To Have And To Hold

18 - Pacified Parents

It was a warm evening in early spring when Joey drove Lauren out to the beach.

"It's too cold to swim JoJo," she laughed, as he tried to coax her along with the idea.

"It'll be nice to go for a walk though," he said, pulling her up from the couch.

She put her shoes on and let him lead her out to the car without any more complaints, humming along to the radio the whole way there. She made to get out of the vehicle when Joey pulled up, but he held a hand out to stop her, wanting to savour this moment with her.

"What?" she asked when he didn't say anything, just stared at her.

"You're everything to me," he said. 

"Joey," she said softly. She stretched forward to kiss him, his hand sliding into her hair. He gazed at her again when she pulled back. She was effortlessly beautiful, even more so in the golden rays shining through the windscreen. He swallowed thickly and got out of the car, grabbing a blanket from the back seat.

They walked a short way along the shore, their hands swinging casually between them, before they came to a stop, laying the blanket down. They sat side by side, Joey's legs stretched out in front of him, one of Lauren's hooked over the top of his with her other leg folded. They both leaned back on their hands, gazing up at the sky streaked with pink and orange.

They sat there with just the sound of the waves lapping against the sand, reflecting, until Lauren broke the quiet.

"It's beautiful, Joey, but what are we doing here?" she said, tilting her head to look up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know you didn't just bring me here to look at the sunset," she said with a smile, and he chuckled.

He slipped his leg from under hers and stood up as she looked on in anticipation. He turned away from her for a second, met with the sight of a deserted beach stretching out in front of him, before he spun back to face her.

"This is the place you told me you wanted us to move in together," he said, and Lauren's eyes widened in surprise as she remembered.

As he sank to one knee, Joey registered that he felt a lot less nervous than he expected - probably because Lauren had already agreed to marry him anyway.

"And now it's the place I'm asking to spend the rest of my life with you as your husband."

The corners of her mouth drew up in a tender smile, and Joey knew he'd done a good job with this.

"From the moment I met you I knew how important you were going to be in my life. You complete me, Lo. I'm a better person when I'm with you, and you inspire me every day. I'm so glad to be your best friend and I'm so lucky you fell in love with me too."

Until this point Lauren had sat still, an affectionate smile on her face. But at this her face contorted as she tried not to cry, and she shuffled towards him. Joey's breath caught in his throat and he dropped down to the sand  as well, taking both her hands in his.

"Being happy with you is all I want for the rest of my life," he said, Lauren nodding in agreement. "It's a sort of redundant question now," he said, and she giggled. "But will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said, her voice cracking. She grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him into a kiss, her lips the same smooth sensation Joey had memorised, with a trace of sea salt. They broke apart, gripping each other's hands tightly.

"I can't believe you made me cry again," she complained, laughing, as he disentangled his hands from hers and swiped his thumbs under her eyes.

"Was it a good surprise?" he asked.