as it is || harry styles au

fifty-eight

please do yourself a favor to listen to the song mentioned in this chapter, when it's mentioned. instant tears.

enjoy the final chapter  (:

i v o r y

The ring was perfect. I had never been one to dream of what my perfect ring might look like—except the one preference I did have was it to be gold since that was my preference.

  All I ever dreamed about was Harry being the person to give me one.

     There was an oval diamond set in the middle of a twisted gold metal band that reminded me of vines intertwined together with smaller diamonds on nestled in those vines.

     We sat with our backs against the truck bed. The ending of the movie played, but I was busy listening to Harry.

     "Can I give you the sappy, romantic reason behind the ring?" He asked.

     I giggled. I couldn't stop giggling. "I'd love to hear it."

     "The first ring," he held up his hand with my promise ring on his pinky, "represents the ease of our beginning. We met when we were young, loved the shit out of each other, imagined a future together, so of course we'd get married, right?"

     I nodded.

     "This ring—," he kissed the knuckle the ring sat under, "the twisting metal—represents the time we spent apart, the growth we experienced away from each other, the roots we've put down in Boston and here in Camden, and the future we'll grow together."

     The thought he'd put into all of this...

     "That's...that's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

     Even in the faint light emitting from the movie screen, I could see his cheeks tinge red. "That's why we were late today. We had to stop and pick this up."

     "No way."

     He shrugged. "It just so happened to be ready, and I couldn't wait any longer."

     I cupped his cheek and kissed him. "I can't believe you did this. You should be in bed healing."

"Hell no. The only reason I didn't propose months ago was because you were in Boston and this ring wasn't ready."

I shook my head in disbelief. "This is perfect. So perfect. I don't know how it could be more perfect."

The soft smile on Harry's face never wavered. He looked at me like I'd just given him the world when he was the only person I'd want to see the world with.

"Wait." Details were beginning to hit me. "So, all of this was on purpose, too? The movie. Will and Em watching Jamie? Do they know?"

Harry found my cluelessness endearing rather than annoying. "They came with me to pick up the ring, so they do know. Jamie knows. Your mum knows. My mum knows. Alden knows. Isaiah knows. Jenna and Mick know. Zuri and Lena, too. That's why they insisted on taking you to get your nails done yesterday."