Yeah. I died. I said I didn't, but I did. For nearly a year. BUT. Makeup story. Haha? You probably won't forgive me... I'M SORRY ANYWAY! This time I WILL update regularly.

Meilin wanted to get married. She wouldn't tell Rollan that yet, but she knew she wanted that. She would take her time. Drop a few subtle hints. Until, of course, he dropped down on one knee and declared his undying love for her. For now, they were only "dating." Meilin didn't exactly hate that. Dating was lots of fun. Soon, she'd be and adult, though.

On the night she turned eighteen, they stayed up late together sitting on the balcony, talking and drinking sparkling cider in crystal glasses. She dressed up pretty for this; it wasn't much of a party, just talking, but it was a special birthday, and she knew Rollan loved it when she did the winged eyeliner thing.

Sometimes they would pause, and she would look up into the twinkling stars, listening to the sounds of the night air and quietly chirping crickets. She would occasionally turn back to Rollan to comment on it, and she'd catch him staring, and he'd blush profusely. He never would apologize for it, however, and Meilin liked that.

The clock eventually struck twelve. "Congratulations, Mei, you're an adult," Rollan had joked. "You're not," she purred. "I am too!"

"Not at heart," she leaned in. He laughed and poked his tongue at her. She was about to kiss him when he stood up suddenly. "What?" she demanded, a little ruffled, thinking he had rejected her, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet too. "Not yet. I have to show you something," he explained quickly. Then he was dragging her behind him, (gently, or at least as gently as he could muster, because he seemed very excited about something, and Meilin was shouting, even though he kept telling her to shush.)

Finally they arrived in the kitchen. It was dark, except for the moon shining through the fluttering pink curtains, and a few illuminated lanterns. She pulled away from him and crossed her arms. Her charcoal eyes flashed, with his golden amber ones meeting hers sweetly. And he did look sweet, and innocent, despite the fact that he just literally dragged her all across the castle in a haphazard manner instead of kissing her. "Rollan-"

"Shh," he climbed up on the counter and started rummaging through the wooden cabinets for something. "NO YOU SHH! STOP SHUSHING ME!"

"Shh," he repeated absentmindedly, his fingers latching onto a specific cabinet, popping it open, and hissing happily. She watched in half anger and half fascination as he slowly pulled out a semi large object, and very carefully got down.

He turned to face her, his face glowing in the moon beams. She looked down at the thing he was holding, and she was about to say something ridiculing, but she then realized that it was a cake. On it was written 'Happy Birthday, Meilin!' in fancy white icing. It was extremely ugly. Her throat felt caught with emotion, but instead of saying anything like "thank you" she said flatly, "You kept a cake in a cabinet?" He laughed a bit and placed it on the counter. "I didn't know where else to put it."

"Did you make it?"

"With some help from Abeke this morning," he admitted. Meilin should have known. She walked over next to observe it. "Is it chocolate?"

"And coconut." She nodded. "Good." They stood there in silence for a few seconds. "Do you love it?" he asked hopefully. "No," she stated. "Oh." Rollan awkwardly blushed. "Sorry, I-" "But I love you," she turned to him with a wide grin. "Oh," Rollan said again, and his blush deepened. She giggled and playfully punched him. "I do love it. Thank you." He threw his arms around her and kissed her hard, nearly lifting her off her feet. She squeaked and melted into it with a soft, sappy sigh that she would normally be ashamed of, but she wasn't, and that's how she knew that she really did love him.

She wanted to marry him right then and there, but that wouldn't be very traditional, and plus, she thought, she had just entered the realm of adulthood. There were many things in the world she wanted to explore before marriage… even though she'd practically been all over Erdas.

She stayed up later than planned eating cake with Rollan. (She told Rollan it tasted amazing, but only because she liked seeing his face light up.) They sat criss-cross applesauce across from each other on the table and talked, and once he said something that made her laugh so hard she nearly fell off. They didn't notice the sun streaming onto to the tiled floor when morning came.

The doors burst open at exactly six o'clock, which made Meilin whip around, her face pale and mouth agape. The lead chef was standing in the doorframe, looking at them with his eye twitching, but then shrugged and strided in to start preparing for the morning meal. "Guess you've already had breakfast." Meilin exchanged a look with Rollan, and they both rapidly got off the table and scurried into the hall.

Two months later, it was snowing, and Meilin was sitting outside on a frozen bench with Jhi. . She was wrapped in a fluffy winter coat, which she was fiddling with the sleeve, and her hair was down, which was rare. Her hair was beautiful, though, and people often wondered why she didn't wear it down more often. "It's too thick," she would tell them. It really was. Jhi was chewing on it currently, and for strange and untold reasons, Meilin didn't mind. She was distracted.

The other three were having a snowball fight a distance away. It had been going on for about three hours - yes, that long. They had set up forts and everything. Rollan's was, naturally, the biggest.

