We decided to throw caution to the wind and take the subway to the Brooklyn side of the bridge, hoping that not too many people would recognize him and want photographs and autographs and stuff. I liked being out in the rough and tumble of the streets of New York sometimes, and not always in a taxi, though I realized that I wouldn't feel that way if I had to do it every day.

We were stopped a few times, especially at the station, and there were some people on the train who asked for selfies, but it didn't get too out of control. It was a straight shot on the F-train, so no chance of us getting lost, luckily. Usually the first few people attracted more people, and it got crazy from there, but we had to get off before the crowds got too big, and we were able to walk away without hurting anyone's feelings.

I saw them first, smiling and looking at him as we stood in the thin sunshine on York Street in Brooklyn, getting our bearings. They looked like they might be junior high age. I pulled on Teddy's sleeve and pointed them out to him, and he gave them a wave and a smile, dimples popping, making them cover their mouths in delight and embarrassment. His smile made them brave enough to approach us, gloved hands joined for support.

"Could we take a selfie with you?" the taller one asked. She was wearing a yellow knitted hat with a ridiculous pompom on it. The other one smiled, dancing from one foot to the other in excitement.

"Of course," Teddy responded, continuing to smile. I reached for the girl's phone, but they wanted me in the photograph, so Teddy took it, long arm stretching out of the frame.

"We love your music, and you guys, so much," the shorter one babbled, curly dark hair bouncing all over. "I can't even believe you're standing here. What are you doing in Brooklyn?"

"Why wouldn't we be in Brooklyn?" Teddy returned in the same laughing tone. "It's beautiful here, and the Brooklyn Bridge is one of her favorite places, like, in the entire world," he continued, gesturing toward me. I nodded.

"You girls are so lucky you get to live here, in this beautiful city, and see that bridge all the time," I said. "I wanted to see it, walk across it, one more time before we go back to London."

"You mean you guys took the subway here, just to walk across the bridge?" asked the taller one. I could see her name, "Jana", on her backpack. She looked amazed. "You could just hire an Uber or something, couldn't you?"

"But then we couldn't really feel it, you know? The view, the air, seeing the whole city?" I explained. "Walking into Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most magical experiences I've ever had."

Jana looked at her friend, pompom bouncing, and I was glad they were together, that they could share this with each other. "No one's even going to believe this happened to us, Amy," she whispered loudly.

Amy nodded vigorously. "I know," she said, eyes round like chocolate creams.

"They'll have to believe you," Teddy laughed, ruffling her curls. "You've got photographic evidence, haven't you?"

He waved goodbye, took my hand, and we left the station to begin our walk across the bridge, this time in broad daylight. It was just as beautiful as the nighttime walk had been, though without the dizziness factor. The air was clear, and it really did have to be close to fifty degrees, not too cold at all, for me at least.

The buildings looked close enough to touch, and the East River was actually blue, with even a few whitecaps visible far to our left, at its confluence with the Hudson and the bay beyond. Luckily, it was a beautiful, sparkling, January day, with not much wind; otherwise it really would've been too cold to be borne.

We walked in silence for a few minutes, joined hands swinging, as people who were in more of a hurry than we were passed us. How could they just walk, heads down, earbuds in, looking at their phones, and ignore the spectacular sight in front of them?

I looked at Teddy. "Why aren't you wearing a hat?" I asked him. "And gloves? And a scarf? It's not like you don't have any," I laughed. He laughed too.

"I don't know, I thought it would be warmer, I suppose," he said. "And like I said before, when I'm with you, you keep me warm on the inside, where it counts."

And though it was so corny, it still made me a little gooey inside.

"And talk about the pot calling the kettle black, where are your gloves and all that, then?" he asked me. Oh.

"Well, I don't get cold like you do, you know that," I defended myself. "Plus, I made this sweater, and it has pockets, see?" I put my hands in the deep pockets I'd knitted for myself.

He smiled at me, and wiped a tear from his face. I stared at him and stopped walking, pulling him back by his hand.

"Hey," I said softly, touching the spot where the tear had been, just to make sure I wasn't mistaken. It was moist. "What's going on?" I put my hands on his torso and gave him a gentle shake.

He looked at me and smiled, two more tears spilling out of his amazing eyes. He quickly wiped them away, pulling me close and hugging me, kissing the top of my head. "Let's keep walking, darling, yeah?"

