sidelined | miniminter

Forty Five.

  "Shit." Ethan cursed in a hushed whisper as a crash was heard behind the group. "TURKEY DINOSAURS!" He screeched, yet another bang.
  "Behz, quiet!" Tobi chuckled, his tone hushed.
  "I keep stubbing my toe cause I can see fuck all!" He complained, waving his arms in front of him as he tried to feel around the pitch black of the lounge.
  "We can't turn the lights on, it'll ruin everything," Vik giggled, somehow his smile seemed to be envisioned in people's minds even through the darkness, "so you're gonna have to-"
  "Innit Ethan, deal with it." JJ scoffed before a squeal escaped his lips. "MY KNEE!"

Ethan erupted into hysterical laughter, unable to contain himself as Jide began wincing about the shooting pain he was enduring in his leg. In an attempt to keep the surprise still a surprise, Emily reached into the dark and grabbed onto her boyfriend's hand, pulling him closer to her so they were against the window.

  "What's taking them so long? All they have to do is walk outside." Simon chuckles quietly, his breath hitting against the window and fogging it up momentarily.
  "Maybe they're fucking?" JJ said casually, kneeling down so he was in front of everyone and against the window alongside Vik and Tobi.
  "Fuck sake, JJ." Harry sighed. "Why are you such a sex pest?"
  "I can't believe we're about to watch this happen." Bailey whispered almost silently, the group humming contently in response.
  "Mad, I'm about to watch my best friend propose." Tobi grinned, happiness radiating through his body.

Ley placed her hand on his shoulder, Tobi placing his hand on top. He truly appreciated the love circling his friend group. He felt incredibly blessed as he knelt there surrounded by his best friends.

  "SSHHH GUYS, THERE THEY ARE!" Gee almost yelped, clapping her hands together excitedly as the entire group looked out into the garden which only had one wall light to illuminate a small majority of the patio.

Sure enough, both Josh and Freya had now stepped out into the dimly-lit garden, both facing out towards the rest of the garden. The group had remained in utter silence as the pair talked, not being able to hear what was being said.

"It sucks that we can't hear them." Vik whispered pressing his ear against the glass window. He still couldn't hear anything.
Simon seemed to have had more sense than Vik and reached over to quietly open both of the windows, successfully not alerting Josh and Freya that they were there.
  "Wow I'm smart."
  "Oh." Vik giggled quietly to himself.
  "Just remember to keep quiet guys." Tobi reminded the group, "that means no shouting about turkey dinosaurs Behz."
  "Sorry."

A few words were exchanged between the couple standing in the garden, Freya just questioning what was going on and Josh just reassuring her.

  "Josh?"
  "One moment." He smiled, pulling out his phone and typing on his keyboard, then locking it once he'd finished. Harry's phone buzzed in his hand which cause the group to turn and look at him with

  "It's action time boys." He grinned, locking his phone and walking over to the opposite side of the lounge towards the door, where on the wall there were an array of light switches. "And girls." He clicked one of the switches, instantly running back over where the garden was now alive with fairy lights draped back and forth.

Accompanying the lights were the vanilla scented candles that were sporadically placed across the wall that segregated the grass from the paved stone. The night was a little breezy and a few of the candles had blown out, but it still looked pretty and no matter how much Simon and JJ had mentioned how pointless it was to have candles outside, Gee and Bailey refused to bring them inside. And Simon wasn't prepared to disagree with his girlfriend.

The fountain feature also was alight, bright white lights illuminating the fresh cold water that when in contact with the rocks that surrounded it, created a soothing calming noise. It also looked remarkably beautiful and quite romantic considering it was just a few strings of fairy lights and candles thrown together in the garden that was typically used for football or messing around in.