Now and Forever

Untitled Part 11

Well, he had been right. Most of the evening so far had indeed been spent protecting her from creepy men, both young and old...not that he minded. In fact, he took a perverse pleasure in running interference. The look of disappointment on their faces as they fell all over themselves and the look of absolute relief on Elizabeth's face made it all worth it. I suppose I understand their reactions...a little bit. But seriously, you would think they had never seen a beautiful woman before! he thought; Elizabeth's dress hugged all of her curves in just the right way and the colour made her pale skin glow. She had decided to forego the traditional ball gown in favor of this streamlined version and was the only female in the room not wearing a poufy cupcake dress. I wonder if she wore this dress for me? he grinned.

"You know, at some point tonight, Iwould like to dance with you" said the Princess, interrupting his thoughts, with a smile.

"Oh, we will" he winked at her.

"D-do you find it getting warm in here?" she stuttered in reply as she flushed a dark pink.

"Why don't we grab something to drink and head out to the terrace for a bit?"

As they approached the refreshment table they saw Ban, not too far away, already passed out in a chair with a bottle of ale still in his hand and Hawk laying on his side beside him, half conscious but still slowly stuffing his face with plate after plate of scraps. They grabbed a couple of glasses of wine and made their way out to the terrace to look at the stars and cool off a bit. On their way out, they passed King and Diane, who were so happily focused on each other that neither of them saw the princess wave.

"Oh, that's better" sighed Elizabeth in relief as they walked out into the cool night air.

"This is one hell of a party!" smiled Meliodas as he placed his hands comfortably behind his head.

"Yes, though there's a part of me, and it's getting larger as the night goes on, that's looking forward to this being done so we can just go home."

He quickly glanced at her from the corner of his eye to see her smiling up at the stars. He cleared his throat nervously and put his hands back down by his sides, causing her to look over at him.

"About that…" he began "I-I'm really glad that it feels so much like home to you. So…uh, I was wondering if you wanted to stay…" She looked at him in confusion and he quickly continued with a rush of words. "If you wanted to of course! If you didn't, I would totally understand. I mean you live in a castle with servants and…"

"Actually, I live in the Boar Hat with friends" she interrupted, gently correcting him with a smile as she leaned over to boldly take his hand.

They stood, silently holding hands and looking at the stars for a bit until, still staring at the stars, Meliodas suddenly blurted out "do you want to get married?" Smooth Mel...very smooth he groaned as he mentally face-palmed himself.

"What?!" the Princess gasped in shock as she quickly turned to look at him and griped his hand a bit tighter.

"Uh, w-what I mean is; Elizabeth Liones, I love you and ever since that day you walked into my tavern and passed out cold, nothing has been the same. And, I'm a much better person because of it…because of you. Will you marry me?"

He stood watching her changing expressions with a wildly beating heart and chewing nervously on the inside edge of his bottom lip. First her blue eyes got very large and she went white,probably not the best response he thought in alarm. Then the colour came rushing back into her cheeks and continued until her face was a deep crimson; much more like her, he sighed in relief.