*AN* Getting near the end now. I thought I would be able to finish it tonight as I uploaded these chapters but I had a change of plans so It may have to go for another few days or a week. I still have some time to work on it and I'm excited to get this finished so I can work on a new story. I didnt look over this chapter before I uploaded it so there may be some dialogue that I didnt key log but it would follow the same pattern for the most part. I believe this is the chapter when Kendall proposes but I am not sure. It isnt the most romantic or even sensible proposal but I couldnt think of anything else. I guess you could say that I'm not a romantic type of person but at the same time I dont sit around wondering how my future husband to be might propose. I dont want to say 'this is how I want to be proposed to' I want it to be something romantic, creative and/or spontaneous. This chapter was part filler kind of as well as part of the next chapter, I wasnt quite ready to get to the end and it wouldnt have made sense to all of a sudden jump to the ending. I dont want to get to ahead of myself right now and spoil any endings or upcoming chapters so I'll leave it at this for now. As Always, any questions, or comments can be left in the review section HOWEVER if you do not have an account, I cannot answer your questions!*
With the plans set, it was now time to set them in motion, the only question was how? Kendall wanted everything to be special although the timing wasn't exactly right and he felt bad about it but there wasn't anything he could do. It was now or never and the surprise gets ruined. He wanted to propose in a way that she would never forget, in a way that truly expressed his feelings for her and how much he cared about her. It needed to be special but how?
He spent the evening calling friends, even getting some of Katie's friends in on it. He called Liam, although it was late at Liam's house when Kendall called, but Liam accepted the idea and would put it in motion when he was able. Katie's first LA friend, Jess was called back after a few days of searching for the now famous superstar. Jess was ecstatic and couldn't wait to help, even putting all of her jobs on hold until everything was finalized.
It took a few days and some secret planning both in LA and in Connecticut as both parties came together and created the perfect environment. Katie was on a mini vacation after taking a spill in the arena and twisting her knee. She'd be on bed rest for a few days and the timing was perfect to get everything ready for her return. One of the lesser used classrooms and arenas were transformed from a storage area to a brightly decorated fantasy land. Flowers, ribbons, streamers, balloons, lace, banners lined the walls, the tables anything that could hold decoration, had one.
When Katie returned after 3 days of rest she was still in a bit of pain but she was walking on her own. It'd be a while before she could teach an arena class but she could still teach her lectures. Her office was lightly decorated with a welcome back banner at which she smiled. She got to work on some paperwork that needed to be done until it was time for class. She walked to the arena to put a note on it's door telling of the change in agenda and to move to the classroom down the hall. She went to wait in the class but noticed the door was locked with a sign saying it was in need of maintenance. She didn't question it right now, since class would be starting soon and just changed the sign on the arena door to reflect the change.
She walked to the corner classroom, one of the lesser used rooms and opened the door to be greeted with bright lights, flashes, and screams of joy as all of the occupants yelled surprise! Katie looked up in shock at the decorated room and all her staff packed into the room.
"What's all this?"
"Welcome back!"
"I wasn't gone that long!"
"Still, we thought you might need some cheering up after working so hard and then getting injured. I cancelled your next to classes so you can enjoy some peace for a little bit." Sandy started
"We just want to show you our appreciation for all your hard work and dedication." Liam added
"You're not like other bosses, you're nice to your employees and you actually do the work instead of hiring someone else to do it for you." another employee, Rachel commented
"Thanks, you guys are amazing yourselves. I wouldn't be here without all of you helping me like you do."
"Come on, grab a drink and some snacks; let's get this party going!" Liam said enthusiastically
Katie partied with her staff for an hour before things really started to pick up. Liam was with her most of the time and kept her preoccupied so she wouldn't notice anything. He kept changing the subject or throwing her false answers so she'd get distracted although he knew it wouldn't work for long. She was smart and soon enough she'd figure things out. The camera crew was the hardest thing to hide, they were a different crew, ones that Katie had never seen before but they were filming for BTR Lifestyles, as Kendall ordered. Liam told her it was for posterity, that it was supposed to be a surprise but they were creating a couple different videos about the school and a documentary or dedication video to her.
She didn't question much though, surprisingly enough. The decorations were pretty but they were very elaborate and didn't really fit in with the casual party they were having. Congratulations banners didn't fit in with the supposed theme but luckily Katie was having too much fun to notice. The thing she did notice was the lights going out. The music was still going as well as other electronics that were plugged in but the old lights had burnt out. After some moans and groans at the party's seemed ending, someone spoke up to move it into the arena. It was agreed and Katie went to unlock it. Liam was right behind her as the other party goer's stayed behind and pretend to collect the party items.
