Say Yes

"Congrats, babe." Daniel's murmured into Luce's ear, his arms wrapping around her. They had been dating for three years now, their love growing more and more each day. Daniel had graduated only last year, but that never kept Daniel away from Lucinda – In fact, it only bought them closer when Daniel had asked Lucinda to move into his apartment he had bought near the campus. Today, Lucinda had graduated from Emerald.

Daniel had something big planned for that night.

Lucinda looked up at Daniel, smiling at him and then kissed his nose lightly. "Thank you. . .Come on, we have to go find Mom and Dad – You can't always hog me." Luce teased, taking Daniel's hand and dragging him through the crowd. Daniel chuckled, holding onto her hand as she tugged him along.

They were madly in love with each other, they had been since they first laid eyes on each other three years ago. Daniel still felt the sense of familiarity he had the night they met, but he had a feeling it was because their love was meant to be. Luce could feel it too.

"Mom, Dad!" Luce called and released Daniel's hand, running towards her parents and pulling them both into a tight hug. The three of them were all held in a warm embrace with the typical mumbles of 'I love you' and 'We're so proud of you'. Lucinda pulled back and smiled at her parents, looking back at Daniel who was only a few feet away.

"So, where are we going after this?" Luce asked her parents, looking back towards them. "And can Daniel come?" Luce's parents looked between each other before they glanced briefly at Daniel and then towards Luce.

"Actually, Daniel will be taking it from here today. Daniel has been begging us for the past two weeks to have you to himself today." Luce's father chortled, smiling. "He was quite persistent."

Luce looked back at her boyfriend, who was wearing an embarrassed smile as he slowly walked forward to her. "I hope you don't mind, I have quite a night planned." He tells her, his gray eyes with violet speckles stared into her's, watching with a hopeful look. Luce smiled and nodded, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I don't see a better way to spend the day." Luce says, grinning at him until leaning up for a kiss – Which Daniel gladly gave. Their kiss was slow, passionate but subtle since Luce's parents were only a few feet away. But, the light that burned between them was there, and bright as ever. Daniel pulled back after a moment, smiling down at her as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

"We should get going," Daniel tells her, glancing briefly at his watch. "We have quite a day in front of us." Daniel stepped back, gesturing for her to say farewell to her parents. Luce smiles and quickly rushed over to give her parents one last hug for the day before going back to Daniel and taking his hand.

"Okay," Luce says, staring up into his eyes. "Lets go."

XoXoX

"So, what now?" Luce asked as she laid back onto the blanket. They were on a secluded beach now, miles away from anything and the moonlight was their only source of light. Daniel smiled down at her as he propped his head up with his elbow, tracing small patterns up and down her arm.

"How do you feel?" Daniel asked, his eyes meeting with her's. Luce smiled and took Daniel's hand, stopping him from touching her arm.

"Wonderful, Daniel." Luce pushed Daniel down on the blanket and clambered on top of him, straddling him in the process. "Better than I ever have." She leaned down and laid her head on Daniel's chest. Daniel smiled down at her, his fingertips stroking up and down her spine.

"I'm glad." Daniel murmured, tilting his head back and stared at the sky above before flipping them over and hovering over her.

"Can I ask you something, Luce?" He asks, his gray eyes filled with excitement, but behind it was his fear. Luce smiled and nodded in response. Daniel curled his lips into his teeth before sitting up.