Ch. 48 - You and Me in Sweet Paris

Alison's POV

9:42 am leaving New York, New York (earlier that morning)

There wasn't much else to say once Emily shushed me about my threats to kill that woman sitting across from us. I was still upset that she had the audacity to say that to us, but I knew I wasn't as upset as Em. I think I feel guilty that I wasn't more offended by it, but I just wasn't. People are always going to think what they want, I can't change that. The best I've learned to do is to just hear them but not listen, there's a fine line between the two.

And come to think of it, it had been years since we had someone share with us why the two of us being to together was so "wrong." Maybe we've gotten those 'looks' when holding hands at the park or the grocery store, but we stopped noticing.

At least I know I did.

It was finally some time, years ago, that I felt like world didn't care anymore. Then there was a small shift in the society when gay marriage was finally legalized, and we didn't make a great big deal of it, but it was a big deal for so many people that it was inevitable to feel it.

As a matter of fact, sitting here in silence next to the woman I love, I barely realized how big of a deal this woman and her attack on us was to Emily.

It was an inalienable right that we pursue happiness, and by opening her mouth, this stupid woman attacked that right. Emily was my happiness, there was and probably never will be a happy moment or memory where she isn't involved.

Em spent a very important period of her life struggling with this: struggling to be happy with who she knew she was, she didn't even think she could be both at the same time! The hate she was afraid she'd face kept her from it. And she shied away from becoming herself - her whole self - for the sake of not dealing with people like that lady across the aisle.

I wish she had shared more, but I know it was something she didn't think was important to talk about. Still, I never really had to deal with what Em did. My mom died before I think she really knew how I loved Emily and my dad stopped caring about what I did altogether a long time ago.

There was no coming out to my friends because I think they somehow always knew, even before I did. And Emily was...is the only girl I will ever be with and any time someone tried to discriminate or judge us, she was the one to stick up for the both of us.

She either told them off or she grabbed my hand and decided that the people around us didn't deserve our company.

Emily is the strongest person I know.

If the universe blesses me with child of my own one day, I pray his or her heart is as big as Em's.

There are terrorists, rapists, felons and murderers living among us and instead there are self-righteous bastards that want to tell us what we do and who we are is wrong? No, that's complete-

"You should close your eyes and get some rest." Emily's voice cut through my thoughts and after a moment, I felt the effect her words had on me and I found myself scooting closer to her and trying to relax.

She smiled down at me and tapped my forehead, "you're not supposed to be thinking so hard. This is our vacation."

She was right, "that's true, but I could say the same to you, You," I grabbed her hand that was still fisted against the armrest and uncurled her fingers, her fingernails left pale indents in her palm, "you, are supposed to be relaxed."

"I am." Em held open her other hand and caressed my head, running her slender fingers easily through my hair, "I'm fine."

But I knew her more than she thought sometimes, "she's just one woman, Em."

"One here," she emphasized, "but she's not the only one. She's over there clutching her bible like it'll protect her from us," Emily scoffed, jutting her chin over her shoulder, "the version of God she believes in will condemn us to hell." Emily was only mocking, there was something deeper behind this though.

"Hey," I grabbed her face so she would look down at me, "you don't believe that."

"No, I don't but, I think about us all the time Alison. My life, the rest of it, I see it with you. And I know we were only joking and being metaphorical that one time with Hanna, but I see mini versions of us running around too. I don't want them growing up if there will be people that are going to try to tell them-,"

"Tell them what?" I cut her off. "People with no eyes could see how much I love you, and how much you love me. So any child - metaphorical or not - that we raise will know that and not care, and they'll be stronger than the haters."

"I do love you but-,"

"Then that's it, you don't need to worry about anything else, it's not your job to teach that woman or anyone else for that matter why she's so wrong, Emily." She was starting to worry me, this is not how I imagined the flight to the City of Love to go. "You can't fix the world," I added as an afterthought.

I watched her shoulders drop and she closed her eyes, leaning against the seat. A hum was her only response, and normally I would be content with that, but she made me worried, she doesn't get to get off the hook that easily.

"Say it," I poked her stomach and she flinched away, a smile breaking across her face.

Emily tried blindly to swat my hand away, "Say what?"

"You know what I want to hear."

She popped open one eye, seeing me staring right at her and then she closed it, "no, I'll pass."

"Emmm," I whined, knowing how much-

"I hate when you do that."

I laughed, poking her stomach again, "then?"

"Fine," she looked at me, "you're right."

