*Chapter 138*
"A question?" Tessa wondered with a dainty smile.
The two held long, painfully delirious amount of eye contact before Zed scoffed a hard, silent laugh and largely stepped back into the hotel room, away from Tessa. She jolted, bulged her eyes and quickly chased after him with a girly laugh. She grappled for him and waved her hand around a bit as the two melted into the warm hotel room.
"Zed!" Tessa complained through happily squinted eyes, Zed paced a nervous circle and gestured his arms out a bit, as if to playfully shoo her away.
"No, I-I... Just forget it," Zed gave her a worried smile, though he knew Tessa wasn't going to give up without a fight.
"Zed, you can't do that to me, that's not even fair," Tessa barked with a widening smile, the fact that Zed's bashful exterior made the room hot with his itching worries, made Tessa's meddlesome soul plan to prod him farther.
"I-It's nothing, I just... Wow, I almost just got way ahead of myself, there," Zed gave the ground an incredulous glare with bulged eyes, his shaking hand ran through his short, dark blue hair, though he flinched once Tessa slumped her arms and hands to her thighs and gave Zed an annoyed bark of a laugh.
"Cool, so you just expect me to carry on like this?" Tessa argued with a widening smile, though she finally crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow, leaned on one leg and looked Zed over, "Fine, two can play at that game."
"What?" Zed gave her a floored look of confused stupor.
"Tell me what you were going to say, or else..." Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and looked around, as if to contemplate Zed's fate, though she fell short, "Or else..."
"Do you wanna go get ice cream, or something?" Zed nonchalantly wondered as he glanced at the nightstand closest to the hotel door; he tried to seem as if his thoughts were too busy for Tessa's petty ultimatum.
"No, not until you ask me just what you were going to ask me," Tessa argued with a small laugh as she began to step closer to Zed, around the bed.
"I-I was going to ask if you wanted to go get ice cream," Zed easily let a wide, bashful smile sprawl his face as he put his hand up, in a defensive manner, and began to step backwards and away from Tessa's brooding, agile footwork.
"No, you had something important to say, I can tell," Tessa side-eyed him, with a growing smirk, "You were gunna ask for seconds, weren't you."
"Actually, no," Zed raised his eyebrows and largely scrunched his shoulders, lazily, to his head, before he slumped them and looked away in a mildly confused manner, "Though, not that I'd complain-"
"You're not getting any until you quit leaving me hanging," Tessa grappled for the chest of his shirt, though he bounced away and stepped around her. The two tripped over each other's feet and shared a good, hard laugh.
"It's nothing, you'd think I was a big, massive idiot," Zed whined with a growing grin as he nervously gestured his hands and continued to play keep away with Tessa's grabby hand.
"Well, you're in luck, because I already think that! C'mon, you looked so certain, just tell me!" Tessa complained playfully, though he could tell Tessa was beginning to show signs of defeat soon.
"No, you'll have to wait and see," Zed urged with a hard chuckle as he ducked away from her, yet again.
"Zed, I-"
"No, not now," Zed barked with a growing smile, though he flinched once Tessa sharply turned heel and threw her arms up in a fit of rock bottom defeat; her hair flicked over her shoulder as she began to step towards the open balcony doors.
"Fine, Zed, fine," Tessa argued playfully, though he was aware her itching heart was anything but stabilized, "I don't care anymore."
Zed held up a slightly trembling hand and uttered a small noise, with a step forward, as if to urge her not to leave; his eyes glossed her in humbled uncertainty.
"I-I have a question," Zed suddenly blurted, though his voice wavered with continued uncertainty; Tessa halted her path to the balcony and largely looked over her shoulder in frozen wait.
"On with it," Tessa urged with growing annoyance as she waved her hand a little.
"Will you... Uh..." Zed rubbed the back of his head and let his eyes dart about Tessa's figure; she raised her eyebrows in growing surprise and froze, though Zed chickened out and gestured to his neck, "W-Will you look at the bruise on the back of my neck, I'm worried it's uh... Gotten worse, it really hurts."
Tessa sent a disappointed glower in Zed's direction and remained frozen, though as much as she wanted to believe he was on the verge of potentially asking something of dire importance, she shoved her girly thoughts away, rolled her eyes and stepped over to him slowly. As she approached, Zed tilted his head a little so she could get a good look at the bruises on the side of his throat, near the base of his neck and back.
"It looks the same as it has, today, did you bump it again or something?" Tessa patiently and kindly wondered.
"I-I must've," Zed uttered, though he wrinkled his nose and dared to smile down to the ground, "I guess all that rough housing we engaged in..."
"Hmm," Tessa droned as she cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Zed's line of sight. She slowly began to move away, yet again.
