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By the time Phillis and Edmund were eighteen, they'd bought themselves a house in London opposite the park they'd found all those years before. They had a magnificent view from their top floor; views of city skylines and the park's cherry blossom trees. They both loved living together, they just got to spend everyday in each other's company.
Phillis went to check up on her mother every other day. She was better than she was two years before, but she still had weak moments when the alcohol would become her closest friend. Freddie and Rose would drop by occasionally. Lucy and Helen were round there almost every other week.
Edmund worked a crappy 9 to 5 job down the road from their house. Phillis still worked writing war updates and other interesting stories for the Daily Express. But they did what they had to to pay for their house. Since Edmund only worked down the road from his house, Phillis would often drop some lunch in for Edmund. It was a boring schedule, but it worked and that was all that seemed to matter.
Their home was not particularly big. It had two bathrooms and two bedrooms and a lovely little back garden. The neighbours were kind to the young lovers. They knew Phillis wrote for the paper and often tried to get the details on stories before they were set to be published. Marjorie next door was nearing seventy, and she lived on her own since her husband passed a few years ago. She and Phillis often spoke outside their houses as they usually had nothing better to do.
Then May 7th came. It was all finally over. Edmund and Phillis had been curled up on the sofa, listening to the wireless announce that Germany had surrendered. After six years. The two were reduced to tears, hugging and kissing each other. They'd grown up with the war and they'd both lost so much as a result of it. But it was over now.
VE Day was magnificent. People out in the streets, dancing and singing and cheering. London seemed alive and full of colour after six years of pain and longing.
Edmund and Phillis woke on the 8th of May, cuddled into each other, after the best nights sleep they'd had in years. It was 10 am when they woke, and already they could hear the delighted crowds outside. They smiled at each other, getting dressed and going to join in on the festivities. "Isn't it wonderful, Ed? It's finally over. And to think, we were only twelve when it broke out," Phillis grinned. Their tabby cat, Rum, stretched awake from his slumber at the end of their bed. Deciding he was awake, he hopped off the bed and plodded downstairs to see what all the noise was.
Phillis and Edmund wandered into the park, their hands laced together. They sat down on a bench, which stood opposite the long stretch of pond. They sat down, admiring the view of children chasing each other across the park and happy parents exchanging cakes and biscuits. "I'll be right back," he said. "Okay," she nodded. She wasn't fussed that he was leaving for a moment. In fact, she hardly noticed he was gone. The feeling of the war finally being over was just too overwhelming. Of course, the war still wasn't really over. They were still fighting with Japan, but now they were fighting on their own. So, it didn't seem like it would take long for Japan to surrender - maybe a couple of more months.
Edmund returned in thirty seconds. He was holding a dainty cherry blossom from the cherry blossom tree they sat under when they first discovered the park. He knew she loved cherry blossoms ever since they first visited Narnia. "What's that you've got there?" she asked him. He didn't reply, he just let out a shaky breath. She went to stand up, but he held out his hand. So she didn't move. She had a confused smile glued to her face. Within the next second, he was down on one knee and her smile turned into an even more confused frown. People watched nervously, waiting to see what the boy would say, and more importantly, what the girl would say. "Phillis Clementine Opal," he began, smiling up at her. "I have known you my entire life, and I think I have really loved you for every second of it. I know we're young, too young maybe, but it already feels like we've spent a lifetime together. I remember one night you asked what it would be like to be married, and when I saw you walking down the aisle on Susan and Elmer's wedding day, I wanted you to be in the white dress. I'm sorry I don't have a ring, this was a sort of spontaneous decision, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to marry me?" He held out the little pink flower, a look of raw hope on his face. Phillis looked down at him, willing away the tears spilling from her eyes. She took the flower from his palm, "Of course I'll marry you." He grinned, hugging her. His arms hooked around her slim waist and hers around his broad shoulders. He kissed her perhaps more passionately than he'd ever kissed her before, except for the time she returned to Aslan's How after they all thought she was dead. The crowds in the park cheered for the happy couple. There was perhaps nothing sweeter than proposing to the love of one's life on the day of the celebration of freedom across Europe. Phillis was wearing some navy slacks that had recently become very popular, with a baby blue shirt tucked in. Ed thought she was truly a sight to be marvelled at. And he would never forget the outfit she wore on the day she agreed to make him perhaps the happiest man alive. Edmund and Phillis had been through more than any other couple in all of England. And he knew that spending the rest of his life with Phillis and having a family with her and seeing her walk down the aisle in the white dress would make it all worth it.
