A/N: Thanks again for your reviews - they are appreciated (and encouraging). It's almost over... and I feel kind of awful because at least one person is definitely going to get hurt. I guess I could have written it in a way that made one of the guys out as an asshole but that would have been too easy. Plus, I am of the school of thought that love hurts. Besides, I find happy love stories boring. Anyway, if you're one of the people who feels misled by the end result i.e. the end couple (if any)... ehm, sorry.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING.

----------------

Seth POV

My father always said that life was about taking risks. And he was right. I'd started off planning to attend medical school but when an opportunity popped up in New York, I took a risk and moved here. Even my job was one huge risk. Yes, we used a whole bunch of complicated formulas and charts, studied market trends and did intense research but at the end of the day, we didn't have a clue. No one had any guarantees that a stock wasn't going to tank. We simply just took a risk and hoped for the best. However, I'd never really taken any risks in my personal life - at least not one that would change my life forever.

It was a beautiful day in NYC; the birds chirped, the air didn't feel as congested and even the homeless guy on 75th street thanked me when I tossed him a dollar bill. Plus, even though it was winter, we were enjoying 55 degree weather.

The past few months had been great. I'd had several relationships but the one with Anna had only been the second really serious one and the difference was clear. With Summer, there was always uncertainty. We could hardly ever agree on anything - I loved Chinese, she loved Italian; I loved dark comedies, she loved romantic comedies; I thought Britney Spears was The Devil, she thought she was a doll. When I was younger, I had thought that passion made up for all those differences but then I grew up. You cannot build a life with someone you butt heads with on the simplest things but with someone you agree with and that's how it was for Anna and I.

When Anna had broken up with me, I had been devastated. One very upsetting thing about it was that she didn't give me a real explanation. If you don't know the problem how can you solve it? Even though she claimed it wasn't about me, I knew that it had to be. I'd certainly never broken up with someone because of an issue I was having with myself but because of something the person had done. But I think the most painful part of it was that it had ended up as another failed relationship. I'd begun to believe that I was hopeless at them. To give your all and still end up with a broken heart? I'd wondered if I'd become undeserving of love. Then she called me and I knew that everything would be okay. Of course, Anna and I didn't have the typical fairytale romance but whoever does? I'd thought I had found that with Summer but when that ended, I realized why they only existed in fairytales - they were not real. But Anna and I were as real as the stone that was soon to be hers.

It hadn't been easy finding out her ring size. Anna always seemed one step ahead of me so whenever I tried to surprise her, she always beat me to the punch. Therefore, this time around, I had to be very careful. One night I was over, I'd woken up at around 3am to go through her jewelry box. For some reason, she didn't seem to have any rings there so it took me over an hour of very quiet sleuthing to find her old engagement ring hidden in her underwear draw.

"We're going to the bar. Would you guys like something?" Ryan asked us.

We were at an upscale New Year's Eve party that had cost us $750 a head. Ryan had brought along Carly, a girl from work who was different from the girls he usually dated in one important way - she was smart. Granted, they had only been together for about a month but I was glad to see Ryan with someone he could have a real relationship with. He'd even changed in other ways. He'd always been hardworking but lately he'd become a workaholic. More often than not, he didn't get home till I was asleep and even at his label parties, he never even took any time to relax and enjoy himself. Even though I'd asked, he never told me what had brought about this change, but for what it's worth, it pleased me to see him take his romantic life more seriously.

Anna turned to me. "Do you want anything? I don't - I can barely get through this glass of champagne," she said, pointing at her barely touched glass.

I shook my head. For one hundred and thirty-one minutes, the box containing the emerald-cut diamond, set in a size five and a half platinum band, half paved with baguette-cut diamonds, was burning a hole in my pocket. I'd seen so many rings in two weeks that I could recognize any style on sight. I wasn't sure which to pick but all I knew was that I didn't want it to look anything like her old one.

I'd tried to get Ryan's opinion but he hadn't been any help. When I showed it to him earlier in the week, instead of congratulating me like a good friend would, he acted very strangely.

"Wow," he said, staring at the still closed box laying in my outstretched hand.

I grinned. "That's what you're supposed to say after you look at it."

"Are you sure this is something you want to do?"

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?"

He seemed worried. "It's just that you haven't been together that long."

"Dude, could you look at it? My arm is beginning to ache."

He took it from me. "Are you sure?"

I groaned. "Bro, could you look at it, please? It's not kryptonite you know..."

He flipped the lid and stared at it. Then he just kept staring.

"Any time now," I encouraged.

My voice seemed to awaken him from his daydream. "Wow... wow... I can't believe this." He returned the box to me then sat down. "Are you sure about this?"

His doubt had begun to annoy me. "I think I would know what I want," I snapped.

"No offense, man. But it's just that you haven't been together very long."

"Oh... it's been almost eleven months. I think that's long enough."

He nodded slowly. "I hadn't realized it had been that long. Do you think this is what she wants?"

I sat next to him, holding the box out and looking at it. "Well, we haven't actually discussed marriage but I just get the feeling this is where we should be. You know...?"

He sniffed. "I guess I don't..."

I gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Don't worry, when it happens to you, you'll know."

I'd already spoken to the organizers and it had been arranged that at five minutes to midnight, Anna and I would get the opportunity to get on the stage and I could ask my question. Therefore, I wasn't pleased that at 11:45pm, Ryan chose to go to the bar. I realized that it was something I had to do on my own but I'd hoped he'd hang around for moral support.

I looked at my watch and saw that a minute had passed. I took a deep breath then grabbed Anna's hand.

"Anna, I want to show you something."

She looked at me suspiciously. "In here?"

"Yes."

She looked around the room. "What?"

"Don't worry, you'll see." I got up and beckoned her to follow me.

"I'll have to go somewhere to see it?"

"Yes, just follow me."

"This better not be something gross," she warned through chuckles.

As I led her to the stage, she kept asking where we were going and I kept telling her not to worry. The entire scene was molding into a cute story we could tell our grandkids.

When I finally got to the stage, the MC handed me the microphone. I looked for Ryan and saw him at the back, standing next to Carly with a drink in his hand. I smiled at him, hoping to get a thumbs up, a smile or some sort of support but his face remained expressionless.

I pulled Anna to the stage but she resisted.

"Seth, what are you doing?" The smile had left her face.

"Come on, just follow me." At this time, other people had started paying attention to us and a little crowd was beginning to form.

"Seth, you're not doing anything stupid, right?" she asked hopefully.

"No," I said with confidence. At that moment, I knew that for the first time, I'd succeeded in surprising her.

She followed me to the stage and closed her eyes - I think she might have said a little prayer.

When she opened them, I looked at her. Even in the harsh lights she still looked radiant.

As I slowly got on one knee, even though it seemed like a weak smile was permanently pasted on her face, I saw her head shake slightly. However, I didn't know if that was because she didn't want me to continue or because she couldn't believe what I'd done.

I took a deep breath. My tie suddenly felt tight but I ignored it. I flung the box open and held it up, then took her left hand.

"Anna Stern, I feel like I've loved you always. I think of February 16th, 2012 as the day my life began because that was the day I met you on the 1. I live to make you happy, so let's be happy together. Will you marry me?"