I'll Be The One

Chapter 62:

=Hunter's POV=
[Tuesday, 12/25/2019-3:00 pm]
[Archipelago; Arc Isle]
[Archian House]

Things have been great through the past three months since I started living with Tallon. We both make good money, our bills and rent are always on time, and our relationship is perfect. I know that's hard to say after only ten months of dating, but I could honestly say that I love things between Tallon and I. We never fight; we also balance work, friends, family, and things between us. Our relationship is also balanced between dates, nights together, and intimacy. My job is going great; I've finished a lot of stuff design and building wise. I even sold a bunch or songs to different artists, and wrote a couple new ones. I do get paid for each song sold, or written; then I receive a small percentage, as the writer, of sales from concerts, downloads, merchandise, and CD's. Don't ask me how I have time for it all, but I do. On top of that; I'm still in therapy, but only seen once every two weeks. I'm definitely doing a lot better than when it all started, and I have my ways of coping; it's usually music or drawing.

Today is Snoggletog, the Archipelago's version of Christmas. My dad had the brilliant idea to have everyone over the Archian House after their private family celebrations to do one big get together for the holiday. We were having dinner at 4 pm, right now; it was just sitting around and doing gift exchange if there was any to do. I got stuff for Tallon, dad, Greg, and my friends too. Nothing fancy, but I knew they'd appreciate it. I did stuff to Tallon's family as well, small things because I appreciated how much they treated me like part of the family even though Tallon and I aren't married. Everyone was just talking right now, but I figured I might as well pass out my gifts.

I got up and moved to the closet behind the tree. "What are you doing, son?" Salvatore asked.

"Getting my gifts to everyone," I said. "Since we're all just sitting around for the next hour," I added, dragging out a box with wrapped stuff in it.

"Hunter, your father and I have told you many times not too buy stuff for us," Gregory mumbled.

"Get over it," I remarked. "I don't need your permission to be nice, so deal with it," I grabbed the small stuff first and handed it out to who it was for. "Go on," I urged his father and Gregory who got theirs first.

"You first, Mr. President," Gregory chuckled. Salvatore opened the gift from his son, finding it to be a drawn portrait of himself, Gregory, and Hunter with everyone in the family they'd lost under the illustration of angel form.

"We're never truly alone when those who once walked beside now fly along," Salvatore read. "Oh, son…It's beautiful," he choked up. "Thank you," he hugged me.

"Just because I give a gift doesn't mean I had to spend money on it. You can't buy something with sentimental value," I chuckled. "Now you, Uncle Greg," I motioned to him. Gregory opened his to find a new wallet and cell phone case.

"Wallet I get, mine was dying…But phone case?" Gregory inquired. "I have one,"

"You have a cheap, plastic one that will break itself and the phone at the same time," I remarked. "That case wasn't store-bought; I built it. Designed special for the man who somehow always manages to break his phone in the simplest ways," I mentioned.

"Hey now…I'm not that bad," Gregory huffed.

"Uncle Greg, you called me up one time and asked me to get you a new phone because you somehow, still don't know how, shot your phone overseas…" I rolled my eyes. "And the time it ended up blown up?"

"It…Was an accident," Gregory muttered.

"Yeah? And the time you ran it over? The time you took it swimming? Left it on the roof of the truck?...Cooked it?" I asked. Gregory put his finger up to retort, but couldn't. "That's what I thought," I stated. "That case is dust, scratch, shock, water, pressure, and bullet proof. And fully tested, so I know it works. That thing can survive guns of variety, run over by a tank, and diving up to…I want to say one hundred meters. If you managed to break your phone with that on it; I'll give up engineering and go back to McViking for the rest of my life. Kind'a miss it to be honest," I shrugged.

"Well, thank you, lad," Gregory hugged me.

I nodded and moved over to Tallon's family, giving them my gifts. I got Dustin and Rachel a gift card to their favorite restaurant. The four male siblings got prepaid cards to go shopping for whatever they wanted, all with $100 on them. For Arianna, though; I gave her my tablet and explained that it had my music program on it so she could play and make music to her heart's content. Next I moved onto my friends; they all got a drawn picture of us as friends. Tallon and I had exchanged gifts this morning, small stuff. I did have one other gift for Tallon, but he wasn't getting it yet. I'd done a lot of thinking, second-guessing, and wondering if it was the right thing at the right time. And somehow, I always came down to it not feeling right if I don't, so I'm going to do it and pray for the best. Tallon said he'd like a surprise; I'm gonna give him one he'll never forget. I couldn't give it to him yet because it wasn't ready; it would be soon, and I knew exactly when I'd do things.

