This Is Our War, Our Beautiful Lie

Three Weeks Later

“So, what’s so special I can’t even open my eyes, Jared?” I asked, curious.

“You gotta wait a few seconds, babe!” He said. I could bet he was smiling.

We were in our room, and he was looking for something.

“Ah, here it is!” He said.

“Can I open my eyes?” I asked, impatient.

“No, you can’t. Wait until I tell you to.”

I waited; he was starting to get me way too curious about all this.

“Okay, you can open them.

Jared was kneeled in front of me, which surprised me.

“Danniele Marie Way, I love you since the very first time I saw you. Since the day you sang to me, you were always on my mind, and there’s no way you’ll ever leave it, nor my heart. One hundred suns until we part, remember? I remember you singing that you couldn’t believe in nothing else, but the beating of our hearts. So, after all this unnecessary and fool speech, I just wanted to ask you something” he said. Then, he pulled out a ring in a box. “Will you marry me?”

I was shocked, to say the least. There he was, my angel fallen from the skies, kneeled in front of me in our bedroom, proposing to me. Is this real life, or am I just fat? I thought; another vice I got from my father. And, if you’re wondering, I got those vices from him from when we were younger, and he and my mom cared about me and my sister and loved us; the money was what ruined them.

“Did you just propose me?” I asked, quitting my mind talking and just getting back to that moment. He nodded, smiling, and I looked into his eyes.

“Jared Joseph Leto… I kept thinking about you too, since that concert. The way you invaded my soul in a way no one had ever done, the way you looked directly in my eyes, melting my heart, the way we spent our first night together, the way you trusted me your deepest secret, the way you’ve been so kind to me… So, yes, Jared, I’ll marry you, because, if you haven’t proposed now, I would do it very soon.” I told him; I wasn’t kidding, thought it seemed as if I was. I was woman enough to propose to him!

“You really do?” He smiled.

“Yes, I do” I said, solemnly. I gave him my left hand, and he put the ring into my ring finger. I looked better at the ring: it was beautiful! It was a simple tiny silver ribbon, adorned with a big heart-shaped red ruby in the center, all shiny and beautiful.

“It was my grandma’s. I’ve been keeping it since my brother died. I decided it was time to give it to someone special, and, look, you won!” He joked, still kneeled in front of me.

“It’s perfect, Jared” I told him as I cried; he got up, and we kissed for a while, just celebrating the fact that we were engaged to each other. This was definitely my dream coming true.

“Now, the hardest part: tell the others, and try to not be mocked.” Jared said, faking fear; I could feel he was very nervous, though.

“Okay, let’s go.” I told him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it slightly.

We went to the living room, and, luckily [or unluckily, I wasn’t sure yet] they were all there [they always were!].

“People, we got something to tell you” I said. They turned to us, since they were on the couch, and me and Jared were behind it; they looked confused as to why we were asking for their attention.

“Yeah?” Shannon asked; he looked at our hands and understood it all, since he could see the ring shinning happily in my finger. Soon, he started smiling, and blinked at us, joyfully.

“Well… I just proposed to Dannie” Jared said, looking at my face. I looked at him, and smiled as I completed his sentence.

“And I accepted!”

Shannon got up, being the first of them to understand it properly, and came to hug us.

“Congratulations, man” he said to Jared. “I knew you would use grandma’s ring with the right girl, in the right time.” He whispered in his ear, as if it was for me not to hear it; shame, Shannon, I heard it all! Then, he came to hug me.

“Congratulations, Dannie. You’re a lucky girl” he said to me.

“Yeah, Shan, I told you that, once.” We both laughed.

Then, it was Tomo’s turn to congratulate us.

“Congratulations to both of you. You deserve each other.” Hayden came with him, and instantly completed his reasoning.

“No, they don’t. They were made for each other” she said, making us smile.

“Oh my gosh, Dannie!” Bianca said. “You’re so lucky! You’re getting married! That’s big. Who’s going to be your bridesmaid?” She asked me, excited.

