Duplicity [h.s]

85

Aven Brooks

Flustered, shocked, and maybe in denial—I stared down at you staring up. You had that cynical smirk up your face because you knew this was just as crazy as my mind was making it out to be. On your knee, powerless, you glimmered up at me with a world of opportunities in your eyes. Held preciously between your black pained fingertips was the stolen pinky ring being offered for me to take in a hand of young-drunk marriage.

"Get up!" I shout down at Harry on his knee.

"Why?" He just grins.

"Because this is not something to joke about, get up!" I look back and forth along the street again, no one was really around to see this.

"I'm not joking." He found it very amusing at how flustered I was becoming. My cheeks were probably so red, I felt the heat.

"Are you insane?" I was so shocked by this gesture, looking down at him on one knee and holding out a ring for me to take.

"Yeah, I am." He smirks.

"We are not getting married!" I felt like I was in a dream because I was the only one with common sense.

"Well why not?" He shrugs.

"You never even asked me to be your girlfriend!" I shake my head and spill out any thoughts rallying through my mind to express my concerns.

He rolls his eyes and smiles, "Aven, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course." I agree.

"Okay great," he nods before continuing. "Aven, will you be my wife?"

"Harry stop!" I laugh but was serious, grabbing his hands to pull him up but he wasn't budging.

"I'm being serious." He laughs with me.

"I know and that's why it's scaring me. We've known each other for a month!" I stood my ground.

"So?"

"So!" I really felt like I was sleeping. No amount of obsessive intoxication could make me believe this was a good idea.

"Baby, marriage doesn't mean anything when you don't believe in love," he shrugs. "So who cares? It's funny."

"Marriage is a crazy commitment."

"It's a piece of paper." He corrects.

"Do you know how hard it is to get a divorce? What's mine is yours, it would be hell if we split." I keep listing reasons in my drunk mind.

"They have papers you can sign that states if we split then we can just leave with the assets we came with. It wouldn't be a big deal. This is a twenty-four-hour Las Vegas chapel we're talking about, people do this as a drunk joke all the time." He tries to justify.

I shut my eyes and sigh, throwing my face in my hands. I rub my heavy eyes and try to sort my thoughts because this felt so insane. 

"Look, by all means we don't have to. You wanted to do something crazy in Vegas, so I'm giving you this option. I know it seems absolutely insane but frankly, I don't believe in marriage. I think it's no more than a social conformity people feel like they need in order to fit in with this world." I hear him explain while I still had my face in my hands.