la vela-the candle
recurrir-to turn to
cargado-loaded
Antonio absentmindedly strummed on the keys of his honey-colored guitar, one that he had bought a couple months back from Gilbert, as he gazed out into the setting sun. While he wasn't particularly gifted with musical abilities, he had always wanted to learn to play the guitar. Or at least, that was one of the reasons why he had the guitar. In truth, he wanted to learn to play for this one special date he had been loosely planning for a couple months now for his girlfriend. Whether or not he would continue to play was uncertain to him, but in the very least he could occasionally perform at the restaurant.
But that was a thought for another time.
This date was a rather elaborate one; he had even sent a formal invitation in the mail to Faith, rather than just calling her like usual. The invitation was printed on some fancy paper and had only given the address, a time, and a notice that is was a semi-formal event. Antonio was pretty proud of how it had turned out; but he had a very good reason to feel that way. He had ended up spending way too much time just trying to figure out how to make and print the stupid card with the candle background. It wasn't even as fancy as he had originally desired; but there were only so many hours in a day to waste on a date invitation.
For his part, he was dressed up in a crisp white shirt dress shirt with the first few buttons undone, black pants with a matching black jacket, and a thin, loose, green tie around his neck. A fedora had come with the outfit, but he had lost it somewhere in his house and was already running behind, so he had decided to scrap it and keep moving.
Because he had only sent the address of their meetup location, Faith didn't know was that he had actually invited her to the local park, where he had created a trail of candles leading to his seated self on a cloistered bench. He had left a sign out to prevent any park-goers picking them up and to direct Faith to where he was. Already though, despite the secluded spot, he had attracted a few park-goers, who had sat themselves closer, while still a respectful distance away, to where he was than they probably would have ordinarily.
To be honest, he didn't know why he even had the candles. Francis had always said that they always added to the romantic atmosphere or whatever, but personally he thought that he looked kinda stupid-a lone man sitting in a park late in the evening, with this sad trail of candles leading to himself, and had felt even stupider when he set the whole thing up.
But when he saw her, somehow it made everything feel ok, even as the wind blew out half the candles. She had left her hair alone except for a green clip placed on the left side of her hair. Her dress was light grey, and extended all the way down to the grass. It had a halter style neckline and if she turned around he would be able to see half of her back exposed.
She didn't see him right away and was following the candles off the side; unsure as to if this was for her or someone else. When she finally spotted him, she walked over with an embarrassed smile avoiding the not-so-subtle gazes of the people around them, clutching at her arms as she shivered as a breeze blew through the trees. She stopped a couple feet in front of him. "I think we are a little overdressed for a night at the park. I could have brought a hoodie or something."
"No we aren't." he simply said, taking her in. She shrugged in response still looking awkward and unsure, and gestured towards the guitar in his hands.
"I didn't know you learned to play guitar."
"I've picked it up kind recently, but I'm nowhere as good as Gil." He paused, feeling his leg begin to bounce and anxiety kick in again. It was time. "I wanted to play you something," he said, his throat dry. She shivered again as another breeze came through, and she walked closer to him to join him on the bench, but Antonio quickly put his guitar to the side, noting her actions. He sat further back on the bench and created an empty spot for her to sit between his legs. When she sat, he picked up his guitar again, surrounding her in his arm's warming embrace, with the guitar now in front of them as he prepared to play.
"Thanks," she said, as she crossed her arms and set them behind the guitar, so that she would not accidentally interfere with his playing.
"No problem," he said, feeling his voice die at the end of the statement. He swallowed and tried to set himself straight. He could not mess this up now.
The song he had learned was called Solo Por Amor (Only for Love) by Samo. It was his favorite romantic song, of a love that had overcome struggles but still continued to go strong with the promise of a future together. It was the perfect song for their relationship and perfect for the moment. He took a deep breath, briefly pushing back his short bangs, and began to strum the guitar with the beginning notes of the song. Quietly, at first, but building with confidence, he began the first verse.
"No sé por qué cruzaste en mi camino (I do not know why you crossed my path)
Una sorpresa nos tenia el destino (destiny had a surprise for us)
Ser delincuentes por amor (To be delincuentes for love)
Esto qué siento no es coincidencia (This that I feel is no coincidence)
Te hiciste parte de mi existencia (You were a part of my existence)." He continued the song, into the next verse, with his voice becoming stronger as he began the chorus.
"Eres tú y soy yo (It's you and it's me)
El rostro de un amor prohibido (the face of a forbidden love)
Eres tú y soy yo (It's you and it's me)
Amándonos junto al peligro (loving each other together through danger)
No me importa lo que venga (I do not care what comes)
Yo estaré contigo (I will be with you)
Eres tú. (It is you)" He resumed strumming the guitar waiting for the next verse to begin. Faith leaned back into his chest with a smile, her eyes meeting his as he sang down to her. He began the next verse, trying to ignore the sensation of her hair brushing his neck and looked out into the dark park and the few candles that were left lit. His voice, while it had probably seen better days, was still pretty decent considering his nerves right now and the fact that he was trying not to screw up on the guitar at the same time.