"There, not so hard."

"Shush already."

"Wait, one more thing."

"What is it now?"

"Three words."

"Hmm, is it 'you are annoying'?"

"No! Emily!"

"Would you two please be quiet?"

"Mother fu- listen lady, we can do whatever the hell we want. No one else seems to have a problem with me sitting next to my girlfriend while I talk to her about whatever I want."

"You're a disgrace, God would never-"

"I grew up with the same GOD DAMN bible lady, and you're not God so I doubt you can speak on his behalf. And last time I went to church with my straight parents and pastor, I don't remember reading anything that said I was committing some kind of sin, no one there turned me down, so if you don't like it, please close your beady little eyes or put in the fucking earphones they give you and watch the fucking movie they play."

Emily didn't even wait for a response, instead she turned her body towards me and huffed, "I love you Ali."

I didn't say anything either, but I felt that that woman was looking at us still so I leaned in closer to Em and kissed her lightly on the lips, "I love you too."

"Attendent! I need earphones...and some alcohol please!"

I chuckled against Emily's lip, they were as I always remembered them, soft, warm, and a perfect fit for mine.

"You were going to call her a mother fucker weren't you?"

"Ali," Em tried to hide her laugh at the blunt language, "you're impossible."

x-x-x-x-x

Emily's POV

Ali fell asleep soon after the second encounter with that absurd woman. I should've been surprised that she felt like she could insult me and Ali again, but the truth was, I wasn't. How I could I be? She didn't understand what it was like to live a life defending - mostly to strangers - that you're so irrevocably in love with someone.

All she seen was two women, not how happy I was before she opened her mouth.

I shouldn't be this upset, I've dealt with far worse, but I hated the fact that I have to think that. I have to think that she wasn't that bad in comparison. I've had worse. There shouldn't even be anything to compare, this should just not happen.

And with what this trip is for and about and why me and Ali are going...

She doesn't deserve to take that away, so she's not.

I asked for a light blanket to throw over me and Ali and I covered us, reclining our seats and holding her closer to me. This was right. All the higher powers known, unknown and believed in or not knew this but more importantly, the two of us knew it, we felt it.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and closed my eyes...I will spend the rest of my life knowing I was lucky enough to find this.

Lucky enough to keep doing things to keep her.

Keep her forever.

x-x-x-x-x

No One's POV

The girls managed to sleep for about 6 and a half hours before Emily woke them both up. They were almost over the landing strip, the pilot's accented voice sounding out through the speakers to inform all the passengers that they would be landing soon.

Landing soon, Emily thought.

Land, unboard or deplane, whatever, pick up bags, call a taxi. Land, get off the plane, pick up bags, call a taxi. That was all that was standing between them and the start of forever.

"Ali, we're here love, wake up." Alison groaned like she normally would and rolled over, swatting at Emily's hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon babe, we'll be landing soon." And that spiked her interest. That made her pick the small crust from the corner of her eye and sort her hair into the right places. That made her sit up and reach as far as she could to press her nose to the window like a child and look down below.

Landing soon, Alison thought. The window was cool against her nose and she just waited.

The expanse of billowy shapes made of cotton suspended loosely in the air. The lower they got, they slowly started to clear and give way to the pool of clear sky.

Emily peered out of the window with her girlfriend and smiled, placing her hand on the small of Ali's back and rubbing it in small circles. Moving it around to wrap her hands in the only hand she'd ever want to hold.

"Em?"

"Yeah Ali?"

"Are you ready?"

"For what?"

Ali faced Em and just smiled. "For whatever happens next," she shrugged.

"Well that depends," Em teased.

"On what?"

Emily pretended to look around and be stuck deep in thought, thinking she would earn a laugh for pulling it off but instead Alison smacked her lightly on the arm.

"Ow, babe!"

"Don't mess around Em, I asked if you were ready, why do you have to say it depends? What does it depend on?"

The blonde squinted her eyes and Emily swallowed hard, conceding, "okay okay ask me again."

Ali shook her head, "Em, are you ready for what happens next," she sighed lazily.

"Well, will you be there?"

Alison looked around like someone asked if water was wet and answered accordingly, "of course, what do you think?"

"Well then my answer is yes. Ali if you are there, if you are anywhere, then I will be there, I will be right next to you. That's how this works, and that's how it will always works. So what happens next, is you and I get to start a new chapeter in our lives."

"Together?"

"Is water wet?" Emily asked.

