Take The Monsters Away (boyxboy)

Marry Me?

Thomas

Not gonna lie, he looks hot. With a white dress shirt, black dress pants, with simple black shoes, I begin to question how I got him. I go for a simple pink button down, with white pants, looking horrible while James looks amazing. How did I even get a guy like him? He's so great, and has everything, while I'm just..me.

   He catches me staring at him, and I look away quickly, hoping he doesn't realize just how long I was staring at him for. Tensing up, I realize he is right behind me, as I feel his arms snake around my waist.

"Are you okay? We can cancel the dinner, I know how you feel about eating in front of others." He mumbles reassuringly, chin resting on my shoulder.

"I-I'll be fine." I choke out, partially because of his tone of voice, and also his warm breath against my neck.

    "I don't want to do anything you aren't comfortable with." James says with caution, spinning me around to face him.

    "I'm okay, I swear." I reassure him, still questioning how I even got lucky enough to have him.

    "Come on dinner is at 6, takes us 20 minutes to get there and it is 5:20, let's go." He takes my hand, grabbing his wallet, keys, and phone, shoving them in his pockets.

"Okay okay." I mutter, not really understanding his excitement about dinner.

As we walk down, well me being dragged down by a very excited 27 year old, we finally make it to the car, and I'm have tempted to drive. Considering the circumstances, I'm afraid James will kill me by speeding, yet I let him drive anyways. Why did I do that?

Mentally facepalming, we begin our journey to the restaurant. I have no clue where we are going, or what we are doing. All I know is, we are going to dinner. His nerves are acting up, as I notice his frequent lip biting, the question is, why? Is he worried about me panicking or what?

"So it's a fancy restaurant obviously, but honestly don't feel pressured if you pick something expensive, this is our night out, and I don't really mind spending a lot on this night, alright." James explains, parking the car.

As we get out, I realize where we are, and I can't believe he didn't realize it, or maybe he did. Across the street is the abandoned bridge I tried to jump off of, right there. Part of me aches to go back to that bridge and end it all, but another part of me wants to stay. Stay for the world I've gotten, stay for James, Brittany, the smiles I have, the laughs, and many more things. Yet, that one part still thinks I should.

"You could be with your mother." A voice somewhere inside my head whispers.

James apparently notices me staring, and takes my hand, walking into the restaurant. He talks to the hostess, who guides us to a table towards a more emptier part of the restaurant.

   As we sit at the table, a lit candle in front of us, casting a shadow on James's face. I begin to search the menu, mentally panicking about the amount of food.

"Are you okay?" He whispers, voice low so nobody else can really hear.

   I shake my head quickly, as he looks at me and his menu, "Just get pasta, snack on that and then take it home."

     We order drinks, both of us opting for soda instead of wine or anything. James because he is a lightweight, and me because I'm staying sober.

     "Elizabeth braided Brittany's hair." James laughs softly, handing me his phone to see the picture.

    I see Brittany, long hair braided into a french braid, with Elizabeth smiling in the mirror, laughing I hand him back his phone, just as our drinks arrive. He thanks the waitress as she delivers are drinks, but what I don't think she realizes is, I watch as she slides James a piece of paper and smiles.

    He scans it quickly and looks at her with a face, one of which it takes me all I have not to contain laughter.

    "I'm gay, and he's my boyfriend, but thank you." He points to me, eyebrows raised at the girl, who looks equally annoyed as mad.

    She walks away after hastily taking our orders to the point I'm scared she's gonna mess them up. As James snickers quietly, my face turning red, as usual, his phone goes off quietly.

"What the f-" he cuts himself off remembering he's in a public space, as he answers the phone.

"I'm on a date." He hisses, quite annoyed.

"I'm not the on-call I checked the schedule please leave me alone."

"Thomas I'm so sorry, I only kept the work numbers off mute so I thought it was something actually important, not someone calling me because they want to see me." James apologizes, a hint of worry in his voice.

"James it's fine don't be worried." I laugh, kinda confused as to why he's so worried.

Our food comes about 20 minutes later, James begins to pick at his, while I just simply stare at mine.

*Time Skip 1 hour*

As we are driving home, a slight smirk appears on James's face as we head into the parking lot. He checks his phone quickly, before getting out of the car. As I follow suit behind him, he takes my hand as we make the journey, hands shaking slightly. As we enter the apartment, it's completely different from when we first left.

    Candles lit around the place, bright red roses in a vase on the table, more rose petals leading towards the balcony. Excitement building in my chest as some part of me begins to figure out what this is.

     "Well Elizabeth did quite well." He murmurs softly, taking me onto the balcony, where I see the usual simple table set up with more roses.

     I see Brittany and Elizabeth, Brittany smiling, looking at James, and Elizabeth recording. Why is she recor- I look down to see James on one knee, bringing a small box with a ring in it.

      "Thomas, you've made me the happiest I have ever been this past year, and you've come so far since that boy I met on the bridge that one night. We've laughed together, cried together, and more importantly been in love together. So would you make me probably the happiest man in earth right now. Thomas, will you marry me?"

     I look down at him, his eyes shining, as he smiles at me, and I've known my answer for a very long time, probably since the 4th month of dating. I feel tears burning my eyes, but they aren't bad tears, more like tears of happiness and joy.

      "Yes." I cry out, as I hear a clapping from Brittany.

    As he puts the ring on my finger, I smile, remembering all the stuff we have been through together. His arms wrap around my neck, as he pulls us together, connecting our lips into a soft kiss.  

     "I love you." He whispers into the kiss.

    "I love you too."