Marry Me

Chapter One

This is how Graham looks as a twenty one year old^

Three years later...

Graham

"Another electric bill." I say, tossing it onto the kitchen counter. I wouldn't even call it a kitchen, more like a kitchenette.

When we first bought the apartment, it was exciting, but now it's just a cramped space, a crappy excuse for a home.

Lexie's big green eyes look up at me in worry, but she shrugs in response, "Just put it over there with the other ones." She points to our pile that has been accumulating more and more. These were the ignored bills. We've been doing the same thing for the last six months, unable to keep up with the demands.

She twists her engagement ring, the one I gave her three years ago. It's been a nervous habit of her's. That's a sign that she's on edge.

It's hard to pay the bills when you live in a city as rich as Naples Florida, where both of us grew up, where both of us found jobs.

Honestly, this "meager" form of living is nothing new to me. I never had a huge, fancy house like Lexie did. Unlike her, I never had any luxuries in life. My mom died when I was young and my dad worked his ass off to provide for my brother and I growing up. He pushed us both to do football, a sport that we were naturally talented at, but it cost him a lot of money. Because of this, I'm used to this way of living.

You see, my father expected us to both get football scholarships because it was our only tickets to college. We did in fact get those, but I had to give mine up.

I look Lexie in the eye once more. She's trying to be strong, but I know that she's terrified of our situation. Being on the edge of your seat to receive your paycheck and dreading the time period that we have to scrap up enough savings to pay for our rent is really scary. She's never had to experience this before.

When I met Lexie, I was working for her family in their summer home. Lexie always loved to visit this place. Her family ended up permanently moving here to reconnect with their own youth since both of her parents were Florida natives.

When I turned sixteen years old, I wanted to get whatever job I could and it had to be fast. I wanted to help my family just like I had seen my older brother do.

Said job turned out be working for the Montgomery's over the summer.

The Montgomery's were some of the richest people in the town of Naples. They had the biggest home and the best parties. Because of this, they needed a lot of people working for them.

I became a groundskeeper. I worked with the spectacular outdoor gardens and entrance ways. I cleaned all three of their pools, and I mowed the lawn of their private golf course. I never had a serving job so I rarely spoke to the people who lived in the glorious mansion, until one night.

Lexie used to say it was fate that we met, but I believed it was luck. Luck for me.

I never found true happiness until that magical night. And yes, I'm a former football player that uses the word "magical", but it really was.

I think back to our memories of us when we were younger. We were teenagers, just learning about life, but I knew that I found the one.

Fast forward five years later and I'm not as happy as can be, but despite the losses of our families, we still have each other. I have my Lexie.

I reach down to where she's sitting and stroke her cheek. It usually calms her down. She grabs my other hand and gives it a squeeze and it pulls me to sit on the Goodwill couch with her. I put my arms around her shoulders and touch my nose to her's. "We will get through this Lexie. I promise." I peck her on the lips.

She rests her head on my chest. "Do you ever think about what would be happening right now, if our families didn't disown us?"

"Well, we wouldn't be living in this dump." I reply to her question.

We sit there in silence. I play with her curly hair.

After a while, she speaks, "Everything that we've been through is okay because we went through it together."

"From here on out, our lives will be looking up." I say as I kiss her forehead. I try to sound like I believe what I said, but as time goes on, it's getting harder and harder to be optimistic.