“Well, I gotta be sorry, but… Bianca, it’s you. I’m sorry Hayden. But you’ll be my maid of honor.” I told both of them, biting my lip, nervous about Hayden’s reaction and smiling at the same time.

“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re happy” Hayden said, making me smile harder.
I hugged her. She was being so kind to me. Then, I looked at Jared, and smiled more than I could ever imagine. I was… engaged to Jared Leto, my crush since I was thirteen, the lead singer of my favorite band, and now, the love of my life, my fiancé.

We celebrated our engagement for a while, with the rest of the band and the girls, but then we figured something out: Jared was engaged to me, and I haven't even met his parents.

“Well, in that case, I think it's time we go for a little ride” Jared said, smiling.

“But you want me to go meet them, like, right now?” I asked, worried and afraid.

“They won't bite you, baby. My parents are great, believe me” he replied. I smiled to him, when he came to hug me.

“If you say so...”

“It's true” Shannon said. “Maybe we should all go, I miss mom and Carl.”

I felt much more relieved, knowing it wouldn't be only me and Jared; at least I wouldn’t be the only girl that would meet the boyfriend’s [or fiancé’s, in my case] parents, that night. Take that, Bianca! I even smiled at that thought, thinking on how excited I was because of all of that.

“So, who's willing for a trip to Louisiana?” Tomo asked.

We laughed, and went to our rooms, to pick up some stuff. Jared wanted to stay in Louisiana for a while.

“What do you think about we marry in Louisiana?” He asked, while we were packing some clothes.

“For me, it's okay. I'll marry you anywhere you want” I said, smiling; he misunderstood my words, though.

“Are you saying this isn't important to you?” He asked, freezing.

“No, silly boy. I'm just trying to say I'll marry you anywhere, because what matters to me is getting married to you” I explained; instantly, he came to hug me.

“Oh, that's so sweet, sweetheart.” He told me, seeming more like a teenage girl in love than exactly a grown-up engaged man.

“Yeah, kinda... Well, let's finish this so we're free to go” I said, shoving him off and smiling at him.

“Yeah, you're right” he replied. “But first...” he said, and then kissed me. I smiled when he went back to his suitcase.

“Well, I think I'm ready” I said, smiling. He closed his suitcase, and pulled the zipper.

“Yeah, me too.”

We went to the living room, and realized we were the first ones to pack our stuff, so we decided we could make out for a bit, on the couch.

“Well, were are they?” Shannon asked, looking confused.

Me and Jared got up quickly, since he was laying up on me, while we were kissing on the couch. Tomo laughed.

“Right... Are you ready, or should we leave you alone for another few minutes?” He asked, joking.

“Ah-ah, very funny” I said, sarcastically.

We got up, and left the house. Luckily, Shannon's car had eight seats. We all could go only in one car, which was awesome and very good for the environment.

I sat beside Jared, and leaned my head on his shoulder, a bit tired and sad.

“Are you okay?” He whispered, to me. Shannon turned the radio on.

“Yeah, I'm just a bit nostalgic, now” I said.

“Why, my love?” He asked, worried.

“Thinking about my sister... I wanted her to be in my wedding...”

“And she'll be, baby. In your heart, she’ll always be. Oh, by the way, do you wanna invite your parents?” He asked, clenching teeth.

“I'm not sure, yet... Maybe. I'll think about it later.” I told him. Did I really wanna invite them? Yes, they were stubborn and money had changed them, but they still were my parents; and I had had so many great moments with them, before. They both had a band of their own, and they were on their break, now, and that was exactly their problems; they were so attached to the physical things they had there, that they forgot about everything else. I was pretty sure they’d realize how stupid they were being when they got back to their bands. One thing bothered me about them, though; who gets a two years vacation away from their bands? They’re so crazy.

The trip from Alabama to Louisiana took about two hours, or something, and sometimes we heard This Is War on the radio, and we all sang it (of course!). When we finally got there, though, I was freaking out. What would they think of me? Would they think I was good enough? Would they like me?

