Betrayed By You

Ch.42 - Down Memory Lane

Devlin was really dead. It was hard to believe, but part of me kind of missed him. Sure, he was a jerk and he was pretty much evil, but he was Duval's brother, and I knew Duval was hurting. For some reason I missed Devlin because now they would never have the chance to make up and be the brothers that Duval had always remembered them being.

I didn't tell Sam and Luke. That was up to Duval. His brother died, he can tell them. I felt like if I was the one to tell them it would be like an outsider telling you a family member died. Duval drove to the store like he always did, but instead of us talking we both sat in silence, not even the radio or his phone playing. It seemed like we were both lost in our own thoughts. I was thinking about how I wished things had been different and that I'd gotten to know Devlin better than I did. What would have happened if I hadn't feared him in the way I did? Would he have tried to get me into the gang? Would I have had a different view of him?

"Don't think about the what ifs. It'll only make it worse."

I blinked and looked at Duval. "That obvious?"

"A little. I went through it when my parents died. After I'd gotten everything set for us I spent a solid week getting lost in the what ifs, remember?"

"And everyone asked if you wanted to talk about your parents."

"Everyone except you. And there was a time when I told you that I was thinking of all the what ifs that could have been and you said if I let the what ifs consume me then I wouldn't be able to move on."

"Our first real fight. You got mad at me because you thought I was telling you to get over your parents' death when I had meant that you wouldn't be able to live the life they had wanted you to live."

"I think they'd be pretty happy with where I'm at in life right now." He said, putting his hand over mine.

He parked and when we got out of the car I grabbed his hand, squeezing. "I think they'd be very proud of you. For everything."

"I don't know about everything, but I do think you're right. I do think they'd be proud of me."

We walked around the store, talking about the groceries and going from one end of the store to the other and back and running all over. We laughed and talked about how to cook the burgers and what to have with them. Neither one of us wanted salad so we decided on french fries, but we couldn't figure out which ones at the store. He wanted seasoned, I wanted curly. We searched for some time and finally we found seasoned curly fries.

When we got home I started putting away the things that needed to go in the cabinet and he put away the things that needed to be in the fridge. Soon enough I felt him standing behind me and he put his hands on my hips. I stopped and looked over my shoulder at me. "I'm done putting the cold stuff away and we have some time before dinner." He kissed my neck. "Is there anything you want to do?" He wrapped his arms around me and swayed a bit, walking me away from the cabinet. "Like go back to bed for a while?"

"Are you talking going back to sleep or are you trying to get me into your bed and make out with me like some horny teenage boy?"

"Darn, you caught on to my evil plan." He teased, kissing my neck.

I put my hands over his and leaned against him. "I might be okay with a few more hours in bed. Not like we have to get to bed early tonight for work tomorrow." I had to admit, it felt good to have a few days off, but the thought of curling up beside Duval made me feel even better. "Let me finish putting things away?"

He kissed my cheek. "Alright. I'll meet you in the room." He walked away and stopped at the kitchen doorway before turning around. "Ange?"

I looked at him. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you." I said, blowing him a kiss and watching him walk to the bedroom. I finished putting the last of the groceries away before I walked into the room, slipping under the covers with him. He wrapped his arms around me and we smiled, lying there and I felt his arm shifting under his pillow. Eventually it seemed like he was asleep so I turned and pressed as close as I could with my back to his chest.

He squeezed me and said "Close your eyes" so I did.

"What's going on?" I asked.

I felt his lips on my neck and he whispered in my ear. "I've waited a long time to be able to do this. To do a lot of things." I felt his arm move from under the pillow and his arm moved from where he was holding me. "Angeline, will you marry me?"

My eyes shot open, thinking he was joking, and I saw a box open with two gold bands in it. Plain, simple gold bands. I didn't have to think for a second before answering. "Yes."

He slid one of the rings on my finger and I slid the other one on his. "I don't want to imagine a day of my life without you in it, Ange."

I turned around and kissed him, not needing any words to express myself to him.