September 2nd, 2021
"Have you ever wondered how songs are written?"
"It's actually a lot simpler than you might think"
"There are three main components to writing a song, and we're gonna show you them today in our 10 minutes song writing challenge"
"Hey I'm Christina" "I'm Kathrine" "I'm Amy" "I'm Lauren" "And we're Cimorelli"
I lost it right after that and stopped listening while Christina continued with the intro, I just settled on doing some weird gestures and faces that probably had nothing to do with what she was saying.
"Alright, these are t-"
"Wait" Kathrine stopped Christina mid-sentence and we all looked at her, "I really need to pee" She announced and stood up as fast as she could.
"Oh no Kathrine!" We all huffed, knowing it would get her a lifetime to come back, I suppose it had something to do with her big tween-pregnancy belly.
"Sorry" She apologized but it didn't stop her from going anyway, and it's not like we can do anything to stop her, again, the needs of the pregnancy.
"Okay, go, why don't we start with our song and then you guys go and we do the presentation of the challenge right before the reveal?" I suggested and Amy nodded in accordance.
"Good idea, good luck losers" Christina said as she walked out of the room and I went to take the piano.
"Alright, ready? I'm starting the clock" Arielle looked at us from behind the camera.
"Okay, go" I allowed her and she pressed the button in the timer. "Okay, so-"
"Hi, I'm nervous" Amy just mumbled.
"Okay" I dismissed her with a smile, of course she's nervous, everybody knows that, even before that video starts. "So the words that we have are clock, notebook and explain... so we have to fit those in" I reminded everyone, but mostly to myself. "Okay so... first thought is that's a sad song, right?" To me it sounded obvious that it is.
"And I thought today would be different Lauren" She shook her head in disappointment, "You're supposed to be happy today, happy thoughts!"
"I am, but like, come on, it fits for a sad song" I only heard her agreeing with me but I didn't mind the things that she was listing as examples, "We got notebook, okay" My mind was already drawn to the lyrics, but I knew I had to focus, "Okay!" I said a little louder, I needed to focus my sister too, we couldn't waste much time.
When I started playing I was glad to see that Amy and I had the same line of thoughts and we were on the same vibes. We were actually almost completing each other, and those 10 minutes flew by really quick. Arielle put up 3 fingers to let us know we only got 3 minutes left and the only thing that was missing in our song was the last line. It had to rhyme with Midnight or with Goodbye.
"Na na na na na sunrise..." I mumbled to the rhythm, of course sunrise would be the word I could think of, kind of pathetic of me to not being able to think about anything else, but it really was the only word that came to my mind. Amy liked the idea, and we really had to hurry up, so we stuck with it.
When Christina and Kath finished their own song we all sang together again, we had to take the keyboard away to do the intro of the challenge itself and introduce the teams, and after that we brought it back in to do "The big reveal" how Christina phrased it.
"Wait, what's our song called?" I just thought about it right before we started.
"We don't have a name"
"WHAT?!" Kath squealed and then suggested something that I didn't even listen to, it sounded long though.
"Umm... Midnight" I suggested, looking at Amy for affirmation.
"Or Sunrise" I was hoping she wouldn't say that.
"I like Midnight" I said, trying to not give them any explanation.
"Okay, we'll do that" Amy finally agreed and I sighed in relieve.
"Midnight?" Christina asked for confirmation.
"Why not Sunrise? It's more original" Kath had to intervene and I knew her and Christina would insist unless they get a fair explanation.
"Because... I'm kinda making a song that's called Sunrise... you know... for Spencer..." I said and already felt myself blushing, "About Spencer" I corrected myself.
"Wait, really??" It's Christina stopped everything that had to do with the video and focused only on that, "About LA?" She asked very intrigued and excited.
"Mostly" I shrugged, not wanting to get into details.
"Play it for us, please!!" Amy begged but I shook my hand without even giving it a thought.
