Everything about Alina and Evanâs relationship had moved rather quickly since that first evening in a tent in Marseilles. They were caught up in a whirlwind, but oddly enough when she stopped to think about that she never found the pace to leave her breathless. She had been happier in the past months than she had ever dared to think was possible. Besides she had known what she was getting into. Things never moved slow for purebloods, especially those of her and Evanâs status. Hunting for a home this early into the relationship was to be expected of them, and she presumed theyâd be getting engaged sometime in the near future. Theyâd already discussed it at length and Evan knew her feelings on the matter. While she had thought it was going to happen over their trip, clearly Evan was taking his time to plan something out.
Most of the places on their list of options so far seemed to be townhouses, and Alina honestly wasnât all that fussed about it. She was just happy about them getting a place of their own. There were pros and cons to any type of home, but the idea of a standalone piqued her interest and Alina smiled. âOh, I would love the privacy of that. Though fair warning, Iâm awful at gardening so if we went with that place weâd have to hire someone to tend to that.â Waking up first thing in the morning and getting to look over a garden of flowers did have a certain charm to it though, not to mention the photos sheâd be able to get out of that.Â
Trailing after him, she paused briefly to flick off both the bathroom and bedroom lights so by the time she reached the living room he was already flipping through the movie channels. Perching on the smaller of the two couches, Alina patted her lap and smiled when Princess came trotting through the room and jumped up to join her. Because of her focus being more centred on the cat now curled up in her arms, she hadnât paid much attention to the movies that he had been flipping through. But his comment and hearing the remote landing on the other couch gained her attention again and she glanced up. âHm? Oh, yeah. Thatâs fine, later evening is usually better for movie picks anyway.â
If she was being honest, she had entirely forgotten that Evan had even ordered a patio swing. He had probably told her about it at some point, but she still looked at him with slightly furrowed brows for a moment as she tried to remember what exactly he was talking about. That is until she decided she wasnât overly concerned with whether or not she had known and shrugged that off. All that mattered now was that it was the right shade to coordinate with the other decor already up there, and she always did have a keen eye for noticing the subtle differences in shades. It was that very reason Lucius and her mother used to call her in to consult on clothing even before she had started agreed to officially work at the magazine.Â
âSure, just let me grab a sweater first. Do you want one too?â Walking backward Alina disappeared into the hallway for a moment, pulling one of her thinner sweaters out of the closet and grabbing one for him just in case. It hadnât been too bad when she had been out less than an hour ago, but with the sun going down shortly it was bound to cool down quick and their busy schedules wouldnât allow time to lounge around and recover from a cold. Returning with the sweaters both draped over her arm, she smiled and nodded toward the stairs leading up to the rooftop. âAfter you.â Â
Lies. Was it a lie if it was for a good reason? The patio swing didnât exist and her favorite movie was actually playing on television. The food should have only taken fifteen minutes but Evan had purposely scheduled it for much later. A web of lies was beginning to form and it all culminated in the biggest lie he had not told Alina: not yet.Â
Watching as Alina fetched a sweater Evan finally felt the weight of what was happening. There was no going back now that he had mentioned the roof. There was no changing his mind. There was no more preparing. Not yet had turned into now, and now was going to turn into forever. This was it. This was his one shot to get this perfect. All his mornings spent rehearsing what to say in the roar of the shower. All his afternoons spent looking at the ring dreaming of what it would look like on her hand. All of his dreams, wishes, and hopes were about to either come true or come crashing down around him. This was it.
It was more than just a proposal. Evan was not just putting a ring on her finger for duty, he was pledging his life to her. He faced the Dark Lord on a regular basis but it was nothing in comparison to the sickness his stomach felt now. In sickness and in health, in good and in bad: with a ring on her finger there was no turning back. Was he ready to give up his single life? Was he ready to settle down? Was he ready to give up the fight and accept his pureblood calling as a husband and eventual father?
Taking the sweatshirt Alina handed to him Evan shrugged it on praying that he didnât look too noticeably ill. âYeah, after meâ swallowing hard Evan felt his mouth go dry as he made his way to the staircase to the roof. One step, two steps, three steps, four. Five, six, seven, eight steps, and this was it. Stepping onto the roof Evan was immediately met with relief that his house elf had delivered as promised. The setting sun was barely visible over the rooftopâs edge and the normal fairy lights were strung around the perimeter, glowing in the dusk. That was the only recognizable piece left of the rooftop as his house elf, and hired florists, had transformed the rest into a sea of flowers. Peonies, tulips, roses, lilacs, hydrangeas, and cherry blossoms were arranged in an array of whites and pale pinks covering every square inch of the rooftop. There had to be thousands and it looked better than Evan could have imagined. The perfect backdrop for the most monumental moment of Evanâs life.
If Evan had been surprised by the scene before him then Alina had to be stunned. Written across her face was the look that Evan had been aiming for, the look that Iceland would have never produced. He had to move quick before everything registered and before she could speak. If she spoke it would ruin everything and Evan would lose his nerve. All his hard work would have been in vain if he did not get the first word in. This was his moment. Alina Malfoy, you are my-the words began playing through Evanâs head as he stepped towards her-best friend-down onto one knee he fell taking her hand in his trying to ignore the fact that even on bended knee he was almost taller than her standing still. Looking into her eyes and then.....
The speech Evan had meticulously planned and practiced for weeks was suddenly nowhere in his memory. There was no recollection of even writing a speech. Had he prepared? What did prepare mean? The ever outspoken Evan Rosier couldnât even remember her name in that moment as he stared into her eyes. It was as if someone had just obliviated him while on bended knee. If it were not for the racing of his heart and the swell of butterflies in his stomach he would have sworn this moment belonged to someone else. Someone smarter. Someone kinder. Someone more worthy of her. But this was not someone elseâs moment, this was his. His and Alinaâs and though he may never be any of those things, there was one thing Evan knew in his befuddled state and that was that no one could ever love her more than he did in that moment.
âAlina-Al-Aâ stuttering over his words Evan wanted to melt into the ground. Fuck. Swallowing the lump in his throat Evan could feel the inevitable prickle of tears. Merlin. Fuck. Not now. Crying was not-âI donât know what to sayâ wow the first coherent sentence he could muster didnât make him sound too confident in this proposal, merlin this was a shit show. âI donât know what to say because I forgot what I was going to say. I had a plan and notes, Merlin, I took notes. But now I canât even remember what I took notes on. I just know that until this second I donât think I ever truly processed that this would actually be happeningâ Evan told her, âWhat do you say to convince someone to spend the rest of their life with you? Sure I have money and I have a good name, and you are the most stunning girl Iâve laid eyes on and our children will be nothing short of flawless but letâs cut the bullshit because thatâs not why weâre here, is it?â he asked, âIf money and name meant anything to you, you would have married years ago. And if beauty and heirs meant anything to me I would have done similar. Iâm not on bended knee as Evan Rosier heir to my fatherâs fortune, and Iâm not proposing to the image of perfection Alina Malfoy. Iâm just a man who is in love with a girl. A girl with freckles and red cheeks, a girl who wearing my old shirt looks just as beautiful as the first time I laid eyes on her. Iâm just a man, and I am asking you to take me as I am right now because there is no one I need more than what you are right now. I can promise you a lot of things but the most important of them all is that I will always love you as you are, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, until death do us part. Just you. Only you. Forever.â pausing Evan pulled the ring from his pocket and holding it up to her he spoke once more âSo I guess what Iâm trying to ask is, Alina Malfoy, will you marry me?âÂ