Dedicated to my ever loyal follower: theasianwonder
Paul was nervous. He couldn't even begin to fathom just how nervous he was.
He wasn't generally the type of guy to think irrational thoughts but all he could process in his head was this going completely wrong.
As he went over the 3 little words in his head, he almost backed out. It was a big step – telling her he loved her. They had been dating for a little over two years and it taken him all that time to realise he had loved her all along.
She had never said it to him before, but he was fairly certain she felt the same way. That said, one could never be sure until they gave it a shot. A distant memory of Dawn at Misty's wedding floated into his head and he took a deep breath, using the memory to fuel his confidence and motivation.
Dawn was sitting on his couch reading Catcher in the Rye again, waiting for him to bring over a bowl of apple crumble from the oven for her.
He took a deep breath and balanced the two bowls and the rest of their bottle of wine in his hands before walking over.
Dawn noticed Paul topping up her glass of wine for her and began to sit up, ready to snuggle into his side, which he made room for while simultaneously handing her the second bowl of apple crumble.
"Mmmm," Dawn sighed as she ate a spoonful of the dessert, squealing excitedly "I just love apple crumble! Although admittedly I am pretty fond of dessert in general."
Paul took that as the opportune moment, "Well I'm pretty fond of you."
She laughed girlishly and replied "Thanks Paul."
He frowned at the fact she had laughed him off but figured it was because she didn't realise what he was trying to say.
"You know I guess I could even say…you know, that I love you."
He was trying to be nonchalant, so he casually looked back to his bowl and resumed scooping up a mouthful, waiting for her to squeal girlishly.
"Yeah," she paused with a content sigh, "I know you do."
He was stunned, "What?"
"I said I know you do, Paul," she smiled up at him cheekily and he couldn't help but scoff.
"Well you could have at least said it back. How could you possibly have known that was how I felt?"
"Because I know you Paul, and obviously I love you. I've loved you for a long time. You've loved me too, you just didn't realise it. Besides, I know everything," Dawn winked.
"Oh really? Well did you know about this too then?"
She looked down to realise he had a small box he had sitting on his palm.
"Um. Is that…" She stumbled, working through what was happening in her head.
"Open it," he whispered.
She opened it up to see a Tiffany and Co key necklace, sitting next to an actual key.
She had tears in her eyes as he continued, "Dawn we've been dating for a while now and I'm sick of having to see you go. So how about you stay instead. Permanently. Will you move in with me?"
She nodded and let out a laugh before pulling his face down to hers.
"This is so cool!"
He waited for her to enjoy the moment before smirking, "Bet you didn't see that coming."
She just sighed before grinning and squealing again at the next step in their relationship being just on the horizon.