I Want You All by Yourself

I looked up at the girl I loved most in the world. I was lying, stomach down, on our bed. She stood beside me, giving a pathetic appempt at being serious.

"I'm telling you, Ward, get your lazy ass out of bed! We're gonna' be late!" Candy said. She was all dressed up, wearing a short, high rise skirt, belted around her petit middle. A light, lov cut blouse draped over her shoulders; the intense floral print giving a brightness to her already lively face. I noticed that she'd opted to go light on the make-up today - from what I could see, only a thin line of liquid liner traced her upper lid, a rosy pink blush gave her cheeks a youthful rosiness.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I sat up and put my arms around her middle, pulling Candy into a tight hug.

"Curtis! You're wrinkling my shirt!" yet she still hugged me back, just as tight. "Seriously," Candy said more to herself then me.

I knew she must be a nervous wreck inside. Today is the date of her friend, Britney's wedding, someone Candy had always been jealous of. I never quite understood her jealousy. Personally, I thought Britney was a alright, not getting why people envied her so. Sure, she had looks, but that was about it. Originally, Candy didn't want to go, but I promised to go if she went. I mean, they've been living together until Candy and I moved in together.

Candy as now rummaging through her closet on her hands and knees - for a pair of shoes probably. I got out of bed and gave her ass a playful slap with my foot before walking over to my dresser and pulling out my day's attire: a baggy Drop Dead T-shirt, layered with a button down blue dress shirt, left unbuttoned. I slipped my legs into a pair of well-fitting dress pants and my feet into my regular shoes.

"Aha!" candy held up a pair of black alligator shoes before slipping her feet into them, linking her arm through mine and saying: "Ready, cutie?"

I smiled; it's childish, I know, but I loved her pet names. They were silly, yes, but that's why I loved them. And her.

"I love you," the words tumbled out of my mouth. This was the first time I'd ever told her that. It seemed today I was more smitten with her then usual.

"Pardon?" Candy's eyes radiated joy. "Did you just -"

"I think I did," I scratched my head. Sure, I thought those three words about her everyday, but I'd never had enough courage to actually verbalize them.

'You mean it?" she was holding both my hands now, our feet facing each other on the carpet of our bedroom floor.

"Of course," I bent down a little and kissed her lips softly, "how could I not?" suddenly the most amazing idea came to me. I ran over to my bedside table and pulled out two gold bands. They'd been there for months. Initially, I'd wanted this to happen on Valentine's, but I'd chickened out. The two rings had been sitting there since, haunting me with the question. When are you going to ask?. I walked over to Candy and slid one onto her slender finger before putting mine on.

"I know this is rash, sudden," my words seemed to pour out of my mouth. But I'd never been so sure of anything in my life. There was no doubt.

"Candy, marry me?"

"WHAT?"

"Yes. Darling, love, come on. This may seems utterly random to you, but I'm not trying to be cheeky. I'm serious."

"Curtis, I-. Um" Candy took in a breath and pulled me into a hug, our bodies swaying back and forth together, "Yes," she answered once she'd broken our embrace.

All I could do was smile. It sounds name, but that was all I could do. I held her hand, our fingers laced together, and began to walk out of the room. My eyes fell to our hands when I felt a tug, noticing Candy wasn't following.

"What is it, love?" I asked her.

"Curtis," her eyes looked innocent, but a guilty smile was quickly emerging across her face. "I love you, too."