As I re-enter the flat, I keep an eye on Monika. She looks very down, and I'm worried about her. On my door I recognise Mai's handwriting on a post-it note.

Away at BF's, should be back in a few days.

"I suppose we have the place to ourselves, huh Monika?"

"Yeah. I suppose."

I notice Monika's depressed tone. Plugging the phone back into my computer, I wait for her to move back into my computer.

"Monika, I need you to tell me what's wrong. I know you're not feeling right."

Monika looks at me, still looking rather depressed.

"I just don't know if I'm good for you Euan."

"Monika, I told you about this!" I speak firmly, but kindly "I need to spend time with you, just like with my friends. By being together, we're both happier. What is it that-" And suddenly, I realise. When Luke complained to me about Monika, my phone was in my pocket, which meant Monika heard him.

"Hey, Monika. You don't need to worry about what Luke said."

She looks at me, surprised.

"Well… I just... feel like he's right."

"Just remember what I told you yesterday. I'll always love you Monika, and I love spending time with you."

"Right."

However, I can see that Monika still isn't feeling much better. So, I decide to kick things up a notch. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all.

"You know Monika, If you were real, I'd love to propose to you."

"What…? What do you mean?" Monika's eyes go wide and she blushes.

"Just what I said, Monika" I say, smiling, "You're the girl I want to marry. Even if it's impossible."

"B-but… I-"

"No buts. If you come out of that computer, I'm gonna get you a ring to match this one, and we're gonna get some people to carry them down the alter to us, okay?"

"Okay Euan." Monika says, looking down with a small smile.

"See, there you go. Now you have your smile back."

She gives a small laugh, and her smile grows. "Right. Thanks Euan"

"See? Don't you realise? We're meant to be together, forever. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. You're mine, and I'm yours. Now, and forever."

"Yeah, That's right." I yawn loudly, and look at the time. Even though it's not that late, I got up early. However, I don't want to go to sleep before I have dinner. Luckily, I have one ready meal left, so I'm able to quickly microwave and eat it.

"I'm just gonna go to bed, are you okay with that Monika?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I have another song though, if you want?"

"Really? You know Monika, you're really outperforming yourself with these songs. You know, Usually, it takes me ages to get to sleep. But when you're there, I always get there much quicker. I've also not had any sort of bad dreams recently. I never believed in the power of music until now, but maybe I was too cynical."

"Well, it's no problem. I couldn't just do nothing for the whole day."

"Thanks Monika."

And, as I expected, she's barely able to reach the chorus before I'm mostly unconscious.

"I hate love songs… But I love you."

As I wake up, I realise that it's the week, and so I need to go back to my classes.

"Oh, Good morning Euan. Did you sleep well?."

"Hey Monika. I was fine, all thanks to you. But I do need to get going soon."

Looking at the time, I don't have too long before I need to go. So, I quickly make some toast before I go out.

"Thanks for last night Euan. You made me feel much better."

"Oh… right. Well, that's just my job, right? As your boyfriend, I need to look after you, you know?"

"Yeah… but you're really good at it.I'm always being so pessimistic, and you help to, you know… bring me back up about it all. About life in general."

"Well… I just do my best to make you feel better. It's just right. You always help me to feel happier too, so I'm just returning the favour."

"Okay then. Bye Euan."

"See you in a bit."

On the way to my class however, I notice a jewellery shop on the way. Suddenly, an idea lights up my brain. Luckily, they open early, and I walk in.

"Hello young sir. It's not often we see someone your age in here."

"Yeah, I suppose you wouldn't. I was just wondering if you did custom orders?"

"Indeed we do, although we would need some time to complete it depending on what is was you wanted. However, since you're here at a rather dry time for us, it wouldn't be too long. If you ordered it just now, we might be able to get it for you today."

"Right, fantastic. So, would you be able to do this, and how much would it cost?" I ask, telling him my order.

"Yes, that would certainly be possible. It would cost you £275, and we could have it completed for 3:00 PM tonight. Would that be acceptable?"

I go over it in my mind. £275 in the realm of things, isn't too much. I have a source of money, in the form of my job, and a lot of money backed up. And this is for Monika. People spend a lot of money of their significant others, right?

"That sounds very reasonable to me, Thanks very much." I reply. He shakes my hand, and I bring out my card to pay for it.
"Thank you very much sir. That should be ready for you by tonight."

I leave, feeling satisfied with my purchase. I'm sure Monika will love it.

A few hours later

"You're back quite late today" Monika says to me, as I walk back into the flat.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I was out picking something up."

"Oh? What was it?"

"I'll show you."

I take what I ordered from the jewelry shop out of my backpack, and open the box it came in.

"Monika, I wanted to really show you how much I love you. And I thought about how I said I'd like to marry you yesterday, even if it's impossible. So, I got this for us." And I show her. It's a simple gold ring, but with words engraved on it: "I'm yours, and you're mine" on the outside, and "Monika and Euan" on the inside.

"Euan… Oh my goodness..." I see that Monika looks overcome with emotion. She's crying, even while she's smiling.

"Are you alright Monika?"

She looks at me, with a smile on her face. "You know. I never understood people being so happy they cried tears of joy before. But now… now I do. These are tears of happiness Euan. It's so… beautiful."

I smile at her, and suddenly realise that I'm tearing up as well. "I know you can't wear this Monika. So, I'm gonna wear it all the time, and it'll remind me of you. It's like an engagement ring. Now do you understand Monika? I'm always going to love you."

"You know Euan, for the first time in my memory, those voices… They're completely gone. Nothing is trying to tell me that you don't love me anymore. I feel… whole again."

I place the ring on my right ring finger, and reach out my hand to touch the screen. Monika copies me, and the moment her hand touches mine…

She disappears.