"Of course it is, what do you think," Alison laughed mildly.

"I think where you go, I go, where I go, you're as better be there."

"I will, I promise."

"Good, then we'll be like two peas in a pod," Emily jested.

Sure, Ali smirked, like two peas in a pod...only sexier.

x-x-x-x-x

10:27 pm Paris, France

Alison's POV

We did it, we were finally here, and it was real. But it was better than I ever could've thought: the air was crisper, it tasted sweeter, the food made me fuller sooner, and the people invigorated me, the hustle and bustle we ran into reminded me of New York when we moved there for the first time.

The moment we got out off the plane we were giddy with excitement. We called a taxi, where we both exercised our French to the best of our abilities, only to find out when we stopped at the hotel that our driver spoke perfect English.

We were off to a great start. But I know it was only a fraction of the fun and surprises yet to come.

So we checked into the suite: the one Emily insisted that we split the bill for but I know she paid for it all. It was grand and extravagant and...perfect.

Dreamlike.

Em swooped in beside me, dropping the bags she carried and tipping the man who helped bring all the others up, and when he closed the door, she kissed the side of my cheek and gave my upper arm a small pinch.

I was still awake.

I watched her float around the room like the goddess she was and give herself a tour of the place while I did my own in silence.

What I discovered was that the online website did this suite no justice. It was like a portion of a French mansion assigned to us and us only. I couldn't have designed it better in my dreams even if I wanted to.

I walked around, brushing my fingers over everything lightly...despite the pinch, I was making sure it was all real. You can touch things that are real, that's what we're told, but the wind is real, love is real, and pain is real. You can't t touch them all.

So despite the pinch Em gave as assurance, I wanted to feel the things I knew could be felt because they were real.

So I kept walking, slowly shuffling my feet, a light smile played across my mouth.

There was a full kitchen, a living room with a couch, a love-seat, two chairs, a coffee table, electric fireplace and a huge flat-screen tv. The bathroom was too big for two people: a huge old tub standing on lion's paws, the old kind of white tubs that stand alone

I could see the same awe in Emily's face. We snapped pictures to document the whole thing, but nothing could capture the feeling I know we both had. Years from now, my only wish is that we can both remember everything as vividly. Years from now I hope that Em and I have seen more than Paris, that we have scrapbooks full of memories ready to relive them through.

But I could only just focus on this right now. The present. These moments as they were happening.

It was everything I dreamed it would be and then more. I looked over to the woman holding my hand, she was the more. I always knew I'd make it here one day, but to finally have that happen and have Emily here with me. Emily, the Emily Fields...well it was just surreal.

I told myself that if this ever turned out to be a dream, that I would find a way to put myself in a permanent state of rest and sleep, like a coma. I didn't want to wake from this.

Em always assure me that I wouldn't, that we were awake in this together. She would laugh and when I wasn't expecting it, she'd pinch me and tease, "see, you're awake." It was why she pinched me earlier, she was keeping up old habits.

And I was awake. I was awake and I was so happy. The moment my feet hit the ground, I knew this was going to be just the start of something even better. Emily had no clue how we were going to return home...the same...but slightly different. Different for what was weighing down my pocket.

x-x-x-x-x

That day was the best of my life.

Well I'll say the second best because I knew the best day wasn't here yet. It was coming.

So we had just finished our first day in Paris together. It was perfect. Beyond perfect and there was but one thing left for us to do together. The big thing. The main thing, she said. But I knew I had something bigger coming for her.

I argued with myself and Em that maybe our last to do item should've waited when we had a full day to ourselves but Emily convinced me that the night was as young as we were and we had to go now.

She had already bought a pair of 'skip the line' tickets to Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France.

An address home to Gustave Eiffel's iconic, wrought-iron 1889 tower.

The Eiffel Tower.

The prized possession and tourist attraction.

The one thing we were both the most excited to see. And it was a sight like no other when we got up close. The Eiffel Tower at night. It was exactly like I'd read about. Beautiful and grand and almost too perfect to believe. This time, our pictures would do our memories no good.

And I tried to act like I wasn't freaking out on the inside. I acted like getting tickets to the Eiffel Tower at night was not a big deal, but it totally was, it was one of the biggest deals I could've ever imagined

and the perfect day seem to have unraveled unto the night seamlessly.

The croissant flavor was still heavy on my tongue, the view from our hotel room at Hôtel Le Littré - where it was near impossible to book anything let alone a suite with the view we had - was etched fresh into my memory and all the pictures we had taken snapped back through my head.

