Dangers Back:

Chapter 26:

Kelsey's Point of View:

"Justin," I gasped, feeling my heart begin to thump faster and harder with each passing second. The adrenaline pumped within my veins as I stared down at my boyfriend of four years. With a shaking hand, I felt my stomach churn in a mixture of all the emotions that began to flow through me.

Biting his lip, he looked up at me expectedly, hope and nervousness swirling within the light soles of his eyes burning with intensity.

"A-Are you sure about this?" I whispered, "I mean... with everything that's going on, do you think it's the right thing to do? I just-" Shaking my head, I let out an unsteady breath, "Oh my God..."

Cracking a small smile, Justin remained on one knee, the box still open to my teary eyes, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you now and forever. You're the one for me Kelsey Jones."

"You want to get married?" I asked slowly, trying to make sense of this all as his words repeated over and over again like a broken record but I couldn't bring myself to believe it. "To me?" I swallowed, "Are you sure?" I paused, "I mean... I can be a pain in the ass-"

Shrugging, he smirked, "Yeah, well, you're my pain in the ass."

Laughing, I shook my head, "But I annoy you all the time. I'm nosy and constantly making sure you're okay, we fight all the time... do you really want to do that... for the rest of your life?"

Standing up to full length, Justin grasped my hands in his, careful to hold the box so that it didn't fall, "You drive me crazy, you make me want to scream, you annoy the shit out of me, yes, you're constantly in my business, you worry too much and you're hard headed but you're mine. I fell in love with you just the way you are so yes, I would want to deal with this for the rest of my life because I love you and love makes you do crazy things."

Nodding my head, I bit my lip, letting it all sink into me. Licking my lips, I felt fresh tears spring to my eyes, "Are you sure this isn't just some crazy idea you came up with to get me to stay home from now on because," Swallowing hard, "If it is... it's not funny."

Shaking his head without saying a word, his eyes glowed immensely, "I want to marry you because I want you in my life, Kelsey." He murmured softly, sending tingles down my spine. "When you were taken by Luke, it made me realize back then how important you were to me, how everything changed because of you. You asked me questions, you made me think about things I hadn't before. You trusted me. You opened up to me and I found myself trusting you too. I started looking forward to seeing you, thinking about you during the day, actually wanting to be home... with you."

"I was feeling all of those things too." I whispered, shaking my head, I pulled my lips into my mouth, feeling the tears cascade down my cheeks, "I've been through... a lot in my life but the one thing I never, ever experienced was falling in love and having it returned. Now I know what it is because it's exactly what I'm feeling right now and I'm scared... I'm scared that I won't be good enough in the long run. I'm afraid that you'll get tired of me and want somebody else and I don't think I can handle that."

"Don't say that," Justin shook his head, "There's nobody in this world who could ever replace you. I don't want anybody else, if I did, I wouldn't be here right now. I want you and only you... since the first day I saw you."

"All my life I've been told what was right from wrong, I was treated like a child. I never got to experience what it was like to be normal for a change but you... you changed it all around for me. You showed me life for what it was worth. You showed me what it's like to love someone. You gave me something to hold onto when I thought my life was going to fall apart." I smiled through my tears, "As much as you want to give me credit for a lot of things, truth be told, you brought as much as the same effect." Freeing one of my hands, I cupped his cheek into the palm of my hand, gently running my thumb across his heated skin, "I love you so much. More than I could of ever imagined... so yes," I nodded confidently.