Once you loved someone this much, you'd doubt it could fade.
Cappie had never believed that he was worthy of being her knight in shining armor, aluminum foil maybe. But he has not once fancied himself to be what she was looking for, but maybe he was what she needed.
She tells him that she has always wished for a happy ending. All pink roses to match her lips and white horses to carry her away into the storybook sunset, handsome hero lightly tousling her fingertips. He tells her that happy endings are overdone, that he would much rather have it this way. Their way. Their story. And he isn't lying. Even when life gets hard, and things change, their love, though put to the test, has remained the same.
And that is how he finds himself, three years later on this god forsaken excuse for a holiday, four hours too late, out of ideas, sitting in the parking lot of a convenience store. His hair is mussed from the drive, but his ethereal cerulean orbs are brightly lit with the thought of his brilliance. His grip loosens on the steering wheel, as he twists the keys, killing the engine.
She, the unsightly beauty, sits in his driver's seat, expectant eyes and confused smirk wrought on her lips. Light jewels grazing the delectable skin of her collarbone. The neckline of her black dress plunges too far not to be noticed, skimming her delicious curves. Tasteful heels accentuate her already outrageous legs. A slight change from the traditional ball gown and tiara, he thinks, grin dancing on his mouth. And he the not so Prince Charming, clothed in deep burgundy and black, wrists wound with baubles and chains, singing with the Ohio breeze. A far cry from ascots and velvet jackets.
Above the knight in aluminum foil and his not so prim princess, constellations quietly wait. Twinkling mischievously, keeping in tune with the hum of the wind and the skipping of heartbeats.
A small box is graciously presented to Cap. Careful not as to tear the paper, he opens it, reading the perfectly penciled script: "Look up." At first, he thinks she means to the heavens where he expects it to rain down some kind of hellfire for taking this goddess to the convenience store with no ready explanation. Lucky for him, he glances out the corner of an ungodly blue orb, and sees this vixen clad in skin-tight cranberry and black lace.
Somewhere a choir is singing hallelujah.
Giggling, how he loves that sound, she shimmies a bit for him, then inquires as to why the hell they are sitting in a gas station parking lot. He breathes in deeply. This may not be the fairytale that she expected, but it's all he has to give, and he hopes that though it is not what she expected, it is still perfect.
"We came here once freshman year."
"Yeah. I thought it looked familiar."
Licking his lips, he locks her gaze to his. And with a bought of fresh laughter on his tongue, he continues.
"You were buying all of this food, and I thought you got high when I wasn't looking." He stops, letting the familiar sound of his twinkle blend with hers. The wire is finally evolving, having gone back to its other half, and his heart feels fuller than it has since he was eighteen. Finally, they can be him and her, like they were always meant to be.
"You said 'I wanna stock the fridge in your room', cause you knew I was lazy about going to the cafeteria, and you didn't want me to go hungry."
"Is this your way of telling me that you want food?"
In spite of himself, he laughs, losing control and all train of thought. She has ever been able to do that to him.
"And you were at the register paying, you tucked your hair behind your ear, looked back at me, just smiled."
An involuntary smile tattoos across his lips. He is so lost in her eyes, watching as she remembers, flowing backwards to eighteen and first loves and everything, how real it was, how real it still is. It's almost unbearable to have her look at him like this, knowing that they lost three years and have so much lost time to make up. But there is still time. For them, there is time.
"Case, this is where I realized I first loved you, and I have loved you everyday since."
The knight in shining aluminum foil doesn't give a damn about a happy ending or a fairytale romance. He'll take their love story. It's messy and challenging and full of flaws. Perfect.
With that thought in mind, she reaches over the seat and wraps her slender arms around his neck, pulling her mouth over his, putting Clarke Gable and Scarlett O'Hara to shame.
And so the fairytale goes…the knight in shining aluminum foil, accidentally, swept the not so prim princess off her feet.
Again.