If there was ever a perfect time to do it, it was now. I should do it now, I told myself.

"Ali?"

I turned my attention back to Emily for the first time in what must have been minutes, "yeah?"

"You okay babe?"

"Huh? Oh - yeah, I'm fine, i was just thinking you know."

"Oh," she looked at me harder and I swear she was reading my mind through my eyes, so I tried to look at anything but her chocolate almond ones.

I said I tried. Doesn't mean I succeeded.

And I didn't.

She looked at me and then right through me.

"If you're tired, we can go back to the hotel babe, the tower isn't going anywhere and according to our plans for tomorrow, neither are we. I just thought we've been looking at it from afar all day, we should end the night up close. But I'm feeling jet lagged too so, you know." And she trailed, waiting for me to

respond.

I started to say that I wasn't tired but my own body betrayed me and I yawned.

"C'mon, we'll come back tomorrow."

"No," I yawned again, "let's do it."

"Wait, all 1,710 steps?"

I almost choked and gripped her arm, making her look directly at her, "no, Emily, it's late, NO."

Emily almost burst into tears from laughing at the terrifying look on her girlfriend's face, "gotcha!"

"Em! Not funny, I love you but I was going to leave if your fitness freak ass was really expecting me to ascend the steps to the moon."

"Ali, you would leave me?"

Emily feigned hurt and Ali scoffed, "over some stairs? Of course not you dummy. If you really wanted to do that, I know I couldn't stop you."

"Because you'd be right next to me?"

"No."

"What? But I thought-,"

"You kidding, do you know me at all? My ice cream for breakfast eating ass would be right on your back."

So a chuckle slipped through Emily's lips and she shrugged, "how about just the two stories that most of everyone does then?

"Hmm, how many steps is that?"

"I don't know, I'm not google."

"Some help you are, I'll look myself."

Emily grabbed Ali's hand before she slipped it into her purse, "Ali, yes or no, stop it."

Her girlfriend returned the laugh and nodded, her head, "two stories and then we're going back to that hotel and ordering hot dessert."

"And," Em raised a brow, "is that all?" She finished with a slight lilt in her voice.

"Oh, you're bad, stop it Em."

"I'm just saying," Em shrugged her shoulders and looked at her shoes innocently.

"Do you want to climb the Eiffel right now or what?"

"Okay, okay," Em stood up straight and held out her hand, "c'mon."

x-x-x-x-x

"328," Ali gasped behind Emily. She was winded. Not the let me stand and breathe in for a second. She was the hands on her knees, screaming at everyone behind her to hold their horses, Emily why didn't we bring water and better shoes, lungs on fire, I'll roll down the steps to get down, what the fuck, kind of winded.

And Emily wore a I'm sorry please forgive her, I love her dearly, look.

"Emily Fields, that was 328 steps that I will love counting even more when you're the one carrying me down them." Don't let her fool you, there was a pause for air after every 3 or so words, so Em just followed each with a slow nod.

"You done?"

"Emmmm," Ali whined, "my legs are fucking cramping."

"Aliiiiiii," Emily whined back, "you're fine," she deadpanned, "now come here."

"No, I can't move."

"Ali, it wasn't a question, get your ass over here." Emily pointed to the ground right beside her.

Alison's POV

Well, I had no damn choice but to suck it up, ignore the clenching muscles, on the way up, Em tried to teach me the proper name. Right now I believe the fire of a thousand exploding suns was originated from my gluteus maxiwhatever and rectus femorthingy...something like that.

And I wish I could be mad at her, I wish I was in as good a shape as her, but when I stood beside her and looked out over the city of light and of course the city of love.

From this vantage point, it was like looking out into a portrait. But it wasn't a still like a portrait - it was nor longer a collection of static buildings and beamlike moonlight - it was more like a living and breathing entity, shining and breathing at us.

The sky was clear and even just from the second floor, all 328 brutal steps, the moon seemed just that much closer.

I could feel Emily gravitate towards me and I her, and soon we were shoulder to shoulder...or my shoulder to her upper arm, and I took the opportunity to rest my head against her, finally feeling my breathing start to regulate.

And we stayed like that for I don't even know how long. It could've been seconds, minutes, hours, hell if not for the fact that the moon was still hanging above us, it could've been days. And I would've stayed there if not for the fact that Em had to shake me lightly to get my attention.

I had no idea I had shut my eyes until I opened them and re-familiarized myself with the view in front of me.

