Hiiii everyone! :D
I have some good news, and bad news..
Lemme start with the bad news first: this is probably gonna be the last chapter for at least a few weeks cuz I have exams coming up and I really wanna focus on those.. So, yeah.. Sorry about that! I will finish the story eventually though xD
The good news is that this is a fairly long chapter, and I hope y'all will like it! Also, Justin Timberlake is returning to musiiiic! :D :D
Review replies are at the bottom! Enjoy this chapter!
You are now Mal Fallon.
It's somewhere early in the afternoon when you and Natara head to the beach after an extensive breakfast. It was surprisingly uncrowded in the dining room. Even though it was fairly late to be having breakfast, you kind of expected more people to be there at this time of the day, since last nights party didn't end until a handful of hours passed midnight. The lack of people in the dining room could be explained by two options. Option one is that everyone got up earlier than you two did, and had breakfast before you were even awake. The other, more likely option is that everyone else was so exhausted that they are still asleep. Which is totally understandable, because if your phone hadn't exploded with texts from Kai you'd probably still be asleep as well. You wanted to go back to bed after turning your phone off, but after a quick glance to the clock Natara argued that it would be better to get some food instead. It was a beautiful day after all, and it would be a waste to spend it in bed sleeping all day long. Eventually you gave in, and after a nice cold shower to wake you up completely, you headed out the door. Only to realise that the car's still parked at Raj' mansion, you took Natara by the hand for a relaxing morn- afternoon stroll over the beach. As far as you could see the beach was pretty much empty as well, making you wonder where everyone was.
Anyway, when you finally get to the beach it's still pretty much deserted. After finding a nice spot Natara lays down a towel. Just as soon as the towel touches the sand, you collapse on top of it, look up to Natara with a grin and raise your arms towards her, silently asking her to join you. She laughs as she gladly takes her spot in your arms. Together you enjoy the peaceful surrounding. The sound of the waves crashing onto the beach stays in the background while you and Natara talk about everything and nothing. As time passes, more and more people join you on the beach to enjoy the wonderful weather while they still can. Natara gets sucked into a girly conversation, and since don't have anything to add, you simply lie down and slowly doze off.
At some point Jesse walks past while typing something on his phone, but he stops in his tracks when he sees you. "Hey Mal, Zac and me are gonna go shoot some hoops on a court not so far from here. Just us guys. You in?" he asks with a hopeful smile.
Your eyes shoot open when you hear your name. The simple thought of a good game of basketball gets your adrenaline pumping. Even though you'd love to go, you briefly look at Natara to silently ask her permission.
"Yeah sure, go ahead. I'll come over to cheer you on in a minute."
You flash her a thankful smile back and give her a soft kiss on her cheek. "Thanks babe." Then you jump up and walk towards the basketball court that's located at the edge of the beach with Jesse, who quickly types something on his phone again before putting it away permanently.
As you do so, you come across a group of people. While your eyes quickly scan the small crowd, you can't help but notice that it mainly consists out of girls. You quickly say hello to everyone before turning to the only guy in the group. "Hey, Tom! We're heading off to play some basketball, would you like to join us?"
Tom, who's staying behind to chat while the others walk around you, unfortunately shakes his head. "No thanks, I'll pass. But thanks for asking.." He pats you on the shoulder just before he walks past you to follow the others.
Before you're able to answer, Jesse cuts in. "Oh come on, Tom! We need another player to play two on two!"
The sound of his voice makes Tom turn around, but he doesn't exactly seem convinced yet.
"Yeah, come on! It'll be fun." you say, trying to convince him. His eyes quickly dart towards the basketball court, clearly doubting his earlier decision. "…Or are you afraid you might lose?" you add with a grin, trying to push him over the edge so that he'll join you.
For some reason this makes him chuckle. "Nah, I'm positive I'd kick your ass.. Which is exactly why I don't want to play. My team would have a huge advantage." He brags with a huge grin.
You raise your eyebrows at him and shoot him an amused look. "Oh, is that so?"
He takes a step forward, getting all up in your face, and looks you straight in the eyes as he lowers his voice a bit. "Well, I wás the captain of our college basketball team, so you tell me.."
