Metal Chains {Dylan O'Brien}

Chapter 23

I awoke when Dylan was still asleep and watched him in his slumber. His eyelids were fluttering ever so slightly, so I thought that he may have been dreaming. He wasn't perfect, no, but he was and still is the love of my life and I know that now. Being with him made me happier than I'd ever been. I rolled over and rested my head on his chest just so I could feel his warmth radiate into my body. I loved him, I did, but I didn't know if I could trust him anymore after what he did.

Minutes passed before Dylan woke up. When his eyes opened, a smile spread across his face when he saw me laying next to him. Of course I was forced to smile back because his smile was so contagious. His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled my body close to him so that he could kiss me. I kissed back, savoring the flavor of his lips on mine, something that I'd forgotten over our lost time. He let our lips linger on each others for a time that seemed too short before he pulled away to look at me.

"I should be getting back, my family will be worried." I said to him.

We dressed ourselves again and I sat on the bed in silence for a moment. "Are you okay?" His voice came from behind me and I looked back at him. "Yeah, it's just..." I paused and looked at my hands which were clasped together tightly in my lap. "How did we get here, Dylan?" I stared at the wall with a frown and waited for his response, but there wasn't one.

"We used to be so in love with each other. I thought you told me everything, I thought... we would get married or something, Dylan. I never thought we'd end up like this." Tears had formed in my eyes, but I blinked them away and sighed.

"Hey. Do you remember what you said to me the day that you found out I was leaving?"

I sniffed and wiped my eyes before turning to look at him. His eyes locked on mine and I shook my head. "No, what?" I asked, wiping my eyes again. He reached out and ruffled my hair with a small smile. "You said that I had to have faith that we would find a way because we always do." When he said it I remembered and began to giggle. His warm hand found my cheek. "You remember that?" he asked, knowingly. I nodded in response, laughing through tears. "It's my turn now to remind you that we always find a way, Kates. Always." I nodded again and repeated the last word, "Always."

He kissed my nose but I lifted my lips to his and kissed his soft lips. I knew what I wanted now. I wanted him. I'd always wanted him, always, and it must have been — to some degree, factual that he wanted me too. Our kiss deepened until we were breathing heavily. "I love you." I said softly. He mumbled something back against my lips that I couldn't quite understand. I pulled away only inches to say, "Hmm?" but he broke the kiss completely, his eyes met mine and he exhaled slowly against my lips.

"Marry me."

My breath got caught in my throat and I stood up from the bed slowly. I walked over to the window across the room from the bed and looked out of it. Was he being serious? At our age, with him becoming an actor... marriage? "Dylan, are you kidding?" I glanced back at him. I don't turn around when he began to speak, but I knew that he was getting closer.

"I don't care about any of it anymore, Katy. I don't care about Scarlet or our ages or what the media will think, I don't care. I just know that I am so deeply in love with you and I want the chance to show you for the rest of my life."

I felt his hand grab mine, so I turned toward him with plans to tell him exactly what I thought about that idea— it was absurd and completely irresponsible, inconsiderate, and inconvenient. Our families would hate it! "Are you thinking about that Dylan?" I was ready to say... but what I saw in front of me was shocking enough to shut me up.

Dylan was down on one knee and he was gazing at me with so much love. I stumbled back a few steps out of shock. In his hand was a ring, and not just a small diamond, no. One huge and sparkling one surrounded by a bunch of smaller ones. The sun was rising through the window and it bounced off of the ring and made it flash. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and I was shaking so hard that the room began to feel hot.

"Katherine Alyssa Enderson, will you marry me?"