Happy Never After

Chapter 21

"So how did you even know this place was here?" I asked.

"We used to come here quite a lot when I was younger, then when I was trying to think of somewhere to bring you this seemed like the perfect place." Tom replied. We carried on with small conversations while we ate and drank, but it was never boring - I could never get bored listening to Tom. I could sit and listen to him talking all day, snuggled up in his arms...

"Are you finished?" Stacey asked politely, snapping me out of my daydream. I said yes and thanked her, handing over my plate and cup. Tom paid the bill and then took my hand, pulling me out my seat and guiding me out the restaraunt. I started to head towards the car when we got outside but he pulled me in the other direction, towards the other side of the pub where you could just see a rectangle of grass poking out. I was confused as to where he was taking me but, when we were past the pub and out the back, there was a dip - completely hidden from even a short distance - with a small river running through the centre with a small group of trees on this side off to the right. The grass was so soft and green and the water so clear and blue that it almost seemed fake, like something out of a movie. But it was real. And Tom had taken me here.

"This is amazing!" I exclaimed. Tom grinned at me and, still holding my hand, walked down the steep grass slope and towards the river, veering off right towards the trees. He made his way straight through the middle and I took two steps before tumbling.

"Wait, Tom! I can't walk through this in heels! I can hardly walk in heels as it is!" I said. He turned around and bent over, telling me to lift up one foot then the other. He took off my shoes and handed them to me, then swept me up and carried me bridal-style. I giggled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he carried me through the trees and over all the roots. I was wondering how on earth he was going to find his way back out again, but then we came to a clearing just next to the river with a picnic blanket, a picnic basket and a few Chinese lanterns, all different sizes arranged in the corner of the blanket by the river.

"Oh my gosh..." I breathed. Tom carried me on to the picnic blanket then placed me down lightly, sitting down next to me and taking a bottle out of the basket.

"I've got to drive us back, so it's not exactly champagne..." he said, slightly embarassed, as he turned the bottle round and revealing that it was a bottle of Shloer. I laughed.

"I don't care about that! Who cares if we're not drinking champagne! This is perfect enough with or without it." He smiled and took out two glasses, pouring them both and handing one to me.

"And I know we just ate, but I've got some food for a bit if you get hungry." Tom said, waving his hand at the basket. I said nothing, just smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. It couldn't seem more perfect. But of course it got better.

We sat there for two hours, just talking between each other in quiet conversations. You'd think we would have got bored but we didn't - every conversation that Tom and I had was magical and perfect, even if we were just talking about something silly and boring. When the sun started to set Tom took his phone out and put on some music. He stood up and held his hand out for me to take, so I did and he pulled me up. We put our arms around each other and started to sway to the music, side to side as we stared into each other's eyes. I looked into his and all of a sudden I could see our whole future together. Having our first dance at our wedding, similar to now, then bringing home our first child...waving them off to school...sending them off to university...watching them leave home and starting a family...growing old together...

Though I didn't imagine us falling into the river. I was snapped abruptly out of my fantasy by the freezing cold water which I was sitting in.

"Shit shit shit!" Tom said. It was very shallow as we were only just in it - we were sitting in only about fifteen centimetres of water - but it was freezing cold and horrible even so. He shuffled onto the grass and lifted me out then he sat down on the picnic blanket with his legs stretched out. He took his shoes and socks off and rolled his trousers up slightly and quickly dried off his feet then reached his arms out to me. He pulled me into a hug and I sat on his lap, facing him, my legs wrapped around him. Tom hugged me close to him and whispered in my ear,