Toxic 2: Lethal

Of Course

Chapter14-Of Course

"Close your eyes." Ava instructed, looking around the corner into the room. I couldn't see her body, or what she was hiding from me, only her head.

I rolled my eyes before I closed them, continuing to rock Jason so he wouldn't cry.

Ava came into the room and set something down on the bed in front of me. "Okay, open."

I opened my eyes slowly, not sure if I was ready for this surprise from her. She went all out or she didn't do anything at all. She was just one of those people. And that scared me sometimes.

In front of me was a picture inside a dark brown frame. The picture was of me holding Jason, looking down at him. My hair was sticking to my face with sweat and my face was red. Jason's eyes weren't open yet.

Tears filled my eyes and I did my best to keep from upsetting Jason. I didn't want him to cry because I was.

"Happy Valentine's Day." She said, sitting down beside me.

"You didn't have to do this." Though I was really glad she did. No way was I turning a present down.

"You needed more than just a bath, silly." She said, laughing.

"You really didn't have to do this."

"If you look closely, you can see individual pictures of the two of us. They make up the big picture."

"No way." I said, holding the picture up to my face. Just like she'd said, there were small pictures of us, some of us laughing, some of us kissing, some of us just eating at the diner. It was better than perfect.

"You sleep a lot so I had plenty of time to work on it."

"I sleep when Jason sleeps. Which, in my opinion, is never."

She laughed. "He just likes spending time with you."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure."

She got up and took the picture with it. She set it on my bedside table instead of hanging it on the wall like I'd expected. "My dad's trying out a new burger at the diner, do you wanna go tonight?"

I narrowed my eyes. Something was up. She never ate burgers at the diner. "You don't eat burgers."

She shrugged. "I'm up for something different."

I reached up and felt her forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, fine."

"I think something's up. You never eat burgers. And I mean never."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the diaper bag. She set it on the bed and started looking through its contents. "Maybe I'm ready for a change."

"Ava-"

"Just get ready." She said, putting the strap of the back on her shoulder. She had a smile on her face as she left the room.

I rolled my eyes but listened to her. I got Jason and I ready then I left the room.

Ava pulled up outside the near vacant diner and put the car into park.

I looked over at her suspiciously. "I don't know what you're up to but it must be something. No way would your dad close the diner this early."

"You're just overthinking." She got out of the car and got into the backseat to get Jason, who was sleeping from the car ride.

I got out of the car and grabbed his bag. I followed Ava into the diner, the bell on the door adding noise to an otherwise quiet building.

Ava walked over to our usual booth and sat down, setting Jason down beside her. "Are you gonna sit down or continue to stare at me?"

I narrowed my eyes but sat down. I couldn't figure out what she was doing but I knew something was going to happen. Something had to. Ava was never this secretive.

She pulled her phone from her coat pocket and started texting someone.

The waitress walked out, her notepad already in her hands. She smiled as she came up to the table. "So nice to see you two here tonight."

I narrowed my eyes at Ava for a second more before smiling at the waitress. "It was Ava's idea, actually."

"Should I get you two the usual?"

Ava looked up from her phone and nodded. "Don't forget the milkshakes."

The waitress nodded and walked back to the kitchen. On the way, she pressed a button on an old stereo and 'My Girl' by City and Colour started playing. It was a song I knew Ava loved and one I'd played when she was around simply because of that. I was glad she picked up on it.

When I turned around to continue to glare at her, she had gotten up from the booth and was down on one knee in front of me. In her hand was a box with a ring sparkling up at me.

"Seeing as I've never done this before, I can't guarantee I'll be doing it right now. But I'm giving it a shot because I love you. So Lydia. There's so much I could say to you. After everything we've been through, I'd be stupid not to propose. I know we're not the perfect couple but I know that what we have is too special to just settle for what we have now. So Lydia, will you marry me?"

I stared at her with tears in my eyes. I didn't know what to say. I mean, obviously I wanted to marry her but I never would have expected her to propose. It already felt like we were married. Talking about marriage seemed kind of pointless, given our situation. But I was glad she brought it up. I was glad she wanted to take this step with me and make things official. This made it easier for her to adopt Jason since he legally wasn't hers.

There was no way I'd say no to her.

I laughed, being the awkward person that I was, and nodded. "Of course I'll marry you."

She slid the ring on my finger and pulled me into a tight hug. Along with my tears were her own. But she was laughing. Happy tears from both of us.

Though I would have thought differently just a year before, there was no one I would have rather spent the rest of my life with. Maybe except Jason. But he didn't really count, right?