Umm... hey guys... Haha, please don't kill me. This is the longest I've gone without updating this story. With test results and cross country to train for, there just hasn't been enough time to continue writing. THIS STORY IS REALLY ENDING SOON! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you guys at the bottom of the chapter!

- Jude -

He immediately saw Elizabeth tense up when she saw them. Jude saw past her that the men at the dining table slowly stood up. "Don't get us wrong. We come here not to ask you to return. We're on your side." Jude said calmly to ease the tension.

Elizabeth's eyes flickered to Gayle, with a sleeping Quentin in her arms. "All right. Come on in." She invited them in, knowing Bonnie wouldn't have any qualms about it.

Charles stood up and gave his seat to Gayle, to which she graciously thanked him. "We're here because Gayle wanted to speak to you." Jude explained.

"Yes. I've missed you." Gayle smiled sweetly at Elizabeth. "Okay. Let's go to my room, shall we?" Gayle stood up and followed the brunette up the stairs.

Soon, the room cleared out, with Joseph volunteering to do the dishes. Jude sat around awkwardly until Jim came up to him. "Uh, Jude, was it? May I speak to you?"

- Elizabeth -

She sat down on the bed with Gayle, leaving Quentin to play alone. "What is it you wanted to speak to me about?" Elizabeth asked. "Nothing much really, Georg sent me to find out how you were doing. He supports your decision to run away. Quite frankly, I do too."

"Oh. I'm doing fine. Happier than I ever was actually. Beautiful house, good company, what's more I have Jim by my side and that's all I'll ever need." Elizabeth grinned.

"That's wonderful." Gayle and Elizabeth proceeded to talk about girly matters, touching even on cheeky subjects like times in the bedroom, normal things women would usually laugh about.

- Jim -

Jim was nervous as he and Jude sat down in the sitting room.

"So. What did you want to talk about?" Jude asked kindly. "Right, well. I needed to ask your opinion on something."

"Ask away." Jude smiled a little. "I love Elizabeth, and for the longest time ever I've wanted to propose marriage to her." Jude's eyes visibly widened a little, but a small grin was tugging at his lips. "I know you're Jasper's brother, and that Elizabeth was to get married to him, but-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me. If Elizabeth doesn't want to marry my brother, I don't think he should force her to." Jim smiled brightly in relief. "R…Right! And I…I just wanted to ask how you proposed to your wife, Gayle, was it?" He asked him nervously.

"What's your name?"

"J-James, sir."

"Well James, the best advice I can give you is that every woman is different. You can't expect what I did for Gayle to work on Elizabeth. But just for your benefit, I proposed to Gayle during a social event. I pulled her aside and asked her privately."

"Thank you sir. I'm just afraid that someone as wonderful as Elizabeth is out of my league. That she'll reject me." Jim shared his concerns.

"Elizabeth isn't that kind of girl. You of all people should know that, James! I have confidence in you. When the time comes, you'll know what to do." Jude patted Jim on the back before walking off.

- Elizabeth -

Elizabeth walked Gayle and Jude out, sending them off with well wishes. She noticed that Jim was particularly jumpy that day, but thought nothing much of it. She knew something was off when he decided to work on dinner together with Charles, brushing her off every time she wanted to help.

That night she didn't say much to Jim anymore. She went to bed before he came up to the bedroom and she was a little worried that Jim might've changed his mind about forgiving her for cheating on him.

- The Next Day -

- Elizabeth -

Elizabeth woke up fairly early and sat at the balcony in their room, brushing her hair with Bonnie's hairbrush. She bit her lip nervously, staring out into space. She didn't know how to face Jim.

All of a sudden, she felt someone wrap his or her arms around her waist and kiss her on the cheek. "Good morning honey." Jim said. She didn't have to turn to know that he was smiling. "Good morning, Jim." She half-smiled.