Behind his back Molly, who stayed behind to wait for Tom, playfully rolls her eyes. "Here we go again.." She whispers to Tori, making her laugh.
"College was a long time ago, Thomas." You say with a smirk.
The arrogant look on his face doesn't seem to want to disappear. "Maybe for you it was, Mal... Is Mal short for anything?"
"Nah, it's just Mal.." you lie, because you hate it when people use your full name.
"He's lying!" Neha says from behind your back, slightly startling you because you hadn't even noticed her sneaking up on you. "It's short for Malachi."
You quickly turn around and shoot her a death stare, which she gladly returns with a huge grin. "I overheard you guys talking.. Here's an idea; why don't we all go to the court, and we can play in teams?" she suggests.
You look back to Tom to see what he's thinking, who in turn looks to Molly. She simply shrugs. "Yeah sure, why not?"
When you get to the court after gathering everyone that was chilling on the beach, Zac and Nikki are already present. Zac is dribbling around with a basketball, doing tricks to entertain her. When he notices all of you heading their way he puts the ball under the arm. "I though you'd only bring Mal.." he says to Jesse with a grin.
Jesse awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah.. I, uh… Change of plans?"
Zac throws the ball towards the guy standing closest to him, in this case Tom, and smiles when he catches it with no problem. "Not a problem. The more people, the better! Right? Now... How are we going to make the teams?"
You look at the faces around you and do a quick headcount. "How about the grooms family versus the brides family?" you suggest.
"Sounds like a pl-" Zac starts.
But Neha interrupts him. "I vote for Tom and Mal as team captains, because they were squirreling like a cute, old married couple a little while ago."
There's some giggles and laughter coming from all around you while you shoot Neha another death stare. Eventually everyone agrees and the families split up to head for either side of the field.
As soon as everyone has gathered around you, you look around to find that one person you're looking for. "You!" You point to Neha. "Bench." You point towards the bench on the side of the field. "Now."
She immediately opens her mouth to protest. "What?! Why? It was my idea t-"
"Because you told Tom my full first name. You know damn well that I don't like people calling me that.." Since she's still looking unimpressed, you decide to add a little more drama. "I thought you always had my back.. But you just ratted me out.. I thought I could trust you."
She playfully rolls her eyes at you before she turns around and starts to walk towards the bench. "Fine. Whatever, Malachi." She mumbles, just loud enough for you to hear it.
You shake your head and suppress a grin. "Hey! I heard that!" You shout after her.
"Good! You were supposed to!" she yells back with a huge smile.
At that moment Natara gently takes your hand and softly squeezes it. "She's just playing around, don't let her get to you.."
You flash her a smile. "I know she is.. Don't worry about it." you give her a soft kiss on the forehead, and then turn to your teammates for the next match. They're taking turns trying to get the ball through the hoop. It's all fun and laughter. You watch them for a while, glad that they are so enthusiastic. Then you shortly glance over to the other side of the field, where Tom is discussing things with his team, they seem to take a more serious approach.
It doesn't take long before the teams are made and gather around the circle at the centre of the court to start the game. Meanwhile the substitutes take their seats on the bench, while most of the women choose to function as cheerleaders instead and make their way to the small supporters stand located next to the court. After the jump off, everything moves pretty fast. The opposite team manages to get hold of the ball and they quickly pass it around. Eventually Tom ends up with the ball, throws it towards the basket, but he misses! He softly cusses under his breath while you catch the rebound. You make a quick pass to Zac, who dribbles halfway across the field, swerving players from the other team until he meets their defense. He plays the ball off to Jesse, who has a free path to dribble towards the basket. He takes a leap and finishes off with a perfect lay-up. There's no better way to start a match.
Time flies by, and soon it's already the fourth quarter. The other team stepped their game up and they're now head to head with yours. You rely on Zac and Jesse to hold the team down while you've taken a seat on the substitutes bench again to give other people a chance to play too. With a huge grin on your face you watch how Natara runs after the ball, clearly enjoying herself.
