A Problematic Relationship

Chapter 9: Happy End. Or Happy Start?

 Almost a year had passed since that incident with Malcolm. Everything returned back to normal pretty quickly. Sweet cuddles in bed, breakfasts, lunches, dinners together. Kisses before shifts, kisses after shifts. Spending movie night holding hands. Workouts together. Sparring together. Showers together. Your life: back like it was supposed to be. And you couldn't have been happier. There was nothing better than spending your days with the man you love the most.

The Captain finally scheduled a shore leave on Risa. Surprisingly, Malcolm was one of the first people to request a vacation, alongside you.

After you arrived to the surface and checked in your hotel, you decided to have dinner. He took you to the fanciest restaurant on the planet, not the little diner you usually went to.

Romantic, candlelit dinner, unlike anything that Malcolm ever organised for you before. He even had a special pineapple cake made for the two of you, you liked pineapple, but definitely not as much as he did.

After dinner, you went to the beach for a walk. You couldn't believe it. Malcolm usually wanted to stay as far away from the ocean as possible, but this time, he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. The sunset was much more beautiful. But for him, you still were the most beautiful thing in the universe.

You stopped in a nice spot where you could perfectly see the sun meeting the calm waves. Malcolm was holding both of your hands, glancing over to the sight from time to time, but mostly focusing on you.

"This is beautiful, Malcolm." You said. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Only the best for you, darling."

He stood silent of a second, taking a deep breath. You thought he was just enjoying the refreshing air, but he was actually trying to calm himself down.

"Y/N, these past two years, everything we've been through, has made me realize that I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you. Any other girl would've broken up with me if I would've left the Enterprie like I did, but you stuck around with me. You helped me through my darkest times. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me." He dropped to one knee and observed as you started freaking out, turning bright red and tearying up. He pulled ou a beautiful silver ring in a blue box from his pocket."I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes!" You shouted.

You held out your hand and watched as he slid the ring onto your finger. It fit perfectly.You wrapped your arms around his neck, he wrapped his around your upper legs and he picked you up. Your lips tangled up with his, kissing him like you never did before.

The sudden sound of clapping made you quickly pull away from each other and Malcolm set you down. All the senior staffmembers, Captain Archer, Trip, T'pol, Travis, Hoshi and Doctor Phlox were walking towards you,even Porthos came along.

"Congratulations!" Archer greeted you, he was followed by his staff who did the same thing.

"When's the wedding?" Trip chuckled.

"We don't know yet, but I'll make sure you'll be the first one to know!" Malcolm followed up on his best friends joke.

"Didn't expect any less!" The Commander replied.

"Can I be the bridesmaid?" Hoshi asked eagerly.

"Who else do you think I'd ask?!" You said, still shaking from the excitement of the event.

"Well, I think we should leave you two alone." Captain Archer said. "Congratulations again."

"Thank you, Captain." You both said.

You couldn't believe it. You were engaged to the man of your dreams. You couldn't have asked for a better shoreleave. You were already planning your wedding in your thoughts when Malcolm snapped you back to reality.

"Shall we go back to our room, Mrs. Reed?" That smile, which brightened up your days for many years now was what you saw when you looked up at him.

"Mrs. Reed," You muttered. "It does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Malcolm agreed. It was the thing he wanted to hear ever since he met you.