Our World

chapter 19: atlas

chapter 19

~atlas~

       No matter how much I love the degree I'm pursuing, classes always seem to exhaust me. By the time I get home from school, I just want to either lie down and sleep for the rest of the day, or drop out of school.

       I know I won't actually drop out of school, but the thought will always be there. Thankfully, I know the Ari will talk me into continuing my education if it really comes to me wanting to drop out. Or at the very least, he'll convince me to take less classes because really, there's nothing wrong with cutting back your study days, even if it means graduating at a later than expected date. It will be a lot better to graduate later than to constantly feel stressed.

       As soon as I walk into my apartment, all the stress from today's classes nearly fade away as I look at the sight in front of me. Ari is standing beside the dining table, having decorated it for a romantic candlelight dinner, complete with the fancy tablecloth and napkins. He had also dimmed the light in the apartment to further accentuate the glow of the candles lit on the table.

       "Ari," I say. "What's this?" Before Ari can even answer, it clues into me why Ari has done all of this. "I can't believe I forgot."

       "No, don't worry about it," Ari says, walking over to me. He grabs my backpack and sets it aside before he holds both of my hands. "I know you've been stressed with school, so this was probably the last thing on your mind."

       "That makes it sound even worse," I say. "I didn't even get you anything."

       "That's okay, Atlas," Ari says. "Really. I don't mind. The only thing I ask of you is to have dinner with me."

       I smile at Ari, feeling happy that he's not mad I forgot our two-year anniversary. I am still a bit mad at myself for forgetting it, especially because Ari has been such a huge part of my life these past two years. I wouldn't be where I am, I wouldn't be proud of who I am, if it weren't for him.

       Even though he said he doesn't mind that I didn't get him anything, I still want to get him something, so I make a mental note to put it in my phone to pick him up something after work tomorrow. I know if I only tell myself, I'll end up forgetting so I have to make sure I put it in my phone.

       I take off my shoes, and Ari leads me to the dining table for our anniversary dinner. With the smell of an abundance of different spices filling the air, I can tell that our dinner includes only home cooked food Ari made himself. Ari's family is Ecuadorian so ever since I moved in with him, he would cook me Ecuadorian food that he grew up eating. Every single dish has always been so delicious, so I'm excited to see most, if not all, the food for our dinner is Ecuadorian. He knows how much I love it.

       Ari holds out one of the chairs for me to sit on. Once I do, he pushes the chair closer to the table before kissing my cheek. He serves us both dinner before sitting down across from me at the table. Before I can even take a bit of the delicious food in front of me, I say, "Thank you for this, Ari. I really needed it after class."

       Ari smiles at me. "You're welcome. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me and how happy I am to have you in my life. I love you so much, Atlas."

       I smile back at Atlas, feeling so happy to have such an amazing boyfriend in my life. "I love you, too." I know that to have a relationship with Ari, I had to sacrifice my relationship with my family but honestly, I would do it again without a second thought. Why would I sacrifice myself, sacrifice who makes me happy, just to keep a relationship with my family who doesn't truly love me for who I am? I would just be unhappy for the rest of my life as oppose to being happy with Ari.

       As I'm eating dinner with Ari, we just talk about anything and everything. Well, except for school because he knows that it will stress me out by talking about it. But just by talking with him and having dinner with him, I feel so relaxed. So happy. I already want to spend the rest of my life with Ari, but this dinner just solidifies my feelings for him.

       Once we're done eating, Ari clears off our plates and brings them to the kitchen counter. "Before I get dessert for us, there's something I want to ask you," Ari says. He walks back over to me, getting down on one knee. My heart beats rapidly once I realize what he's going to ask me. "Atlas, the past two years I've known you, you have made me the happiest person ever. I love you so much, and I know we're young, but there's no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So Atlas Crawford..." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a velvet box, opening it to reveal a ring. "Will you marry me?"

       Ari's right; we are young, but there's no doubt in my mind that we won't be able to make a marriage work. Some young marriages don't work out, but some do. And I truly think, no, I know, that Ari and I will work out.

       So I smile at Ari and say, "Yes. Yes, I'd love to marry you."

       Ari releases a breath before putting the ring on me. I pull him in for a kiss, feeling the happiest I've ever felt. When we pull away, Ari says, "So I know I said I'll get dessert, but I kind of want to celebrate, if you know what I mean."

       I know exactly what Ari means, so I get up from the chair, grabbing his hand and pulling him to our bedroom.

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when i started this chapter, ARI WASN'T EVEN GOING TO PROPOSE BUT HE ENDED UP TAKING OVER AS I WAS WRITING IT AND WAS BASICALLY LIKE "I'M PROPOSING NOW IDC." love it when my characters end up driving my narrative lol.

all jokes aside, it just felt right for ari to propose now.