His Death Awakened Me (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 23: It All Feels So Surreal

I sat on the couch twirling the silver band around on my finger. Ever since Sean gave it to me yesterday afternoon, I couldn't peel my eyes away from it. It was as if I wasn't sure if it was real. I'd close my eyes briefly only to open them again and still see it on my finger. Sean had asked me to marry him!! There is absolutely no way I can even begin to describe how insane this is. It feels so incredibly joyous. I'm all giddy inside and get goosebumps every time I think about it.

On the other hand though, I also couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Sean didn't have a ring. I secretly was planning on getting him one too. I'm such a cheesy romantic but I can't help it. I want it to be as special for him as it is for me. A slight grin formed on my face as I went over in my mind what my plan was.

* * * *

"Jake this is....wow. I'm happy for you son," Dad said, smiling at me as I told him about when Sean proposed to me.

"Thanks Dad, he did mention talking to you about it beforehand?" I said with a smirk. He smiled deviously.

"I may or may not have heard about it before," he winked. I laughed.

"I can't believe you guys kept this a secret! Normally you're both bad liars!" I said exasperatedly, waving my hands in the air and giggling. I was just so happy about Sean and I.

"Oh Jake it's so good to hear you laugh," he exclaimed, his eyes suddenly teary. The smile dropped from my face as he looked down at his hands.

"You know, I'm sorry for how I've acted," I said gently, my voice quiet and serious. He looked up, regarding me for a moment.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything. I understand," he replied, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head in understanding.

"Dad, there's uh....something I need your help with," I said, wiping at my face a little bit. He smiled. I motioned for him to follow me out of the family room and into the small kitchen in my apartment. He walked over behind me and took a seat on a barstool.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, looking over at me. I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket and unfolded it, laying in flat on the counter and sliding it over to him. He looked down for a couple seconds before a huge smile took over his features, showing some of his slight wrinkles. My dad was only 43 and hardly had any grey hairs in his almost black hair, but small wrinkles were beginning to form by his eyes. "I don't think you need my help with this."

"Well, I was just wondering what a good place to get it from is, seeing as I've never bought a ring before," I replied as he returned his gaze to the paper in front of him. It had various jewelry stores listed on it as well as pictures of some of the rings they sold.

"Well first, which ring do you like the best?" He asked. I smiled and pointed to the picture of the one that had immediately caught my eye when I was looking online while Sean was at work the other day. He nodded his head. "I think Sean will like that one. I'm afraid I'm not much help though. I've never bought a ring from there. I think all you can do is just go off of reviews other people have left and obviously think about things like price and what you can afford and go from there," he told me.

"I guess that makes sense, I just wanted to know what you thought," I shrugged, fidgeting with my fingers. "I..I guess I'm just nervous."

"I understand being nervous, but just remember you don't have to be. He loves you and I know you'll pick one that he'll like. Just think of how excited you were when he proposed to you. That's all you need to know," Dad said. I took a deep breath.

"Would you mind coming with me? Sean's gonna be at work until at least 3 today, so we have time to go look at some. If that's too weird I understand," I said quickly. His eyes softened and he dipped his head to look me directly in my eyes.