I'm Falling In Love ... and It's ARRANGED!? (on hold)

I'm Falling In Love ... and It's ARRANGED!? *19*

Emelyne's teary gaze turned to me and she sat straighter, her smile wide as she leaned close to my ear.

"This is why I love you so much." She whispered.

She pulled back and looked into my eyes, and suddenly nothing else mattered but Emelyne's sweet eyes.

Her words still buzzing through my head, I leaned in and stole a kiss. It didn't matter that my mother was right there, or that the restaurant was especially busy tonight.

All that mattered was getting closer to the girl that meant so much to me.

My hand rested on her cheek while I deepened the kiss, Emelyne's arms coming around my neck.

There was a sound in the distance, and I realized someone was clearing their throat. We both pulled back and saw my mom sitting there, her eyebrows raised and a knowing look on her face.

"Did I miss something?" she asked with amusement.

I swallowed hard and wrapped my arm around Emelyne, pulling her into me.

"We're getting married." I said, smiling at her.

My mom surprised us by just sitting there, with the same expression as she'd had a second ago.

"And..." she said, expectantly.

I looked at Emelyne with confusion, but she seemed to know exactly what my mother was waiting for.

"It's for real this time, Mrs. Luongo. We love each other." She said quietly, a hint of a smile lingering on her face.

It suddenly occurred to me then that my mother probably thought we were still living at odd with each other, that the arranged marriage was still a barrier between our relationship.

I hadn't even talked to her about the change of feelings Emelyne and I had for each other.

She didn't even know that since meeting Emelyne I'd been the happiest ever, that I'd fallen for her.

I almost laughed at the entire thing.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it didn't even occur to me that you were clueless." I apologized.

Then, I knew it was time. Time to do what my mom and I had been planning while Emelyne had gone to the bathroom.

I'd noticed the sadness in her eyes when she'd returned to the table, she'd been hurt that whatever my mom and I had been talking about didn't concern her.

But there had been a reason we'd shut up when she'd come back.

I'd been so caught up telling my mom about what I was going to do that I hadn't even told her it was going to be the real deal, that I loved Emelyne with all my heart.

Well, now that she knew, I couldn't wait any longer.

I pulled away from Emelyne and she frowned when I let go of her hand, I got out of my chair and kneeled on the ground in front of her.

I was nervous as hell, and my heart was beating hard and fast as I looked up at Emelyne.

There were too many people in the restaurant, and it seemed as if everyone had gone quiet all of a sudden.

But I needed to do this, to let Emelyne know that my feelings were genuine.

Her lips parted in surprise and her eyes widened as she understood what I was going to do.

I took her left hand and pulled out the ring from my pocket with my free hand.

"I know this might be out of the blue and completely unexpected but, Emelyne, I want you to know that somewhere between hitting you with my car and proposing an arranged marriage, I ended up falling hard for you. And that every time I hurt you or caused your tears, my heart felt like it was being ripped apart and I only recently realized how much you mean to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you Emelyne, and I need to know... will you marry me?... for real this time." My heart continued to beat frantically while I waited for an answer.

A part of me told me she was going to say yes, that she loved me just as much as I loved her.

But another part of me told me she had realized I didn't deserve her, that she was too good for me. I was just a player who didn't believe in commitment of any kind.

But how could I tell her that I wasn't that guy anymore, Emelyne had come into my life and changed me. I wasn't the same guy who had a new girl every week. Sure, I never hurt a girl in my life, and I made sure break ups were always mutual. But that didn't mean I hadn't been a jackass.

I wasn't the same anymore though, and as I sat there holding the ring, all I wanted was for Emelyne to say yes.

I was certain my mom was sobbing in the background, but at the moment my attention was directed at Emelyne.

She did the unexpected then, pushing her chair back and kneeling in front of me.

Wrapping her arms around me, she pulled me close and hugged me tight, crying into my shoulder.

"Of course, I'll marry you. I said so last night, didn't I?" she cried, and I realized they were happy tears.

Grinning, I pulled back to look at her.

"Well, yeah you did. But a girl can change her mind." I said sheepishly.

She rolled her eyes and sniffed, wiping her tears and laughing.

"I think you should give me the damn ring now or I might change my mind after all..." she said dryly.

Everyone in the restaurant laughed then and I noticed all the attention was on us, my mom was laughing and crying at the same time and Emelyne had started to cry again as well.

I sighed and pulled Emelyne close, slipping the ring on her finger, wondering how I'd ever gotten so lucky.

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It's a shorter chapter, I know, and that sucks... but hey, it's a "happy" chapter =)

I hope you liked it, hopefully the next one will be longer!

Don't forget to VOTE/COMMENT! :) =)