After gift exchange; we all had dinner and enjoyed each other's company until everyone left around 6:30 pm because of tiredness and it being a long day. Tallon and I, of course, made love once we were home and relaxed. We went to bed at 11:45 pm.

. . .

=Normal POV=
[Saturday, 2/29/2020-4:00 pm]
[Archian House]

Today marked the day twenty-three years ago that Hunter and Tallon were born; February 29th. Today would also mark another momentous occasion, but the time to set that in motion hadn't come just yet. Hunter thought he'd be nervous, but he wasn't, and that's how he knew this was right. Hunter would always love Jay; that was his first friend and love, and you never forgot that person. Likewise, despite what Cassandra put Hunter through; he didn't hate her, and wouldn't forget the good times they had. However, Tallon is the one who changed Hunter's life so much in so little time. Hunter loved Tallon like there was no other in the world for him. Tallon and Hunter just fit together perfectly, and Hunter wanted that for the rest of his life. The two had known each other for a year as of September 21st, 2019. And they'd been dating a full year as of nine days ago on February 20th, 2020.

Hunter and Tallon celebrated by spending the entire day together. It started at 8:00 am for breakfast in the apartment, cooked by Tallon for when Hunter got out of the shower. Hunter cleaned it up while Tallon showered. The two cleaned the entire apartment together; doing everything from top to bottom, and then watched a bit of TV. The time slipped by as they went to lunch for 12 pm. Hunter and Tallon both paid for the meal, splitting the total and tip down the middle. After that, Hunter and Tallon went ice skating at the local rink, then a walk in the park with hot chocolate. At 3 pm; Hunter and Tallon went to go see a movie in the theatre, and then home around 5:15 pm where Hunter cooked dinner for Tallon. The rest of the evening was relaxing in the living room; then the bedroom to snuggle, end up making out, and then making love.

The day was perfect, and today would be too. Hunter enlisted his father in letting him throw the birthday party at the Archian House like last year. Hunter took care of the cake and food, more like he picked it and let the staff handle things so he could arrive with Tallon on time, which was now. Hunter invited the friends, and of course, Tallon's family for the celebration.

"Hunter! Tallon! Happy birthday, lads," Gregory chuckled, hugging both.

"Thanks, Uncle Greg," Hunter smiled.

"Thank you, Greg," Tallon replied. Salvatore was in next to wish the same and hug them. The greetings went all around as the group made it to the dining room, where things were set to go. Hunter smiled, happy to see it exactly as he'd hoped. As always, there was music, dancing, snacks, drink, and everything needed to make it a party. Hunter admired everything around him; it felt good to see smiles everywhere.

Seth and Madison were still on schedule to get married in June. The same went for Harper and Flynn in October. Elijah and Roxanne were due to have their first child, revealed when she was five months to be a girl, in April. Trevor and Avery were still dating, going strong. Addilyn and TJ did become a couple in January 2019, during the New Year's Bash. Drew and Miya were going great too. All of Tallon's siblings were doing fantastic, so were his parents. And what brought a lot of joy to Hunter was seeing his father and Gregory happy. Gregory had quit the military; he did not resign his contract for service. Salvatore was still president, but made mention that after these next three years passed; he was probably done. Hunter didn't bet his hopes on it because he knew his father loved the job, and everyone he basically ruled over loved him in the position too.

The time continued to tick away through dinner, which started at 5:30 pm. Hunter made sure that it was Tallon's absolute favorite meal; Chicken and Broccoli Carbonara. It was something Hunter made once on a whim, Tallon fell in love with the dish and said it was his new favorite. Now, at 6:30 pm; it was time for dessert. Everyone got a piece of cake and some ice cream, but Tallon's piece was different, not that he'd know any different until he tried to take a bite. Tallon's plate was set down in front of him as he got his fork and went to take a bite as Hunter was moving back to the table, setting his plate down. Tallon's fork didn't piece the whole cake, just the frosting flower, which had been a red rose and some of the black frosting underneath.

"Something wrong, babe?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah…I think my cake is frozen," Tallon stated.

"Really? I was sure we pulled it out in enough time," Hunter said softy, kissing his cheek.

"No…Wait," Tallon poked the cake again as it made a slight clicking sound. "That's…Not cake," he said as he went to pick the piece up and use his napkin to wipe the frosting from the sides. "It's a black box,"

"Why would there be a box in the cake?" TJ blinked.