"Absolutely not, it's way too early for that, I'm barely in the middle of it" I explained and she sighed in disappointment, "I'll show you all when it's done, now can we continue with this?" I asked pointing at the keyboard to continue with the video, I don't really know if or when I'm gonna show it to them, I just wanted them to let it go.
"Alright, here we go!" Christina let us continue and I looked down shyly, trying to relax and hoping my blush subsided at least a little bit, that conversation gave me severe flashbacks from last weekend in LA.
Almost two weeks ago: August 23rd, 2021
Dani's POV
I was sitting with Emmyn and our roommates in our living room watching the Black Widow movie. I started to regret not watching the MCU movies before but I made them all promise to help me binge it as soon as possible. My phone rang and I only picked it up because my sister was the one facetiming me, if it was someone else I wouldn't.
"Hey Sugar" I smiled seeing her face on the screen.
"Hey, are you alone?" Lauren asked me right away.
"Umm... no... why?" I asked curious by her attitude.
"Can you go somewhere to be alone? It's kind of important" She didn't need to explain, I immediately got up and went to my room closing the door behind me.
"Alright, what's up?"
"First of all, don't tell absolutely anyone, not even Emmyn, anyone! Okay?" She warned me and I nodded subconsciously, "I'm gonna send you an address that's like 30 minutes away from you, I need to go there tomorrow and pick something for me and then hide it really really good until Spencer and I get there this weekend, and then we'll find a moment for ourselves so you can give it to me, got it?" Her instructions were pretty clear, but also very vague on the details.
"If I didn't know you any better I would think you're mingling me in some drug dealing stuff, what is this about?" I was way too curious to just let it go and not ask, but I doubted she'll tell me.
"You'll understand when you get there tomorrow..."
"Oh wait, you're coming for the weekend??" That piece of information was just registering in my mind.
"Yes, we are, we already made reservations in a hotel close to you"
"Oh my god! That's awesome! Wait Laur, can I film it?" I had a hunch that the mystery was gonna be a fun material for my channel, she sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, but you can't say anything and you can't upload or post anything until I tell you" She told me and I nodded with excitement.
"I guess I need to call you tomorrow when I have whatever this is?"
"You'll do it anyway, so yeah, sure... I gotta go, talk to you tomorrow, thank you Spice! Love you!" She hurried to hang up and left me very intrigued.
"Hello guys," I said to the camera as I got into my car, "So yesterday my beloved sister Lauren called me and she was like being all mysterious and stuff and she sent me an address to go pick up something for her and then hide really good until they get here this weekend, and NO it's not a drug stuff" I said immediately clarifying that, "I think" I mumbled loud enough for the camera to hear it.
I drove the 30 minutes Lauren promised me it would take and parked the car where the GPS told me to. Throughout the drive the camera was still on and I rumbled on occasionally, not really knowing if I would put everything in the final video, probably not.
"What? Is that...?" I looked confused at the store with the address and my mind started to spiral, "Oh god, you guys..." I took everything with me, including the camera of course, and crossed my way to the other side, "No way" I mumbled as I got in the jewelry store. "Hi" I greeted the saleswoman.
"Hello, how may I help you?" She smiled at me.
"Uh... I'm picking up something for Lauren Cimorelli?" I said in a questioning tone, still not sure if this was really happening or I got into the wrong store.
"Let's see..." She typed something on the computer and then smiled and went to the back.
"Oh my god" I picked the camera up to film myself, "Guys, if this is what I this it is I'm gonna be so shocked!"
"Here you go" The woman got back and handed me a small bag, "You're Lauren?"
"No, that's my sister"
"Oh then, congratulations for her" She smiled broadly at me and I smiled back for courtesy.
"Thank you" I said and walked out hurriedly. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" This congratulation from that woman was probably all the confirmation I needed, "I'm gonna call Lauren right now!" I announced and plugged the phone to the Bluetooth connected to my car and then called my sister on facetime.
"Did you get it?" Lauren asked as soon as she picked up.
"I can't freaking believe you! Is this for real??"
