Five years (melodies & madness sequel)

Chapter 7

David's POV

As always, it was a pleasure to have Duncan around for a few days. Violet had started some new medication and having Duncan about certainly seemed to cheer her up, along with the festivities of Christmas. With Christmas Day being tomorrow, the atmosphere in the flat was exciting and festive. The three of us took an evening stroll around the city, taking in the pretty lights and enjoying the atmosphere. With these two I can blend in more and just be David the Dad and David the Boyfriend, which I liked very much. We picked up some hot chocolates and wandered around. The cool air nipping at any bare skin. Violet bumped into a friend of hers, and so allowing her the space Duncan and I kept our distance and chatted for a moment.
"So what is it then?" He asked, catching me off guard.
"What's what?" I replied, baffled.
"Oh come on Dad, you've got a secret present or something for Vi, you've been trying to hide something since I got here" he chuckled. Then it clicked.
"You can't say anything right?" I insisted, knowing my secret was now out.
"Of course Dad for fuck sake" he laughed, his reaction brought me down to earth. Of course I could trust him, he's my son. I guess I was just a bit on edge because of it. "What is it anyways?" He added.
"I'm going to ask her to marry me" I whispered, trying to be as discrete as possible. Duncan's mouth dropped.
"Jheeze Dad" Duncan beamed, clearly trying his best not to show himself up. "I'm well happy for you"
"Yeah, well she hasn't said yes yet" I laughed, trying to take things one step at a time.
"Of course she'll say yes" he responded, trying to keep his excitement contained. Luckily, that was when Violet hugged her friend and they departed. She headed towards us with a smile on her face and thankfully  we had plenty of questions about her friend to distract her from any signs of my recent revelation. Along with Duncan's help we managed to play it cool as we continued our walk, and Violet told us about some old memories with this friend that she bumped into. We continued a little further, then eventually wound round back home.

When we arrived home it was 9pm and so I fixed us some beverages and sat in front of the tv. We all opted for another hot chocolate to match the festive mood and to warm our cores up. I did my best to not seem nervous and I think Duncan could sense this. He kept glancing at me awkwardly when Violet wasn't looking and did his best to keep the conversation away from any potentially risky topics.
"Dad tells me you've been getting into your art quite a bit recently?" Duncan directed at Violet.
"Oh yeah, kinda" she responded, smiling sweetly as she sipped her drink, "I've always painted but there's something about this city that inspires me, as cheesy as it sounds"
"No I totally get that, like me being in LA, there's always something going on and something to be apart of" he responded. I loved watching the two of them chatting and getting on, it was such a heartwarming sight. I was quite content watching and listening to their conversation that I didn't notice myself grow tired.
"Are you tired love?" I heard a gentle voice, I blinked my eyes open to see Violet leaning over to me, "tired?" She asked again now that I was paying attention.
"...yeah I must be" I nodded, with a groggy smile. "I'm gonna go to bed, you two stay up if you want" I edged forward on the sofa.
" I'm pretty tired too" violet admitted, following suit.
"Alright then, I'll just watch a bit more tv then hit the hay too" Duncan responded, grabbing the tv remote.
"Sure, make yourself at home son" I told him, slowly making my way to the bedroom, closely followed by Vi.
"See you in the morning, remember not to let Santa catch you awake" I added, jokingly.
"Of course" he laughed. Violet and I entered our bedroom and got ourselves ready for bed.
"I'm excited for tomorrow, I can't wait to see your face when you open my present" she beamed, hopping into our bed.
"Aww well I'm even more excited for you to open mine" I informed her, knowing that my present to her was much better. I pulled off my jeans then slid under the sheets beside her.
"This is our 5th Christmas together, can you believe it" she pondered, wriggling herself closer to me. We held each other tight, our hands holding onto one another like we were never going to let go and our legs tangled together, faces millimeters apart.
"I know, I can't imagine life without you anymore" I murmured against her lips before brushing mine against hers. A gentle but passionate kiss.

The next thing I'm aware of is it being morning, early morning. Violet is still fast asleep beside me, her snoozing chest rising and falling slightly, still facing me. I smile fondly at the sight and come to my senses. It's 5am. The sky is a shade of lilac, the weak winter sun yet to break through the clouds. For a moment, I take everything in, savoring it and feeling like the luckiest man alive. I try to go back to sleep for a few hours but I fail. I guess the pressure of the ring being a bit too much. Eventually after an hour or so of miserably failing to get some more sleep, I get up to make a coffee.

As cautiously and quietly as possible I remove myself from the bed and pull on my cosy dressing gown. I smiled as Violet adjusted her position and then I smoothly left the room and headed to the kitchen. Successfully out of the way, I stuck the kettle on, prepared a cup of coffee and lit up a cigarette by the window. The city was yet to wake and it looked so peaceful, so calming. I had a good few hours to myself before I had any company from the other two. So I made use of my time by writing out some lyrics, inspired by the slumbering city and the concept of asking Violet to marry me on Christmas Day.