Ari

Dean and I finished the trip in style. After leaving Kasimov and my new found family, we ventured all over Europe. We saw hundreds of sites and did countless activities together, spending every waking minute together and in love. Venise and Patrick stayed in Los Angeles to plan their upcoming wedding, which was where I currently found myself.

I stood in front of the full length mirror after trying on the crimson gown that Venise had chosen for her bridesmaids. Her cousin and another friend from college, were sipping champagne over on a white couch, gossiping about some new celebrity scandal that was blasted over the television.

"So, did you get fully moved in?" I heard Venise's voice from behind me, as a woman made some adjustments to the length of the gown I was wearing.

"I did. We unpacked the last box this morning before breakfast. Please remind me to never move again, it was such a pain in the ass." 

When we had come home from the trip, I had discovered that at some point, Dean had cancelled the lease on my apartment and had a team of people box up all my things and place them in storage. I remember standing there two weeks ago and just laughing at him, after I had the shock of my life when I went to place my key in my lock and a burly man in his forties with tons of tattoos opened the door, wanting to know why I was trying to break in.

All I could do was laugh, because Dean had been serious when he told me we were going to live together that day in Miami.

We scrambled to find a new apartment, this time one closer to his grandma and settled on an overpriced one in Beverly Hills. I wasn't going to complain too much, because the view over Wilshire Blvd. was amazing, especially at night from the balcony. I had become quite fond of sitting out there late at night, with a cup of tea or glass of wine and staring out at the lights of the city, while sketching or just petting Evangeline.

I didn't know what would happen in the future with Dean, but at least we were living together. Since that night in Seattle, when he left with the waitress, there had been no other women. He didn't stare at girls with big racks who walked by or allow women to place their hands on him in a flirting manner. He was totally committed to our life together, in every way.

"All of us will have to do a girl's night at the new apartment, now that you're settled in," Venise said, as I walked into the changing room to slip off the bridesmaid dress.

"Definitely! We'll have to get Dean and Patrick to arrange a guy's night. Pierce's supposed to come down in a few weeks with Priya, so we can do it then."

"What are we doing in a couple weeks?" Sassy poked her head out of her dressing room, before emerging in the exact same crimson dress that I was just wearing. Her blonde hair was slightly shorter, but she was just as much the girl I first met that day in Las Vegas.

"Girls night!" I replied before she gave us a huge thumbs up.

I hadn't seen or heard from Ace since that night in London, but Sassy had become a permanent fixture in my life. So much so, that she recently had moved to Los Angeles and was currently dating a nice girl named Mariann, whom she had met through Dean.

Sassy always made it a point to assure me that Ace was doing well and that eventually he would come back around. I missed him, but I understood that he needed time to heal his heart and move on with his life. I did send him messages once in a while wishing him well but, I never got a reply. I hoped that one day we could be friends again, but if not, then I wasn't going to let it stop me from moving on with my life.

"Do you want to get dinner tonight? Mariann's going to some function with her dad," Sassy inquired, as I emerged from the dressing room, in my regular clothes.

"Actually, Dean and I have plans. He has been dying to go to this new place for dinner and finally got a reservation. Rain check?"

"For sure, darling. Maybe Saturday then, if you can pry yourself away from Andrews." She winked and them proceed to look in the mirror.

I was excited for Venise and Patrick's upcoming wedding and hoped that maybe seeing the whole thing would prompt Dean into moving forward with me. If not, then we would just have the best non-married life that we could have.

...........................

Dean had called and said he was running late from work. He asked if I could meet him instead of having to drive the whole way home. Looking at the outside of the address he had text me, I was sure that I was in the wrong place.

I was currently sitting in a taxi outside a large estate in Beverly Hills. I checked my phone again at the address and the driver assured me that this was the correct place. He pushed a button on the intercom at the grand and ornate, golden and black gate and after a minute, it began to swing open.

We drove down a gravel lined driveway, where a man in a black tuxedo greeted us and opened my door, "Hello, Ms. Blakewell, your party is waiting around  the back. Please follow me."

The man took my hand and led me around the side of the estate to a cobble pathway. My blush colored Jimmy Choo shoes made clanking sounds on the large stones. The man led me to an archway and bid his goodbyes.

I looked down at the dress I had chosen for dinner and wondered if I was going to be grossly overdressed for a dinner in a garden. The dress I had chosen was a white, tea-length, bodycon dress, that was covered in white lace. It was sleeveless and had a halter neckline, which worried me if I was going to be susceptible to an early evening chill. I grasped my blush pink clutch close to my side and smoothed out the dress, which fell slightly underneath my knees. 

I pulled a compact out of my clutch and made sure that my subtle makeup and blush pink eyeshadow was perfectly in place and I smoothed down my straightened hair, tucking it behind my ears. I walked underneath the archway, which was lined with pink trailing roses and small string lights. I emerged in an open garden, with a large sculpted balcony, which was also lined with small white string lights and overlooked a massive vivid blue fountain.

The surrounding area of the green clearing was lined with rose bushes, which were adorned with matching lights. The scene looked like something out of a fairytale, with its tiny dancing lights illuminating the night.

There was only one table to the side of clearing and it had rose petals strewn over it with small tea lights in a crystal bowl. The pathway that separated the rosebushes from the lawn, were also lined with tea lights in small bowls. There was no one there, except me. I looked around and Dean was nowhere to be found. Maybe the gentleman in the tuxedo was incorrect that my party was waiting for me back here.