I nodded, putting an arm around his waist. We continued, very slowly, considering how long his legs were, considering how quickly he usually walked.

I tried to look at his face from time to time, but I couldn't without stopping, or stepping away from him, which would have been awkward. I finally did stop walking to look at him, to confirm that he was indeed still crying.

"Teddy, hey, Teddy, what the hell's going on?" I asked, softly. There was a convenient post for people to lean on, or in my case to sit on, which put me a couple of inches taller than him, so we were in the unusual position of him looking up at me. He genuinely seemed happy, I didn't get a sorrow vibe, so I couldn't figure out what was going on at all.

He sighed, putting his arms around me and resting his head on my chest. I clasped him to me, stroking his hair. We stayed that way for a bit, enjoying the thin, mellow sunshine. He finally lifted his head to look at me, leaning forward to kiss me, a big kiss, a huge kiss, a kiss that involved him grabbing me to keep me from falling backward off the post from the force of it.

"I love you so much," he said, smiling, when we finally stopped to breathe. "You make me so happy, so unbelievably happy, god." He looked incredibly handsome in the clear, winter sunshine, his jaw sharp and defined, dimples popping, and his eyes, with the dense lashes, looking into mine.

I put my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his body. "Huge PDA coming up," I warned in a whisper in his ear. I kissed him, as hard as he'd kissed me, launching myself off the post, forcing him to catch me and hold me. He laughed into my mouth, swinging me around.

"So you think we're, like, the happiest people in the world right now?" he asked, looking at me.

"Probably," I said, shrugging. People were simply parting and walking around us, like we were a rock in a river and they were water. No one seemed to know or care who we were.

"So what's with all the crying, hmm?" I asked softly as he set me down.

"Dunno." He shrugged. "It's my birthday, so I just feel a little introspective, I guess. You know, assessing my life, what's good, what's bad. And you're a massive good, that's all." He kissed my nose.

Massive good.

Gooey insides. Serious swooning.

He took a deep breath, looking all around before making eye contact with me again. "So, Birdie? I wanted to ask you about my birthday present now?" He looked inquisitively at me.

"Oh? Oh! Yeah, I've been waiting. Yes, please, ask me." I'd been thinking about all the clues he'd given me and I thought I had a pretty good idea what it was, but it would be interesting to see if I was right.

He was kneeling on the ground, messing with something, which was weird, because he was wearing zip-up boots, nothing to tie. He turned to me, smiling the biggest smile, full dimples, and tears again, what the hell?

Kneeling.

Oh my god. Oh my god.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a shocked whisper. This was not what I thought he was going to ask.

"This is the way it's usually done, my darling, or so I've been told," he said with a laugh.

"Oh my fucking god," I said, covering my mouth.

At my words he laughed again, saying, "You'd better hope no one's recording this, Birdie, Jesus," at which I started laughing, too.

Now people were starting to watch.

"Ah, Birdie, my forever girl, love of my life," he said, absently wiping the tears from his face. "I love you so, so much." He looked down for a moment, then looked back up at me. "You make me so happy, so happy. I never knew I could be so happy." He shook his head and shrugged helplessly. "Would you please marry me? Would you please be my wife? Please?" And he held up a velvet box, robin's egg blue, open, which contained the largest, most sparkly diamond ring I'd ever seen in my life. By now we'd attracted quite a crowd, whether because it was Teddy or because it was just a hell of a romantic proposal I had no idea.

I wiped my eyes, because at some point I'd started crying, too. My throat was so tight I didn't think I could talk, but he deserved more than just a nod, so I made the monumental effort, took a deep breath, and said, "Yes," while nodding. The smile came out of its own accord, and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere for a long time. Like maybe ever.

Teddy wiped his eyes again, pulled the ring from the box, handed the box to a helpful young man on a bicycle who'd stopped to watch, and reached for my hand. He looked at me, smiled, and slid it on my finger.

It fit perfectly.

He stood up, pulled me in and kissed me, warm lips reaching for mine as his hand cupped my face, and for the second time in twenty-four hours, I got a standing ovation as the random strangers who'd stopped to watch clapped and cheered.

"Oh, shit!" Teddy interrupted the kiss with these words.

Everyone laughed, me included.

"What?" I asked. "Change your mind already?"

