Always There - Part 2 || Greta Van Fleet

Chapter 201: Offering Forever

"Yeah?" Josh asked, flashing me the biggest smile I had ever seen. I nodded, now finally feeling the tears come to my eyes that I had always imaged would be there when one day, someone would ask me this question.

A girl always dreams of how it would feel, when the love of your life is kneeling in front of you, wanting to spend the rest of their life with you, and you always think you know how you're going to feel, but nothing could ever compare to how I felt in this moment.

I had never felt this kind of happiness before.

"Of course I will!" I shouted, lunging forward, wrapping my arms around his neck and crawling down onto the floor in front of him. He wrapped one arm around me, still holding the ring box with the other, giggling in my ear.

I quickly moved away, wiping my eyes when I realized I hadn't even gotten a good look at the ring, but when he held it back out in front of me, I couldn't believe it.

It was absolutely beautiful.

He took a deep breath, taking it out of the box and gently gliding it onto my finger. A perfect fit. I couldn't believe this was happening, despite the fact I had pictured this moment, over and over, especially with him, I couldn't believe that it was actually happening.

"Do you like it?" He asked nervously, gently holding my hand as he inspected it. I nodded, unable to take my eyes off of it. I had never seen a ring like this before, which made it even more beautiful. Because there has never been a love like ours either.

"I love it so much." I sighed, gently caressing his face, pulling him into a long, tender kiss. He reached up, his hand moving behind my neck as he kissed me back harder until his lips instinctively curled into a giddy grin.

"You promise?" He asked. I nodded.
"I promise." I said, looking back down at it again. I couldn't believe I was going to get to wear this for the rest of my life.

"What are the two stones?" I asked, cuddling closer to him. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me up against him.
"Well, this one.." He said, pointing towards the more opaque, rigid stone. "This is the rock, the one I gave you on our first date, the one I found right there. And this one.." He said, twirling it towards me. "This is a new diamond, because today.. our life begins together."

Sometimes I couldn't believe just how thoughtful he was.
How did I ever get so lucky?

I leaned back into a long kiss, gently tangling my fingers in his hair.
"You're incredible." I sighed, brushing my fingers against his cheek. He smiled back at me, leaning in, lightly rubbing his nose against mine.

What I would give to live within this perfect moment with him forever.

"But.. you really like it right? Cause if you wanted something more traditional-"
"Absolutely not." I laughed. "I love it. It's just like us." He nodded, giggling to himself.
"What, old and rough, and then shiny and beautiful?" I shook my head, feeling my cheeks burn.
"You know what I mean." I whispered. He nodded, leaning in, gently kissing my forehead.
"I do."

And to think, one day soon we'd be saying those words to each other.

We spent what felt like hours together in that gazebo, reminiscing on what felt like our entire life together, every moment that lead us up to this one, how many missed opportunities that lead us right to where we were now.

"Remember that night at the carnival?" He asked. I nodded, remembering it clearer than anything. That was the first night that I thought something might actually finally happen between us, and we were so close..

"Of course I do." I said, trying to find any which way to get that much closer to him. "You have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss you that night." He smirked back at me, biting down on his lip.
"Oh, yes I do." He giggled. "Because.. you have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss you too."
"I really wish you would have."
"Are you saying you didn't like our first kiss?" He asked. I stopped for a moment, thinking back on that night in his room. I shook my head.

"No." I sighed, unable to contain my grin. "I loved it. I just.. there were so many 'almosts,' and.. I hate the idea of us wasting so much time that we could have been together. We always knew it was meant to be us."
"But.. I was scared."
"I was scared too."
"You had nothing to be scared of, Jaime." He giggled, leaning into another gentle kiss.
"Neither did you." I sighed. He leaned his forehead against mine, letting out a deep sigh.

"There's no way that you couldn't have known, though.." He added. "I mean, the way I felt about you. I.. I always thought that.. well, they all made fun of me, because of how obvious I was." I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head.
"I always hoped, I just.. you were so kind to everyone, and.. I didn't want to get the wrong idea." He nodded, reaching over for my hand again, carefully intertwining our fingers, holding the ring back up to his face.

"Well, no one else got a ring out of me." He laughed, gently kissing the top of it.
"Good." I said, pulling him into another kiss.
"I think what it was.." He said. "Was that.. I never wanted to push it too far because.. I couldn't handle losing you, in any sense. So.. if friends were all we were meant to be.. that would've been enough for me, if that was all you wanted. I just.. I wanted you to be happy, and as badly as I wanted it to be with me, if it wasn't.. well, at least things wouldn't be weird between us, and we could still.. have what we always had, and then-" I cut him off, pulling him into a passionate kiss, holding his face in my hands.

I felt him sigh again before pulling me in, kissing me harder before I finally pulled away.
"We don't have to think about that anymore." I sighed, unable to contain my smile. "Because now it's you and me, and we are.. everything." He stared back at me with those dazed eyes, those eyes that I had always imagined would be staring up at me, offering a ring.

Offering forever.

"I like the sound of that." He said softly, gently running his fingers through my hair.
"So, when do we get to tell everyone?" I asked, giggling to myself. I couldn't wait to tell-

And then I stopped, now wondering.. who else could I tell?
I could tell my mom, of course. She would be.. beyond happy for me.
But.. Jake? I didn't see that going very well, not after everything.
And now Sam? Who I haven't even told Josh about.

I really didn't think it was worth complicating anything else when there was nothing to talk about. So he had a harmless crush when he was younger and too much to drink that night. It didn't mean anything, and I'm sure he had forgotten all about it by now. And.. maybe he would be happy for me.

But really.. Josh was my best friend, in every sense.

"We don't have to rush that." He said, his eyes moving down to my lips. "And I was thinking.. we could have a few more hours of just.. us knowing, before.. you know.." He vaguely motioned away, but I knew exactly what he meant.

"Yeah, I know.." I sighed, even though I wish I didn't.
"So.." He said, his smile growing. "I booked us a hotel tonight, because.. I really wanted to celebrate, and spend the night with you without.. having to worry about anyone else listening in.. on the other side of the walls." He laughed. My heart jumped, now unable to contain my smile.

Finally, a night all alone with him.

"Let's go."