learned that?" he said. When Louis didn't answer, Lee urged him, "What is it, son?"
"Sir, I would," Louis muttered, trying to muster the courage for what came next. "I'd like to ask Clementine to marry me." He stumbled through the words he'd rehearsed a thousand times that night.
Lee sat in silence, surveying the young man sitting across from him. Louis could tell he was weighing his words carefully.
"So," Lee started slowly, intertwining his fingers and looking down, "You want to marry my sweet pea," he said it almost to himself, in a tone Louis thought he identified as sadness.
"I would very much love to, sir," agreed Louis, trying to keep his excitement from bursting.
"You don't have to call me sir, you know?" was all Lee said, looking back up at him.
"Sorry," Louis muttered, scratching the back of his head.
The man sighed heavily and closed his eyes, "Louis, have I ever told you about the time I adopted Clem?" Lee asked suddenly.
"I don't believe you have. Clem doesn't really like to talk about it either," Louis explained, frowning.
"I was recently divorced at the time," Lee said, "I'd lost everything. My family hated me, my wife left me for that senator, and I believed my life was over."
Louis stayed silent, his brow furrowing as the story progressed. He didn't dare utter a sound lest Lee changed his mind and kicked him out of the house.
"I was at my lowest, and wanted to feel like my life had meaning again. So what did I do? I registered at an adoption agency, and waited. One day, they called me saying a little girl had lost both her parents in a car accident." Lee's eyes started misting over, a single tear trickling down his cheek.
"I rushed to the agency and demanded they let me see that girl," he said fiercely, "She was so sweet, so caring. It was heartbreaking. She was only eight, and her world had been turned upside down."
Louis stared blankly forward, picturing the heartbreak and sorrow she must have felt. It was no wonder she didn't usually talk about her parents. He cursed himself for ever asking her about them. While Louis had a mental struggle with himself, Lee continued his story.
"I filled the papers, and she was my legal ward from then on. I fell in love immediately, but she didn't feel the same at first. Of course, she was grateful for having a home, but I knew she missed her parents. Who wouldn't?"
"I made it my mission to make Clementine's life better, by giving her everything. Not just material stuff. She would usually just need a hug or a comforting word after a bad math test," he chuckled at the memory of the latter. "It takes everything to raise a child. And I don't mean just money. I mean everything. And it took everything out of me to provide for her as a history professor. But she was worth it," he declared proudly puffing his chest, making Louis smile.
"She sure is," Louis spoke for the first time in a while. Lee had almost forgotten he was there, and stared at him for a moment.
"I need to know that you'll treat her like I did," Lee said, a plea in his tone. "She's my whole world. And I know she loves you very much, as much as I hate to admit it," he added with a smile at the young man, who placed a hand over his heart.
"You wound me, Lee," he teased back, "I just want you to know, she'll always be your little girl. I can tell from the way she talks about you that she feels the same way."
"Thank you, Louis," Lee whispered, clearing his throat.
"I love Clementine more than anything in the world, I'd die before I let anything happen to her," Louis assured the older man, who nodded.
"Or I'll kill you if something happens to her," Lee offered, which made Louis gulp. "Don't worry, Louis."
Lee looked down at his hands and closed his eyes. For a moment, he said nothing, but then he opened his eyes and said, "I give you my blessing, and I hope you're both very happy together."
"For now, I just hope she says yes," Louis countered nervously.
Lee raised an eyebrow and snorted, "she's gonna say yes. I know my girl, trust me," Lee assured him.
"Thank you, Lee."
"No, thank you."
"Was the blindfold really necessary?"
Clem was fumbling in front of her for a frame of reference, and found nothing. Louis's hand found hers, and he kissed it.
"Patience, Your Majesty, is a virtue," he told her as he rounded a corner and kept walking forward, dragging her with him.
"Well, Your Grace," teased Clementine, looking in the direction of his voice, "I am not a patient person, and you know that."
"I know, and that's why I love you," Louis said nonchalantly, turning one last time until their destination was right ahead.
He thought about the conversation he'd had with Lee earlier that week. He imagined it must have been hard to give Louis his blessing, and the dreaded man appreciated it greatly. Now, just as it had the day he came knocking at Lee's door, his stomach was a flurry of movement that might burst at any moment.
