"This place is beautiful," Abigail commented, stepping through the door and into the restaurant where Noah had made reservations. "How on earth did you afford such a place?"
"You want the honest truth?" The sparkle in his eyes made Abigail smirk. Everybody knew that even getting reservations to this restaurant cost more than she made in a month.
"Do I want to know?"
"I know the owner's son, that's all," Noah admitted. "What, you thought I had some dirty secret?"
"Well… no." Abigail let Noah loop his arm through hers and lead her to a table near the edge of the dining room, taking her threadbare shawl off of her shoulders. She desperately hoped that he didn't notice how bony her shoulders had become; she knew she was lucky to have work at all, but at times, she had to make the choice between food and her tiny apartment. She always chose the apartment; they lived in Canada, for goodness sake!
The waiter came over, pad in hand, ready to take their orders. He looked to Abigail first. "I'll just have the side salad," she spoke, closing her menu.
"Abigail, you can order whatever you want. I'm paying," Noah protested.
"Just the side salad, please," Abigail reiterated her order to the waiter, handing him he closed menu. She knew that Noah's money situation wasn't much better than hers; she wasn't about to make his life that much harder by ordering something expensive.
"And for you, sir?" The waiter turned to Noah.
"Let's see…" Noah studied the menu. "I'll have one order of smoked salmon with onions, and one bowl of penne with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese." Abigail gave him a look, and he shrugged. "What, I'm hungry!"
Abigail shrugged, but didn't question him. They talked, mostly about work, until the food came. "Thank you," Abigail told the waiter as he handed her her salad. Noah nodded when his meals were set in front of him. Waiting until the waiter had left, Noah quietly pushed the bowl of pasta in front of Abigail. "Noah!"
"Eat, Abigail. Please," Noah begged.
"I… Noah, you don't have to…" Abigail stammered.
"Don't worry about it. You need to eat, Abigail, and now you can't complain about the money, because if you don't eat it, I will. But I'm begging you, please eat. I know you're not eating enough."
Abigail deflated a bit, acknowledging the truth of his words. With a little huff, she dug her fork into the penne, hoping that she didn't let show how eager she was for a good meal.
Halfway through the meal, Noah silently placed a box with a bow on the top on the table, pushing it towards her. "Happy birthday, Abigail."
"You… I didn't think you remembered!"
"Just open up the box." Abigail opened the box, pulling out two smaller boxes. "Open the bigger one first."
Abigail carefully opened the bigger box, her face lighting up when she saw a small leather-bound pocket bible. It was the same bible that she had pointed out months ago when she and Noah had been walking downtown on a day off. "Oh, Noah, it's perfect!"
"Now open the other one."
Abigail picked up the small blue velvet box. She carefully opened it, gasping as a diamond shone in the candlelight of the restaurant. "Noah…"
"Abigail, I love you." Noah stood up and walked around the table, bending down on one knee. "You are strong, and intelligent, and beautiful, and… well, you are the greatest woman I have ever met. I know I don't deserve you, but I really hope that doesn't matter, because I'm going to ask… will you marry me?"
There were tears streaming down Abigail's face by the end of Noah's speech. She tried to form words, but she couldn't seem to speak, so she just nodded. Noah jumped up, and they embraced right then and there, the whole restaurant watching. They hadn't known each other for more than a few months, but they were engaged!
AN: For the record, I am aware that in season 2, Abigail tells the story of her and Noah's engagement, and that my version is different. When I started this story, I totally forgot about that, and only just remembered, so we're just going to go with this, okay? :-)