Chapter 30 The Proposal
Levi gathered us in his living room, eyes sparkling like he’d been holding this secret forever and could barely contain it.
"Okay, team," he said, pacing like a general before a battle. "Asa has no idea. Zero. Not a clue. I want this perfect. Everyone has a role."
I exchanged a look with March. "Wait… roles?"
"Yes," Levi said, snapping his fingers like he was giving orders. "This is a mission. Operation: Make Asa Say Yes."
We all gasped.
"You’re proposing!" Arlo said.
"Well, yeah," Levi said, scratching the back of his head. "I’ve had the ring since our third-month anniversary… but I figured proposing before we even mastered assembling IKEA furniture might be pushing it."
"Yeah, I’d say so," March replied, and we all laughed.
"I’m really happy for you, Levi," I said, smiling.
"Thanks," he said, pacing like a nervous puppy. "I considered a flash mob or skywriting. I almost hired a marching band, but he once confessed he hates public spectacles. His dream proposal? Just us, a couple friends, and zero embarrassment."
We all smiled at that.
"So… what’s the plan?" I asked.
"I’ll tell him we’re all meeting for dinner here," Levi said. "That way, he’ll actually believe I forgot our anniversary. March, you’re on timing and misdirection. Feb, you handle visuals: lights, flowers, decorations, mood, the works. And Arlo… you’re with Feb. You two will set the scene."
My stomach did a little somersault. Arlo? Me? Alone, orchestrating a space Levi had already picked for the proposal?
Levi’s voice softened. "Keep it small and intimate. In Arlo’s apartment, because I don’t want Asa figuring out why I’m avoiding our place."
"And what about you?" March asked.
He grinned, warm and teasing. "I’ll be spending the day with the love of my life. You’ll be there too. That way, he’ll really think I forgot our anniversary."
"And when it’s all ready?" I leaned in, eager.
Levi’s grin stretched into full-on mischief. "Then I’ll make up an excuse and vanish, and you Feb… you bring him over. That’s when the magic happens."
March went off to handle the distractions, leaving Arlo and me alone in the apartment. The place felt alive with potential. Soft light fell across the hardwood floors. Dust motes floated in the beams, waiting to be transformed.
"Alright," I said, rolling up my sleeves. "Mission: make it magical, as Levi said."
Arlo nodded, quiet but intent, the way he always was when he was trying not to feel too much.
We pushed furniture aside, climbed chairs, tangled ourselves in strings of warm lights.
Levi’s instructions echoed in my head, symmetry, spacing, balance, but somewhere between the candles and the flowers, our hands kept finding each other instead.
Fingers brushing. Knuckles grazing wrists. A hand at my lower back for half a second too long as he steadied a ladder.
Each time it happened, we both stilled. Pulled away and pretended the air hadn’t just thickened. I told myself it was nothing. That it was just proximity. That my pulse didn’t mean anything. But every time I straightened up, I could feel Arlo’s eyes on me, and it made my skin aware of itself.
At one point, I excused myself to go to the restroom.
My steps slowed near his bedroom door, ajar just enough to taunt me.
I froze, heart slamming wild, breath hitching raggedly.
I pushed it open an inch. His bed sprawled there, sheets tangled and sinful, pillows dented, the air thick with his scent.
Musk, clean sweat, faint cologne clinging like a lover’s whisper.
Desire flared. Memories crashed in. Us tangled and wild, his grip locking my wrists above my head, his mouth claiming my neck while his fingers drove deep, curling with ruthless precision until I broke apart, crying out.
The way he’d turn me over, teasing my entrance with the blunt heat of him before pushing in slowly, deliberately, hips snapping harder as his hand tightened in my hair and I begged.
Afterward, that knowing smile as he watched me tremble, emptied, one practiced hand tracing circles, his voice low in my ear, urging me to come again.
Curiosity and longing pulled me forward.
I glanced back. He was still in the kitchen.
I let the door swing wider and stepped in.
The room smelled faintly of him, faintly of home.
My pulse raced as memories surged, his hands, his lips, the way he’d claim me and leave me breathless, helpless, wanting more.
I traced the edge of the bed with my fingers, letting the longing thrum through me.
Then I saw it. Not just one wall. The room.
Stacks of my stories. Multiple copies of each, worn at the edges like they’d been handled often.
Printed drafts. Early versions. Notes tucked between pages.
Photographs of us, candid and unguarded moments I didn’t even remember being captured.
Sketches everywhere of my eyes, again and again.
My lips caught mid-smile. The curve of my cheek.
Fragments of my face rendered with obsessive care. Nothing whole, yet unmistakably me.
