A KISS For Valentine's Day

The Final Date

The doorbell rang and I jumped, leaping to my feet and throwing open the door. Tommy was standing on the doorstep, giving me a smile. "Hey shrimp. Uh...happy Valentine's Day, I guess," he said sheepishly. "Happy Valentine's Day," I said, wishing I could kiss him, but I just settled for returning his smile. "So what'd you plan for today?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest. "Oh! Um I was thinking we could have like a picnic in this park that's kind of near my house," he said with a shrug.

"A picnic? In the snow?" I asked in confusion. There was a pause as he blinked, giving me a startled look before his face slowly went red. "Oh. Uh...huh." I barely stifled a laugh, knowing it would hurt his feelings if I made fun of him. With a grin, I picked up his hand, giving it a friendly squeeze. "It's okay! We can just eat in your car and then take a walk after or something!" I said reassuringly. He gave me a relieved smile but dropped my hand, to my dismay. "Yeah, that's true. That's definitely what I had planned the whole time," he said with a chuckle, before ruffling my hair. "Now come on! We've got places to be!" he said, grabbing my arm and dragging me to his car.

We arrived at the park nearby his house, staying in the parking lot for now. Tommy reached into the backseat, grabbing a bag of food and handing me a sandwich, face going right back to burning. "I'm sorry, I'm not really good at this, not-not like you are, I'm not super good at planning outings. I-I mean last time when we...you had all those winter dates and I spent three weeks planning and was only able to come up with dinner and a snowman," he said sadly. "And now we're just kinda eating boring sandwiches in my car." 

I frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. As his face just got redder I remembered I probably shouldn't be frowning at him and quickly smiled. "No, it's fun! Besides, it doesn't matter what we do, you're my...best friend, as long as we're together it's fun!" I said. He just shrugged. "Yeah. Sorry though. I'm sure you were expecting something a little more fancy and romantic for today and such." "Well maybe if we were still dating I would," I whispered to myself. "Did you say something?" Tommy asked. I jumped, startled. "Oh, n-no! Just talking to myself," I said, face going red. "Oh. Okay," he said, going back to looking at his dinner. 

We ate the dinner he had made, which was really good even if it was a bit plain, but he stayed pretty quiet throughout. I did my best to make conversation but there wasn't much reciprocation for him, so eventually we both fell into silence, with me trying desperately to figure out what was wrong. I didn't have much luck, as we had already broken up and I couldn't imagine what else would make him this uncomfortable around me. At last though, he turned to me, breaking the silence.

"Do you want to go look at the stars? There's a little lake over there, it's got some benches around, w-we could sit on one and look at the stars," he mumbled, face red. I smiled, taking his hand. "That sounds wonderful. I know how good you are at astronomy, you can point out constellations to me!" I said, trying to be cheerful and enthusiastic. He just nodded, looking at the floor of his car instead of at me. "Y-yeah. Come on, let's go," he said, stepping out of his car as I followed suit. We sat at a bench in front of the lake, looking at the frozen water in silence.

"So what stars can you see?" I asked after a pause. "Um th-that's uh...Gemini there. And Canis Major is over there, and-and Eric I'm really sorry I can't do this anymore," he blurted out. I froze, blood running cold and heart starting to race. "Can't do what? W-what are you talking about? Why are you apologizing?" I asked, hoping desperately he wasn't about to say we couldn't even be friends anymore. He rose to his feet, standing in front of me with his hands shaking. "Eric, I..." There was a pause as he trailed off before shaking his head helplessly. "You what?! Just tell me!" I cried, begging him to say what was upsetting him and end the torturous suspense. He took a deep breath, putting his hands in his pockets. 

"So I...I don't really know how to say this, and I don't even know anymore what you'll say in response, I know things are weird between us now and I think some of that is my fault, but..." He trailed off again before dropping to one knee and pulling a small box out of his pocket. "Eric Singer, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box and showing me a ring that sparkled as much as the stars in the sky above us. 

I blinked, staring at him, so shocked I was at a loss for words. "Wh-wha...? B-but you broke up with me! Last week!" I cried. His face fell and he started to fidget with the box. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I just....I was gonna go home that night because I could feel myself getting really drunk and I was afraid I'd ruin the surprise and then you asked if we were breaking up and like I said I was drunk so I thought it meant you wanted to break up so I said yes we were breaking up and then the next day you said you just wanted to be friends so I didn't want to try to force anything but I'm sorry Eric, I'm so sorry but I still love you, I can't stop loving you if I tried, and I don't know where we are right now but I don't care because I know I want you to marry me, so will you?" he said in a rush, giving me a nervous smile.

I was finally able to find my voice and gave him a huge smile. "Yes! Absolutely yes!" I cried, leaping off the bench and throwing my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around me, kissing me passionately before rising to his feet and pulling me to mine. We stood in the snow as he put a hand on my cheek, lifting my face toward his. I was completely lost in his eyes, barely noticing as he slipped the ring onto my finger. "I'm very glad to hear that," he murmured with a smile, kissing me again.

We broke apart after a passionate kiss and I took a step back. "I just...what the hell?! You've been so distant lately! I thought you wanted to break up with me, that's why I asked that!" I cried. His face went red and he ran a hand through his hair. "No! I'd never do that, I love you, I-I want to be with you forever! That's why I proposed, dumbass," he teased. "But uh...sorry about that. I had decided back in January I was going to ask you to marry me on Valentine's Day and I kept imagining scenarios where you said no and so I was super nervous about that and also nervous about accidentally giving it away. It was really hard to keep it hidden since we're together all the time, we basically live together, so I just...distanced myself," he said sheepishly. 

Laughing, I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a tight hug. "Ohh Thomas Cunningham Thayer, you dumbass, you absolute dumbass. I love you, you know that?" With a laugh, he hugged me back, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around. "Eric Doyle Mensinger, I did know that. And I love you just as much, if not more." I draped my arms around his neck, resting my forehead against his. "Impossible. There's no way you love me more." "Oh, there's definitely a way, seeing as how I do. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. And I've loved the past two weeks," he said, kissing me. "Even if half of it was awkward because I accidentally broke up with you." 

I grinned, pecking him on the lips. "Oh shut up. We both had a major issue with miscommunication," I said. "We did. But we're over that now. And we're happy and we're together and we're engaged," he said with a smile. I felt my heart melting as I wrapped my arms around him. "And most importantly, we're in love." 

Fourteen days down, the rest of our lives to go.

💟💘💝The End💝💘💟