Light Me Up [HS AU]

55

My pulse was so loud in my ears, I almost couldn't think straight. My mouth was terribly dry as well, and for a moment I was worried my voice wouldn't work. Peyton looked surprised - in a good way. At least it seemed to be in a good way. She was frozen in front of me, looking at me with a soft expression on her face. I figured it was a good sign that she wasn't telling me to get up immediately.

I had been planning it all along, keeping the little engraved plaque in my wallet until the day before we were moving in. It was a bold move to put her in that position, but I was hoping that living with me meant that sharing her life and last name with me was a possibility too. 

"Peyton..." I started when I found my voice. I let out a sharp breath and chuckled at myself. To my relief, so did she. I dug the small velvet box out of my pocket and turned it in my hands a couple of times before I looked up at her. 

"People tell you that life goes on when you go to a dark place. 'You just need time. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Eventually you'll forget and move on. Just snap out of it'. But it's not true. Sometimes the dark place is just too dark, and what you need is light. Bright, illuminating light. Not just any light, but the light of someone extraordinary. I felt like I was done for, but then you came barging into my life, blinding me like a flash. You brought with you a brilliance I hadn't thought possible. The shadows that had seemed impenetrable began to retreat, and the darkness started to loosen its grip on me. You were the spark that reignited a sense of hope within me. You didn't just fill the void left by the darkness; you made it clear that the darkness was only a chapter, not the whole story. With you by my side, I realized that moving on wasn't about forgetting or merely passing time. It was about embracing the light that could lead me to a new beginning, a new chapter where hope wasn't just a distant dream but a living, breathing reality. You didn't just bring light into my life; you became the reason I began to believe in a future filled with possibilities." I paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her in front of me. She was clearly affected by every word coming out of my mouth. She was wiping her eyes, but she wasn't sad. Not at all. I fiddled with the velvet box, my fingers trembling nervously, as I opened the box and held it up to her. 

"Will you marry me?" 

***