Black Castle 🖤 E. Mikaelson

Chapter Thirty. Wallflowers & Seeds

    In front of my apartment, I turned and faced Elijah. He was looking up, clearly impressed with where I lived. It wasn't too flashy but it was something that I liked. 
"Well, I appreciate you walking me home." I thanked him as soon as I could. I didn't mean to sound too formal, but it was kind of a default setting.
"It's no problem at all, I just wanted to have the opportunity to ask you out on a date properly." He leaned down a little bit to try and play it off as he asked me out.
"Are you telling me that we weren't just on a date back at the bar?" I joked, and it only took him a second to realize that I was.
"I mean it could be considered one I suppose. I just thought you deserved something a little more, formal." He shrugged his shoulder and then laughed.
"I would love to go on a date with you. Let me have your phone so I can put my number in it." I held out my hand.
Elijah didn't hesitate, he didn't have a password that he had to get into, he just casually handed it over and as I looked at his screen, it was a picture of him, Nik, two other men, and two other women, they had to have been his siblings. As soon as I put my number in and typed out my name, I pressed the call button and waited for his number to pop up on my phone. I handed his phone back as soon as that happened. "Big family."
"It is," He laughed a little bit. "Do you have any siblings?"
"Two older sisters but one of the two is my twin, and I have a little sister." I blinked slowly as if it weren't that much of a big deal.
"Well, I look forward to learning more about you." He looked down at his phone, and then back up at me. I could tell that he wasn't trying to be too forward, I thought it was cute.
"I feel the same." I bit my lip.
"Goodnight, Arabella."
"Goodnight Elijah."

He turned to walk away so that he could make his way home as well, what he didn't expect was for me to turn him around by his hand, pull on his suit jacket, and pull him down until his lips met mine.
As we pulled apart, he couldn't help but ask. "What was that for?"
"I, I don't know." I looked into his eyes and gave him a small smile as I answered and for the first time all night, his eyes had softened.

SIX MONTHS LATER

"I can't believe how happy he makes you." Hayley poked at her salad and wished it was a donut.
"I've honestly never been happier. I thought being a graduate from Harvard, getting my dream job, and moving to the city would be everything I wanted and more, but Elijah is my entire life now." I poked at my salad and wished it was a burrito. The smile had never left my face because it was true, Elijah made me the happiest woman on earth. Nothing or no one could take that away from me. Not even my parents.
"Would you change anything?" Cristina turned her head and looked at me. We were all sitting in the restaurant Elijah brought me to on our first date, it was a place Hayley and I visited frequently, Cristina had never been so we were treating her to its delicious cuisine.
"Absolutely not. I've never loved someone so much in my life." I gushed. It was only normal for me because Elijah was my first love, he was everything to me. The thought of me acting like a teenager in love, made me chuckle.
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way." Hayley smiled as she sat back and looked down at Elijah, I wasn't looking at her so I didn't see what she was doing, nor was I paying attention to the photographers who knelt at different angles and started snapping their pictures.
"Why?" My eyebrows furrowed as I reached for my glass of water and took a sip.
"Because Elijah's right behind you, and he's down on one knee." She whispered excitedly.
"Wai-what?" I looked surprised and then turned around in my seat. Lo and behold he was in fact on one knee, holding up a ring that not even I could dream of, and the look on his face was mixed with happiness and tears. Which caused me to stand up, wanting to comfort him.
"I planned to keep my speech short and sweet. Arabella, for a long time I believed if I was meant to meet someone who would change my life forever, she would come when I would least expect it. When I met you six months ago, I just thought I was going to meet a woman who didn't care for my existence. That she was only there because her best friend and my brother dragged us along. But now that I know you, it's a moment my mother told me once upon a time, that when I know, I know. And I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want your quirky laughs and fuzzy socks, I want your Marvel movie marathons, I want your lazy Sundays. But I also want your meltdowns and your tantrums. I want your bad days along with your good ones. I want you always and forever. Arabella Sophia Bonavich, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
My eyes were flooding with tears, and I couldn't necessarily stop them from running down my cheeks. I was speechless. His speech was beautiful and I could see the love in his eyes while he waited for my answer. I nodded my head as I wiped away my tears while holding out my left hand so that he could put the ring on my finger. His hand was calm but when he stood up and hugged me I could feel his body shaking, it was probably from the nerves. The whole restaurant we were standing in the middle of had everyone around clapping for us. It was the best day of my life hands down. It wasn't Harvard, it wasn't the law firm, it wasn't my lavish apartment, it was Elijah, he was the start of my perfect life, and I couldn't imagine one without him.