Since you were staring at her, you have now clue how the ball ends up going high in the air. It goes so high that it temporarily disappears in the sunrays. When it falls back down, it's headed in Natara's direction. She's squeezing her eyes, in search of the ball. But when she finally sees it, it's too late and she misses it by a split second as a player from the other member jumps in front of her to intercept the ball. Before Natara was able to react, the ball already went through the hoop of your team. Everyone on the other team starts cheering because the score's even once again. Meanwhile Natara walks around with a sad, disappointed look you know all to well. She's clearly blaming herself, so you know you have to step in.
"TIME-OUT!" you yell.
Everyone, even your own team, turns to look at you with an annoyed look on their face, but you don't care.
"Nat!" You gesture for Natara to come over. "Come here for a second."
She jogs over to where you are. "What is it?" she asks curiously.
"Here.." You take of your sunglasses and place them on her nose. "Bam. That should do the trick." you smile.
She flashes you an appreciative smile back. "Thanks babe."
"You're welcome. It looks better on you anyway." She opens her mouth to protest, so you put a finger on her lips to silence her. "You honestly look gorgeous, with or without sunglasses.. Now…" You grab her by the shoulders and turn her around. "Get back out there, and kick some ass!" When she starts walking, you playfully slap her ass.
She does a little, cute jump as you do so. Then she looks back to you with a fake-shocked look on her face. She moves her glasses a bit down, and makes straight eye contact with you. "I believe that that was what they like to call 'inappropriate behaviour', captain.." she says with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Oh, is it really?" you ask with a smirk. You take a step towards her and let your voice drop a little. "Maybe we should discuss that after the game. In the dressing room.. Alone…"
She softly giggles. "Sounds like a plan.." She whispers back before she walks off towards the field, looking back one more time to send you a blow kiss.
The game continues, and 30 seconds before the end you get back on the field because the score is still tied. The seconds are ticking away, and you know that the team who scores in the next few seconds is probably going to win. By some miracle your team gets possession of the ball. After passing it around for a few seconds, you try to find an open spot in their defence. You see that multiple players of the other team are covering both Jesse and Zac. That means that there are people of your team that are completely free. You desperately look around, and spot Neha standing in shooting-range of the basket. So you play the ball to her, and she takes the shot.
Everyone holds their breath while watching how the ball slowly descends towards the basket. To everyone's surprise the ball goes through the ring without even touching it just as the time's up. Not that anyone cares about how flawless the shot was at that moment, because one half if the field is groaning in frustration, while the other half is cheering their lungs out while running towards Neha. She gets buried in hugs and kisses by the whole team.
Later that day you find yourself in the bedroom of your temporary apartment. After celebrating winning the basketball game everyone headed home to take a shower and get ready for the last dinner together.
While Natara's in the bathroom, you quickly walk over to the walk-in-closet. Trying to be as quiet as possible, you open the door. You slip inside and quickly glance around, looking for your favourite pair of short pants. It doesn't take long before you spot it, and you quickly take it from the shelf. Your hand slides inside its pocket and you retrieve a small jewellers box from it. You throw your pants back on the shelf before you open it and check the content. You can't help but smile as you think about what's going to happen during dinner. You pull yourself out of your thoughts and make your way to the bedroom again. You put the box in the pocket of the inside of your jacket, and close the door behind you. You look in the mirror and adjust your bowtie when Natara steps out. She looks absolutely stunning, and her natural beauty temporarily takes your breath away. "Wow.." is all you can say.
She smiles widely at you as she walks over. "Do you like my new dress?" she asks teasingly.
You try to speak, but the words refuse to leave your mouth. So all you do is smile and nod. You scrape your throat and try to regain your posture. "Yeah, I, uhm.. Of course I like it. It looks good."
She raises her eyebrows at you. "... Good?"
You wrap your arms around her waist and softly kiss her. "Yeah babe. Your dress looks good.. But I'm sure that it looks great on the floor.." you whisper half jokingly. You enjoy the small blush that makes its way to her cheeks.
You are now Natara Mansingh.
