A/N: Yo, here's the first actual chapter! Enjoy, I'm not sure how many people actually read this, so I'm thinking I'll put up the next chapter after at least 5 reviews. Not any JALEX yet in this chapter... but just you wait... ;) Gaah! ~Shoshie19
His smooth lips curl into a smile, as he looks up at Alex. She stares at him, shocked, her small hands running to her mouth in surprise, freezing in her place. For once, Alex Russo is silenced. She begins to try to talk, but no words come. Finally, she nods, and squeals.
"Yes, Mason! Yes! I do! Whatever you're supposed to say, pretend I said it!" Suddenly she flies into the arms of her newly-named fiancé. They just barely wrapped around his muscled torso.
"Love, whatever you say is what you're supposed to say."
Alex flashes a happy smile, making it the perfect proposal scene, within Central Park, the perfect mix of hot dogs and soft pretzels for Alex, along with the fresh air and cool grass for Mason. It was like their relationship in the form of a New York City tourist and resident site.
Alex's emotions began swelling up, from love, to excitement, to anxiety. She grabs his hand, feeling a flurry of all the past few years since the Wizard Competition that would inevitably lead up to this moment in their lives. All those years of Justin warning her that he would break up with her one day, or they'd fall out of love, and she'd feel it was a waste to have worked so hard for her powers.
She can't wait until he has to eat his words. She loves watching his knowing smirk turn into a shocked and confused face, that still searches for something to make him somehow end up as the winner of their endless competition. Max will more or less spend the next few months trying to figure out how to spell "fiancée and fiancé," something that to him, was far more thought provoking and interesting than wedding planning or his sister spending her Wizarding life with a werewolf.
Theresa would obviously be ecstatic. Walking through the cool, breezy, serene dot on the map of Manhattan's concrete jungle, Alex shuddered to think of the chaos that went on at her Quincenera only seven years ago, how excited her mom got over her wearing an inedible cotton candy dress and heels that killed worse than Casey Anthony and her daughter. If a stupid coming-of-age ceremony could excite her so much, she could only imagine how extravagant this was going to be. Thank God she was actually excited this time.
Of course, the moment she told Jerry, a sea of tears would threaten to bring Hurricane Russo over all of New York State. He'd growl at Mason to intimidate him, only to remember that he wouldn't be able to scare the young, strong Werewolf. She could imagine the wheezing sounds he'd make when he cried. When she'd gotten her first boyfriend, customers at the substation had complained about salty, damp sandwiches for three weeks.
Just then, a soft pretzel stand came into view. Alex jumped up. "Ooh, Mason, to celebrate, let's have pretzels. Yum." She jogs over as quickly as she can in her high heeled boots, asking the fat, mustachioed man for two soft, slightly salty pretzels. The man grunted, wiping his hands on his greasy white t-shirt, and pulling two pretzels from the turning conveyer, and shoving them in a wax paper bag, tossing it into the young wizard's waiting hand. Alex pulled her Werewolf-in-a-sweater-vest fiancé over to a wooden bench, to eat, and more importantly… inspect the ring.
"Where's it from?" Alex asked, Mason smiling and her with his childish excitement showing obviously on his face. His thick brown hair went in all directions, one of the few things that reminded her of a dog when he was in his human state. She knew this smile well- it had two meanings. It either meant he was thinking of a memory that came with a huge back story, or he thought she was insanely adorable. In this case… the first one.
"When my great-great grandfather proposed to my grandfather in Britain during the fifth century, he carved this out from a small cave on his land. And after my grandmother accidentally swallowed it when she thought it was a really cool fruit… they married!" Alex cringed, looking at her finger with a new disgust. "Oh, but don't worry. It was cleaned out really well in the creek."
"Aw, Mason!" Alex pulled the ring off her finger, before quickly putting it back on. Her face turned red, thinking of all the confusing thoughts Mason must be having at her being angry at him only seconds after being so happy to be spending the rest of their who-knows-how-long lives together.
"Focus on happy things. Like bones! And… treats! And… the fact that I get to marry the laziest, most pickle-y smelling girl in the entire world!" He puts his arm around her, and Alex gets chills all up her back. His hands are huge, and they feel like a seatbelt, surrounding her and pulling her closer from her stomach. Alex looks down and giggles, leaning her head on his broad shoulder. She hoped she did everything exactly perfect today- she wasn't one for fairy tales, but she knew if she was going to be able to retell the story of how he proposed without telling little white lies every few sentences… she needed to every move… every word just as she wanted to remember it.
They start walking again, she slowly puts the ring back on her dainty finger, throwing thoughts of ancient werewolf saliva to the back of her mind.
She looked back up at him, to kiss him, his bright smile luring her in more than any fishing pole for salmon. She wrinkled her nose quickly, imagining Mason as a gigantic salmon. And thought to the next few months until they were married…. Wait.
This means they'd have to plan a wedding. And tell their family. And go dress shopping. And send out invitations. And spend the rest of their lives together.
And… tell Mason's family. Of course, thought Alex. I couldn't have put that thought out of my head for more than twenty minutes after getting engaged? Ugh, nothing can ever be easy for me. Mason's grin begins to fade.
"What's wrong? I thought we were happy? Isn't that what soon-to-be-married people should be?" Alex looks at him, slowly melting away from her previous decision to not tell him her two-second worry. "We said we'd be honest with each other. Was that doubt I saw?" Finally Mason's British accent breaks her down.
"Okay, fine. I'm scared because your parents don't like me. They'd never agree to let you marry me. They want you to marry a werewolf. In fact, they would rather eat me than have eat with me. And, as much as I hate to ruin your fantasy, I'm a wizard. Always have been, always will be," crossing her arms, she lifts up her eyebrows in question. "How are you going to tell them?"
Mason looks around, scratching his back to distract himself. "Wow, it is a lovely day out. I think we could use a second round of those hot dogs, don't you think, Alex?" He begins a quick pace along the park's path toward a nearby vendor. Alex grabs his light blue button up shirt and pulls him back with as much force as she can muster. She lets out a growl.
"Mason! I'm serious. I've only met them once, and that was years ago. They're not going to like this very much. As awesome as it is that I'm actually engaged- trust me, my family won't be able to believe I was actually able to get a guy to stay with me this long- I know your parents don't approve of me. They would rather you marry a werewolf."
"That's not true, Alex!"
"So, those phone calls from your parents about the beautiful pure bred, that has nothing to do with them wanting you to marry a werewolf!" In her full rage, she almost passes the hot dog man, quickly backtracking to the vendor. "One hot dog with the works. Fast! I'm more hungry than that fat guy scarfing down the Thanksgiving dinner on the picnic blanket."