"I'll be going out to town with Charles today. Do you need me to get you anything?" Elizabeth thought about it for a while before quickly shaking her head. Jim kissed her once more on the lips before leaving to get ready for the day. Elizabeth put the hairbrush down and buried her face in her hands, confused.

- Harry -

A little over noon, Harry turned the house upside down, looking for Clara when Bonnie told him that she was out by the lake. He thanked her before walking out, dressed in a white shirt and navy blue trousers, ruffling his hair as he did so.

He grinned to himself when he saw her sitting on the bench in a thin yellow dress, staring out at the forest and slowly crept up behind her. In one quick swing, he whisked her into his arms. "H-Harry! Put me down!" She hit his chest lightly, giggling when she saw that he was headed for the water.

He laughed as he swung her into the water, throwing his body backwards in laughter. As she re-surfaced from the water, she waved her hands all around, splashing water everywhere. "I-I can't swim!" She sputtered.

Harry stopped laughing and immediately threw himself into the water, forward diving into the lake and swiftly swimming over to Clara. His years at sea trained him well, to be a first-class swimmer as he appeared by her side in no time. He wrapped an arm around her waist and was about to swim back to shore when he found his head suddenly plunged into the water.

When he got back up, he looked at her, stunned that she was now floating on her own, smiling at him. "You scared me to the death." He chuckled before splashing water at her and vice versa.

- Jim -

After he and Charles got to town, Jim scratched the back of his neck, looking around. "I reckon you didn't just pull me to town to go sightseeing, did you Jim?" Charles flicked him on the forehead. "Oww. Uh, no. I just…I wanted to get Liz a ring and I needed advice. You're the only one of the guys who's married, well, excluding Harry, but I wanted some opinion before I jumped into anything." Charles chuckled. The little boy he knew a few months ago was growing up.

"It's all right . What does she like? Anything in particular?"

"Well she did mention once that she didn't really fancy showy things. I'm guessing that a diamond ring isn't her style."

"No problem. Let's head over there. Looks like a good enough place to start." Charles pointed to a quaint little antique shop.

- Harry -

After close to half an hour of being in the water, Harry carried Clara out bridal style at his insistence. She blushed, noticing how his shirt was practically see-through as it was white and wet. She ran her fingers lightly up and down his well-toned arms and closed her eyes, willing her heart to stop beating so quickly.

"You hungry?" He asked her. "I'm a little hungry. How about you?"

"Let's go get a light snack from the kitchen, shall we?" He carried her into the house, sitting her down on one of the counters before he made some sandwiches. They then went back out into the garden and ate there.

Clara was eating her sandwich when she looked at the ring on her left ring finger. She slowly chewed as she admired it. She was actually going to get married.

Harry held her hand in his. "What are you thinking about?" He said, brushing a few stray stands of hair behind her ear. "Nothing much. I just…I can't believe that we're getting married." She smiled at him.

"I'm thankful for having you as my future wife." He got up from his seat and walked over to her, engulfing her in a tight and warm embrace.

- Jim -

After a day of shopping, he and Charles returned a little after dinner. "Where is Elizabeth?" He asked Herbert, who was reading some newspapers in the sitting room. "Depends. Did you get me anything?" He grinned mischievously. Jim smiled and sighed before pulling a bag of sweets out from his pocket, tossing it onto Herbert's lap.

"Thanks lad. Last I saw she was heading to the garden near the lake." Jim nodded before leaving the room, walking to the door that led to the lake. He fidgeted with the box in his pocket nervously and bit his lip, a habit he picked up after being with Elizabeth for so long.

He kept asking himself what he would do if she said no. As soon as he walked out of the door, he felt an immediate surge of cold air blow onto his face. He shivered before walking over to Elizabeth who was sitting on the bench.

She turned upon hearing his light footsteps and smiled lightly when he took his place next to her. "You must be cold." He took his coat off and gently put it around her. "Thank you."