"Open it, I wanna see that that's the one" She said and my smile couldn't get any bigger as I opened the bag in a matter of seconds to reveal a small blue box.
"I'm gonna cry" I muttered and opened the box carefully, "Oh Lauren..." I looked at the ring that was inside and pulled it out so Lauren could see, "It's beautiful"
"Thanks" She smiled slightly, "Now remember, don't tell anyone, I really want this to be a surprise, okay Dans? Hide it good" She asked me softly and I nodded, scratching my eye that was starting to feel wet.
"You got it, you're gonna do it when you get here?"
"Yeah, I'll tell you more details later cause I'm gonna need your help"
"Of course, whatever you need! I'm so happy right now, I feel like I'm being proposed to" I chuckled and saw her laughing too, this was going to be such a good weekend.
Lauren's POV
Until Dani came back to Nashville on May, Spencer and I practically lived together in her place. It was just a natural thing that happened and when Dani and Emmyn came back they already had plans to move to LA almost two months later, so Amy suggested that until then Spencer live be with us. Then, at the end of June they moved to LA and Spencer and I bought their house from them and moved in together formally. I don't know why, but all of this moving in and out and back in with my girlfriend just made me want to make it all permanent, in every way.
One night I woke up in the middle of the night and the dream was still in my brain, not very logical or clear, but I saw the sun coming up right in front of us and it looked so beautiful. It took me some time to ponder about it, but finally I decided to go for it, so I just went to the jewelry store and chose an engagement ring without telling anyone. My head was already spinning with the plan and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Spencer and I had two days of a road trip, we didn't waste much time on doing other things on our way to LA, I just wanted to get there with the excuse of wanting to see Dani. Thankfully she had the same mindset of just wanting to get there. So when we finally got to our hotel and checked in we didn't waste much time to go meet up with Dani and Emmyn. I hope Dani will be able to keep her mouth shut and not act awkward. She was supposed to come to our hotel later at midnight, I wanted to have the ring as less time as possible, not risking the chance of Spencer finding it.
"Hi!!" Dani ran over to us when she saw us and jumped on me with a big hug.
"Oh god, I missed you so much" I mumbled into her shoulder hugging her back.
"I missed you too" She kissed my cheek and let me go to hug Spencer.
"Hey, how was your trip?" Emmyn gave me a quick hug.
"Pretty good, we just wanted to get here, so we didn't do much" I shrugged and we all went inside the restaurant to eat.
We hung out for hours together, at some point Emmyn had to go and Dani stayed with us. She was filming for a video she would edit and upload later that week, or maybe in the video she was doing about the entire proposal, even though she won't be with us for the proposal itself.
That same night I told Dani to come to the hotel and meet me down in the lobby to bring me the ring. I was so nervous as Spencer was getting ready for bed, thankfully she was so tired that I knew she wouldn't question anything and just go to sleep. She had no idea how much she'll need that sleep, because I was going to wake her up really early.
"Babe, go to sleep, I'm gonna meet up with Dani" I whispered when she was already in bed.
"Have fun" She mumbled already half asleep, I chuckled kissing her cheek lightly and walked out and down to the lobby to meet up with my sister.
"Is she suspicious?" Dani asked me when I got to her.
"I don't think so" We were whispering like she hear us all the way from the fourth floor, "When should we get out to be there on time?"
"It takes like 20 minutes driving to get there, and you need to be there around 6:20 in the morning, but I'm sure you wanna be there at least an hour before"
"Yeah, okay" I nodded and she finally took the little box from her bag and handed it to me.
"Are you nervous?"
"Completely, I was bouncing in the elevator... I have all this entire thing I wanna say to her, I hope I won't go blank." I shared with her and she patted my arm.
"It's okay, it's gonna be okay, go back to your room, try to get some sleep, don't worry" She encouraged me and I nodded to her words.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, thank you for everything" I smiled at her putting the box in my pocket and I sighed.
"Babe wake up" I could finally wake her up after I wasn't really able to sleep since I got back to the room.