"Ok, she's gone.' Sandy said and the lights in the room turned back on. Derek, one of the other teachers, popped the breaker quickly to kill the lights. Katie could easily fix it but she was pushed into the conversations of moving the party so she would leave. Everyone stopped gather the supplies and instead went to the front lobby and viewing room to watch everything go down. A camera crew was already set up both in the viewing room and in the arena and they were rolling while the one that was in the party room followed Liam and Katie.
Katie turned on the lights and was greeted with a banner and more decorations as well as another camera crew. She turned to Liam confused and he just pointed forward as he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her lightly. She turned and continued on and the lights dimmed to the spotlights used for shows. The lights landed on the middle of the arena and Katie continued past the equipment that had been pushed into a heap to look at it. Three of her dogs, a black, brown and yellow lab, were sitting in a semi circle. 2 had flowers in their mouths and the other had a scroll. The one with the scroll walked to her and gave it up. She opened it to read the instructions: "Walk between the flowers."
She did as the scroll said and walked between the dogs to find a patch of roses and candles hidden behind one of the obstacles, just out of sight from her when she walked in. The roses were laid out in a certain way, as if they were spelling something. She moved around to get a better view and she was finally able to see what it was.
"Turn around? What…?" she said to her self confused. She stood for a moment trying to figure it out before looking left and right of her. She saw the 2nd camera crew in the corner again and started thinking. Slowly she turned around and the lights went out completely making the arena completely dark. Her heart jumped at the sudden darkness and she didn't like it. She saw only the light from the camera crew but it wasn't enough to light up the arena enough to see anything.
She just stayed put, heart racing as she tried to hold back the tears that were starting to push through. She couldn't say or do anything and felt trapped. She called out to Liam but he didn't respond. She pulled out her phone to use it's flash to light the way out of the arena. Suddenly a spot light turned on and Katie followed the light's gaze to a large wrapped present sitting in the middle of the arena. Cautiously she went over to it and touched it, springing back in fear not knowing what it was or what to do. She tried to move it and surprisingly it was light and flimsy. She saw that it didn't have a bottom and instead just flipped it onto its side to see what it was hiding underneath.
It took a few seconds to digest what was underneath the box after it fell out of the way. Kendall Knight kneeled before her, small box in his hand. It was open to reveal a small silver ring, shining brightly under the light. His head was bowed while he was under the box but once he was clear he looked up to meet her gaze, his green eyes shining bright with sincerity and love. He waited for Katie to gather herself from the shock before he continued.
"Katie, I love you with all my heart. There is nothing on this earth that I love more than you and I have been trying to prove that to you since the beginning. You are the sweetest girl with the biggest heart, I have ever met. The last 5 years together have meant the world to me and I hope you have felt the same way. I want to cherish every moment we have together for the rest of my life. If you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus 1 day so I never have to live without you. Katie Pryszweic, will you do me the highest honor and be my wife?"
Katie stood dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events and was too overcome with emotion to do anything. Instead she felt the tears push at her eyelids and just let them flow slowly, holding back her choked sobs. Kendall's smile turned to concern and he slowly got up. He wasn't sure what to do and wanted to console her but didn't know if she was crying out of sadness or happiness. Katie cleared her eyes and saw him standing up so she rushed into his arms where he picked her up and swung her around before giving her a kiss.
Their romantic moment was cut short by rounds of applause and cheers from staff, friends and family who had come out of hiding beyond the one way windows. Logan, James, Carlos, Liam, Jess and Sandy came running up to the duo to congratulate them. Kendall's band mates pat him on the shoulder and gave him a hug while Jess and Sandy squealed in delight. The camera crews temporarily got in the groups faces before backing up to let everyone have their turn.
Katie's classes were cancelled for the rest of the day since she was overwhelmed by the day's events but she was still on campus. The main building shut down for all classes but any other classes were still held at staff discretion. The rest of the day was spent partying and talking about everything and anything, Katie and her female friends began discussing plans and ideas for a wedding as well as looking at the ring she now proudly wore on her finger. It was perfect to Katie but there were several questions raised by her friends in regards to it's look. It was a small ring and since both stars were rich, it was questioned why the diamond was so small. It was still a good size, being very noticeable and shiny but to others it seemed out of place in a celebrity setting. The stones were set on a silver band rather than gold, which Katie preferred; she didn't hate gold but she liked silver better. She rarely wore jewelry so the thin band made it less noticeable to her. Along side the center diamond were two emerald stones, surrounded by more diamonds. Emerald was not her birth stone, it would be opal since she was born in October by Katie wasn't a fan of the stone and her favorite color was green so Kendall had the stones replaced. The band was too small for an inscription but it didn't need one.
