C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - O N E
Settle Down

She was still stuck in her bubble. Delia had decided that it would be for the best if she left New Hampshire and stayed in Massachusetts for a longer amount of time.

After the debacle, Delia felt uncomfortable staying in her home or going outside. At night she would stay up with her eyes open, blinking every 3 minutes while hitting herself with her pillow, trying to get rid of the thought of Arry walking away from her.

He did the right thing though, she would find herself thinking, she was a horrible influence. She was lazy and distracting Arry from his work. Delia didn't do work, she just stays at home all day. Usually, she'd just help her mother around the house with chores and handling her younger sisters.

But she thought it was time for a change, and so she agreed that she would get a job while in Massachusetts.

A farm was in a desperate need of hands and was offering a position there to pick ripe foods, water crops and to catch bugs that could cause harm to the crops. The salary was decent, or decent to Delia since she had never been in a full commitment job before.

There was one time she decided to teach music to very few tiny children. They didn't even pay attention, likely that they didn't even learn anything at all.

She's never really committed to anything as a matter of fact. The idea struck her as though it was a forgotten memory being remembered.

Delia had considered finding somewhere else to live other than in her aunt and uncle's house. She felt out of place there, she was no child, she was an adult and she felt the need to live on her own.

Her mother would never agree though, she would be afraid of terrible things coming after her daughter. It was a nice thought while it lasted, given everything she had, Delia didn't have a choice but to stay at Aunt Marie and Uncle Daryl's home.

They didn't seem to mind, they were an old couple that was just trying to live out the rest of their lives without any problems. She wouldn't be around the house a lot anyway.

Delia would either be at the farm or at her friends, hell even being at a ball would be more likely than at home. At nights, Arry's image would haunt her. It was like he didn't want to leave her memory but she was struggling for the opposite.

The more she thought about Arry the more it would bother her. It was better if she'd just forget. They had good times but she must move on.

Laurie had just told Delia that he had to go on a short week trip to the Massachusetts coastline a few days after their picnic. He did assure Delia that he wouldn't be long and he would be there to adventure out of Concord.

     He seemed to realize that Delia was distracted. She was fidgeting with her fingers, blinking at a slow pace. Her head was held low so a shadow was cast over her face which made it harder for Laurie to notice her sparkling blue eyes that seemed downturned with sadness.

     Laurie had decided to bring Delia on a picnic that day. He had noticed that Delia seemed a bit distant, he knew that space was good for her but she seemed worse alone. Loneliness scared her nowadays.

     "I can see you staring, Theo," Delia called him out, not glancing at Laurie for one moment as she said those words. He was getting more and more worried as both of them continued eating the fruits packed in a woven basket.

     "I... I'm sorry, Lia." Laurie stuttered, wearing bright pink on his cheeks as he used his hand to rub his neck uncomfortably.

     "I just want to make you feel better, Delia. You seem unsettled these days." Laurie explained, taking his hand off his neck and placing it on top of Delia's hands that were stacked atop her left knee.

     "You seem to know me well..." Delia trailed off, speaking in a weak voice, it was like her throat was restraining her from talking normally. It only gave her emotions away more.

     "I think I do... he'll come back, Delia, they all do." He reassured her. Laurie swore he saw a hint of a grin on her face but nothing was one hundred percent.

     "And how do you feel about that?" She asked, finally lifting her head up to reveal her unworldly beauty.

     "Feel about what, Lia?"

     "Him coming back, how do you feel about that?" Delia repeated, leaning forward and noticing Laurie's hand still gently brushing against her hands.

     "I'd be jealous if it wasn't obvious enough. You two seem to be close— if you had the decency, you'd call him by his name." Laurie admitted, his answer made Delia smirk until the next sentence.

     "I wouldn't dare, we don't speak his name in this circle," Delia responded, acting as though she was appalled.

     "I'll help you out, it starts with an 'A', Darling." He smirked, making fun of her. Delia slipped her hand from underneath his and took an apple from inside the basket, tossing it at his head. The red fruit hit Laurie's head, bouncing off of it and landing in Laurie's lap.

     "Delia, what a waste of a perfectly good apple!" Laurie complained, speaking in an obnoxious tone.

     "I'll give you two dollars if you take a bite of it." Delia giggled, taking a bite of an unfinished food she was still eating.

     "That's a bet right there... what a waste of a good two dollars," Laurie commented, taking the hard apple and sinking his teeth deep into the fruit. The juices running down his mouth and then down his jaw.

