Part 29: Josh's Point of View I could tell that Zach was over the moon that Chloe was living with us now. It's been a week since we moved her in with us. I wonder why, not that I object. Who cares, anyways? I'VE GOT MYSELF A LITTLE SISTER! I've always wanted one of them. I'm an only child; my parents kind of abandoned me my Senior year of high school. So, I moved in with Zach. I practically lived there anyways. His parents looove me. I haven't been 'Under the Influence' all day. I'm just in a great mood, there isn't a need to be. I just do it because it's for fun. But I need to be sober for tonight, tonight is going to change my life. I walked up to the mirror. "Allison, ugh no! I can't start out that way. That makes me sound like a tool. Hmm.." I looked back in the mirror and got scared to death when I saw Zach, leaning up against the door frame. He came in the room and locked the door. Then he turned on the fan. "Dude, what are you..?" "They're downstairs painting nails." He laughed. "Go figure. Girls like to prepare for dates, haha. So tonight's the night?" I nodded. "I think so. But I have no idea what to say. And I still don't what to do." I looked down at the black velvet box I had in my hands. Tonight's the night. It made me smile. "Well, the second problem is easy. Not to impose, but uh, I kind of have something already planned for you guys. It was just a back-up in case you couldn't think of anything. You don't have to." He looked down like he thought I would be offended. Truth be told, I want to bow down to the guy. "Well, what's your plan, Mr. Romantic?" He looked up and smiled. "Well, I have a couple ideas actually." I would die without this kid. "You can take her to the place you guys had your first kiss, you know, that private lot that looks over our town. Or you could take her to the place you first told her that you loved her, that fancy restaurant place. It depends on whether or not you want to be alone." I thought for a second. I want to take her back to that restaurant, if it's the first place I told her that I loved her, that's where I want to ask her to marry me. "Thanks, Zach. I seriously don't know what I would do without you. Now I just have to make reservations. And practice. Holy sh*t. WHAT AM I GONNA SAY?!" I started pacing. "This isn't good. Sh*t sh*t sh*t. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO HARD?!"
"Josh Josh JOSH! Calm down. Don't worry about the reservations, it's for 7:30. I already did it. As for the speech thing, as much as I'm going to regret saying this, and I'll probably want to punch you through the whole thing, you can practice on eh.. Chloe." I could see him slightly twitch at the thought of me 'proposing' to Chloe, even though it's meant for Ali. "Thanks, dude! I mean it. But wait, we don't want Ali to be awkwardly by herself. That would be weird, having my girl downstairs while I'm up here pretending another girl is her." "She's going to the mall in 10 minutes. She said she forgot something, so she has to go get it. She'll be gone for at least an hour." I nodded. "Then we'll wait for her to leave." Zach and I went downstairs. I plopped down on the couch and out my arm around Ali. She relaxed when my arm went around her and she leaned into my chest. I bent down to kiss her on the cheek. "I love you baby, more than anything." I whispered. It was completely true. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. They did that in 8th grade too. I smiled to myself thinking about how awkward we used to be. If it weren't for Zach, I probably would've never asked her out. I would've kept drooling over her.. in a distance. After Ali left, Zach told Chloe what was going to happen. She thought it was really cute that I was going to ask Ali to marry me. I guess it was. I just wanted her to be mine, forever, officially. I knew what I was going to say, I had it all planned out in my head. Zach had gotten through the whole thing, only giving me a couple of dirty looks and biting his lips countless times. I'm pretty sure he sat on his hands at one point. That must've been really hard for him to watch. I was all set and ready to go for tonight. I was already at the restaurant, Ali was going to get dropped off. I saw her walk through the door. I took a few breaths in and out. I pulled her chair out for her and sat down. "You looked beautiful tonight Ali." She smiled and looked down. She always plays with the promise ring I gave her when she's nervous. I wear mine 24/7. I don't think I've taken it off since I gave it to her. We talked for a while, then our sodas came. I had the waiter bring out a glass of water for each of us also. In Ali's glass of water, at the bottom, sat her ring. She looked at it with wide eyes. Her voice came out just above a whisper. "Josh, what is that?" I grabbed her hands in mine as I got down on one knee. I met with her Dad two weeks ago, to ask for his permission. I looked her in the eyes, her ocean blue eyes. The whole room had gone quiet and everyone was turning to face us. But my eyes were on Ali. I began talking with confidence. I was about to pour my heart out to the girl I love. And about 50 other people. No big deal.
