Fake Turns Real

Telling Everyone

!!! The following has not been edited yet !!!  

We decided we should tell everyone about the news as soon as possible, as there was no use waiting around. The sooner we got rid of Richard the better... Although it meant what John and I had would be over sooner, John did not want to put me at risk. Richard was a physical threat to me.

"Just a normal ring will do," I leaned my left shoulder against the wall and told John as he was about to go get an engagement ring, "And I'll pay you back afterwards."

"You don't have to," John looked up and smiled at me, putting on his shoes, "I'll give it to you as a present."

"No, John," I shook my head, "I told you, you're already doing way too much."

"Can't friends gift each other?"

"Just buy it and tell me the price," I said sternly. If it was not about someone finding out I bought the ring myself, I would have gone to get it. You never knew; something about the ring might happen and someone would have to go to the jewelry shop and somehow learnt that I bought the ring, or someone we knew bumped into me while I was at the shop... Yeah, you never knew if someone was going to find out.

When John came back, of course he refused to let me pay.

"I haven't really given you a proper gift before," he said, holding the box, "So this is it. Don't try to argue with me."

We bickered back and forth, and I finally gave up. I saw no point in arguing; I could never win when John would never let me.

"Okay, okay," I surrendered, "Just give it to me." I sighed.

John grinned, and held his hand out.

"What?" I asked, confused, "Didn't you say you don't want me to pay you?"

He rolled his eyes, "I'm asking for your hand,"

"Huh?"

"Or you want a proper proposal?" John broadened his grin, and was about to get down on one knee. The gears in my head clicked. Oh.

"No!" I quickly stopped him and tried to snatch the box, but John dodged my snatch.

"Please!" he said, holding the box in the air where I could not reach, "Let me do it – don't you want to pay me back? Then let me do it."

I sighed, and gave him my hand. He happily slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Mrs. Grimes," he flashed me his pearly whites and kissed my cheek before I could protest, "Now let's go and announce your soon-to-be new name!"

We drove to my house, and I began to get nervous. I would get married with John anyway, no matter what my mum's response was, but still. My mum would probably try to kill us, or at least me.

"Nervous?" John asked.

"Yeah," I remembered when we went home as a couple the first time. It was similar to what we were about to do. But the difference was that we were just dating, not making a commitment for real.

"Don't worry," John took hold of my hand, "I'm here."

I was much more used to his touches now, and I knew he was being nice, so I no longer flinched away. Instead, I held his hand back.

We got to my house eventually, and John grabbed my hand as we walked up to my front door. I pressed the doorbell, and it was like a flashback – the scenario seemed so familiar. Would Richard answer the door like last—

"Hey," it was Richard who answered the door. Although I already had a "boyfriend", he was still always hanging out at my house, waiting for me to come back early or drop by. He was basically a stalker if you ask me.

"Hi Richard," I said, voice strained. It felt as if something was squeezing my throat. John squeezed my hand encouragingly.

"Nice to see you coming back so early," Richard said, letting us in. He avoided looking at John like always and pretended that he was not here.

"Yeah," I said shortly, partly because I found it difficult to talk and partly because I did not want to interact with him.

On my way to the living room, I found my mum in the kitchen cooking. Dad was sitting on the sofa as usual.

"Mum," I called out as John and I joined my dad. They greeted each other, and Richard stood by my side, not sure what to do - there was no more space for him to sit next to me, "Can you come out for a moment, we need to talk."

"Oh (Yn)," she seemed surprised to see me home so early, and she nodded at John while wiping her hands on her apron, "John."

"Hi Mrs. (your last name)," John smiled politely at her. She sat down next to Dad, and Dad looked at me suspiciously, like he knew something was up. Richard finally settled down in the armchair.

I stared at everyone awkwardly while everyone looked at me expectantly. I looked at John for help.

He was biting his lip and trying to hide his grin. I wanted to yell at him – here I was, panicking and he was not helping. And his lip bite was distracting.
I looked away and rubbed my brow. I felt like I was sweating – and that was when Mum gasped.
"Oh my God," she exclaimed, "Is that... Is that..."
I glanced up at her and saw what she was looking at. My ring. Looked like I had saved myself from the difficult opening.
Darting a glance at John again, he had now gave up holding in his happiness and was grinning like an idiot. I wanted to hit him so bad. Was he not scared about everyone's reaction?
Mum was still gaping like a fish and both Richard and Dad were looking at her, confused. At last I decided to answer her.
I took a deep breath, "Yes, Mum, I'm getting married,"
"What?" Dad looked as if he was choking, and stared at me. I raised my hand slightly to show him my ring. He flopped back down into his seat, rubbing his forehead like what I had just done, eyes widened in shock. Mum was now experiencing a lot of emotions, so I ignored her. She probably needed some time to digest the situation.
And at last, I set my eyes on Richard.
He was staring at my ring with a stunned expression and his mouth was hanging open. A few seconds later he realized my gaze on him and his eyes met mine. He gulped and his expression turned from shocked to confused, then slowly turned to angry. I did not dare to look at him then. He scared me.
John noticed and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
Everyone was in silence. No one was speaking and all I could hear was the noises from the TV.
At last I could not stand the silence anymore and broke the ice, "We don't want a big wedding. We will simply register and that's it," that was what John and I had come to before we came here. It was not a real marriage anyway, so what was the point in making it into a huge event?
"Are you sure about this?" Dad was the first one to respond, "Are you sure about getting married?"
"Yes," I nodded, "I'm sure about John."
John chuckled and Richard snapped his head up at him, with a defeated expression. I guessed reality had sunk in and he had finally kind of accepted the fact that he and I were impossible. That was what I had been hoping for all along.
"But (Yn)," Mum started, and she looked herself now, "You can't—"
I could not bother to hear her protest, "Mum," I said, "I'm engaged now. There's no turning back."

"Are you serious?" Liam shouted, looking at John and I with shocked eyes. We were now sitting in the pub and we were breaking the news to Liam.
"Yeah," John nodded and grinned at him, then planted a kiss on my cheek. He was always taking the advantage of being in the public.
"Congratulations! I'm happy for you guys!" Liam took a few seconds to digest the fact and composed his expression. He toasted us and asked, "How did your family and Richard take it?"
I let out a giggle, thinking of how things had gone as planned, "It went smoothly, kind of," I told him, "Richard has harassed me less but he hasn't completely given up yet – but I'm quite sure he'll totally back off when we're officially married. Dad is of course, okay with everything. As for Mum... You won't even believe this. She's finally accepted the fact and she's now even happy about this. We told her we don't want a big wedding, but she insists on a party-ish one, so she's taken the post of wedding planner..."
Liam looked like his eyes were about to pop out, "Really?"
"I can't believe that either," John laughed.
We talked a bit more, and Liam reminded John again, "John," he said, "I'm warning you again, treat (Yn) like a princess, okay? Or I can't promise what I'd do to you..."
"Relax," John smiled, "You don't have to tell me that. You know I'll treat her well."
"I'm just checking,"
"I'm not going to give you an excuse to mess with me,"