Emily has the wind lightly blowing through her perfectly messy bun, the slight shine of sweat sparkling to mimic the city lights and she had the barely-there smile playing on her lips.

"Em-" "Ali-"

We laughed and shook heads at one another. It happens often enough that we should be used to it, but we laugh nonetheless every time. We'd do it when the waiter came to ask if we were ready, when they asked if we wanted dessert, it happened when we were silent in thought and were wondering what to put on the TV.

And so it happened again now, and I had no idea if what we were going to say to each other next was the same thing. I had planned this for ages. I didn't think I'd be doing it now though. I planned to do it when we were getting pushed down the French riviera by a short man wearing a beret and a striped shirt serenading us with something in French.

But it felt right right now so-

"There's something I want to tell you."

We did it again.

No One's POV

But this time, the laughter was nervous and they threw their eyes away from the gaze of the other.

"You go first-" "You go first-"

Emily put her hands against the railing and put her hand behind Ali's back, bringing them closer together, "okay Ali, babe, I love you, but 90% of the time, I let you go, and this is important, so I want to be the one to talk."

Alison swallowed and nodded, nervous and anxious, a cold sweat running down her spine.

"Okay, Em," she exhaled heavily, "okay, you go, but then me."

Em nodded her head quickly and rubbed her hands together, looking out toward the city and then back at Alison, "god Ali, I love your eyes, and I don't know how I'm going to get through this while I have to look at them the whole time."

"Emily?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're right, I shouldn't be this nervous to just speak, after all that's all it is, I'll just be talking, nothing to that, we talk all the time."

"Babe?"

"I'm doing it again, I'm sorry, there really is something I want to tell you, it's no new news, you know this, I know this so-"

"I'm usually the one who gets like this, so shut your mouth now and then open it when you're ready."

Emily opened her mouth only to shut it and nod her head counting in one and then, two deep breaths.

"Okay, Ali, you know I love you. I have always loved you, since we were young and I had no idea what the word really meant, I have loved you. I love you now and I know I will love you for as long as this heart of mine stays beating in my chest. I will love all of you unconditionally and without question because I can't think of doing it any other way.

"We've been through hell and back, we've weathered storms that no experienced sailor could make it through so it's with every fiber in me that I want to stay with you always. And what we have is so real, I want to do everything I can to prove that.

"So," she paused to square her shoulders with Ali, "I want to borrow the necklace I gave you for your birthday."

Alison smiled with the tightness in her chest and then frowned, "Em?"

"Just trust me babe, I know you haven't taken it off since I gave it to you, but just this one time, make the exception, will you?"

"Em, I don't understand."

"You will babe," Em rushed, "please, just let me show you."

Alison looked around, the world started to fade away slowly and then everyone started to move like they were trudging through thickened syrup, "o-okay, okay."

She turned around and flipped her hair over her shoulder, holding it out in front of her to expose her neck to Emily.

Em undid the latch and slid the small key into the palm of her hand, weighing it with a huge grin on her face.

"Em?"

"Okay Ali, bear with me here, I just need to talk again without being interrupted okay?"

"Okay," Alison agreed quickly, just tell me why you need that back, you said it was-"

"I said it was the key to my heart, even though you already had it a long time ago, I said it was the key. And I was right. It is the key, to my heart, and," she paused to slip her hand in her pocket and pull out a small black velvet box.

Alison's eyes were glued on the box and her heart stopped and picked up again double time, "Emily, Em-"

"My turn Alison...and," she continued, "it is the key to this box."

Ali couldn't believe it, she couldn't think, she couldn't, she just couldn't, this was definitely a dream now, she tried to pinch herself but a hand stopped her. Specifically, Em's hand stopped her and then Emily was smiling and then laughing.

"I'm going to get down on one knee now, because I envisioned this for a long time now, and I think it'd be nice for you to see me do this, since you were the one to go all out to ask me to first be your girlfriend, but if I do that, you have to keep it together long enough for me to say what I kept repeating in my head the whole flight here, okay?"

Ali was speechless, she just bit in her smile and nodded so fast her hair fell in loose tendrils on either side of her face.

"Ali, we've known each other for most of our lives, and it's my biggest dream to keep getting to know you for the rest of it. When I realized I loved you, I knew it wasn't puppy love, I knew it was more than friendship, I knew it was more than stolen kisses in libraries and I couldn't accept the unrequited love. So I waited for you because I knew you were worth it and I couldn't give up. There was a time when I stopped, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done.

