Chapter Twelve: Life's Always a Little Unexpected

Raleigh glanced around the crowded, dimly lit restaurant and was already sweating bullets. It had been months since Cody had taken her out for a nice dinner date and she wasn't sure what all of this sudden romanticism in him meant. Maybe he was still mad for the encounter he had with her and Randy on the elevator a few nights before. Not that he knew what had happened, Cody had chalked it up to them still "traveling" together as Vince had requested. The comfort in knowing he wasn't aware of her and Randy didn't take the nervousness out of Raleigh's sharp, short breathes. She swallowed hard whenever he shuffled around in his pocket.

"Raleigh, can I talk to you about something? It's really important," he said as he continued his search for whatever he was looking for. His voice was becoming shaky and she could tell he was just as anxious as she was. Raleigh couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about the whole situation, it was fishy, to her at least. "Are you listening?" He asked her quietly, noticing she didn't seem to be all there at the moment.

"Yeah, of course." She nodded slowly and focused her attention on his eyes as he spoke.

"Preoccupied?" Cody said, stating the obvious. Raleigh shook her head furiously and took a sip from the spotless wine glass placed before her by a handsome waiter. She nodded to him as he left the table. "So I wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but never really had the courage. But then you've been spending so much time with Randy-"

"Nothing is going on." She quickly cut him off before he could finish, her defensiveness taking him by surprise.

"Oh uh, I wasn't saying that…"

"You were insinuating it." She said flatly.

"No, Raleigh, I promise I wasn't. I was going to say that since you've been spending so much time with him I really haven't gotten the chance to remind you of how much I love you. You know that, don't you?" He inhaled sharply a few times from the length of his speech.

"Yeah…" he could barely hear her reply, it was purely a whisper.

"Are you sure you're okay babe?" Cody's face was showing true concern by this point.

"I'm fine," she faked a smile to convince him that she was having a good time. He seemed to buy the façade and continued on.

"Raleigh Elizabeth Blackwell," he smiled brightly and pulled out a small black box. Her heart sank now that she knew what he was so on edge about since they first arrived.

"Oh my god," she mumbled under her breath. He continued beaming a smile and opened it delicately, revealing a brilliant, shimmering diamond ring. She could tell immediately it was expensive and that he was genuine about the proposal, even planned it out thoroughly.

"I'm in love with you, and would be honored if you would be my wife." He took her hand gingerly and waited for her reply. Tears filled her eyes as the shock left her face and that fake little smile reappeared. There was no way she could break his heart.

"Of course," with that he slid the ring on her finger as the whole restaurant applauded. Raleigh felt a bright, burning blush spread across her cheeks all the way to her neck. She had no idea that every person in attendance had their eyes locked on the two of them.

"You're making me the happiest man on earth baby," he kissed her hand the corners of her mouth twitched up into a small smile. She knew this wasn't what she wanted. She cared about Cody dearly, but felt like there was no love, that there really never was. She wanted to run and cry on Randy's shoulder, be comforted in his arms, she hated herself for agreeing to the marriage.

"He what?" Randy could feel the jealousy rage through his entire body frame, his pulse began racing out of control. "And you said yes?" He asked her, a little more cynically then he meant it to come out. He felt a large lump growing in his throat, his heart was broken and he couldn't even admit it.

"I know… it caught me completely off guard and I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to hurt him, not after all of this, with you and I." She felt a frown take form on her delicate facial features and Randy's heart broke even more. It nearly shattered into a million pieces as the tears began falling down her cheeks. She was the only girl, only person in general to be exact, that could ever make him feel hurt by her sorrow.

"Don't do it," he said as he cupped her face with both of his strong hands, being careful as to not hurt her. He brushed his thumbs over her soft skin to rid her cheeks of the tears. Crying just blurred out the beauty of the girl that he considered to be the most gorgeous in the world.

"I'm trying not to," she told him in broken words, trying to muffle her own sniffling. She answered him thinking he was referring to her crying.

"No I mean don't marry him. Don't cry either, you know it kills me." He blurted out by accident. He tried not to admit his feelings around her, but slipped up every once in awhile. She never seemed to push the subject though, which pleased him.

"I don't understand why it matters to you though. It's not like you and I are a real couple anyway, we just hook up." The moment she said that to him he almost cried himself, it took everything in him to fight back the tears that threatened to spill out. He wanted to tell her, he wanted her to know that he loved her, but he couldn't. He would never be able to admit his true feelings for her, he wouldn't embarrass himself like that. Deep down he knew she didn't love him, she just admitted aloud that she considered them friends with benefits.

"Raleigh I… I don't want you to because," he felt himself on the brink of a confession. "I can't let you go through with the wedding because…" he sighed, unable to tell the truth.

Before she could stop herself she heard her own voice divulge the news.

"I'm in love with you Randy."

A/N: It's short, I know. I apologize for that, but I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review to tell me what you think. ;)