No Pressure Needed
By angellwings
A/N: Here's another prompt for LaPaige's challenge: #56: Marriage. This is the second one I've done so far the other was "Proposal" and a Jaitlyn. I'm using these two prompts and the pairings I'm most comfortable with to warm up. I plan on using these prompts to write LOTS of different pairings. (Even ones I don't really like, haha). So enjoy!
Ella didn't know how she and Nate had ended up discussing marriage. They'd never really discussed this before and she had no idea how the topic came up. She didn't bring it up. She wasn't that brave. She had always been afraid of Nate's reaction should the topic come up. Would he get weird? Would he think she was trying to pressure him? Would he just ignore she'd said anything?
She didn't want to risk any of those responses so she never brought it up. They'd been dating nearly two years, and she had never once brought it up.
Which meant Nate had to be the one to start the discussion, but she couldn't remember what he'd said that had led them to it.
"So you don't think marriage is a sham?" Nate asked suddenly.
Ella's brow furrowed. "Why would I think that? That doesn't even sound like something I'd think."
He chuckled. "No, I guess it doesn't."
"Did someone tell you I thought that?" Ella asked.
"Caitlyn said you said something about it at Tess and Kaleb's wedding."
Ella's mouth formed an 'o' shape. "I did say something like that, but not about marriage in general. About their marriage. Tess doesn't love Kaleb. She just refuses to admit she loves Luke."
"So, then why did she marry Kaleb?" Nate asked in confusion.
"Because he wasn't Luke," Ella said with a roll of her eyes. "Which is dumb. Very dumb. Because it's not going to work out and Tess is going to have all of this unnecessary heartache. Marriage is a big deal. It's supposed to be forever, you know? It's not something you do just to prove a point. Believe me. I've seen what that kind of a marriage does to people."
Nate nodded. "Your parents? Right?"
Ella sighed. "I'm sure they were happy once, but I never saw it."
"That's why I was afraid Caitlyn was right," Nate said with a shake of his head. "I know your parents don't get along—"
"Understatement. They can't even be in the same room."
"Exactly, and I thought that might have effected your opinion of it," Nate said nervously.
Ella shook her head. "It's silly to blame marriage for what happened to my parents. Marriage is whatever the two people involved make of it. You have to work at it, and be willing to compromise. My parents wanted to do neither of those things."
Nate smiled at her. "Good."
"Good?" Ella asked.
"Good that you still believe in marriage," Nate said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Because I certainly do, and I'm hoping we're headed that direction."
Ella blushed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're not the only one hoping that, I promise."
"Really?" He asked seriously.
She nodded. "I love you. Of course, I want to marry you. And please don't be weirded out now that I've said that."
He smiled at her honesty. "I'm not weirded out. I'm relieved. I feel the same way."
She pulled her head up and looked at him. She smiled and played with his collar. "I'm glad. Good talk, Nate." She laughed softly before she repeated herself. "Good talk."
He kissed her temple and grinned in amusement. "Is that why we've never talked about this before?"
"I didn't want you to feel like I was pressuring you. Which, for the record, I'm still not doing," Ella said.
"No pressure needed for me to think about marrying you, El," Nate said with a playful smirk. Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink and Nate chuckled. "I think about it quite a bit actually."
"Me too," She whispered.
He reached into his coat pocket and Ella's eyes landed on a small black box. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened and she gave Nate a questioning glance.
"Nate, what are you doing?"
"Ella, it should be fairly obvious," He said with a grin as he mocked her tone. He opened the box and held it out toward her.
"Oh my God," Ella said with a gasp as she saw the ring. "Nate…it's beautiful."
"Marry me?" He asked softly as he brought his lips to her ear.
"How long have you had this ring?" Ella asked in awe.
Nate took in a long breath and exhaled slowly. "A long time."
"A—and you've just been carrying it around with you?"
He placed a kiss just below her ear. "I've been waiting for the right moment."
She beamed at him and kissed him passionately. Her arms went around his neck and she pulled him closer.
"Yes," She whispered as she pulled away. "Yes."
He slipped the ring on her finger and she brought her other hand to her mouth as her eyes began to water. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I love you."
"I love you too," She answered in a soggy tone as Nate pulled her in for another kiss. When they pulled apart Ella let out a short excited squeal.
"Oh. My. God. I'm engaged," She said as she looked between him and the ring.
Nate laughed softly and pulled her in to kiss her neck. "Are you happy, El?"
"Very," She answered with a contented sigh.