I walked over to the balcony, which was constructed with red pillars and looked over the edge to the grand fountain beneath. It was filled with the same tea light candles and in the large pool of water were small flowers. You could hear the sounds of crickets in the distance and the faint sound of the water droplets from the fountain hitting the pool beneath.

I heard his throat clear from behind me and I turned around to see him standing there staring. He was dressed in his best dark blue Tom Ford suit, with a crisp black shirt and a dark blue tie. The suit complimented his vivid blue eyes, and combined with the string lights and candles which bounced off the specks of teal that intermingled within the blue, he looked like something out of a dream. His blonde hair was freshly cut around the sides and the top was slightly chunky—exactly how I loved it.

He smiled at me, that same infectious smile that made my heart rapidly beat. The same smile that I had seen thousands of times from him. The smile that made his dimples pop and gave him a boyish, yet sexy charm. His chiseled jaw was lined with a slight peppering of blonde hair and I desperately wanted to run my freshly manicured fingers over his face.

I smiled at him and made my way over in his direction, but he put up his hand and halted my movements. I could tell he was nervous by the way his hands shook slightly.

"Dean, what's wrong?" I looked at him confused.

"I need to say some things to you and if you come any closer I'm going to become a ball of nerves." He smoothed out his tie, which had a gold clip across it.

"Ari, you asked me once how I felt about you and I told you that one day I would tell you everything. I know I've told you bits and pieces of what I feel in my heart, but you deserve to know it all. The truth was, that at the time there weren't ever any words that could describe with total honestly, all the things that I feel when I think of you. A wise girl once told me that song lyrics were the best advice when she scolded me in Seattle about forcing my feelings onto you. However, I never really realized that Venise was correct and that everything that I've always felt has already been said."

He pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket to the inside of his suit and unfolded it. His messy handwriting was jumbled all over the page and for a second, I couldn't contain my giggles. I had never seen him so nervous in my life and if there was one thing Dean Andrews was, it was always confident and put together.

"So, I took Venise's advice and listened to thousands of songs. I listened to a song which told me that sometimes the only way to know how you feel is to bleed. The tear that forms in your heart tells you that you're alive and that you have a soul. But, I realized that it really takes someone to come around and show you how to bleed. Ari, you're that tear in my heart, which never ceases to remind me that I'm alive."

He paused for a moment before moving on. My eyes were locked on his face and even though he was nervous, there was a strong aura of determination.

"Another song talked about love lifting you up much like helium would. That love can lift you up when you're at your worst and are ready to slam back down into the hard ground. It told me that love's all I needed to reach the sun. Ari, you're the only one that makes me feel safe when my fears shoot forward and threaten to slam me back to earth. You're the one that I know I need in order to both lift me up to the sun and ground me when I need to be."

I started to inch closer but I saw it in his eyes that he needed me to let him finish.

"The last song that I listened to told me that I would never want to know who I was without you— without us together. It told me that I couldn't imagine a world without an us and without an us, I'd be broken. Ari Blakewell, I can't stand to think of a life without you in it."

He stepped closer, putting the paper back in his pocket and took my hand in his, finally. He stroked the pad of his thumb across my skin and brushed the tear that had streaked down my cheek with his other hand.

"Ari, until I met you, there was no pain and there was no love. Once I met you, there were no words to describe the pain I felt when you weren't near me. None to describe the way my heart races whenever I look into your eyes. I love you with every single piece of me, pieces that were never there before I met you. I have been desperately in love with you since the day I first met you on those stairs and everything bad that has happened between us since then was all just stupid distractions until we could be right here."

He let go of my hand and walked towards the lone table, fetching something from amongst the rose petals. The lights from the candles bounced off the velvet box in his hand as he made his way back to me.

"Ari Blakewell, you deciding to die forced me to live. Every single day with you is the future I've always dreamed of. I know that you told me that my love saved you, but the truth was that your decision to die not only forced you to save yourself, but it saved me in the process."

He positioned himself on one knee, the box gripped in his left hand. With his right hand, he opened it to reveal the most beautiful sapphire blue ring I had ever seen. The moonlight bounced off the large sapphire and diamonds and I realized that it was his grandmother's ring that I was looking at. It was the Von Hastings ring. However, at that moment, the most beautiful thing in that garden was his face, which competed against that piece of exquisite jewelry.

"I don't want to imagine a life without the only girl I've ever loved. I am yours forever. Arina Elizaveta Blakewell, will you be mine forever?" He took the ring out of the box and grasped my left hand as he looked into my eyes, awaiting a response. 

"Yes, Dean. One year or sixty, it doesn't matter as long as it's with you," I said through the tears that were streaking down my cheeks.  He placed the ring on my finger, then stood up and snatched me up into his arms and pressed his lips to mine.

"One year or sixty... I plan to hold you to the sixty, my love." He kissed me under the moonlight, wrapping his strong lips around mine, his grip around my waist tightening. He kissed me like it was the first time he had ever kissed me. 

He kissed me like I was his forever.

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A/N: Hey guys!

So there it is... The proposal!! I know the chapter is somewhat short, but the epilogue will follow in 2 parts, from different POVs

Don't forget to click the star and comment. 

I wanted to say thank you all for taking this journey with Dean and Ari. Those that have read and supported have really compelled me to continue writing. I appreciate every ounce of support that I have been given and hope you will continue to read other stories and fall in love with those characters as well.

I know a couple people believed that Ari would end her life at the end of the novel and for a while, that was always a possibility. However, the book is about the journey it takes to find and love yourself, even when you feel that there isn't anything to love. Not all stories are happy endings, but Ari deserved one finally.

<3 Amina