182 Somewhere

"I will marry you, Abigail," he said and Abi felt like her blood had been drained out of her. Her heart hammered erratically and her lower lip began to tremble.

And then, her eyes welled and tears began to flow from her eyes. She bowed her head as she wiped her tears away but the tears didn't stop flowing. Were these tears of joy? But why did her heart ache at the same time?

Her ultimate wish was going to be granted. She had accepted that it would remain as a mere dream that would be buried along with her one day. She thought that it would only happen in her dream yet here he was, telling her that he would make it happen in reality.

Abi was happy, so happy she couldn't express it in words. But she was also scared, deathly afraid, and she didn't know why. Was she scared for Alex?

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Alex pulled her out of her thoughts. He sounded confused and she understood why. He must have been expecting her to jump in happiness since he knew just how much she had been wishing for this.

She gulped nervously as she lifted her face again and looked into his eyes, and with everything she could muster, she opened her lips to speak but not to respond his questions.

"B-but why? You said you would never marry?" she asked him, her eyes still red. She remembered his words clearly from that night so why? Why was he doing this?

Alex's unmoving gaze was accompanied by deliberate slow breathing, like he was fighting to hold something back but he remained calm and serious as he replied, "I am doing this because this is my gift for you, Abigail."

A tear fell from her eyes again and she hugged him.

"Y-you're not forcing yourself to grant me this wish, right?" she asked against his chest.

"I'm not," he answered without a hint of hesitation.

Abi's grip on him tightened. This was still too hard for her to believe. Must he really go this far for a birthday present?

"I'm so happy, Alex… but, I don't want to force you," she mumbled and Alex held her shoulders to make some space between them. He held her face up and stared into her eyes.

"If you're happy, then stop crying."

Abi sniffled. "I'm sorry, I'm just finding it hard to believe this is real, Alex, and I still don't understand why…"

The man gently pinched her check before kissing it and a smile curved on his face.

"Well, I guess I just want to see what you would be like as my wife. Just as you said, why don't I try it?" he said as he brushed away the remnants of tears from her face.

And then, he lifted her up and tucked her into bed. He went and closed the window before he laid beside her.

Abi was gazing at him, her eyes still filled with wonder and disbelief.

"So? What do you want to happen next? What kind of wedding do you want?" he asked and Abi felt like her mind was shutting down. He just proposed and now he was actually going to talk about the wedding?

Seeing her dumbstruck expression, he bent and kissed her lips.

"Fine. We'll talk about that tomorrow. It's already midnight," he said and pulled her close to him.

Abi snuggled closer to him, holding him tight as they cuddled. Her mind was spinning around so she closed her eyes, as if that would stop the dizzying thoughts. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to think about this, but her body betrayed her and she easily fell into a deep slumber, as if the day had been so tiresome and all her energy had been drained from her.

Noticing that Abi was already asleep, Alex let out a deep, long sigh. His eyes were shut closed and his brows knotted tightly as he lifted his hand and rested it on his forehead. He looked like something was tormenting him.

He stayed like that for hours, but when he turned and wrapped his arm around Abi, embracing her tightly, the lines on his forehead slowly disappeared and he, too, finally joined her in the realm of dreams.

…

The next morning, Abi was the one who woke up first. Alex was still sleeping which was really rare.

Abi then slowly remembered everything that happened last night and she gasped. She stared at the ring on her finger and it appeared that everything she remembered was real. The emerald ring on her finger was beautiful despite it looking really ancient and old.

Abi couldn't hold back her smile as she stared at Alex. She lay down again as she watched his immaculate sleeping face.

She clenched her chest and she didn't feel that scared anymore. She just felt delighted. There was no reason for her to hold back anymore. Maybe, this was heaven's gift for her. She also understood that maybe, Alex just really wanted to experience it too. If that was the case, there was no reason for her not to rejoice. This was his gift and she didn't have the right to reject anything that Alex was giving her. She could never do that.

Abi slowly moved and kissed the sleeping man's forehead with all the feeling she could muster. She wished that she could do something for him too. She wished that he too had a dream that she could fulfill.

Time passed and Alex woke up. The breakfast was lively and pleasant as always but Abi was visibly happier. She was all smiles and happiness was radiating from her skin, infecting everyone around her.

Alex loved the look on her face. He could see that she was genuinely happy, making him feel glad as he too smiled from watching her.

Abi had taken the ring off and wore it as a necklace because she didn't want her family to ask about it. She didn't want them to know about her getting married because Abi knew that they would surely be against it, since they had not been dating that long. She also didn't want to cause any trouble and heartbreak for her family when she returned after eight days back home because she knew they wouldn't understand why.

Once they left the house, Abi and Alex began to talk about the plans. Abi had thought about it and decided that it would be best for them to marry in secret. The less people who knew about it, the better.

They talked about it and Abi was talking so excitedly while Alex drove slowly, listening to her.

"But I think I should really ask you first to see if you already had a plan, Alex. Do you?" she asked him with curiosity and interest.

The man glanced at her and parked the car on the road side. He faced her and stared into her eyes.

"I do have a plan, Abigail," he told her and Abi stared back at him in great anticipation. "I would like to take you somewhere tomorrow."

"Somewhere?"

"Yes, some place where no one else will be around but us."