"I remember the first time I saw you, you were wearing jeans, and a Celtics shirt. You had a green bow in your hair, to match your shirt. My best friend Zach was the one who introduced us, he was showing you around that day. I remember the first time I laid eyes on you, my first thought was, 'Damn, that girl likes the Celtics. She just HAS to be my girlfriend.'" I laughed. "But hey, that's 8th grade for you. The first time I told you I loved you came the following year, and I meant it. I always have meant it and I always will mean it. Last year when I gave you that ring, I promised you a few things, and I intend on keeping those promises. You're one of the few people I have never lied to. You know everything about me, I still feel sparks whenever we kiss. I want to grow old with you Ali. I want to be a Dad, but only if you are the mother. I will only love one other woman in my life. She will call you 'Mommy' and be just as beautiful as you." I blinked a few times, I never knew I could get so emotional. "So what do you say? Will you make me the happiest man alive?" "What I'm trying to say is.., Allison Julia Clark, will you marry me?"
Part 30: Zach's Point of View Chloe has been living with us for a whole week now. I don't think I could be any happier to see her every morning, and every night. Well, I could be happier, but that part comes in exactly 3 days. Josh and Ali come home about two hours ago, I could tell that he said yes, Josh couldn't stop smiling and Ali had a new ring on her hand. She's good for him. I've always liked Ali. She's like my little sister, even though I think she might be older than me. Chloe went to bed about 3-4 hours ago, I've been sitting awake in my bed since she went to her room. I have insomnia, so sometimes I just can't get to sleep no matter how tired I am. I decided that I would go check on everyone, making sure they were asleep. Not that it mattered. I just wanted an excuse to see Chloe. I peeked into Josh's room, I could hear him before I saw them. Josh snores extremely loud. He had his arm wrapped around Ali, and her back was pressed tightly against his chest. They both were smiling in their sleep, it was really cute. And slightly creepy. Then I walked across the hall to Chloe's room, I felt kind of like a stalker, but I don't really care. I put my ear up to her door, I could hear her whispering something. But I couldn't tell what it was. I cracked the door open to see her tossing and turning in her sleep. She looked like she was having a nightmare. I slowly walked into the room. "Zach.. help me.. please." She whispered. So that's what she was whispering. I walked over to the bed and shook her awake. She turned to face me, her eyes fluttered open and she looked right at me. "Zach." She whispered and sigh from relief. Chloe flung herself at me, her arms wrapped around my neck in a tight embrace. My arms wrapped around her waist. "Tell me what happened." I said as I wiped away a tear that had fallen from her cheek. "I-it was terrible. Jane just wouldn't leave me alone. She kept hitting me. A-and she blamed me for my parents d-dying. S-she said it was all my fault that they were dead. And she told me that she h-hated me and s-should've never been born." We were laying down on her bed now. I had my arms wrapped around her and she was resting her head on my chest. "I kept calling for someone to come and save me, help me, but no one was coming." I leaned closer and out my lips closer to her ear. "Let me be your hero." I whispered.
Part 31: Chloe's Point of View I woke up and tried to roll over but something was holding me back. I looked down and saw arms around my waist. I looked over my shoulder and saw Zach sleeping very soundly. I smiled to myself. The last thing I remember from last night is that I had a bad dream, Zach came in to comfort me, and I fell asleep after telling him about my dream. It was awful, but it was good at the same time, I woke up with strong arms wrapped around me and I felt safe. I decided to go downstairs and watch some Spongebob. I looove Spongebob. I was down there for a while, it was 7:30 a.m., I normally wake up very early. I heard a noise coming from upstairs. "CHLOE?! Ugh. What the fudge? HOW DO YOU LOSE A PERSON." Zach's voice rang down the stairs. I heard Josh's voice before I could respond and tell him I was downstairs. "SHUT THE F*CK UP! YOU WOKE US UP AS*HOLE!" Then another voice, a softer one, interrupted Josh before he could continue. "Josh, calm down babe. You're being really loud." I laughed. Ali was really good for him. I heard someone coming down the stairs, it sounded like a herd of elephants. "Chloe?! Chloe! Chlo-oh there you are." He smiled awkwardly as a blush crept onto his cheeks. He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Yess?" I said laughing. He turned a brighter shade of red. He cleared his throat. "I uh, I just wanted to let you know to pack some stuff for the weekend, we're going to my parents house. We'll probably leave in about two hours. We'll be gone for about 6 days. They're really excited to meet you." He smiled and then ran out of the room, back upstairs. Great. Time to meet the parents. What if they don't like me?