Belle felt the car make a bunch of turns, but couldn't
figure out where they were going. She remembered back to her first date with
Shawn, and that he had blindfolded her to take her to his boat. There, they had
shared their first of many kisses and Shawn had asked her to be his girlfriend.
Although being blindfolded wasn't Belle's favorite thing in the world, she
certainly loved surprises, and Shawn was always great at them. Finally, Belle
felt the car stop and heard the engine stop. 'We must be here,' she thought
with a smile, wondering what Shawn had in store for her.
Shawn pulled the car to a stop, happy that he had probably
succeeded in confusing Belle so she wouldn't know where they were. He looked at
his parents' boat, Fancy Face II, and silently thanked them for letting
him use it once again. Shawn walked around to the passenger side and opened the
door. He was pleased to see the smile on her face. 'She must be remembering our
first date too.'
Belle heard Shawn open the door. "Should I even ask?" she
said, already knowing the answer.
Shawn laughed. "No, you shouldn't because you're not
getting anything out of me."
Belle carefully stepped out of the car and felt Shawn's
hands go on her waist to keep her from falling. She wrapped her arms around
Shawn's neck, surprised at how natural it felt. "How can you be so sure," she
whispered seductively. She felt like a moron standing there, trying to force
out what she wanted to hear while blindfolded.
Shawn leaned down and kissed Belle on the cheek. "Because
my willpower is almost as strong as Superman. Don't worry, sweetheart. It's
nothing illegal. Come on." He bent down and picked Belle up. "You always said
you wanted your Prince Charming to sweep you off your feet, so here I go," he
joked.
"Who said you were
my Prince Charming?"
Shawn locked his car and carried Belle down to his boat,
ignoring the obviously rhetorical question. "So anyways, we're going for a
little trip. I'm not even going to ask if it's okay, because you don't have a choice,"
he added. He carefully stepped up onto the boat with her in his arms, and set
her down in the cabin. "There you go," he said, taking off the blindfold.
Belle looked around for a minute, confused, then smiled
when she realized where she was. "We're in your boat, right?" she asked. At
Shawn's affirmative nod, she continued. "Why?"
Shawn sighed. "I wanted to make this a little more
romantic, but I know you won't let me." He got down on one knee in front of
Belle and pulled the box from his coat pocket. "You've already gotten one of my
'I love you' speeches, but I'm gonna give you another one because I want to.
Belle, I've loved you for as long as I can remember. Ever since we were four
and you rubbed sand in my hair and poured it down my pants when I pissed you
off, I've known that you're the one for me. Now, I don't usually believe in
love at first sight, but the minute I saw you when I came back from boarding
school, I was head over heals for you. When I first found out that you were in
a coma after being hit by the train way back in high school, I was devastated.
I wasn't sure if you'd live or not, and I didn't know what I'd do without you
to keep my rebel side under control. I didn't realize how much I loved you
until the night of our first date, at the Last Blast at the end of our junior
year. When I saw you in that gold outfit-well, you know what I said. I told you
that you looked 'wow.'"
Belle laughed at that memory. Actually, his actual words
were "Wow. Belle, you look-wow." That line and the look on his face were
priceless.
Shawn laughed along with Belle, then stopped and grew
serious. "That night, I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life
with you. Then, the day after graduation, when you told me to make that
choice-I was heartbroken. That was probably the hardest decision I had to make,
but I'm glad that I chose what I did. I'm happy because the ten years away from
you proved to me that I really can't live without you. Finally, when I saw you
at the reunion yesterday, I was amazed at your beauty. When you told me that
you were getting married, I almost died right there. 'Way to make a move,
Shawn,' I told myself sarcastically. 'Now she's gone forever.' It wasn't until
last night when I saw you in that dress when I realized that I needed to take a
huge risk. That risk was to get you back or lose you forever. Luckily, I got
you back, and I'm not doing the same thing I did before. I made the mistake of
pushing you away once, Belle, and I'm sure as hell not doing it again. Isabella
Black, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box so the ring was facing
her.
Belle was crying by the end of Shawn's speech about his
love for her, and took the ring out of the box. Sliding it onto her ring
finger, she nodded. "Of course I will, Shawn. The reason I dumped Jacob was so
I could marry you. I love you, Shawn, and I'm sorry for all the pain I caused
you."
Shawn smiled and reached up to hug his now-fiancée. "I
love you, Belle."
Belle buried her face in his shoulder. "I love you too,
Shawn."
(And they lived happily ever
after…)