There was a comfortable silence for a while and they turned to face each other. Jim stroked her cheek softly and kissed her. Elizabeth closed her eyes and kissed him back, lightly placing her hands on his chest, slowly pulling him closer.

Their movements were slow, warm and light. Elizabeth pulled away slowly and smiled. Something in Jim told him. This was it.

"Liz, honey, I have to tell-ask you something." His heart was pumping at the speed of light and suddenly he didn't feel cold anymore. Elizabeth nodded, chewing her lip anxiously.

"We've been together for a few months, but I feel as if I've known you for a lifetime." He held her hands tenderly. "This all sounds so cheesy," He chuckled nervously. "But I've never been more serious in my life. When I first met you, you were odd to me." Elizabeth quirked her eyebrows. "I-In a good way! I promise!" She giggled. "You had such an impact on me I couldn't even stay alert on my watch. Will gave a scolding for that." She frowned a little at the mention of their dear friend. "But it didn't matter. Because something in me knew that you were so, so special. You were so beautiful, so personable, so graceful in your actions. Believe me when I say I've never met another woman like you. I…I love you. It took me so much courage to kiss you that night on Titanic; I thought my heart would stop beating. And every single day from then on has been like none other. I couldn't help myself from wanting to know more and more about you." A tear rolled down her cheek. He wiped it away before continuing. "Every little thing about you excited me to no end and when we shared our first night together, I knew that my life had found its purpose. I knew that from then on, no matter what I did, you would always be on my mind, always there. So Elizabeth, honey." He got down on his knee in front of her.

"Would you fill the remainder of my days with endless joy, with your sweet words and caring actions? Will you marry me?" He asked in the sincerest voice she had ever heard.

It was as if time had stopped in that one moment. Everything became clear. Elizabeth never thought anyone would love her. She was so different from the 'model girl' whom everyone loved. Before she met Jim, she lived life just for the sake of it. But at that one moment, she knew. She knew that with Jim in her life, she wouldn't ever have to worry. Worry about not being loved, about not being beautiful, about never fitting in. With Jim, they fit like a puzzle. It would never matter if anyone else found them weird, or awkward. Because they were together.

"Yes." It came out more like a whisper than anything else and when Jim heard that three-lettered word, it took him at least five seconds to register what she had said. "What?"

"Yes! I'll marry you, you dummy!" She cried, laughing. Jim burst into a bright grin only he had and laughed along. He was so happy tears of joy spilled out of his eyes. He picked her up and spun her around, eliciting giggles from her.

Jim accidently tripped over something and he fell onto the grass with her on top of him. He expected it to hurt his head. But Elizabeth had put her hands behind his head to break his fall. He smiled, with the knowledge that the beautiful, caring woman in front of him was now going to be his wife.

"I love you so much." He said softly before leaning in to kiss her.

They got engaged :) I planned this scene to be sweet and it took me close to fifteen minutes to get that out. Also, I felt like this needed some more Clara and Harry, hence the lake scene! I enjoyed writing that. I feel like I've seen that scene somewhere else before but I don't know. I thought it was sweet :) Because I haven't updated this in forever, the next update is going to be real soon so keep an eye out for that!

Now to thank the people who left reviews! Thank you to rebeccajoleneaumanwilson, Hy and chloe for your reviews!

rebeccajoleneaumanwilson : Thank you for your review! I'm glad that you're glad that Jim and Liz are reunited :) I think I've mentioned Jude and Gayle in chapter 27, but just for a recap, Jude is Jasper's older brother and Gayle is Jude's wife. Jude and Gayle support Liz :)

Hy : Thank you for your review! Thank you for your kind words as well! Was Grant nice in high school? xD

chloe : Thank you for your review! Good luck for your exams, if I'm not already too late xD Thank you for your kind words :) For the sequel, it's really different from this story so hopefully I'll come up with a unique name for it ;)

To everyone else, I hope you all are enjoying the story as well! Have a nice day and review if you liked the chapter! :D