"Well, it was in your piece, babe; I think that makes it fair game you get to open it," Hunter said calmly. "And he gets to keep whatever is in there too,"

"Suppose I can't disagree with you," Tallon laughed a bit as he opened the box up to see nothing more than the inside of the box cover, which had a simple carved message reading; Marry Me. Hunter had accidentally dropped something, getting to one knee to get it, but it was just a ploy. Tallon's confused and stunned figure shifted to look at Hunter, only to see him holding up a silver ring that had two diamonds and one onyx stone between them. It was that moment that Tallon understand Hunter set all this up, and this was him proposing to him. Tallon just stared, entirely surprised by the action.

"Um…Can the rest of us see?" Roxanne wondered.

"Will you?" Hunter asked. Tallon understood the words. Hunter saying will you and then the box showing marry me. This was Hunter asking him to marry him, and despite the shock and confusion happening; two words left Tallon's smiling lips.

"I will," Hunter instantly leaned in and kissed him deeply. Tallon kissed him back as Hunter got up, pulling Tallon with him. The excitement kicked in as Tallon just nodded his head to Hunter. "Yes…Yes! I absolutely will!" Hunter chuckled a bit as he slid the ring on Tallon's finger; that's when everyone understood what happened.

"Oh, my Gods!" Rachel squealed. "He proposed!" she announced. Of course it was exciting and shocking, but then the heck did Hunter do all this? Marriage had never been discussed, and now just…Out of blue? Tallon hugged Hunter tightly, and they kissed again.

"I love you, Tallon," Hunter said softly, staring into his eyes.

"I love you too, Hunter," Tallon replied. "But…I don't…Understand. When…Did you do all this? We…Never talked about marriage? You're…Sure you want me for the rest of your life? You know this after only a year? Not that I'm complaining; I want to understand,"

"Sit, love," Hunter smiled as Tallon did so. "I started this in December; I was gonna do it over Snoggletog, but there was a minor setback with the ring being made, so it wasn't ready on time for that. I was going to do it on our anniversary, but figured it was too…Mainstream. Everyone does that, uses anniversaries or holidays. I decided to do something you wouldn't expect, such as use our birthday. I know we never talked about, but I don't feel like we need to. It's…No different than everything else we've done his past year; we just go with what feels right. And this feels right to me; I assume it does for you too or you wouldn't have said yes,"

Tallon couldn't exactly argue that, but stayed quiet. "Tallon you changed my life in ways you'll never understand. When I met you; we clicked instantly as friends. You broke so many rules just to see me smile," Hunter laughed a little. "Like sneaking me past my guards for us to go drinking because you promised to show me a good time, have fun like a normal guy. You always had the right words, and constantly had my back. You helped me with the depression thing…Hell, you even saved my life. Tallon, you gave me a friend, a protector, and a lover,"

"You basically did everything Jay did, only he never wanted to break the rules in fear of my dad banning him from seeing me again. And I've said it before; I'll love Jay until the day I die, but if he and I were meant to be…He'd still be here with me. All that aside…You, babe, weren't afraid to do all that for me; you didn't care as long as I was safe and happy. Me falling for you, Tal, was effortless. It just happened, and I had no control over it. After the last two relationships; I was terrified of getting too serious with you, afraid something was going to happen. So for me to be sitting with you now, just having asked you to marry me; I hope you understand how scared I was to do it. But…One thing I absolutely certain of, Tallon Raseri…Is that I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life; sharing mine with yours making it ours," Hunter held Tallon's hands.

"Well…You don't have to be scared anymore because I said yes, and I'm not going anywhere," Tallon smiled, looking in his eyes. Hunter smiled back. The two kissed again as the others cheered and clapping. It had been so unexpected, but Hunter was sure of what he did; what he wanted. And it seemed Tallon was sure of the very same.

"Now…Can I possibly get a real piece of cake, because it's my favorite and I was really looking forward to it…" Tallon asked. Hunter laughed.

"Of course," Hunter slid over the plate he'd set down before the proposal. "Now, just don't get cold feet before the wedding next year. I know how nervous you get at times," Hunter winked.

"Hey…I'd never run from you. You're the love of my life, Hunter. You're the only one for me. I love you," Tallon said.

"I love you too," Hunter replied. "And you're the only one for me, Tallon,"

~Author's Note; And so ends I'll Be The One. I hope everyone enjoyed it, and obviously, for those of you who I know will tell me you don't want it to be over; I left things at a stage where I can make a sequel for the wedding and future of our dear Hunter Haddock and Tallon Raseri, soon to be Haddock. Now, quick update; I've already begun the next story. I'll tell you now it is inspired and somewhat based off of Disney's Descendants. So...If you haven't seen that yet, I advise you do to fully appreciate and understand the newest story; Descendants Of The Archipelago. That being said; I'll see you all soon. Thank you for the continued support! -Nightstar.