Worth It

Kristen always hated the rain. It ruined her hair and makeup, got her cold and wet, and always made her sick. So of course when it started to rain for three days straight in Huntington, she stayed shelled up in her apartment, not daring to step outside. The last thing she wanted to do was get sick right before her best friends’ wedding.

Matt and Val didn’t even try to get her to leave the apartment, since they didn’t want her to get sick either. They were also careful, since they were the ones getting married. The only person that attempted to get her to leave was Brian, and that was because he was bored. Without Kristen, he had nothing to do and nowhere to go. The rain never affected him, which she was jealous of. She was from New York, she should be able to stand the rain and cold, but she couldn’t.

A knock on her front door took her attention away from the movie playing. She sighed, getting up and lazily walking over to it. When she opened her front door, she was met with brown eyes and a smirk to match. It didn’t surprise her that he showed up, it would surprise her if he didn’t show up. He strolled in as if he owned the place, which he practically did since he was there all the time.

“What’s up?” she asked, her eyes taking in his appearance. He was wearing one of his shirts from his clothing line, a fitted black one with long sleeves that he rolled up, showing his tattoos. His pants were dark and ripped, and he was of course wearing his Nike’s. His hair was styled to perfection, gelled up into perfect gravity-defying spikes. How the rain didn’t mess up his hair was beyond her.

“We’re going out,” he simply said.

“Nope,” she retorted. She started walking back into her living room, knowing Brian was pouting behind her.

“But baby,” he whined. “I have a surprise.”

“You know I hate surprises,” she groaned. Before she could sit on the couch, Brian grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him.

“But this is a good surprise,” he grinned. She raised her eyebrow at him, skepticism in her eyes.

“None of your surprises are good.”

“I’m offended,” he pouted. “Baby, it’s barely raining anymore.”

“Barely raining is still raining.”

“It’ll be worth it.”

Brian was full on pouting now, even using his eyes. He knew Kristen couldn’t resist his eyes, and he used that to his advantage as much as he could.

She sighed, “Fine.”

Brian smiled to himself as she went to go get ready. Out of habit he traced the outline of the small box in his pocket, nervousness running through him. Ever since Matt and Val got engaged, and Jimmy died, he started thinking about marriage. He and Kristen have been together almost as long as Matt and Val have, and he knew Kristen wanted a long engagement, so he figured it was now time. He decided to it when they were alone, knowing she hated public proposals. He knew her like the back of his hand, but he had never been so nervous about what she was going to say before in his life.

~

Brian and Kristen walked down the streets, him holding a black umbrella to shield them from the rain. Brian knew his hands was clammy, but he hoped that she didn’t notice. She was looking at the landscape covered in rain, surprisingly beautiful to her. She was actually glad that Brian persuaded her to leave her apartment. As they crossed a small bridge that went over a river, Brian slowed them down until they stopped. She let go of his hand and looked at the water, and Brian took the time to take out the box and practice in his head what he was going to say. He didn’t have a huge speech planned, but he did want to make it romantic.

Kristen turned around to say something to him, but then stopped when he got down on one knee. She wasn’t stupid, she knew what he was about to do, but she was still surprised. Brian examined her expression as he opened the box, revealing an engagement ring. Kristen looked at the ring, happy at how simplistic it looked. She knew Brian to be pretty flashy, it was what attracted her to him in the first place, but giant diamonds weren’t her thing.

“Kris,” Brian started, taking her attention away from the ring. “I’m not gonna give you some giant speech with me declaring my love for you, because you should know that I love you more than anything on this earth. And I’m freezing my ass off, so I’m gonna get to the point; will you marry me?”

A huge grin appeared on Kristen’s face, her amber eyes shining as she quickly nodded her head, choking out a ‘yes!’. She dropped the umbrella next to her and jumped into Brian’s arms, kissing him. He wrapped his right arm around her, his left holding the box. After she pulled away, he slipped the ring on her left ring finger, glad it was the right size. She smiled at him, her straight white teeth showing.

For the first time since Jimmy died, Brian truly felt happy.