Dinner was so much fun that it was over before you knew it. Afterwards everyone headed out to the deck to talk and have fun, but after a few hours you find yourself longing for some peace and quiet. And after a quick look at Mal, you know that he feels the same way. So the two of you say your goodbyes to everyone, and get back to your temporary home. Instead of going straight to bed, you and Mal take a seat at the small terrace overlooking the beach, accompanied with a half full bottle of wine. Ever since you've arrived, you wanted to take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous view you have from your apartment with Mal. Although he doesn't seem that interested in his view at all. He's continuously looking at you instead. When you turn your head to tease him with it, you get lost in his eyes.
"Natara..?" He softly asks in his deep, very sexy voice when he sees that he has your attention.
You continue to lovingly gaze into his stunning, sapphire blue eyes. "Hmm? Yes babe?"
"I know I've said it hundreds of times before, but you looked absolutely gorgeous in that dress yesterday.."
The compliment catches you completely off guard, which is why you can't come up with a good response right away. It causes the heat to rush towards your cheeks.
He smiles at your reaction, sees it as a sign to step up his game, and become even sweeter and more adorable than before. "Just seeing you walk down that aisle made me incredibly happy and it made me smile like crazy. Not to mention that your stunning smile stirred up all kinds of butterflies inside of me. It was one of those breath-taking moments where I realised that I am deeply, and uncontrollably in love with you, and nothing will ever change that.
And it got me thinking.. There is nothing that can change my love for you, because I love every little thing about you. The way you work day out and day in, and still find time for us too.. I love that fact that you're always there for me when I feel down, no matter what I'm going through.
Not to mention that you are drop dead beautiful. All in all you are amazing." He takes a short pause to let his words sink in.
You want to thank him for everything he has said until now, but he has left you so speechless that you don't know how. Which is why you are grateful when he continues.
"...In fact, you're just a diamond short of perfect..."
Your heart skips a beat or two when he stands up from his seat and makes his way over to you.
"Luckily.. I happen to have a spare one right here..."
You temporarily forget how to breathe while you watch how he takes out a small jewellers box from his jacket pocket.
He gets down on one knee while he opens the box and looks up to you with a cute, slightly insecure smile. He holds the box in front of you and gently takes your hand in his. "... This ring here represents my heart, and you'd make me the happiest man alive if you'd agree to wear it. I know that this might be a little out of the blue, but what's the point in waiting any longer, when I know that you are everything I want, and so much more..?"
Even though you are not the type of person that cries easily, his words cause tears to well up in your eyes.
"If you'll have me, I will happily spend the rest of my life with you... Will you m-"
The rest of his words are lost when you unexpectedly throw yourself at him and embrace him in a hug. The sudden change of weight causes him to fall back, but you don't care. You bury your head in his chest and hold him tight while you close your eyes to prevent the tears from escaping your eyes.
Underneath you Mal starts to chuckle. You feel his hand soothingly running through your hair. "Is that a yes..?"
Since you don't really trust your own voice at the moment, you simply nod a few times.
He lets out a deep sigh of relieve while he envelops you into a tight embrace. Then he lovingly kisses the top of your head. "I love you so, so much..." He softly whispers in your hair.
You force yourself to look up to him, and see him looking down at you with one of the most adorable smiles ever. "I love you too..."
HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER ASDFGHJKLSGHDFJ THEY'RE ENGAAAGEDDD! FINNALLYYYYY! :D :D
Okay, here are the review replies loool:
HoplessRomantic1994: Thank you for all your kind words Jade :D
DizzyRedhead: Hahahah uuhm… I think it's too late to vote for that XD Sorry :p
Maltara2010: Hahaha aww thanks! :D Mozzi-Girl: Dammit, stay alive for once woman! You die too much on me :( Originally I was gonna make Malachi respond with 'I'd rather make you scream…' but.. yeah XD I felt like that might be too much loool.
NiekaWow: Awww thank you so much!
SaLTndPepper: Hahahaha awww, maybe this is a good start of the new year? ;) Loool, get your cousin to play CoD as well! Yess, I agree with you! Molly and Jade write amazing things as well :D
The Beautiful Filth: Hahahahahha! Sorry for making you squeal, I hope no one was home at that moment loool :p Also hope you didn't squeal too hard during this chapter.. :')
Daygamer: Awww welcome to fanfiction then! :D Thank you so much! Do you happen to have a tumblr? A lot of ff people are also on tumblr ;)