I'm glad you all love me again. Let's hold hands and spin in circles lol
Thank you all btw<3.
After a week of things going back to how they were between Jackie and I, I think it's safe to say, we're going steady.
But we still weren't one of the stablest couples ever. She was busy moving some of her things from New York back to California. It made me utmost happy that she's returning. But at the same time, I felt like I was stealing her away from her parents... Technically Marlene was.
"You're total is $94.50." The cashier from Nike told Dan.
I'm not quite sure why he buys shoes that are over eighty dollars, but I shouldn't be one to talk, I also buy Docs that I rarely ever wear.
"Thank you for shopping. Come again soon."
"Thank you." Dan and I said in unison as he took the bag off the counter and made our way out to the shopping center.
We walked around a bit more, buying more clothes than probably all of the females around the shopping center bought. But I deserve it. I work hard for my money.
"Shit." Dan cursed, staring down at his new iPhone which was now on the floor. He picked it up and saw the crack, "Well looks like I'm gonna need a new phone."
"One day, you're fine with that one." I teased. I looked up at the store beside us and saw it was Tiffany's. I remember coming here just a few days after Jackie had came from New York the first time. I bought her those earrings that she wears constantly. I was abruptly drawn to the diamond ring in the window display. "Holy shit. Look at this."
Dan took the spot beside me, staring intensely at the ring itself, "That's really nice."
"C'mon." I led him inside the store, removing the aviators from my face. "Oh my God."
"Hello and welcome to Tiffany's. I'm Sarah, can I help you with anything today?" A lady in her mid-forties asked, approaching us.
"Can I see that ring in the window, in the red case?" I asked, timidly. Dan shot me a you're kidding me look.
She smiled, walking towards the display case, "Certainly. We actually have more carats here in our engagement case. Are you looking to propose to a lovely lady soon?"
"No he's not." Dan argued, "Do you know what you're doing? Zacky, her parents and your parents are going to be in an eternal shit shock if you buy this ring."
I rolled my eyes, defending myself, "Dude, chill. I'm just looking. So where are these engagement rings?"
"Right in front of you sir," The diamonds shined so bright, nearly blinding me. "These range from 0.25 carat to 2.5 carats. The larger the diamond, the higher the price." One in particularly caught my eye. It's as if this lady knew which one it was, that psychic woman, "The one you're looking at is called The Tiffany Setting. It ranges from three thousand to fifty-three thousand."
"Can I see it?" She nodded, pulling out the ring from the cushion it was in. It caught my eye and captured my soul. I knew this was the ring I was meant to get for Jackie. I know it's way too soon to even be thinking about this since we're barely fixing our relationship, but I've been searching for the perfect ring for her my entire life... Sort of "This is it Dan. This is the ring." I said inspecting the beauty of it.
He didn't say anything at first, but him being one of my best friends, I knew what he was thinking. "Hey man, if you want to buy it for her, then by all means, do. I got your back."
"If you don't mind me asking, who's this girlfriend of your's?"
I smiled, handing her back the ring, "She's my everything. So much has happened between us, but we've been in love for twelve years. Til this day, I feel the same way for her as I did when I first fell for her."
"Very lucky lady. You made a wise choice. Beautiful and simple is always the way to go. I'm sure this girlfriend of your's will be very happy with your choice."
I had a feeling Jackie would, although she'd think we're moving a little bit too fast. I didn't care, however. "Sarah, charge it to my debit card. I'm gonna get me a fiance."
I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I didn't feel like I was in my own body, or in my own mind. I knew later when I was alone, I'd be saying what the fuck am I doing?
And it's exactly what happened, once I got home to my lonesome-self, I stared at the ring, just thinking what the fuck did I do?
Did I really just buy an engagement ring? Did I seriously spend over thirty thousand dollars on a ring? Am I even going to ask her to wear it? I mean, of course eventually but it's not soon.
My head wasn't screwed on right. Something is definitely wrong with me.
I took my cell phone and sent a group SMS; it was urgent.
To: Shads; Zacky; and Johnny:
meeting now at my house asap.
I slipped the ring box in my pocket and tried to forget about it until the guys got here.
It was hard to, however. I couldn't stop thinking about how I bought that damn ring after everything that happened.
And when I started to forget about it by picking up a few things around the house, I heard Matt's voice. That's when I started thinking about the ring again. It was taunting me.