After a long day filled with all kinds of surprises and emotions, Katie called it quits early and headed home. Kendall and his band mates left an hour ago for an early bachelor celebration. Katie was invited but she had other plans, she wanted to go right home and do some thinking as well as tell her parents the good news. She grabbed her things and piled into her truck and put her keys in the ignition but before she started the car she looked down at the ring with a smile for a moment. Her smile soon faded before her thoughts began to take over.
Everything was finally starting to sink in and her heart began to beat faster and skip a few beats. Why? Why was she wearing this ring? Was this real? All of her past habits, problems and beliefs started flooding back to her at the same time. She started panicking at the thought of being married at all, let alone Kendall. She thought he was the man of her dreams, he was sweet, caring, sensitive, loving, thoughtful, funny and oh so cute. He was perfect to her in every way imaginable but yet, her old ways of fearing everything an mistrust of everyone crept its way back in. She was having second thoughts about the whole thing and of course with that, hatred about herself for having such thoughts.
The thought about hurting the man she loved after everything he had done for her was too much. But she was scared, scared she was jumping into something she wasn't ready for, something that wasn't even for her. For the longest time she always thought that she wasn't supposed to have a happy ending and now that it was here, staring her in the face, it was just too much to handle. She slid the ring off her finger and held it in her hand for a while, just looking at it before putting it in a napkin and placing it in her cupholder.
She looked up to see the garage dark and outside was even darker. Night had set in and she had spent much longer than she thought she did, just sitting and pondering thoughts. She wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled herself together, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down before starting the engine and pulling out of her stall and out into the quiet cul-de-sac of the parking lot. Things were eerily quiet on campus, she wasn't sure how long she had been sitting in silence in the garage but it had to be for a good deal of time. She slowly pulled out along the buildings and checked the main building as she drove by to see everything shut off and closed. It was a bit early to be shut down but after everything that had happened, she was going to let it slide.
She waved to the security guard on her way out and started heading down the road towards home. She used to live in town, right on the boarder of the next town but since she moved, the travel distance was a bit longer. It was only about 10-15 minutes at best but tonight it just seemed to take forever as tears kept threatening to push past her eyes. Her heart was heavy with emotion and she just wanted to put all of this behind her; hoping that everything would be better tomorrow after a good night's sleep.
She pulled into her driveway, setting off the automatic garage door opener. Once she pulled inside and parked, the door shut behind her, locking her inside so she could let out Shadow who despite his old age and loyalty, could still be a run away and with it being dark outside, it would be near impossible to find the black German Shepherd. Shadow jumped out of the back seat and sat by the car door as Katie grabbed her gear and headed inside. She set down her dirty supplies in the mud room and unhooked Shadow from his vest and leashes before letting him prance to the kitchen to get some water. She was still hanging things up when he came running back to her and stood in front of her growling, pointing towards the living room. His defensive mannerisms sent Katie into a slight panic but she was well prepared, she pulled out an expandable stick and tazer before quietly tip toeing behind Shadow as he lead her in the right direction.
She hid behind a door frame, Shadow at her side, laying low, ready for her word. She listened closely but didn't hear much. The house was eerily quiet which was strange for this time of night but there was someone or several people in the house that didn't belong. She could smell a light scented perfume wafting towards her and some shallow breathing. Noises were very scarce and quiet but Katie and Shadow were quieter. She instructed Shadow to go one way as she went the other to corner whatever intruder they would encounter. She peeked behind her quickly to see Shadow ready at the other end of the room she took a deep but quiet breath before giving Shadow his command.
In a split second both Shadow and Katie took off around their respective corners to catch the intruder off guard only to be met with chaos. A room full of people went from quiet to panicked as Katie scared them in one direction and Shadow to scare them into another. Katie stopped almost immediately to try and make heads or tails of the situation. She moved to the side so the panicked patrons could leave the room and scatter throughout the house, away from the savage beast that was Shadow. The room cleared quickly and Katie called Shadow off once he was in range. He calmed down to his gentle self and returned to Katie's side to sit at her feet, tuckered out from the excitement. She dismissed him to go get water and she was met with confused, scared and some angry glares from people who she could now recognize as her friends and family.