"You said that both of us need rings, it needs to be equal, right?" He looked at me.

"I was talking about wedding rings," I said. "Unless you want me to give this sucker back? Because I don't have one for you."

"Check your pocket," he said with a smile.

"No," I said disbelievingly, putting my hand in my pocket. I pulled out another box, a twin to the one the bicycle boy was holding, and looked back at Teddy, amazed. When in the hell had he done that? I opened it. It contained a platinum band which was inlaid with diamonds, exactly like mine, only lacking a solitaire, and much larger in diameter.

Teddy held out his left hand expectantly.

I covered my face for a moment before uncovering it to talk to him. "You didn't have to do this," I whispered to him. "This must have cost a fortune." Now I was really crying, like ugly crying, nose running, the works. "I didn't mean—I didn't want—I—" He put his arms around me.

"No, I like this," he whispered in my ear. "I love the idea of an engagement ring for me too. I want the world to know that I'm yours from this day onward. Please put it on my finger, hummingbird. I want it. I want to know that you want to be engaged to me just as much as I want to be engaged to you, and I don't care who paid for it. I don't." He pulled away from my ear so he could look in my eyes.

He held out his hand again, wagging his fourth finger as he looked at me, eyebrows raised.

I laughed, took the ring out of the box, handed the box to bicycle boy, who was grinning like a fool, and slid the ring onto his finger. He took me in his arms and kissed me again, to even more applause.

I looked around. Of course, quite a few people were recording all of it, different colored phone cases all pointed our way.

"Guys?" I addressed the crowd. Everyone was surprised, especially Teddy, who still had his arms around me. "It would be so, so great if Theo's family didn't have to find out about this online or on TV. I know it's asking a lot, because I know that who he is makes what you're recording and what you've seen worth a lot of money." I wiped more tears from my face. "But as of this moment, we're the only people on the planet who know what's happened here. So if you could just give us the gift of a little time before you put what you have, what you know, online, maybe think of it as an early wedding present? And thank you." There was more applause after my words, which could have been a good sign.

Teddy hugged me to him, saying, "You're amazing, you know that? Those people wouldn't have dreamed of listening to me that way." He kissed me, hand on my throat; the slight wind ruffled the short hairs which had escaped his bun, and they tickled my face. He was seriously sexy, making me wish for a car, a broom closet, any place that was the least bit private, so I could just attack him.

"Yeah, but why don't you call your parents right now, right this second, though, just in case I didn't reach everyone's better nature?" I suggested. And so he did, thus ensuring that his parents heard from him that he was indeed engaged to be married.

We continued walking, arm in arm, as he talked to them, and I admired my ring from every conceivable angle. He looked over at me from time to time, enjoying my happiness, air kissing in my direction as he chatted with his mom and dad. He finished the call just as we got off the bridge. Next he texted the boys, so that they would hear it from him first also. They texted back immediately, wanting details, and he sent them a picture of our hands, our rings, promising the full story at the party.

I burst out laughing as we were walking, eventually laughing so hard I had to stop walking, hanging onto him.

"Are you going to vomit?" he asked me politely.

I shook my head, leaning on him for support, getting myself under control. "No," I gasped. "Sorry."

He tipped my head up by the chin so he could look me in the eye. "Please share," he said with a smile.

I nodded. "Gimme a sec," I said. I took a few deep breaths. "I thought I knew what you were going to ask for," I explained. I waved my hand with the ring on it. "Boy, was I wrong." I started to laugh again.

He picked me up, so I could wrap my legs around him, and he walked a few paces carrying me. "So, what did you think I was going to ask for, then?" he whispered in my ear.

"Tattoos," I whispered back into his ear. "Matching tattoos, you know? On our bodies somewhere?"

He started to laugh, and pulled my head away so he could look me in the eye. "Tattoos?" he repeated thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea, is it?" He nodded. "Maybe for our first anniversary." He kissed me, setting me down.

"So, where do you want to go now?" Teddy asked me.

"Um, I know we're supposed to be having this romantic walk around the city to look at neighborhoods where we might want to live and stuff, right?" I asked him. He nodded.

"But, Teddy, if I don't get somewhere private so I can fuck your brains out, like pronto, I feel like I might just, die." I looked at him. "Seriously."

He hailed a cab.

"Where to?" the disinterested cab driver asked.

"The Plaza. And step on it, please?"