Justin was down on one knee, a ring box in hand.  Deana started to tremble, tears welling up.

“Deana,” he said into the mic.  “This place started it all for us.  So I thought here, with that song, would be the perfect way to ask you this.  Will you marry me?”

Deana started to cry.  “Yes!” she said.  

Tears welled up in Justin’s eyes, opening the box to put the ring on her finger.  He slowly stood up, taking her in his arms and giving her a deep, romantic kiss.  

“Well, this is gonna be all over social media…” Dani sighed to herself.  “I’m just glad I got to see it in person.”  She rushed over to hug the couple, taking a look at the ring.  “VERY nice work, Timberlake…” Dani smiled.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before we draw much more attention to ourselves…” Justin said.

A car waited outside for them, their driver opening the door.  They said goodbye to Dani before heading home.

“How long have you had this planned out?” Deana asked. 

“Since the premiere.  I actually got the idea while watching the movie.”

“It was perfect.  Shouldn’t we tell our families before it ends up all over the internet?”

“I gave Dani my phone and she recorded the whole thing. I already sent it to our families and the guys. They’re texting me back, but I wanna just focus on you for now. So, let me tell you about the ring.  I bought the center stone, but the other smaller diamonds are from our grandmothers’ wedding rings.  I thought you’d really appreciate that part.  That’s what took so long, trying to get the rings and put everything together.  Actually, what took the longest was getting time to get your dad alone to ask for his permission.  After that, getting the ring started was fairly quick.  Then your brother held onto it for me until I was ready with my plan.”

“Babe, that makes this all the more special, you are amazing.”  The center stone was a 3 carat diamond, the band a series of twists that reminded her of the infinity symbol.  

“The wedding band is similar, and will fit perfectly against this one.  I did good?”

“You did VERY good.”

They got up to their penthouse, Justin opening the door for her.  Deana gasped, seeing flower petals everywhere, leading down to the bedroom.  

“You ready to celebrate the next big step in our lives?” Justin asked softly.

“Absolutely.”

…

Justin smiled, looking at Deana. “Someone told me engagement sex was amazing, but I had no idea just how good it could be until right now.”

“Dani told me the same thing after she got engaged.  I just want to shout it out across the city.”

“You won’t have to, pictures from the bar tonight are already everywhere…”

“Yup. My news app popped up speculating our engagement.  We’ll see what your team wants to do in the morning, we still have more celebrating to do…  I’m afraid to ask what you did differently tonight.”

“You really want my secret?” He asked. She nodded lightly. “So for the past few months I’ve been doing the letters of your name. The round shapes of the letters kinda helps. Once I knew your last name, I added that into the mix. Tonight, I changed it to Deana Timberlake, and well, you know the rest.”

“Who knew a name could be so sexy?” she laughed. “Now, let’s get back to more celebrating.”

…

Justin woke up early the next morning, his phone buzzing almost nonstop with texts and missed calls from friends. He threw on a pair of joggers and headed to his studio. He called his team, confirming the news, but they decided they didn’t need him to post anything since there was already plenty out there, just that his team could confirm if reached for comments. 

He sat, sitting in relief that it was over, that weight was lifted and now they could continue to look ahead. He walked back to bed, seeing Deana still asleep. He got back into bed, content in holding her. 

She woke up, looking at the ring on her finger. “I was afraid last night was a dream.”

“If it’s a dream, I never want to wake up,” Justin said, holding her close. “Another day with you, now as my fiancée.”

“Mmmm, I like the way you say that word, it sounds so fancy. Say it again.”

“Fiancée,” he smiled. 

She turned to face him. “Good morning, fiancé.  Yeah, it sounds fancier when you say it…”

“I still like hearing it. I feel like my phone is literally going to blow up since everyone’s waking up to the news. Speaking of which, what was the news thing that popped up about us?”

Deana reached for her phone, scrolling through her notifications.  “Found it. The headline reads ‘Justin Timberlake engaged? He was seen on one knee in front of karaoke crowd.’ Let me see what it says beyond that. ‘Photos popped up all over social media as he and longtime girlfriend Deana Ronco sang a duet during karaoke night at a local bar, Timberlake ending the song with getting down on one knee. The couple left shortly after, some pictures getting blurry shots of what looks like a 2.5 carat diamond ring.”

“My team said we don’t need to put anything up, but if you want to on your private accounts, I don’t see why not. We have nothing to hide, right?”

“Exactly. I’m curious when and where they think we’ll get married, see if they know our tastes,” Deana laughed. 

“Expect dress designers to be calling you any minute,” Justin laughed. “This will be the wedding of the century, every big name will want to be involved. In a way, I wish this was happening for Dani and J, I’m sure we’ll be getting people doing stuff for free just to say they did our wedding.  I can afford whatever, she should be getting that kind of treatment.”

“You’re helping with that a bit, she has no clue. She really thinks Mom and Dad came into money from a distant relative.  How much did you give them?”

“Enough that they don’t have to worry about tax implications.  I told J that if they need more, to just let me know. He’s your brother, she’s your best friend, I want to help out as best I can.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Deana smiled. “I’m sure that will help Danielle feel like she’s getting the wedding she wants more than just the one she can afford.  I know that was my worry with Morgan.”

“You will never want for nothing, so believe me when I tell you there is no budget, I want to give you everything you’ve dreamed of and more.”

“Motorcycle getaway as we leave the reception?” Deana joked. 

“If you want, sure.”

“Damn, called my bluff. Definitely not. When DO we want to start planning? I’m sure the best spots worth having are booked well in advance.”

