Till death do us part

Chapter 18: A sweet girl - Age 23

Cora's POV

"Thank you for the evening," Rose's dad said. "It was fun."

Rose and I smiled at him. "We enjoyed it too," I said. "Didn't we, Rose?"

"Absolutely," She smiled at them again. "We should do this more often."

"You shouldn't have said that," Rose's papa said. "Now you'll see us here every week!" He joked.

We all chuckled.

"Have a good night." They said before walking to their car. We waved them goodbye before closing the front door.

"That was nice," Rose said as we walked back to the living room. "We should indeed do this more often," She started collecting the glasses on the coffee table. "Maybe invite your brothers too?"

"Maybe," I looked at her as she was cleaning up. She was acting normally even though I could sense something was bothering her. "So, do you want to tell me about your day?"

She looked up at me. "Uhm, sure," She finished cleaning everything and looked at me. "I was denied again for a job..." She sighed.

"Don't give up, Rose," I walked to her. "There's a job for you out there."

She smiled a bit. "I hope so."

"And, in the meantime, I'll bring the money in. So you don't have to worry about that."

She smiled more. "Thanks."

I got a hold of her hand and pulled her with me upstairs. We got to our room and started getting ready for bed.

I was ready first and climbed into bed. I watched Rose as she was putting on the final piece of pajamas. "So," I cleared my throat. "I'd like to ask you something."

Rose climbed into bed too and looked at me. "Sure."

I gulped before I looked into her eyes. "Why did you lie to your parents tonight?" I asked but noticed she didn't understand my question. "About marriage." I clarified.

She looked away briefly, as if trying to find an excuse for her lie. "It wasn't a lie," She then laid down and got comfortable underneath the sheets. "Marriage isn't for us."

"But Rose - "

"Will you turn off your light?" She cut me off. "I want to get some rest."

I frowned. I knew exactly what she was doing but maybe she was right. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it. After all, I wasn't interested in marriage. If she wanted to drop it, maybe that's for the best.

"Yeah, sure," I turned off my light and got comfortable underneath the sheets too. "Goodnight, Rose."

"Goodnight, Cora."

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I was at work, I was tapping my desk several times. I had been thinking all day about Rose and what she had said last night. I knew I should drop it but somehow, I couldn't. I knew this wasn't what she wanted. I guess I felt... guilty...

"Well, someone's deep in thoughts..."

I looked to my right and smiled a bit. Next to me, was Andrea. She has been the one colleague I get along the most with. She's a few years older than me, she's married and has a newborn at home. Here, at work, she's my friend. "I've got a lot on my mind."

Andrea chuckled. "I could tell," She patted my shoulder. "What's up?"

I sighed. "It's my girlfriend," I said, seeing her nod. "I know she wants us to get married but for some reason, she suddenly seemed to have changed her mind," I looked at her. "I tried talking to her about it but she shut me down."

She nodded. "I think she hasn't changed her mind, I think she's saying what you want to hear."

I frowned. "Why?"

She shrugged. "You told me she's the sweetest girl you ever met," She said to which I nodded. "She probably didn't want to push the matter because she knows you're not up for it."

I looked away and frowned.

"Tell me again, why are you so against marriage?"

I shrugged. "I just don't understand why you'd need to be married to show the world you love someone," I looked at her. "I love Rose, that should be enough. I don't need a sheet of paper to prove that."

"Maybe not for you," She paused. "But maybe for Rose."

I looked down.

"Talk to her again, don't let this go," She said, gaining my attention. "This needs to be discussed well."

I slowly nodded.

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Later that day, I got home. I was late, as usual, and entered the house which was filled with the amazing smell of our dinner. I smiled as I realized how grateful I was for Rose. She made dinner for me, I could just enjoy it now.

I walked to the kitchen and saw she was serving the food. She looked up as I entered the room. "There you are," She walked to me and kissed me briefly. "Just on time."

I smiled at her and went to sit down. "This looks delicious."

She blushed a bit. "I hope you enjoy it."

"I always do," I said, gaining another blush from Rose. We had been eating in comfortable silence for a while. "Rose," Until I couldn't wait to talk to her anymore. "I need to ask you something."

She looked at me.

"Why did you lie to your parents about marriage?"

She sighed. "Cora, stop."

"But Rose - "

"No," She said, looking away. "I didn't lie," She paused. "Marriage just isn't for us. It's good the way it is now, we don't need to get married."

"Well, that's too bad."

She immediately looked at me. She seemed surprised to hear this. "What is?"

"You said marriage isn't for us." I said, getting up.

She slowly nodded, she seemed confused as to what was going on. "Yes," She looked at me as I walked to her. "It isn't."

"That's too bad," I repeated. I knelt next to her. "I was just going to ask you to marry me." I said, revealing the ring I had gotten her after work.

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She seemed in utter shock. Until a single tear left her left eye. She was overwhelmed with happiness.

I smiled at her. "Rose, will you marry me?"

Finally, a smile appeared on her face. She seemed lost for words, unable to say anything. So, instead, she just rapidly nodded.

I smiled at her and put the ring around her finger before pulling her in for a hug.

After some time, she pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "I'm so happy."

I smiled at her. "I can tell," I wiped her tears away. "I love you."

"I love you too," She showed me the biggest smile then. A smile I hadn't seen before. "I'll never forget this." She then hugged me again.