Right Place, Wrong Time

Right Place, Right Time

Like any place, Ann Arbor had changed in the decade since they left it. Old stores closed and new ones popped up. The campus expanded. Students came and left with experiences like theirs. But Joey and Lauren still walked the town hand in hand, no less in love than they had been the day of his graduation. The leaves were beginning to turn yellow and some floated down around them, sparkling in the sunshine like golden glitter, a celebration.

"The place where our story began," Joey said, standing outside the building where he had that first class with Lauren. One she would never remember, but he always would.

She squeezed his hand. "The place where our lives began." Almost every good thing in her life now could be traced back to right there.

He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. "How lucky was I to meet my soulmate at eighteen?"

"God, we were so young," she groaned, but there was genuine disbelief in her tone too.

He smiled down at her. "We got a few things right."

She had to agree. "A lot's changed, though."

"Has it?"

She looked up at him, smiling softly. "I didn't see myself being someone's wife."

In a little under 24 hours, Lauren and Joey would be at a barn just outside town, she in a dress and he in a suit, making vows to love each other for the rest of their lives in front of all their family and friends.

"Yeah," he said, running his thumb over the engagement ring on her finger, still unable to believe it was real even now, the day before their wedding. "I still don't know what you were thinking."

She giggled softly. "It helped that you were willing to take allergy pills every day so we could have a dog."

"It would have been worth it to see you happy," he said sincerely. "And you made me a dad."

His voice, so full of pride and love and gratitude, had Lauren falling all over again. She bit her lip, thinking. "Do you remember when we first started dating?" she said. "And you told me you didn't care if we never got married or had kids, as long as you got to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"I meant it," he said seriously.

She smiled up at him almost shyly. "Well, that was the moment I could see myself marrying you."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"You were willing to give up everything you dreamed about, for me," she said, toying with her ring herself now. "And it made me realise that... marriage isn't what I used to think it was. It's not about signing your life over to someone else, or making yourself dependent on someone."

"Or the patriarchy," he smiled.

"Or the patriarchy," she giggled. "It's about loving someone so much that you want to celebrate that partnership, with everyone. You want to be their wife." She took a shaky breath, the happiness spilling across her face in a smile as her eyes shone with tears. "I want to be your wife."

All the love he had for her concentrated in his gaze. "I want to be your husband." Then his smile grew. "So will you marry me?"

She rolled her eyes in a gesture only she could make so loving. "Yes, I'll marry you. But it is still a scam."

He laughed. "Thank you for participating in this scam with me."

He leaned down and kissed her, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, his hands holding her waist.

"I'm really glad I kissed you," she murmured, and he giggled into the kiss.

"Me too, Jude."

"It changed my life."

"That good, huh?"

She broke away, rolling her eyes, but he pulled her close again.

"Thank you, Lo. For trusting me. For trusting us."

"Loving you is the greatest gift of my life," she whispered, brushing her lips over his.

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, then gently pulled away. "You're not allowed to make me cry yet. There'll be enough of that tomorrow."

She giggled softly, taking his hand again. Then they walked on.

"It's weird that this still feels kind of like home," ahe said quietly. "But then, I'm always home as long as I'm with you."

"Me too," she said softly.

Because there they had found the kind of love that was itself a home; a place where they belonged, unconditionally; a person they could be most themselves with without fear of judgement. The kind of love that reached everyone around them, drawing friends from across the country who wanted to celebrate it with them. The kind of love people wrote stories about. The kind of love that lasted a lifetime.

The kind of love where you just needed to be in the right place, and with a lot of patience, and even more trust, the right time would find you.