"Jesus, Huckleberry, why'd you get me so many presents? I thought we agreed on one this year." Lucas blushed, laying the gifts in front of her. They'd just finished first semester of their last year of college. He'd wanted it to be back in New York that they did it. He wanted to be in the city they met. He loved Chicago, and so did she, but nothing else felt right than sitting in Central Park and watching her cheeks turn red in the cold.

"It's only three," he mumbled, handing her the first box. She unwrapped it eagerly, ripping right through the paper he'd spent an hour getting just right - he was terrible at wrapping presents - but he didn't mind. She wrinkled her eyebrows.

"A sketch pad? I have like a thousand of these back at our apartment," she laughed. "Not that I'm not grateful," she added, quickly.

"Open it," he murmured. And then, the best part of giving Maya a gift, her eyes lit up. He saw her flip through it. He saw her look at the watercolor paintings of lions, the hyper-realistic sketches of a water droplet, a charcoal sketch of the night sky.

"Where did you find all of these?" Lucas bit his lip.

"Some art kids, at school. Well, the whole art department really. I had them take the sketchpad, do a drawing and then pass it along. I thought, I don't know, I thought it might be something you'd enjoy." Maya didn't even look up, unable to tear her eyes away.

"I love it," she whispered, breathlessly.

"Well, don't love it too much, because here's gift number two." Maya looked up at him, reluctantly shutting the sketchpad, and tearing open the wrapping paper, quickly, then freezing as soon as she saw what it was.

"Lucas, you got me a camera? Are you serious? I've wanted this for… forever."

"Yeah, I know," he said, unable to keep a smile off his face.

"This must have been so expensive!"

"Well, I'm afraid to tell you this gift is even more expensive." Maya eyed him, warily, taking the small box from him and opening the wrapping paper with care. Lucas was nervous. Part of him wanted to take the box and hide it away and never show it to her again, so he wouldn't have to face the fear of a no. But most of him wanted her to see it, wanted her to know that he wanted to spend every second for the rest of his life married to her.

Her breath hitched as she opened the ring box, and Lucas took his cue to get down on one knee. He saw her eyes get teary and noticed his were starting to water, too.

"Maya-"

"Yes." She cried, grabbing his shirt in her hand and yanking him off his feet. "Yes, yes, yes." She pulled him close, standing on tiptoes to bury her face in her shoulder.

Lucas had held her countless of times, but never had it been like this. Never had he stood there with her, both of them exchanging promises of forevers, eternities, shared together. He stood there and held her and dreaded letting go.