You Haunt Me

Rae awoke relatively early, stretching her arm over to the other side of the bed. Much to her surprise, she found it empty. It was very much unlike John to be up before her, so she found this pretty strange.
Padding her way into the kitchen, she expected to find him maybe drinking a cup of coffee. She thought back to a conversation they had had a while back.

“I still don’t get why you do that,” she had said to him.

“Do what?” he looked up at her from over his cup.

“Drink it black,” a distinct look of disgust had crossed her face.

“Because,” he began. “It’s like my soul.”

He tickled her side, causing her to giggle and punch his arm.

The fact that he wasn’t there pulled her from her thoughts, and she noticed a note on the fridge:

Sorry, had to get up for practice this morning and didn’t want to wake you. I made you pancakes though and if I’m right, they’ll still be hot when you get up.
Love you!!!

She had to inhale and exhale slowly to keep herself from getting angry. Had he somehow forgotten that today was their two year anniversary? Not that she was one to really care about arbitrary dates that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, she had hoped he would have at least made the effort to care.

Sighing, she sat down to eat the pancakes anyways. As angry as she was, she couldn’t let them go to waste. They were her favourite, after all. At least he knew that, she supposed.

She poked her fork into one of the pancakes, cutting a piece off, trying not to imagine it was John’s face. She didn’t like being upset; it wasn’t like her. However, she felt at least slightly justified.

“Boo,” she heard from behind her.

Jumping, she spun around, seeing John standing there.

“You thought I actually forgot, didn’t you?” he laughed.

Sighing, she stood up, wrapping her arms around him. “You are a jerk.”

Still laughing, he kissed the top of her head. “Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”

“Happy anniversary, O’Callaghan,” she laughed.

“You still love me though, right? Otherwise, this whole thing wasn’t worth it,” he asked.


“What do you mean ‘whole thing’?” she questioned him.

“I mean, making you mad,” he chuckled. He had almost let it slip, but he caught himself.

“Oh,” she shook her head. “It’s fine. I still love you.”

“Good,” he spoke before changing the subject quickly. “Alright, well finish your pancakes. We have a big day ahead of us.”

“Oh, John,” she shook her head for a second time. “What did you do?”

He just grinned at her. “You’ll see.”



“Keep your eyes closed,” he spoke, guiding her with his hand on her waist. He sat her down on their couch.

“I am!” she giggled, her hands pressed firmly against her eyes. “Can I just say that this is kind of scaring me?”
“Don’t be scared,” he laughed with her. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Upon doing so, she gasped. “Is this for real?”

He nodded. “She’s yours. Well, ours. I signed the adoption papers yesterday.”


“Oh my god, she’s ours?!” Rae practically bounced up and down, holding her arms out, and John placed the black lab puppy in her arms.

Rae had talked extensively in the past about adopting a rescue dog, and she couldn’t believe that John went out and did this for her.

“I’m actually going to cry,” Rae spoke, her voice cracking as she buried her face in the dog’s coat.

“Don’t,” he laughed. “Because then I’ll cry and I’m already going to, anyway.”

“What?” she questioned him, and he inhaled deeply. Taking the dog out of her arms, he set her down on the ground.

“Rae,” he took her hands, standing her up. “I always… I always seem to forget the words to say when I look at you. I guess… I guess what I’m trying to say is I love you. I’ve always loved you, and the last two years have been the best of my life. You’re my best friend, and I want you to be my best friend and fellow dog owner for the rest of our lives. I know this isn’t the most romantic thing, but you hate it, anyway,” he got down on one knee, shakily taking a box out of his pocket. “Aralynn Rae, will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

Throwing her hands over her mouth, she nodded. “Yes, a million times, yes.”

Grinning, he jumped up, picking her up and spinning her around. Kissing her, he slid the ring on her finger.

“I fucking love you so much, Rae,” he spoke, kissing her again.

“I love you so much more, John.”