"I mean, we've never been in those kinds of positions before and I WAS holding my neck up, for awhile, there," Zed nonchalantly continued on, he waved his hands about as Tessa turned her back to Zed and head for the gaping balcony doors, "I wouldn't want to... Tie a knot in my neck."
"No, especially with all those bruises," Tessa's voice softly carried, though she largely furrowed her eyebrows and, just as she reached the balcony door, she slowed to a gentle stop and let her knowing gaze ease into the frame of the sliding glass door.
She lovingly rested a hand on the soft metal and, with a growing sweep of realization, she ever so gently looked over her shoulder and peered to Zed from across the room; she gave him a mildly bewildered look of kind disbelief. She froze and, for the first time in what seemed like ages, her heart nearly stopped with anticipation, a sudden roll of realization that made her skin crawl with girly delight. She dared to let her lips form into a smile, though she tried her hardest not to get her hopes up, just yet.
"I-I propose we... Maybe take it easy, while I have these bruises... That kind of pain could bring me to my knee," Zed muttered as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down to the ground.
Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and let her gaze warm to that of humbled knowing. She remained frozen, as if she had suddenly been graced with the presence of a wild animal, and any sudden movements would scare him off. She suddenly could feel her pulse pounding in her ears as to just what could potentially be taking place before her. With growing confidence, given to her by Zed's unwavering, solid eye contact, she felt brave enough to turn back around and take a step or two closer.
"We wouldn't want that," Tessa said in the softest tone, though she just barely side-eyed Zed, as if to inquire just what was going on in his busy brain.
Zed coughed a small laugh and, through bashful eyes, he peered down to the ground for a few minutes longer of contemplation. Zed tapped his fingers on the sides of his thighs, ever so gently. He bit his bottom lip and just barely twitched his hands a little harder, as if to be sat in the largest dilemma of his entire life. Tessa squinted her eyes lightly and felt her heart pound harder and harder, as if this silly question, a guessing game of just what could potentially be on his mind, quickly escalated out of nowhere, to a place where Tessa was certain it wouldn't go. She finally beamed a curious smile and shook her head, she quietly remained as Zed's figure, handsomely dressed in his lazy black jeans and t-shirt, looked beyond drained, though his eyes were more than alert. She finally exhaled a small giggle of uncertainty as she watched him continue to have one big massive conversation to himself, a silent display of nervous fingers, darting eyes and a slow, rising and falling chest, as if he was desperately trying to keep himself calm.
"I have a question," Zed finally urged in solid confidence, though his warm voice was tender and dark. He gave her his unfaltering eye contact as she lightly crossed her arms and remained at a five foot distance from him.
"I have an answer," She volleyed in the softest, warmest tone she could muster; she knew she wasn't totally positive what could be happening here, though she knew she had a hard inkling.
Zed finally let a genuine, full smile sprawl his face, though Tessa felt her heart stop as he dared to take a few slow, sauntering steps closer to her. His bare footsteps were unsure, contemplative, but still solid. He looked as if he still hadn't reached whatever conclusion he was so desperately grasping for, but he persisted, as if this was maybe his only option. The goofy grin on his face, as well as nervous eyes that continued to scan the ground, led Tessa to believe he maybe was satisfied with his thoughts, anyhow. Tessa finally giggled again and was almost certain this squirrely act, of his, couldn't harbor anything good, though she still anticipated just what was taking place.
"Tessa," Zed's voice was warm and welcoming.
Just as Tessa was about to open her mouth and further inquire his mischievous demeanor, she was surprised to see his tender hands grip the thighs of his pants and just barely adjust them up a little, so he could properly move. She largely furrowed her eyebrows and gave him a hard look of overflowing confusion, though before her brain could switch into overdrive, she was floored to see Zed slowly get to one knee before her. With a hard, incredulous smile, she gave him a look of playful confusion, as if she was certain he was just messing around. Her chest cavity shook a small giggle from her figure, though she suddenly froze as she could see Zed slip his hand into his left pocket and pull out a small black box.
Tessa felt the entirety of her being freeze as to just what was pouring over her whole soul. She suddenly felt the real shock of it all as Zed's slow movements seemed even slower, in this vat of scalding realization. With a sharp, silent gasp, she felt her heart jump as it hit her head on. With one arm still lazily crossed over her chest, she wormed the other arm free and covered her mouth with one of her hands; she lightly gaped behind it. She widened her eyes as Zed's shaking hands properly presented her with his ultimate gift, a beautifully opened sleek, black box that housed the small ring he had been keeping safe, though he knew it was his biggest secret yet. Zed's nervous figure finally let a small laugh escape his brilliantly bright, handsome smile. His eyes twinkled up to Tessa's frozen solid figure, though she smiled through her covered, gaping mouth.
