unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 33

Clara had been engaged for three weeks now, but every morning she woke up and stared at her engagement ring like Stephen had just proposed to her and it was her first time seeing it all over again. Again, the first thing she did when she woke up that morning was hold out her left hand and inspect the shimmering diamond ring that sat snugly on her slender ring finger.

The only thing was, she never wore her ring to work. Nobody knew that she and Stephen were engaged except for Connor, and they had both made him swear to secrecy when he overheard them talking about wedding plans. He was very good at letting things slip in the wrong moment.

"Are you looking at it again?" Stephen asked fondly from beside her, stretching as he woke himself up. Clara caught herself and grinned, turning to face her fiancé.

"Maybe," she bit her lip. She then let out a sigh. "It's just so pretty. I love it. And you," she added as an afterthought.

"Well, that's a relief," Stephen jokingly wiped imaginary sweat off his brow. "'Cause I think you've just agreed to marry me." Clara chuckled softly in agreement.

She shifted herself so she was laid atop Stephen, knees bracketing his hips and hands laid on his warm, bare chest. His lips curled into a smirk as his blue eyes met her dark brown ones. But instead of kissing him like she would usually do, Clara simply rested her head in the crook of his neck, smiling when she felt Stephen's warm arm curl around her and hold her close to him. For a while, it was silent as the two of them laid there, but then Stephen spoke.

"It's moments like this when I wish we both didn't have jobs," he sighed. "Especially not ones where you run the risk of dying, or being eaten by a creature."

"Technically, you're not supposed to know about that," Clara raised an eyebrow. "But I see your point. I wish it, too." She paused for a moment. "I want to go and see Nick today. Tell him about our engagement. I think he'll be really happy for us."

"Considering he can't feel anything anymore, that would be pretty remarkable," Stephen joked, but then caught sight of Clara's stern expression and his grin waned. "Sorry. It'll always be too soon to joke about, won't it?"

"Always," she agreed, sniffing gently so the tears that lined her eyes wouldn't spill over. Talking about Nick like he wasn't there still made her heart ache as though it was yesterday he had died, not months ago.

——

It didn't take them long to arrive at Nick's grave. Connor had stayed at the house so they could have some space, though sometimes he did visit the grave with just Clara so they could both grieve and exchange stories together. Plus, Abby was going to pay him a visit, so he wanted to stay for that.

Carefully, Clara knelt down in front of the still-fresh headstone and ran her fingers over the engraving of Nick Cutter, like she always did. She managed to pull her lips up into a small smile, resting her left hand flat against the marble stone so she could see her ring again. "I got engaged," she whispered through a short, disbelieving laugh. "Can you believe that? You and Dad always used to joke that I would never settle down, that that would always be Mike's place. But here we are, who knows how many years later, and the three of you are gone. Yet I still proved you wrong. I'm engaged!" Her voice was still a whisper, and she didn't bother swiping at the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"I hope you can hear me, and I'm not just talking to a mound of dry earth," Clara still whispered. "And I hope you're proud of me, too." She paused, sniffing. "I'm proud of you. In more ways than you could ever know."

Suddenly, her phone beeped from her pocket, and she cursed softly under her breath. Pulling it out, she read the text from Connor: Anomaly alert. Will pick you up in five mins. - Con.