The entire room was about me.
On the back of the chair, folded neatly, was my shirt. The one I wore the first day we made love. The one I thought I’d lost when I left. My breath hitched hard. It was overwhelming. Too much and too intimate, like I’d stepped into a shrine I was never meant to see.
"Oh my God," I whispered.
Behind me, the quiet shifted and footsteps stopped short. Arlo stood frozen in the doorway, color rushing to his face, crimson blooming up his neck and ears.
"Berrie, I—" He let out a short, nervous laugh, running a hand through his hair. "You… uh. You weren’t supposed to—"
"What is all this?" My voice sounded unsteady, unfamiliar.
His eyes flicked everywhere but mine. "You’re probably thinking I’m… creepy," he muttered, swallowing hard.
I gestured helplessly at the room. "Arlo… we’ve been over for quite some time now."
He gave a small, sad smile. "Tell that to my heart."
My chest tightened.
"I don’t know what to say," I admitted.
He met my eyes, embarrassed and vulnerable. "You don’t have to say anything. I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable."
The word twisted something in me.
"No. I’m sorry for snooping," I said quietly. "...again." I laughed softly.
He nodded, and we stood there together, suspended in the moment, him exposed and vulnerable, me shaken and uncertain, both of us surrounded by the undeniable proof that, in ways I hadn’t fully realized, I had never truly left his life.
I turned, offering a faint smile. "Let’s keep going."
We closed the door and returned to decorating. Every step felt charged. Eventually, everything was ready. My phone buzzed. Asa was calling.
"Sorry to bother you, Feb," his voice was small. "Can you come get me? Levi left and said he’d meet us there. He asked me to call you because he’s busy. I...I don’t know. He’s been weird all day."
A few minutes later, Asa slid into the passenger seat, clutching a small, neatly wrapped gift. His shoulders were hunched, gaze fixed on his lap.
We drove in silence before I asked, "Are you okay?"
"He… he forgot," he whispered. "our anniversary." He hesitated. "I made him something anyway."
Something twisted in my chest. "Maybe he didn’t forget," I said softly.
He shook his head. "He was distant all day. Cold and even nervous. I don't understand. Maybe he’s regretting me Feb. Maybe I’m too much.
I do love him, but I’m not good with words so maybe he is checking out of this relationship.
I worry I’ll mess it up. That I won’t be enough.
Maybe I am not, I mean he is amazing and gorgeous. ."
I glanced at him. "Stop it Asa, so are you. He is lucky to have you and he knows it. Love isn’t only words," I said. "It’s care and effort and showing up. He knows you love him."
I squeezed his hand. "Trust me. He loves you."
When we arrived, I knocked lightly. Asa stepped inside hesitating.
The apartment smelled of flowers and candle wax.
Music floated softly from hidden speakers.
Then he saw Levi, at the room's far end, one knee sunk to the floor amid scattered petals, eyes shining bright with every unspoken feeling.
The crowd hushed, air thick with anticipation. I moved away quickly.
"Asa," Levi said, voice trembling but steady, ring box quivering in his grip as he poured out his soul,
"I've loved you every single day since the moment I saw you.
Never thought I'd get struck like this, blindsided by love so hard it rewrote everything I knew.
I saw you, Asa, a man nonetheless, and I don't know what happened to me.
You were just... the one. Like my soul recognized yours right away, snapping into place with no questions and no doubts.
Through every laugh that lit me up, every fight we clawed through, every quiet morning with your head on my chest. I want to keep choosing you—today, tomorrow, forever. Will you marry me?"
Asa froze, world narrowing to Levi's face, tears welling instant and hot down his cheeks.
Hands flew to his mouth, a choked gasp escaping as shock bloomed to ecstasy.
Room held breath and friends leaning in, some tearing up already.
"Yes," Asa whispered first, voice cracking raw, then louder, surging forward, "Yes! Absolutely yes! God, yes!"
Levi surged up, ring sliding home as they collided in a fierce hug, laughter and sobs mingling, crowd erupting cheers. I stayed back, hidden in the doorway, heart racing, watching. Levi’s grin was wild, triumphant, and completely in love.
Asa’s laugh and sobs mixed together, raw and beautiful.
I turned to Arlo to see him looking at me.
I saw pure longing and reverence pooling in his eyes, dark and endless, like he was seeing straight to my soul and worshipping every piece.
His smile unfolded soft, tender, crinkling those laugh lines I adored.
Heart full, I wove through the crowd to Arlo, and I whispered, eyes locked. " Let's ride to our park later."
His grin widened, eyes igniting. "Anywhere, Berrie. Always."