Like Walking Into a Dream

The next morning, I walked up to my front door and unlocked it. The lights were all turned off and I could hear snoring coming from the living room. I raised an eyebrow and closed the door before going in there. I walked into the room and almost laughed out loud.

Brian was half on the couch, snoring softly, and his dad was hanging off the arm chair with drooling running down his chin. Looks like they had a fun time last night. I walked over to Brian and gently shook him. He jerked awake and looked at me.

“Babe, you're back,” he said sleepily with a small smile. I nodded and kissed his lips gently.

“I’ll go make you some coffee,” I whispered and went into the kitchen to put a pot on. I heard Brian’s feet hit the wood floor and pad into the kitchen behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“I missed you so much,” he mumbled and kissed the side of my neck.

“Don’t be silly, you had your dad here.”

"Hmph, yeah he was a blast,” he grumbled sarcastically. I turned around in his arms and smiled.

“I have some good news.”

“Oh yeah? What?” he asked yawning.

“I think Casey and Eric are going to get together—“

“What? Pey, are you okay with that?” he asked me seriously. I laughed a little and nodded. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Of course I am. I have you now, and I want her to be happy,” I said. Brian smiled down at me.

“I’m going to take you somewhere nice tonight,” he whispered and leaned down to kiss me.

“Good mor—Oh am I interrupting again?” Brian rolled his eyes and pulled away to look at his dad.

“No, it’s fine…”

“Good. Now that Peyton’s back, maybe we can eat something edible,” Papa Gates said sitting down at the table. I raised an eyebrow and gave Brian a questioning look.

“…I don’t want to talk about it…”

~*~

“Brian, will you tell me where we’re going already?” I asked putting my earrings on.

“Nope, I want to surprise you.”

“But how will I know if I’m dressed appropriately or not?” I asked turning to face him. We were both getting ready in the bathroom. He gave me a once over and looked at the small black dress I was wearing.

“You look good in anything you wear,” he smirked. I held back a laugh and rolled my eyes.

“We are going to eat, right?” I asked trying to get any hints.

“Yup.”

“What kind of food?”

“That’s a surprise too,” he said. I wanted to force him to tell me, but held it back. I’m not too good with surprises if you haven’t noticed yet.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked walking towards the doorway. I looked at myself one more time in the mirror and nodded. He held out his hand for me and we walked to his truck. The ride was silent and I’d given up on trying to spoil his surprise. Besides, we were driving through an area that I haven’t been to before.

“We’re here,” Brian said softly coming to a stop. I looked out the window and saw that we were at the beach.

“Where exactly is here?”

“Just outside Huntington Beach. I had a friend reserve us this place,” he said taking my hand again. I slipped off my heels so I could walk in the sand without sinking. Brian led us to a gazebo on the shoreline. There were small lights streaming everywhere and a single table was set up with our dinner on it.

“Brian it’s beautiful,” I whispered. He kissed my cheek and pulled my chair out for me. I sat down and he sat down across from me. I smiled when I saw we were going to be eating Sheppard’s pie and spaghetti. Fun memories surfaced in my mind of our first few days living together.

“You’re so cheesy,” I said, but smiled.

“I’m pretty sure, you’ve told me that before,” he smirked.

“I probably did!” we looked at each other for a while in a peaceful silence. It was then that I realized that I could picture myself living the rest of my life with the man in front of me… It scared me, but I was happy at the same time.

“Bri, I’m really happy that I met you,” I said softly. He reached out and held my hand over the table.

“Me too. More than you know,” he said searching my face for something. I watched him get nervous, but didn’t understand why. He took a few deep breaths before letting go of my hand and putting it in his pocket.

“Peyton, there’s something that I need to ask you…” he took another deep breath.

“Brian, what is it? You’re scaring me…” He chuckled before standing up and walking over to me. He looked down at me before slowly getting down on one knee. My breath hitched and caught in my throat. He wasn’t… Oh my God, he is…

Brian pulled a small black velvet box from his pants and opened it so I could see the sparkling ring inside it.

“Peyton, I love you so much. I know this may seem a little fast, but will you marry me?” Tears prickled my eyes and I tried not to cry, but a small sob made its way out of my throat. Cliché, right? But it seriously was the happiest moment of my life.

I nodded furiously and watched Brian slip the ring onto my engagement finger. I quickly wiped away a tear before it ruined my makeup and flung myself at Brian. He caught me and laughed.

“You’re happy right?”

“Oh God, I’m so much more than happy,” I said embracing him. He pulled me to him tighter and kissed me.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I whispered kissing him again. And then our future together officially began.

THE END <3