~ Chapter 47 ~
The apartment smelled like coffee and warm bread.
Morning light spilled through the wide windows of the place they now shared — not big, not fancy, but theirs in every quiet, meaningful way.
Eva stood barefoot in the kitchen, one of Reed's old T-shirts slipping off her shoulder as she flipped pancakes with the kind of ease that only came from doing this a hundred times before.
Reed watched her from the doorway, mug in hand, heart doing that familiar, steady-thrum thing it always did around her now.
Living together hadn't been loud or dramatic. It had been gentle. Natural. Shoes by the door. Her hair ties everywhere. His books stacked neatly until she rearranged them and he pretended not to notice. Grocery lists on the fridge. Notes scribbled in the margins of each other's days.
Love, settled.
They ate slowly, knees brushing under the table, talking about nothing important. The weather. A show they'd started and abandoned halfway through. What they needed to pick up later.
And then Reed cleared his throat.
Eva glanced up. "You okay?"
He nodded too quickly. Then laughed under his breath. "Yeah. I just—" He rubbed his palm against his thigh, a nervous habit she knew well. "Do you want to go for a walk later? Down by the water."
She smiled. "Always."
The beach was quiet that afternoon, the way it only ever was when the world felt kind. The tide rolled in lazily. Wind tugged at Eva's cardigan. Reed walked beside her, close enough that their arms brushed, fingers occasionally tangling like it was instinct.
They stopped where the sand met the water, waves curling around their shoes.
Reed turned to her.
She felt it before he said anything — the shift, the weight of intention.
"Eva," he said, voice steady despite the way his chest felt too tight. "There's something I want to do. And I don't want to overthink it, because if I do, I won't say it right."
Her heart started to race.
He took a breath. Then another.
"I've spent a long time building things," he continued. "Structures. Systems. A future that made sense on paper. But loving you—" His voice caught, just slightly. "That changed what I was building toward."
Eva's eyes burned.
He reached into his jacket pocket, fingers trembling just enough that she noticed.
When he knelt in the sand, the world went very, very quiet.
Not dramatic. Not cinematic.
Just Reed. On one knee. Looking at her like she was the answer to everything.
"I don't need big gestures," he said softly. "I just need you. For all of it. The ordinary days. The hard ones. The ones we haven't imagined yet."
He opened the small box.
The ring was simple. Clean. Thoughtful. So them it made her chest ache.
"Will you marry me?"
Eva didn't speak right away.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, quiet and unstoppable. She laughed softly through them, hands flying to her mouth as she nodded.
"Yes," she whispered. "Yes. Of course, yes."
Reed exhaled like he'd been holding his breath for years. He slipped the ring onto her finger with hands that were suddenly steady, then stood and pulled her into his arms.
She laughed into his chest. He pressed his forehead to hers.
"I love you," he said — not rushed, not afraid.
"I know," she replied softly. "I love you too."
They stood there for a long moment, waves brushing their feet, the future stretching out in front of them not as something to fear, but something they were walking into together.
Later, back in their apartment — the one in Austin with too much sunlight and a view of the river — Eva sat cross-legged on the couch while Reed fielded calls.
His dad first. Then Nonna, crying so hard Matteo had to take the phone.
Her parents next, her mom already planning something, Bella screaming in the background, Chris demanding to know if Reed had asked permission.
Messages poured in after that. Sandra. Parker. Cassie. Ryan. Felix. Caleb. Vinod.
Their people.
Reed dropped the phone beside her and looked at her like he still couldn't quite believe this was real.
"We really did it," he said quietly.
Eva smiled, leaning into him. "We're doing it."
Eva had once wondered why someone like Reed Taylor would choose her.
Now she only wondered how she ever lived without him.