I
"Marry me."
"Mmhmm," Timpani laughed. She glared at the boy kneeling on one knee beside her, a sarcastic smirk spread on her sweet, pale face. He was grinning back, not sarcastically but sincerely.
"I mean it," he said. "Watch." He held one hand open, and twirled his opposite fingers. In his empty hand appeared a small black box with a ring, its diamond shining rainbows in the light coming through the window. He shook his other hand lightly and summoned a single red rose into his palm.
Timpani looked at the boy with disbelief. She loved him, of course, but he wasn't the one.
"We're kids, we are not getting married," Timpani stated firmly. She tucked a loose lock of thick honey-colored hair behind her ear and motioned for her lover to get up off the floor.
Reluctantly, he stood, closing his hands together to make the flower and ring disappear. He just smiled at her, a smile that was almost threatening. But she didn't mind. She grinned right back.
"We're kids, but we're not children," he told her quietly. "Think about it. We can rule the worlds. All of them, every single one, every world and dimension you can think of. You and me, forever, we can have it all. We can have it just like in the books you love. You can live that adventure. Just say yes."
"No," Timpani whispered. She reached up and cupped one of his cheeks in her hand. "I am not marrying you. Not yet."
He chuckled. "You will."