"What?" She mumbled moving just slightly, "What time is it?"
"Not sure you really wanna know... come on, wake up, I want to see the sunrise together" I told her, not knowing what other excuse to use to get her up at 5 in the morning.
"Gotta be today?"
"Yes, come on babe" I kissed her shoulder and nudged her lightly to make her move.
"Ugh alright..."
It took her a couple of minutes to wake herself up and get somewhat ready, I was already ready to go, the box inside the big pocket I had in the specially chosen jacket so it won't be noticeable. I drove us 20 minutes to the beach where Dani said would be the best place for that, I tried to not let Spencer see how nervous I was, but I think she was too tired to notice because she was just staring out of the window.
When we got to the beach and settled down, I was able to engage my girlfriend in a small talk to pass the time, and to calm my nerves down too. I don't know what I was waiting for exactly, just for some time for the sun to rise, that's all I wanted. So far, my plan went exactly as I wanted and at this point I don't think something could ruin it, except me messing up the speech or of course, Spencer turning me down and rejecting me. But to be honest, I was way more afraid of not being able to word out the proposal the way I wanted to. Rejection from her part wasn't really a concern, with all the modesty.
"It's actually a beautiful idea to look at the sunrise, I just hope it's a good one" Spencer smiled still watching the ocean in front of us.
"Dani said it was, I'll kill her if it's not" I won't be killing anyone, having a beautiful sunrise wasn't any concern to me right now, it'll still be pretty to me.
We started to see the sun peeking up and I gulped, I put my hands in the jacket pockets and felt the box inside. It was time and I didn't know how to get to it.
"I'm not getting in the water, just so you know" She warned me out of nowhere and I chuckle, but also decided to take this opportunity.
"Me neither, but I do wanna do something else" I got up quickly from the sand and reached my hand out for her to take it.
"What are we doing?" She asked confused as she took my hand and let me help her get up.
"You? Nothing" I gave her a quick kiss and stayed close to hers. "It might be a little cliché to say that you changed my life, but you actually kinda did" I told her and as if she sensed that I had more to say, she didn't respond and waited for me to continue, "You know, all my life I imagined that moment, but I was always picturing it with me being on the other side of it" I'm not sure if she was catching what I was getting at, "But it's also giving me the opportunity to do this exactly how I want and not just hope for it" It wasn't pun intended but when I realized what I said, and knowing it was her favorite song, it made me laugh, and she laughed too.
I took a deep breath and pulled the box out of my pocket. For a second, I wasn't able to look her in the eyes to see her reaction, so I just took in the surroundings and the sunrise. But it was a quick second because I couldn't wait to just do it. Her eyes were wide and started to get teary with the realization of it all and I smiled at her.
"I love you, and I really wanted to do this with the sunrise because I was hoping that like this new day, we'd start a new life now, together..." I opened the little box to reveal the engagement ring that was in it and waited for a couple of seconds for her to process, "D-do you..." I gulped nervously and took a breath, "Do you wanna marry me?" When it finally came out, I hoped Spencer would be kind enough to just give me an answer and not torturing me with some sarcasm.
"Are you serious?" She asked like she couldn't believe this was happening and she wiped away her teary eyes, I just nodded and glanced down at ring, "Yes, of course I do"
I just realized how much my heart was pounding this entire time when I had to refocus to process her answer. She said yes. She said yes. I blinked to see her properly through the sudden tears and finally took the ring out of the suffocating box to slide it on her finger. And it was fitting. It was a small, almost simple ring because I know she doesn't like wearing any jewelry, so it had to be comfortable for her.
"I love you" Spencer said, only taking a small glance at the ring, I knew she wouldn't really care how it looks, it didn't matter to her.
"I love you to, so much" I said back and she wiped the tears from my cheek and leaned in to kiss me. Probably the best kiss we've had, and probably I wasn't being very objective about it because of the moment. But it was really filled with love, and future.
--- Author Note:
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!