"Will you marry me?" Zed's warm voice ventured through a growing grin.
Tessa scoffed a hard, silent breath of a surprise laugh into both of her hands, as she covered her mouth entirely and remained solid. She finally gave Zed eye contact and furrowed her eyebrows firmly, as if to be totally rocked off of the face of the Earth. She finally removed her hands and shot Zed an incredulous, gaping, concerned gawk. As much as she wanted to sit and question just exactly what dimension she was plopped in, she finally let her eyes gloss the gorgeous ring, graciously held out before her. To her surprise, it was a thicker, solid black ring with what looked to be intricate, enchanting carvings along the sides and the top. Perched at the very crown of the ring was a flawless rock Tessa was certain Zed likely tirelessly dug across Arcade for.
"What!" Tessa suddenly blurted; from the gleefully stunned look on Zed's face, she was totally positive that was not the correct thing to suddenly bark down to the very sight she had been dreaming of. She shook her head, in a flustered way and carried on, "Zed! I-I... What!"
Zed flinched and, though he initially wanted to feel a massive droop of sadness fall over him, he couldn't help but continue to beam the most excited grin up to Tessa. He was aware she was trying her ultimate hardest to remain responsible in this fragile situation, though he knew she was minutes away from letting a wide smile of defeat crack across her blushed face.
"Surely you planned this proposal to be elsewhere, besides this stuffy hotel room!" Tessa barked as she took a few steps away from Zed and flailed her arms; she paced in pure, girly shock and, though she wanted to shove Zed away and ask for a do-over, she couldn't help but train her eyes to Zed's frozen figure. He remained, on bend-knee, the ring still up for grabs in his posture. Tessa tightly crossed her arms, a childish act of wanting to be stubborn and say a solid, negative answer, though the fact that Zed's smile continued to grow had her feeling the impending flop of defeat, "W-We don't even have a home game to get married in! We have to save the damn thing first, and you're really going to get on one knee and propose to me!"
Zed cocked an eyebrow and, though he knew she had more than valid points, he remained firm in his vulnerable stance; he knew he was crazy for popping such a rare, tender question amidst the chaos, though he had to wonder if somehow the universe was telling him this was the perfect time to do so. He almost furrowed his eyebrows in growing uncertainty, as if he was now merely a puppet in the grand scheme of things. He trained his eyes to Tessa and continued to let his goofy smile remain on his face, his heart pounded as she continued to anxiously pace a few feet before him.
"And what! We've been fighting all day long, m-my family is in dire need of me," Tessa bellowed as large tears suddenly gathered in her eyes, though she wanted so badly to plead a positive answer down to Zed and crumple into his arms for the rest of eternity. She glanced back down at the ring and finally let that itching smile sprawl her face faster than the speed of light, "My God, you're just out to ruin my whole life, aren't you!"
"One silly question at a time," Zed croaked as he tilted his head just barely and remained frozen, as if standing would somehow reverse his question.
"Zed, you're crazy, this is crazy," Tessa argued as the tears finally sloped down her blushing cheeks. She smiled him a beam of relief and shook her head. She long blinked a few times, slow exposures of this raw moment she knew she'd never forget. She choked a hard, girly giggle and let her arms slump to her sides, "You know I can't say no to you, lookit you!"
Zed scoffed a bashful noise and looked down to the ground between Tessa, as if to be very aware of his place on the Earth. He felt his hands continue to lightly tremble with the rush of everything, though he remained with Tessa's gorgeous ring, presented to her. His gentlemanly posture was strict on his knee, he didn't dare to move.
"I-I'd be lying to you if I said I haven't been thinking about this moment for a long while, now!" Tessa suddenly rushed, as if to be becoming mildly annoyed with him.
"Will you marry me?" Zed's strong, warm voice lovingly ventured, yet again.
"Yes," Tessa urged, though their eyes locked in a sudden whirl of a dreamy oblivion, as if she had answered the age old questions of the universe's existence. She exhaled a soft giggle and cupped her fists to her chest in a sudden swipe of girly excitement, "Yes, I will...!"
"Yes?" Zed enthusiastically wondered as he slowly stood and pushed closer to Tessa. She looked as if she were equally awaiting his supportive embrace.
"Yes," Tessa said through a hard, exasperated giggle as she nodded and covered her mouth in continued surprise.
She beamed the widest, most vulnerable smile as Zed largely scooped her up into his arms and chest and lifted her off of her feet. The two shared a few laughs as he softly twirled her a few times. She latched her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and shoved her face into the top of his shoulder. She grinned into his soft shirt and, with a pounding heart, he finally slowed their twirling and tilted his head back, to get a good look at her. She sighed through a smile and relaxed in his strong grip as he held her up against him, like what they had been doing a half an hour prior.