     "Two dollars?" He questioned, showing the palm of his hand, expecting her to have the money on her that instant.

     "I'll give you it when we get back." Delia gazed with her curious eyes at Laurie, noticing how ridiculous he looked.

     "Here's a napkin, dear." Delia held out a napkin in her hand, hoping Laurie would take it. She waited a good 10 seconds before realizing he wouldn't accept it.

     "My hands are busy!" He remarked, showing one hand holding the apple and the other holding a glass of water.

     "Getting greedy, are we?" Delia raised an eyebrow at him, hoping that he would drop one of the things in his hands so Delia didn't have to wipe Laurie's mouth like a mother with her child.

    "Fine..." Delia sighed, taking her index finger of her left hand and placing it underneath Laurie's chin while taking the other hand and wiping the sticky apple juice from his mouth.

     "Thank you, ma'am." He grinned playfully, dropping the apple onto the picnic blanket.

     "You lazy boy!" Delia scolded Laurie, hitting him on the forearm which made him retract his arm immediately.

     "Alright, alright! I'm sorry, dear Lia." He had a crooked grin on his face which immediately contradicted his words of being sorry. Delia turned her head to look around them, ignoring Laurie as a presence.

     "I must ask you something though..." Laurie started, feeling anxious. His hands were shaking which caused him to let out a deep breath, in hopes that it would relieve some stress.

     The sudden shift in mood made Delia evidently face back towards Laurie's direction. She saw the desperation in his eyes, he had to ask something.

     "Dear Lord, you aren't asking me to marry you, are you?" Delia joked anxiously. Laurie stopped dead in his tracks, alarm settling in. His eyes were wide with confusion.

     "I... ah, well no. I wasn't... sadly." He laughed along before continuing in saying, "how do you feel about marriage?" He let out the question while holding his breath.

     "Well, I don't know. I don't know if I could ever settle down with someone, the idea hasn't sunken in yet. I've thought about it before but... well, maybe I'll change my mind when I find the one." Delia didn't seem to get the hint but her answer was recorded in Laurie's mind like the script of his favourite play.

     Maybe I'll change my mind when I find the one... The sound of her voice echoing those words over and over made his heartbeat quicken. He wasn't the one, was he...? No, she just said it herself, her words justified everything.

"That's... quite the answer you have." Laurie chuckled strangely while Delia took another bite of her food.

Laurie's eyes turned to the inside of his coat pocket. It was oversized and as well as laid down on the ground next to him. It had a large enough pocket on the inside of the coat for no one to notice a large box that hid a silver ring, a pearl as the centrepiece with stones of aquamarine lining the silver.

He had to hide it for now.

"Don't look so down, Theo..." Delia ruffled Laurie's brown hair, pulling him in for a sweet peck on the cheek.

"How would you feel if I asked you to settle down with me...?" He blurted out the words that formed the dreadful question before he could think through this regretful action. Delia stared uncomfortably at him, it seemed more like a glare than anything else.

"What do you mean by... 'settle down'?" Delia murmured, the volume of her voice barely audible to Laurie who was sitting just across from her.

"... getting married, living together... I— you don't, have to answer. It was foolish of me." Laurie mumbled some sort of apology but Delia just sat there in silence. It took Laurie a minute of waiting to know she wouldn't be able to answer.

"You know I'll always be there, right?" Laurie questioned, saying it as though it were the first time he had asked Delia that.

"Yes... I know." She answered simply, feeling distanced once more. The feeling of anxiousness lingered, deciding to stick along for a little longer.

Delia could feel her bottom lip twitch, her eyelid and eyebrow taking turn twitching as well. Her nose felt stuffy, feeling as though tears were gathering up in her eyes. She overall felt unwell, she wanted to go home.

"Can we finish up...?" The question slipped from her grasp before she could control the urge.

Laurie looked up at her with a disappointed frown, he nodded before mumbling the word, "Yes..." his mission had failed, they were right back at the beginning again.

The result, Delia still stuck in her bubble of distance.

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

Oh man, just a few more chapters and then this book is done! That's scary, man. I don't know why lol.

So... thoughts on Laurie planning on asking Delia to marry him? Or just thoughts on this chapter in general! Comments are appreciated!!!

I'd just like to say thank you so much for everything! I appreciate you reading this, clicking on this book, deciding to waste your time reading my writing!
I don't have words to describe how proud I am
of this book! It's been a long journey. Love
you all from the bottom of my heart!! <33