“What if your parents don't like me, Jared? What if they think I'm not good enough for you?” I asked, voicing all my fears to him, as we left the car.

“Don't worry about it, they'll love just for the fact that I do, at first. Then, I'm sure they'll love you even more” he answered, kissing the top of my head.

“I love you” I said, trying to get calm.

“I love you too” he said, smiling.

Shannon knocked on the door, and a beautiful lady came to open it. She was blonde, almost my height, and had some beautiful blue or green eyes, I couldn't tell. She smiled, making Shan smile too. They hugged.

“Oh, Shannon, I missed you so much!” She said, crying with happiness.

“Yeah, mom, I missed you too! Would you mind if we stayed for a while in the house?” He asked her.

“Do you I think I mind? Of course not! You can stay all the time you want” then, she whispered to him, but I could hear everything. “Shannon, your brother got a ‘friend’ over the house? You know what I think of that, I don't want him to do such things around here... Is she staying too?” Shannon laughed.

“Well, maybe you should talk to Jared about it” he said, loudly, while I was looking at Jared, who was flushing. “But first, I wanna introduce you to my girlfriend, Bianca. Bianca, this is my mom, Constance.”

“Hi, sweetheart, pleasure to meet you!” Constance said. “When does your brother get one, too?” She asked, laughing a bit. I panicked.

Tomo went to hug Constance, and introduced Hayden as his girlfriend, too. I was hyperventilating.

“Jared, my son!” His mother said, hugging him. He left my side, and went to hug her. “You look so young, baby... It's almost impossible to think you're older than Shannon...” She said, reminding me she didn't know about Jared's secret. I held my breath.

“Mom... We need to talk” he said, looking down. I got a bit closer.

“Well, but first, won't you tell me who your friend is?” She asked, smiling politely to me.

“Mom, this is Danniele. Dannie, this is my mom” he said. He was afraid of his mother's reaction to his secret, I could feel that.

“Hi” I said, smiling.

“Hello, Danniele. Let's go inside, please” she said, hugging Jared, and leaving me a bit behind them.

We went to the living room, and I was introduced to Jared's stepfather, Carl, and he smiled politely to me, while told me to sit beside him.

“Sweetheart, do you know what you’re getting into?” He asked, worried.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Well, I know Jared for a long time, and, if I'm not wrong, you're just another game... You better go, now, while he doesn't break your heart” he told me. “It's not I'm saying he's a bad boy, because he isn't, but I've seen this scene a lot of times. It's better for both of you if you just go away now.”

I turned my head to Jared, who was sitting next to his mother, on another couch.

“You wanna go to your room, to tell me what you want?” She asked.

“No, mom, Carl needs to know about this, too” he said, taking a deep breath. I encouraged him, blinking at him. He smiled. “Well... I know this will be a shock, but... I'm not the older Jared from the family. I'm Jared Joseph, not Jared Drew... I know this might be difficult to understand; but I was so hurt I started living the life he should be living... I'm sorry” he said, tearing his head down.

“I already knew that” his mom said, hugging him. “Since that day I knew you were the younger, baby. I'm your mother, I knew both of you like my own hands, so, I could tell you're Jared Joseph. I just kept faking because I knew you were hurt... But there's something I don't understand...” She said.

“What, mom?” He asked, looking slightly at her.

“Why did you decide to tell us now, and, besides, in front of her?” She asked, looking at me. “I'm sorry, Danniele, but it's just that...”

“Mom, don't say a thing” Jared replied, getting up.

I was hiding my left hand behind me, in the couch, but Jared came to pick me up, so I put it in my pocket. We smiled at each other.

“Is she your girlfriend?” His mother asked. “I never saw you like that with a girl, before...”

“No, she's not” he answered.

“Well, then I must be seeing things, because it seems to me you're... in love?” She replied, making me smile.

We looked at Constance and Carl, while we were in the middle of the room, and then, Jared said it:

“She is my fiancée.”