"It was a yes or no question," Zed lightly complained through a whine of a playful laugh, which caused Tessa to blurt out a harder giggle.
"I'm sorry, you can't expect me to bounce back so easily from something like that," Tessa argued, though her glowing smile never faltered, "From something so sudden... Why here? Why now?"
"That's a good question," Zed urged as he gently set Tessa back down to her feet, though the two remained close, "I originally brought the ring with me, just in case the moment were to arise. My plan was to propose to you after our rule over Sugar Rush, for the night, but..."
"We destroyed your home game and now we're miles from home but uhh..." Tessa playfully trailed off and sarcastically shrugged her shoulders, "Wanna get hitched?!"
"Oh come on, I'm not an ass about it!" Zed largely laughed, he squinted his eyes and could swear the air in the room was a thousand times hotter prior to his burning question.
"Where will we have the wedding?" Tessa gave Zed a sudden look of rushed nervousness. Zed raised his eyebrows in baited surprise and, though he opened his mouth to attempt to begin to quell all of her worries, she continued on, "Th-this is all so sudden... What do we do about my family?"
"Tess, I proposed to you so that we could begin pl-"
"I-I don't want to elope, Zed," Tessa worried as her eyes began to grow glassy again. Zed frowned and tenderly gripped her upper arms, "I mean I know this is a marvelous getaway and... And you have a ring and everything, I just don't want to leave my family out of this!" Tessa suddenly crumpled into tears and covered her face; Zed immediately felt horrible.
"Tessa, I never wanted to leave your family out of it, quite the contrary," Zed assured as he squeezed her arms, as if to desperately give her the assurance he could possibly muster through the warm, tight grip of his hands, "I-I just couldn't hold it in any longer, I just really want to make this official promise to you... I want to solidify what we have, Tess, I don't ever want to lose you!"
"I understand," Tessa complained quietly as she finally gave Zed eye contact, albeit a very girly, innocent frown of dismay, "I'm just as relieved as you are... You don't know how awful it felt, staring at all your memories, wondering if you were just simply hard wired to fall for me, and with all additives removed, you'd forget even who I was..."
"Hopefully me getting on one knee proves all of that wrong," Zed's voice became firm, though still held an endless amount of patience and love, "After all we've been through, you think I'm going to forget your family in this mess? Not only would your father have my head, I'm pretty sure Oliver would disown me completely."
"Not to mention Lickity and everyone else," Tessa mumbled, her eyes glossed Zed's collar in a dip of warm realization that hit her over and over, like waves on the ocean. Tessa raised her eyebrows through the daze and let a bashful smile sprawl her face, "I-I can't believe this..."
"Forgot the most important part," Zed said under his breath as he softly slipped the sleek, black box out from his pant's pocket, yet again. As tenderly as he could, he opened it, pulled Tessa's ring out, and held it up between the two, to showcase it to her. He eagerly assessed her reaction and was floored to see her eyes delightfully twinkle with excitement.
"It's beautiful," Tessa eased to him, as softly as she could. She caught eyes with him curiously, "Tron inspired, I see?"
"It's made from material very similar to the housing of the light cycle, just a lot more durable," Zed chimed quietly, as if he had prepared this speech for months now, "So durable, in fact, it can withstand any wrecking you may do, while wearing it, and it won't break. Not even the gem will scratch."
"Diamond?" Tessa wondered, she kept her itching hands still, though she leaned closer to the ring, which Zed held at her eye level; oh how badly she wanted it on her left hand.
"Yes, though I treated it dozens of times, with the heat of the light cycle's light ribbon... Initially, those ribbons aren't hot, once they hit the open air, but the messy, gooey substance used to hold it all together can reach insane temperatures," Zed explained, his intelligent eyes honed to the ring he so carefully crafted, though he glossed his eyes to Tessa's and gave her a proud smile, "So, it has the ultimate strength of the diamond that it is, though the glistening prettiness and durability of the cycle's core. Again, it is wreck-proof."
"No kidding," Tessa scoffed quietly, though her heart jumped as Zed lovingly slipped his right hand into her left one and lifted it, just barely. After placing a slow, tender kiss atop the back of her smaller hand, he finally was allowed to gingerly wriggle the ring onto her left ring finger; onto it's proper place.
"Unbreakable," Zed stated softly, her grateful eyes met his in a string of loving wonder, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a bit of a smolder he was slowly becoming comfortable with showing; he finally showed his teeth through a last breath of his conclusion, "Invincible."