He had insisted that she help him go up against Conor and Abeke, but she laughed and politely refused. As much as Meilin loved pummeling her friends, ending up victorious, and prancing around them as they sulked in defeat, she kind of wanted to sit and watch this time. Snowball fights were kind of kiddish. Now that she was eighteen, she didn't want to act like a kid. The boys didn't mind so much what people thought of them. That made her a bit envious.

Spectating was starting to get boring, and she couldn't feel her hands or feet.

Then, something interesting happened. Abeke and Conor started attacking Rollan at full speed. He let out a loud shout and started to defend himself, but they knocked over his fort, and let out high-pitched battle cries like reckless banshees. Meilin guffawed and cupped her hands to her mouth, yelling, "DON'T HAVE ANY MERCY!" Rollan ducked and started running. Meilin kept laughing at him until she realized he was heading in her direction. "Wait, wh-" He threw her over his shoulder and continued sprinting, Conor and Abeke's icy snowballs still hurling.

Meilin began shrieking and hitting him, but her screams faded into hysterical laughter as he hauled her all around the yard.

Abeke and Conor were relentless chasers, though. After all, Meilin had told them to not have any mercy. Rollan took a different path and headed into the woods.

Meilin was surprised that he was able to carry her for this long. She looked around at the scenery, and her breath caught in her throat. Everything was white, and still… except for Conor and Abeke, who were still pursuing them, but starting to get farther behind.

After what felt like miles, Rollan dumped her on the ground and fell next to her, breathing heavily. His face was bitten red, but she couldn't tell if it was from the intensity of that chase or from the chilly wind. She sat up, still laughing, and brushed her wild black hair out of her eyes. "Holy Ninani. I didn't know you had that in you."

"I didn't," Rollan wheezed. "I think I'm dead." She rolled her eyes and gazed around, noticing that they were by the pond. It was frozen over, like an ice skating rink. The trees were hanging over it with glittering icicles, making it look enchanted. "Oh," she breathed softly. "How lovely."

"What? Me being dead? Sheesh!"

"No, Bird Brain! The pond!" He gave her a cheeky grin. "Right."

Meilin stood up and walked over to the edge of it. "Do you think it's safe? No, probably not," she contradicted herself. Though, looking closer, she saw that it was very thick. She glanced back at her fallen boyfriend, who was still pathetically laying the snow. My knight in shining armor, she thought fondly. Suddenly, she had an idea.

She went back to him and poked him with her boot.

"Get up."

"No."

"Please?"

"Ehhh…"

"I'll help you take down Abeke and Conor later," she promised warmly.

"Ugh… fine," he slowly got to his feet. She grabbed him by the hand and led him to the ice, reminding her of her birthday, and then stepped onto it. He gave her an unsure look, but she tugged his hand, so he followed her begrudgingly. "Dance with me," she demanded, grabbing his other hand. He gave her a pained smile that she ignored. If Meilin wasn't a kid, and neither was he, they could dance and it wouldn't have to feel weird. It gave her something to do besides being eaten by her spirit animal.

She batted her eyelashes at him, so he put his hand on her waist, and they danced on the ice. They were bound to slip, Meilin knew that, and maybe this was dangerous, but so were they. She was trying to be as delicate as possible. Rollan definitely was not. "You're an oaf," she promptly told him when he stepped on her foot. "I know," he twirled her, and she nearly fell over. He then let go of her, and she slid a few inches away. "What are you doin-"

She threw her gloved hands over her mouth and gasped. He was holding a ring. It sparkled brighter than the icicles dangling above them. "Listen, I know it's a little early for this, but I've had this in my pocket for about a month and-" "*Bleep* yes," she said. Rollan's two favorite words.

Rollan wanted a wedding. Not just any old run-of-the-mill-let's-go-find-some-random-barn-and-get-drunk wedding. That's something kid Rollan had dreamed of. However, now he wanted an elaborate wedding, because he was marrying an elaborate girl.

"Everything is up to you," he told her lowly when she had brought it up while they were walking along the garden rows. "You know exactly how you want everything." Meilin elbowed him. "Yes. But you get a say in it too."

"That's a first." Meilin scoffed. "I let you have a say in things! Most of the time." Rollan shrugged and said nothing, his feet feeling heavier. "What is it?" she touched his shoulder. "Just… I don't know," he frowned. "You can tell me," she stated firmly. "I promise I won't judge," she cracked a smile. He smiled back wanly. "Ok. I would really love it if we had cheese balls at the wedding."

"No."

"Darn," he snapped his fingers. "Pretzels?"

"Ah… no."

"Fruit snacks?"

"Rollan, I hope you're joking."

"I'm being completely serious," he said in his most serious of voices. She got on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "I swear to god if there are any cheeseballs at our wedding I will actually murder you."

"Oh. Worth it."

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