“Can we finish out the week? Just gives us time to adjust and think about things before we meet with people about it.”

“Sounds good. Gives us some privacy, and time to research before booking anything.”

“Do you have any ideas already?” Justin asked. “Especially since you’ve been helping Danielle?”

“We have two very different styles. I don’t know that I want anything too over the top, unless it’s something you want.  I’d have to see things before saying no, consider why you want it.”

“I mean, no matter what we do, it’s gonna look amazing, we’re two creative people, we’ll find ways to make things uniquely us.  That being said, we’ll need a big space to hold everyone.  Your family, my family, the guys, then there’s gonna be friends, coworkers.”

“We might as well rent out a football stadium, if you’re inviting everyone you’ve ever worked with…”

“Just the people that are close to us.  Which reminds me, there are still people you need to meet, I don’t want our wedding being the first time you meet them.  It’s not gonna be as many people as you think, but it’ll still be big.  Like, 200 people.”

“I don’t think I even KNOW 200 people… That’s a lie, my high school graduating class was 600, but even then I felt like I knew half of them or less.  Jesus, that feels like such a big number somehow.”

Justin thought for a minute, counting in his head and with his fingers.  “Just our families alone is 16 people… You add in people bringing dates, or kids, if we want that.  That actually might help people like Chris and Karly, having an area for kids so they can travel without having to find a sitter here or leaving Nash at home with someone.  The guys and their plus ones and we’re at 24 without kids.  I think you’ll be surprised by how quickly we get to 200 with who we want to be there.  Don’t lie, I’ve seen those wedding shows on your Netflix watch list…”

“When?  I haven’t watched them in YEARS.  David Tutera doesn't even have his show anymore…”

“Back when I was Bruce, trying to find something to watch, I forget if you were out somewhere or just not in the room.  Those kinds of shows go ALL out, especially the ones at Disney.”

“Well, that was when I wanted to dream a little…”

“Now you get to make the dream come true, so don’t be afraid of going big if it’s what you want.  I’ve been wanting this for you, for us, since you told me about Morgan and his wedding.  Not that I want to do it out of spite, but also making him feel like he missed out on a beautiful woman doesn’t hurt.”

“I doubt he even thinks of me anymore.  He got everything he wanted, why should he?”

“No, he didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure his wife is great, but she’s not you.  I’m glad he passed up the chance to snatch you up, so things worked out for me to be blessed to have you in my life.”

“You have a really high opinion of me, don’t you?”

“Uh, yeah… Kinda why I want to marry you.  Just because YOU don’t see it, doesn’t mean other people don’t.  I know to you it feels all insignificant compared to things I’ve done with my life, but they’re still your accomplishments.  You’ve endured so much that I can’t even begin to fathom, and have managed to not come out a broken cynic.  You’re passionate, compassionate, caring, there’s a strength you don’t realize in you.  You feel for other people, that was clear during the tour.  I still remember the story of the woman in Oakland, you finding her message to me.  You connected with her before even seeing her at the show, wanting me to give her a piece of what you have.  Every stop, you found someone to give a little moment to.  You easily could’ve been like ‘nope, I have my bar spot where he can see me, let him pick who he interacts with.  You found people where it was their first show, or you could sense something in them that they needed that interaction.  It’s no wonder you want to go into a caring profession like teaching.  So yeah, I have a pretty high opinion of you because you are an amazing woman, and I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you.  Really, I tricked YOU into marrying ME, not the other way around.”

Deana laughed at his last comment.  “I think after a year together, there’s no tricking involved in this.  Yeah, people may try to poke holes in it, but we know the truth.  Are we gonna do anything today, or just stay in bed together?”

“I mean, I don’t mind the latter of the two, though apparently I’m overdressed…” he laughed.  “I can easily fix that…”

…

The rest of the week was spent together, looking into venues and different vendors online before calling to book a consultation.  “What do you think of this one?” Justin asked, handing the laptop to her for a better look.

“Well, I like the name.  The Edison Ballroom.  Did you really pick it for a link to a past movie role?”

“I’d forgotten about that…”

“It took me a while to find it, but I really liked it, even got my parents to watch.  They were glad it was a real movie, not the teen fluff you did during *NSYNC that I’d watch over and over on my VCR.  I mean, 16-18 year old me loved it, I still do from a nostalgia standpoint, but now that I know you can ACT, they’re a little cringe.  I’m sure everyone is a little when they first start out, though.  Though I feel it’s more the writing than your acting ability.”

“Well, it was purely coincidental as far as the name goes. I’m trying to find places that are bigger, but also allow us to make it what we want. With this place we can bring in pretty much anything to make it us. Flowers, lighting design, everything can be customized for what we want. And the outside is pretty cool, too. I wish they could change the marquee, but it would also give away where the ceremony and stuff would be, so maybe not.”

“We can look around. Dani took me to their venue, it’s really cute, but on the smaller side.”

“We’ll call around to a few of these places, get appointments to look around, but not commit to anything until we see all of them,” Justin said. 

“We also need to figure out Thanksgiving.  I was thinking maybe in Memphis, have all your family over.  Then Christmas with my family in Montana,” Deana said softly. 

“Sounds like we already have it planned.  That sounds great, get away from here for a bit, be surrounded by family. At least for Thanksgiving we don’t have to worry about having to sneak some alone time. Montana is gonna be more tricky without pulling a Vegas every night.”

“Every night, huh?” she laughed. 

“With you? Oh yeah…”