"Brian? Oh I found him!" Johnny said entering my washroom. "We're all here dude, half naked and all." I took my attention away from my detergent and saw Johnny wearing absolutely no shirt with his nipples were a shade of purple.
I seriously just stared at him, wondering why someone would come over to my house like this, "Why the fuck are your nips twisted in a bunch?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and began to blush, "I was in the middle of something and I kind of told Matt... So when I got here he pulled my shirt off and now I'm here telling you what happened. Do you have a shirt I can use?"
Before replying to him, I laughed in an acidic manner, "No. Fuck off my clothes." I said smacking his hand away from my pile of clean laundry. "Go to the living room I'll be there right now."
"So why'd you call us over? You made it sound like your house was on fire. We were about to call Arin but then we remembered he's with his hunny." Zacky said, popping a few Lemon Lays in his mouth.
They were all seated on the couch, either eating chips and drinking a beer or texting in Matt's case.
"Well," I started hoping to gather their attention, "I did something today with Dan."
"You sick fuck, he's been our best friend since the tenth grade. The fuck is wrong with you?" Matt teased.
I rolled my eyes, "Shut up. It's not that. We went shopping and-"
"Oh moving fast are we?" He turned to Zacky and Johnny, "Let's count the times he's gone shopping with us in the past year, uh, oh wait that's right we can't because he always says he doesn't have time."
Immediately, Johnny and Zacky agreed with him, "That's true. He always tells me he has to help this dad or take Pinkly to Mich-"
"Will you shut up and let me speak?" I raised my voice. They stopped talking and gave me the stage, "Thank you. As I was saying, Dan and I went to buy some shoes for him after the gym. We stopped in front of Tiffany's and there was this ring that caught my attention." I reached into my pocket, searching for the box. Once I found it, I placed it on the coffee table. They just stared at it, "Well open it. Look at it."
Matt reached for the ring box, cracking it open slowly. The light coming in from the window hit it and caused a dim reflection off his face. "Holy mother of God... It's beautiful. What's the name of it? How many carats is this shit?" He asked having Johnny and Zacky leaning over to see it.
"The carat weight is two. Which is why it weighs a ton. And it's a Tiffany Setting... The reason why I called you guys over is because it's an engagement ring... And I was freaking out. I didn't know why I bought it. I mean, I know why, I'm just... I can't understand why I bought a thirty thousand dollar ring... What if she doesn't even want to marry me?"
"We know that's not true, Bri." Johnny said, "She loves you. She's going to say yes. Just don't ask so soon. Give it time. Great things come to those who wait."
"Yeah, I agree with him. You didn't make a mistake. It's a damn beautiful ring. When your heart says it's time to ask her then do it. Don't rush into it just yet. It might end ugly." Matt added.
Zacky on the other hand, took one look at the ring and roughly rubbed his face. He was either greatly jealous or greatly disappointed., "You don't know what the fuck you just did man."
"What're you talking about? I bought a ring for Jackie because I intend on asking her to marry me one day."
"Did you even get permission from my aunt and uncle? Like did you bother asking for Jackie's hand in marriage? That's a big thing to a dad. Specially to a hard ass father like my uncle." He paused to catch his breath, "That girl is everything to my uncle man. You needed to ask if it was okay before you went to Tiffany's and bought this."
Zacky giving me this speech was making me feel like I did something terribly wrong. I was second guessing myself.
"Dude chill out," Matt quickly took my side, "It's a ring. Brian is a good guy. He'll give him permission to marry Jackie."
"I'm not saying he's not a good- Brian, I'm not saying you're not a good guy. But you should've asked my uncle before even thinking of buying a ring."
If there was any time I felt like a total failure, it was that moment. But I wasn't going to allow Zacky to speak to me like that. I was going to prove him wrong.
"You're right dude." I agreed with his over the top exaggeration of how I messed up. "I should've totally asked Mr. Baker before buying a ring."
I stood up, making my way over to the house phone.
"What are you doing?" He asked, curious about my actions.
"Oh nothing. Just gonna call LAX and see if they have two tickets to New York for next week." I turned to him and smiled, dialing the ticket counter number. I had it on speed dial due to the fact that we're constantly traveling. "I'm taking my dad and I for a little trip to New York, so I can ask your uncle for her hand in marriage."
Zacky giggled and rested his feet on my coffee table. I wasn't sure if it was a sarcastic laugh or a you're funny laugh, "Pray he says yes, dude. He's one tough cookie."
Great.