It All Started With A Payback

Twenty-three

"Not bad, Louie!" Tori praised his work. "Now, sign your name here," she continued, pointing at the lower right corner of the canvas he was painting on.

"How's that?" Louie asked with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he slowly lowered his paint brush. He felt her stiffen beside him as she stared at what he wrote:

Marry me?

He turned to her expectantly, she stared blankly at the two words. He counted a full five seconds in his mind...she still wasn't screaming YES! YES! while wrapping her arms around his neck nor were there tears of joy in her eyes, so unlike the response of the women in the movies he had seen.

It was not the reaction he expected and definitely not what he hoped for. Unease gripped his gut as his fingers closed tightly around the ring on his palm in his pocket.

It had only been more than half a year since they got back together, maybe that was why she didn't seem ecstatic with his proposal.

Yes, that must be it, he refused to believe that Tori had no intention of marrying him. She loved him, right?

She had to, because if she didn't love him enough to accept his proposal, it would crush him completely. It took him years to realize that she was what had been missing from his life and now, he couldn't see himself living his life without her again.

There was nothing he didn't love about the woman beside him. She was strong and independent. She always spoke her mind and didn't let anybody push her around. She would fight for what she believed in but knew when to admit defeat. Life hadn't been easy for her but she kept on striving for what she wanted. Most of her life she had not received the love and care she deserved but she was still overflowing with love she generously gave to those surrounding her.

He unintentionally caused her pain in more ways than one and yet she chose to forgive him and took him back. She made time for Jessy and her friend Sam, they invited them to her place and taught the little girls how to paint.

When Jessy was frustrated with how the clay she had molded into a turtle turned out, Tori shared a story from her childhood. It was about how unhappy she was with her work in a sandcastle competition she joined when she was five, that she threw the second place ribbon she got in the bonfire their family was having. He recalled how her face was overshadowed with nostalgia and he would haphazard a guess that it was one of her most cherished memories of her family. She had brushed the sadness aside as quickly as it had come and immediately went to work cheering up Jessy.

A memory of how happy she was when she found out that the shawl he offered her one time, didn't belong to one of his exes but to Nanny Maria popped up in his mind, making him grin. She was so happy that she had wrapped her arms tightly around the older woman and practically twirled her around.

Since then, she always bought his beloved Nanny various things from places she had been to whenever she was looking for a new subject for her painting. He loved her even more for caring for the old woman as if she were a part of the family. On more than one occasion she had asked the older woman to come with them when they went out to have dinner.

She was completely different from the other girls he had dated in the past who always wondered why he needed to treat his Nanny the way he did when she was "just" a household help. It felt good to actually have someone who understood him for a change. Not only did Tori understand him, she shared the same love he had for his Nanny.

He had planned this proposal down to a T, he took great pains in having a custom made engagment ring for her.

"Isn't it too soon?" She asked after what seemed to him, a long time. Not the answer he was dying to hear, but at least she didn't say no.

He stared at her, "Tori, if there's one thing I learned from the nightmare we had to endure when we almost lost Ashley, it's that life is too short. It should be spent in the pursuit of finding happiness with the person we love."

More than a year before, Ashley had an accident and she was in a coma for a long time. He had been a witness to the devastating grief and regret Jon had endured when they all thought his niece wasn't going to make it.

He had heard his friend say over and over, that had he known the accident was going to happen, he wouldn't have given up on going after Ashley when she left him four years ago. He wouldn't have let those four years go by without making sure day after day he had made her happy.

She stared softly back at him and a faint smile pulled the corners of her lips. Without waiting for her answer, he pulled out his hand from his pocket and slipped the ring on her finger.

Her smile became wider, "Asking me is just a formality, isn't it?" She said laughingly, "You have no intention of taking no for an answer," she said accusingly as she finally let her gaze drop to the ring.

"None, whatsoever," he answered impenitently.

His smile froze when he saw that Tori's facial expression changed. He wanted to smack himself, he may have gone overboard with the ring.

Tori contiued to stare at the platinum engagement ring with skulls; two on the sides and one each on the front and back, they served as the platform for the one carat hot pink sapphire in the center.

He sighed, "I'm sorry, I thought you'd like it. I'll have it replaced." He said hurriedly. He had ruined it with the wrong ring, just when she practically said yes.

To his delighted surprise Tori jumped up. She hopped on his lap and straddled him with so much force that he lost his balance from his perch on the stool, taking, the now smiling woman with him to the floor.

The pain he felt on his back was completely forgotten as she rained kisses on his face.

"I don't just like it. I love it!"

She stroked his cheek and kissed him deeply.

She streched out her arm and stared at her finger happily.

"I wanted to give tribute to your dark side, that's actually one of the things I love about you." He explained.

She looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"You do know I can be sarcastic, downright rude, possess a potty mouth, and my moods are as unpredictable as the weather, right?"

"So what? It just means you are being true to yourself. As for your mood swings, it will ensure that things will never be boring between us."

He buried his fingers in her hair and tilted her head up as he slowly lowered his, "I also happen to know that beneath the tough persona, is an amazing person who sees the good in everyone despite their flaws and a selfless person who would do anything and everything for the people she loves."

Her eyes turned brighter and he heard her try to conceal a sniff as her slightly parted lips came crashing against his own in a kiss that answered his proposal louder and clearer than any affirmative word in the dictionary.