The Proposal

23

Austin's POV

It had been a week since I had started staying with my parents.

I still had Ava over as much as I could, but I still couldn't bring myself to face Ally.

I kept wondering what I had done to make her want to cheat on me. I know I had been distant lately, but she had been, too. Was it my job to help us reconnect?

Well, it was too late now. The feeling of filing a divorce with Ally made me sick to my stomach.

There was a knock on my door. My mom walked in.

"Why did you even knock if you were just gonna walk in anyway?" I asked.

She sat on the edge of my bed. "Because I'm your mother and I can. Honey, you need to go home."

I tensed up. "Mom-"

She cut me off. "I know that you're hurting. But Ally is your wife. You made a commitment to her. For better or for worse."

I was about to respond when there was a knock on the front door.

My mom sighed. "One second."

She went downstairs. After a moment, she called, "Austin! It's Dez!"

Really? What's Dez doing here?

I walked downstairs to see him and my mom talking.

"Dez?" I asked.

He looked at me and his eyes widened. "You look terrible."

I managed a chuckle. "Hello to you, too."

He shook his head. "Clean up. We're going out."

My eyes widened. "Why?"

He gave me a look because you're a 26 year old man living with his parents and that's just sad."

After Dez forced me to look decent, he put me in his car and started driving.

I groaned. "Can you at least tell me where we're going."

"Nope," he answered simply. "Quit whining."

We arrived at the edge of a forest and he pulled over.

As I got out, I saw a path that led into the woods. It was lit by little candles.

I looked at Dez suspiciously. "Are you bringing me out here to murder me?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. Now go before I change my mind."

I sighed and started walking down the path.

Finally, I got to the end of it and my eyes widened.

There was a huge clearing that had been decorated with lights and candles. There was a table in the middle of it. At that table was Ally.

When she saw me, she smiled shyly and stood up.

"Ally?" I asked in shock. "What's all this?"

She walked over to me and took my hands. "This is what Gavin and I were planning that night."

I looked behind her to see Gavin sitting on a little makeshift stage with a guitar.

"It was?" I asked, feeling guilty.

She smiled and nodded. "I noticed you and I were getting more distant, too, so I wanted to do something special for you."

I sighed and brought her hands to my lips, kissing them. "I'm so sorry, babe. I should've known you would never do something like that."

She smiled and put her hands on my face. "It's okay. I know it must've looked kinda suspicious. I really didn't wanna lie to you but I didn't want you to find out what we were planning."

I smiled and pulled her into a hug, lifting her off the ground.

"I love you, Ally," I mumbled.

She giggled. "I love you, Austin."

I set her back down but kept my arms around her. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you need Gavin for this?"

She looked at him for a second. "I was looking for someone to write a song for us and he offered."

Sighing, I looked over at him. "Sorry for acting up, man."

He waved me off, laughing. "It's alright. Now come on, get on the dance floor.

Ally walked to the tiny dance floor with me and wrapped her arms around my neck as Gavin started singing.

One step closer
Closer to the light
No matter where we're going
I'll be by your side
And everything we used to know
Crashed into the great unknown
One step closer
We're gonna be alright
Cause even underneath the waves
I'll be holding onto you
And even if you slip away
I'll be there to fall into the dark to chase your heart
No distance could ever tear us apart
There's nothing that I wouldn't do
I'll find my way back to you

As he sang the song, I realized how much it represented me and Ally. No matter how many hardships her and I go through in our marriage, no matter how many things try to keep up apart, we'll find our way back to each other.

It made me hold Ally that much closer.

———
AN: just so y'all know, the song in this chapter is called Find My Way Back by Eric Arjes and oml it's so good you should check it out