He sang the chorus the second time, feeling the beat of the song grow stronger and collide with the thumping of his heart. The more and more he sung, the deeper he got into the emotions of the song, and it began to come out into his voice. His bangs had fallen into his face, and he snuck a glance over at Faith, who looked to be deep in thought. Before he knew it, he was nearing the end of the song with the bridge and final chorus.
"Aunque cueste, aunque duela (Even if it costs, even if it hurts)
Junto a ti no me importa lo que venga (With you it doesn't matter what comes)
Yo me iré contigo hasta que el destino quiera. (I will go with you as long as destiny wants)
Eres tu y soy yo, eres tu oh no... (It's you and it's me, it's you)" Finally, mercifully, the last chorus.
Eres tú y soy yo (It's you, it's me)
El rostro de un amor prohibido (The face of a forbidden love)
Eres tú y soy yo (It is you it is me)
Amándonos junto al peligro (Loving each other together through danger
No me importa lo que venga (I do not care what comes)
Yo estaré contigo...( I will be with you)." He finished the last couple of chords, letting his hand fall away as the song ended. Faith lifted her head off of Antonio's chest and sat up, a big smile on her face.
"That was beautiful," she said softly.
"Thanks," he said, exhaling in relief at his success as he put aside his guitar, wrapping his arms around Faith. Breathing in her scent, his mind went blank. All his plans of what he was going to say next went out the window, even though he had made some attempt at a plan on the way over to the park. He froze for a second, feeling his stomach drop. Taking a deep breath, he started talking, praying that it would somehow make sense
"So I know this is a little bit of an odd date," he said softly. Faith laughed a little bit in reply.
"Odd but beautiful," she replied. Antonio smiled briefly in response before continuing.
"But I wanted to do something different because I wanted to talk to you about something important." He breathed for a minute, not daring to look into her face. His mind was still horribly scrambled, and his heart was still beating at the same rate as the beat of the song. That's when he realized the chorus was playing over and over in his head, giving him a sort of inspiration. "I meant every word I sang you know." He leaned down, his cheek pressing up against the side of her face. "No matter what comes, I do not care. I will be with you. Whatever the cost; whatever the pain." He tightened his grip around her slightly, cursing himself for just repeating the song lyrics. But the time to fix his preamble was gone so he finally turned to meet her gaze and asked her the loaded question, pulling the ring out from his shirt pocket.
"Faith Olvera, will you marry me?" She gasped loudly, looking up at him in shock and then back at the ring. Back and forth her gaze went for a little bit as she processed what was happening.
"Yes, yes, oh yes Antonio, yes," she said, finally, tripping over the words in her happiness. He gave a big smile and hugged her tight from behind before carefully taking the ring out of its case and putting it on her finger. The ring was made in the 1920s and was originally his grandmother's. When she died, she had given it to him for when he was to ask a girl to marry him. It had a solid gold band and was set with and emerald stone.
Faith got up and turned to him, holding out her arms. He stood up and returned the tight hug. She leaned up and kissed him on the mouth and he kissed her back with all the love, he had. Her hands played with his hair, twisting the short bit at his neck around her finger, while he cupped her neck. When they separated, while they regained their breath, they could hear the people seated around them starting to clap, and a few wolf-whistles sounded. They separate from each other slightly and Antonio gave a joking bow. A couple of people wished them the best and congratulated them.
Faith turned away from the people after a little bit and returned her arms to their original location around his neck and looked into his forest-green eyes. Then she opened her mouth and to Antonio's surprise, softly sang to him her reply.
"No me importa lo que venga (I do not care what comes)
Yo estaré contigo (I will be with you)
Eres tú. (It is you)" Antonio's smile grew wide as he touched his forehead to hers, his gaze never leaving hers. He kissed her slowly this time; savoring her and savoring the moment.
This was their promise.
A/N: Hello everyone! So here is chapter ten! Hopefully it is nice a fluffy as usual. Please look up the song; I did not give it complete justice in this fic and you really need to hear all of it. Here is a link to the song:
watch?v=8C_ap0hejxc&list=LL9nx4aRbVRKu6cCWTCEeTXg&index=1
I have made some changes to the poll contestants. Our choices are now North Italy, South Italy, France, Netherlands, Turkey, or England. If you like this fic and you see your favorite character listed, please vote at the poll I have on my profile! Please! Still in the lead are North Italy and South Italy with 1 point apiece.
So I have been working out the rest of the story. At first it was going to have 20 chapters, but I have made the executive decision to shorten it down to 15. I wanted to finish this fic before I got out of school, but at the pace I have been going right now, I will not finish in time. So I am now only aiming for 15 chapters.
As always, please send in word suggestions! Leave a review if you like it :)
Te Amo mis Amigos de Internet!