"Nothing about us is easy, we don't color inside the lines, and I love that I wake up every day knowing that the person whose waist my arms are wrapped around are yours. I want to love you in every way I can think of forever Ali, just you and me. You're my person, and," this is where she dropped to one knee, slowly gaining the attention of those around her, "I would want nothing more than for you to become my wife."

There was a steady stream of quieted tears flooding the planes of Alison's cheeks. Her chest was so hot she thought it would explode.

"Alison Lauren DiLaurentis, you infuriate me and sometimes you burn the cookies and forget to turn off the curling iron in the morning. But I love you in a way even the most perfect words cannot describe, will you marry me so that I can spend the rest of our forever just loving you?"

Emily was looking up into Ali's eyes, the blue looking exactly like a flood. Ali looked down to see that Em had opened the small velvet box, revealing the perfect ring if there ever was one. The cut, color, the damn clarity of it, she most likely had it custom made, it was fit for a princess.

A few moments passed and Emily cleared her throat, "babe, say something."

Ali snapped out of her daze and laughed. She laughed and smiled and looked up to blink some of the tears out of her eyes, finally answering in a mocking tone, "well that depends Em."

"What? Ali, I just-"

"I know what you did, I know, but first, there's the thing that I want to say."

Emily looked around nervously, "um, Ali, this is kind of a pressing issue, can't it wait?"

"No," Alison beamed, "it can't."

It was Ali's turn to pull a small box from a hidden pocket.

"I don't want to dampen the surprise from what you had to 'say' but once again, it looks like we had the same thing on our minds."

And like a mirror, she got down on one knee in front of Emily and opened the small blue box, another custom made ring, designed to what Em thought was perfection.

"I will marry you, but that depends if you will marry me." Her voice was shaking and Emily was experiencing the twin waterfalls coming from her tear ducts. "Em, you are my best friend, you always have been, there has never ever been a day where I doubted that you would be here for me when I needed you. There have been times where I have hurt you, and you stayed, I make you angry, I sometimes say the wrong thing or buy the wrong soap for the washer. I am not perfect.

"You know I am beyond perfect, but everyday, you do things to make me feel perfect for you. Sometimes I still don't think I am, and that's why I want to spend the rest of our forever," she repeated with pride, "showing you how much I love you, because that's what you deserve.

"I used to get these crazy butterflies, I had anxiety attacks after the first date you let me take you on and I damn near killed myself when we drove to Lover's Peak, but now, years later with you, I look at you and I don't know, I'm calm, I'm at peace. Brown eyes have always just been brown eyes until I realized I loved you. I realized I loved you and your eyes became home to me.

"And I love being home with you, I love every second with you. I will jump off cliffs and dive in front of a bullet for you. We've been through hell and back, so this is the easy part now. Me marrying you, depends on if you will marry me. Because you also infuriate me when you make me watch ESPN and I miss my reality TV shows or when you park on the left side in the driveway and when you leave your Nike's in my office after a run, you're not perfect, but you're perfect for me and in this crazy life I have, I don't want to spend it any other way than married to you.

"Emily Catherine Fields, will you give me the greatest pleasure in the world and marry me?"

Both women were on their knees confessing their love and neither heard the three loud sniffles coming from just a few feet away.

Instead they shared a heated look, intense and full of love and answered each other with a kiss, the boxes falling, forgotten on the floor and rings slipping into place, just above the knuckle on their ring finger of their left hands, a perfect fit for both.

"Yes" "Yes"

"Finally."

"I know, I ran out of tissue."

"I don't even know if I hit record, why didn't we let Aria hold the camera."

The newly engaged couple stood and turned around, met with a crowd of smiling, hand clasping people, some glossy eyed women, smirking young boys and then...their three best friends.

They wiped at their tears, grabbed hands and let the small audience clap for them, looking smitten and completely happy, the face eating grins giving no sign of going away.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Ali walked up to them, "I told you I'd do it tomorrow!"

"What? Ali you knew they were here?"

"Hey, Em, nice to see you too," Hanna bit, still messing with the camera in her hands, "congratulations by the way."

"Ali," Em let go of her hand and pouted like a child, crossing her arms over her chest, "explain."

x-x-x-x-x

AN: you know what to do...comment and leave your thoughts lovelies...next chapter coming soon, I wrote parts of it after I wrote the first chapter lol, it hit me right in the feels when I re-read it earlier, can't wait to hear from you all.

Love, Lina