Lillian Henry is seventeen years old when her 20 year-old brother, Adam, and his best friend, Blake Kingston, enroll in the army. And she's eighteen, when they come back, her feelings left unchanged. As for his, they're even stronger than before.
T...
"Mom!" I call out when I walk inside the house, acting like a kid on Christmas, followed by my brother, my best friend, and my fiancé. God, it feels good to say. Weird a little, but good.
"You guys are back," mom exclaims as we join her and dad in the living room. "So..."
She begins and right then, I know that she knows. "I got engaged!" I basically scream, and as if she was only waiting for me to pronounce those words, she stands up from the couch and joins me on the other side of the room, wrapping her arms around me.
"Congratulations, honey. Let me see that ring," she tells me, bringing my hand to her face as Zora joins in as if she hadn't been looking at it the entire car ride. "It suits you. Do you like it? I helped Blake choose it."
"You were in on this?" I ask her.
"We both were," my father steps into the conversation. "Blake, right here, was a perfect gentleman about the whole thing, he even came over to have my blessing. Congrats, son," he adds, shaking Blake's hand.
"Come on, let's celebrate," mom heads out to the kitchen. "I believe we have some champagne in the fridge."
Everyone enters the kitchen, but Adam catches my arm, bringing me back to the living room. He looks me in the eyes, a smile on his face, "I'm so happy for you, Lian. And I am glad you two found each other. Congrats, sister," he concludes, bringing me into a hug.
It's been a while since I've gotten a hug from my brother, or given one to him, but it feels good to finally feel close to him again.
"You've come so far since last year. I'm proud of you," he murmurs before pulling away and heading into the kitchen for the celebrations.
With everyone laughing, talking, celebrating, this moment couldn't be any more perfect. If it wasn't for the fact that I just got engaged and my fiancé is leaving to go to war in less than two weeks.
"So, fiancée, want to rate my proposal?" Blake asks me as his fingers trace up and down under my shirt, sending shivers through my whole body.
"It can't be rated," I tell him in a muffled voice as I am slowly falling asleep from his back scratches. "It was everything I ever wanted, but ten times better."
"Well, I'm flattered. I wasn't sure you would say yes."
When those words come out of his mouth, I'm confused and slightly shocked. In what world would he propose and I would say no? I mean, it was a surprise to me, I wasn't expecting him to propose, but deep down inside of me, I know that I was waiting for it. I didn't want him to leave without some sort of understanding, and an engagement is the perfect one. I am his and he is mine, and even though we aren't getting married anytime soon, I can't wait to become his wife.
Me walking down the aisle, unable to contain my tears, him at the other end, all good looking in his tux. If only I could skip time and immediately go to the moment where he comes back to me.
I push against the mattress to turn on my side, my body now facing his. "It was unexpected, that is for sure, but there is nothing I want more than to marry you, Blake Kingston."
He pecks my forehead with his lips, wrapping me in his arms at the same time, pulling me to him. My head against his chest, I hear his steady heartbeats, the perfect sound to help someone fall asleep. The insurance that your loved one is calm, safe, happy.
"Good night, fiancé."
"Good night, fiancée," he replies, and we both fall asleep, locked in the other's arms, listening to each other's slow breaths.
We're still in the same position when I wake up to Blake stirring a little in his sleep. I play with his hair, take in the view ahead of him, and notice how his every feature is perfect. I'm moving a strand of hair out of his face when he opens his eyes, instantly smiling at me.
His phone rings once, twice, and he takes a look at the texts he just received. "I've got another surprise for you," he announces, pushing the sheets off of us, acting as if he has been awake for hours when, in reality, he barely just opened his eyes. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me out of bed, guides me down the stairs, and indicates to me that I now have to shut my eyes so that I can't see. I hear the front door open and Adam's voice, then Blake thanking him before closing the door again.
God, I hate this. If it was anyone else than Blake, I would probably run away. But I trust him.
"Okay, you can open your eyes," he announces and the moment I do, I want to scream.
"Oh, my god, he is so cute," I say as he hands me an orange and white kitten. "What's his name?" I ask, hugging the small animal to my chest. I want to cry. My parents never wanted me to have a cat because Adam is allergic.
"Kiko. He's a rescued cat. Our cat," he clarifies, and this makes me even happier.
This is a commitment. He didn't get himself a cat. He didn't get me a kitten. He got it for us. The both of us. Our cat. Kiko Henry-Kingston. I like the sound of it.
"I can't believe you adopted a kitten."
"He'll keep you company while I'm gone," he explains to me his reasoning. "See, you already love him more than me."
"Impossible. But I do love him," I thank him, taking a step towards him, smashing my lips against his without putting Kiko down, who meows for us to stop the PDA. "He already hates seeing his parents kissing. He's just like a kid."
Blake laughs. "You'll be a great mom," he comments. "But we'll start with Kiko, alright? I'm not ready to share you, yet."
"Me neither," I say, sadness obvious in my voice. He's leaving so soon, too soon. We've spent the entire summer with one another and yet, it doesn't feel enough. I will never get enough of this man, the man I love, the man I will spend the rest of my life with, the man I will love forever no matter what happens in the future. We're stuck with each other. In a good way.
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God, I want a relationship like Lake/Blily (or whatever ship name you want to give them, because I'm the worst at making them lol).
Why am I good at creating relationships, characters that are perfect for each other, but can't seem to find my own match? It doesn't even have to be the love of my life at this point, I just need a little affection and to stop being lonely hahaha.
Anyways, thank you for reading YTL, next few chapters will be about the gala, where a lot of drama might happen and the night might not end as expected, but we'll see... ;)