"Oh, is that it?" Clem asked, feigning offense, "You love me because I'm not patient?"
"No, that's just one reason, of course," he said it like it was the most obvious thing.
Clementine turned on the spot and moved her hands in front of her, searching for Louis's shoulders. When she found them, she wrapped her arms around them and smiled up at him. Her blindfold was already starting to make her nose itch, but she fought the urge to scratch it.
"Let's see," Louis mused, closing his eyes, "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I have never seen anyone kick as much ass as you do. I love the way small dimples form in your cheeks when you smile," he listed, ticking them off on his hand.
"And those are just some of the reasons why you, Clementine Everett, are the love of my life."
"Wow, what a line," she teased him; "did you get that out of a soap opera or something?"
"As a matter of fact, I came up with it all by myself, thank you very much," he defended himself. He turned her around and put his hands on her shoulders, "we're here," he whispered in her ear.
Clementine raised her hands and undid the knot that held the blindfold up, and gasped when it fell to the ground. They were standing right by the river a few miles outside the city. A table and chairs had been erected in a small platform that stood a few meters from the coast. On the table were two plates with fancy tall glasses and a bottle of champagne between them.
A few feet from the table, a string quartet stood silently waiting for them to approach the table. Once Clem had taken off the blindfold, they started playing a soft tune that reminded Clem of the documental she'd seen on Venice. On the plates was a serving of spaghetti, steam rising from it steadily. Louis stepped forward and cleared his throat, gesturing to the ensemble, "Welcome, mon Cherie, to Italy," he said, holding out his hand for her, which she took.
"Actually, mon Cherie is French, but I'll allow it," she corrected, stepping over to the table and sitting opposite Louis.
"Wow, way to ruin the moment," he teased, taking the champagne and pouring each of them a glass.
"Sorry," she apologized with a giggle, "but seriously, what's the occasion?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Louis took a deep breath and sipped his wine gingerly, "Well, you're always saying how you always wanted to go to Italy but never had the chance."
"I know this isn't Rome and the Coliseum, but I wanted to make something special for you. You've been super stressed at work lately."
"I have, haven't I?" she'd been working as an assistant in Lee's school, and the hours were exhausting.
"Exactly, so I thought it was high time you unwound and enjoyed the moment," he reflected, raising his glass to her.
"To enjoying the moment," she repeated, raising the glass to take a sip. Except, when she did she saw something. Something wasn't right with her drink. "Louis, did you do something to my drink?" she asked, annoyed.
Louis chuckled and shook his head, "Any other night I would've," he admitted, "but this time I'm not ruining anything," he said, more seriously this time.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously, eyeing him up and down.
He cleared his throat and gently took the glass from her hand. He stretched his hand over the floor below and downed the contents of her wine onto it.
"Hey, what the –."
She stopped short when she saw what had appeared on his hand. A beautiful golden ring lay there, a small diamond flanked by two golden gemstones on its side.
"What are you –," she tried to say, but Louis cut her off this time.
"Clementine," he almost whispered, leaving his seat and kneeling on the spot.
Clem let out a small squeal and Louis laughed, "I know, but let me start first," he said. Clementine could only nod eagerly, words seemingly having escaped her.
"Clementine, I knew you were special from the moment I met you. I could see it in your golden eyes, and your beautiful curls, and your smile. God, your smile. I know I make jokes for a living, but you have no idea what it means to me when you laugh at my stupid limericks, even if it's just a fake laugh. I just want to see you smile."
"God, I sound so stupid, don't I?" he said, chuckling. Clementine found her voice and placed a hand on his forearm.
"You're doing great, Lou," she whispered.
"I've rehearsed a thousand different speeches and none of the sat well with me," he started, making Clementine laugh, though small tears were welling in her eyes already. "And I thought that it mattered what I said, or where I said it. But then I realized: the only thing that matters is that you," he trailed off, clearing his own throat and fighting back tears of his own.
"You make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way," he promised, smiling broadly at her as she furiously wiped the tears that stained her cheeks.
"Clementine Everett," he said, lifting the ring between his thumb and his index. "Will you marry me?"
Even thought it only took a second, the silence between the question and the answer was the longest second in Louis's life; which was why he almost jumped out of the platform when she looked at him and whispered,
"Yes."