It had been a week now, a long week, where I had just disappeared from life and hid away into my own shell. I hadn’t known how to react, especially around people who actually cared for me. And as I had fled the church I could remember various voices calling my name and footsteps running after me. But I hadn’t let them catch me, I had gotten into the first cab I could and headed right home, locking myself in my home and refusing to communicate with anyone.
I sighed as I entered the bedroom and placed the ring beside the silver charm bracelet that lay on the dresser, and closed my eyes, shaking my head to try and to get rid of the memories that threatened to invade my mind.
I opened my eyes again and saw the jewellery still lying there, and rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things, but I wasn’t. It hadn’t moved, no one had been courteous to come into my life to remove it, or the memories they brought.
I had given her the bracelet on the first birthday of hers we had spent together, and ever since then on every special occasion I had added a charm, to make it hers.
“Oh Josh,” she whispered as she opened the velvet lined box and saw the silver bracelet lying on the cushion. I smiled slightly and nodded, taking the bracelet from the box and clasping it gently onto her wrist.
“It belonged to my great-grandmother,” I said and kissed her forehead, “I hope you like it.”
“Like it? Josh, I love it,” she said softly and leaned forward to kiss me gently. I smiled against her lips and pushed a strand of hair from her eyes.
“Well good,” I said into her ear, “Because she told me to give it to the woman who I knew would treasure it as much as I her.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said and looked up at me, “I will treasure it forever.”
I sighed and hazily leaned back on the dresser, taking in deep breaths. It had been last Christmas, when she had been expecting another charm, that she received a ring instead. A ring that was my heart and life, it had represented how much she had meant to me, both inside and out.
I remembered when I had picked it out, I had been with Tyler and saw it. We weren’t really looking for anything in particular, we weren’t even really looking. But I saw it, cut in a white gold band with jasmine stones, and knew. Right then and there I knew that that was what I wanted.
“Will you marry me?” I asked her, looking up into her eyes as I laid my head on her lap. She laughed softly, her soft curls falling back onto her shoulders as she did so, and shook her head.
“Be serious Josh,” she said softly and I slowly sat up, digging into one of my pockets.
“I am,” I said and produced what I was searching for before placing it on the cushion that lay on her lap. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and well, there’s no one else in the world I would want to have my children than you.”
“You want me to have your children?” she asked as she picked up the box and opened it with a shocked smile. I nodded slowly and cupped her face in my hands.
“Yeah,” I replied, “So I’m asking you again, will you marry me?” She looked up at me, and allowed her eyes to find mine.
“Yes,” was all she said, and it was enough to convince me forever.
I slowly backed away from the dresser and headed towards the bathroom, my eyes never wandering, as tears fell freely down my face. I rubbed them away roughly, and let my hand fall back down to my side, searching for the doorknob.
I had never been one to cry, in fact Justin himself used to tease me about it. Used to call me the iron man. Because not once, not even in the harshest of times would I cry, I just couldn’t.
I opened the bathroom door, tearing my eyes away from the sight before me as Justin’s name came to mind and turned my attention to the white tiles of the bathroom floor as I made my way inside and closed the door behind me, hoping to leave behind the memories.
I walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror, I was a mess. My hair was mangled and I hadn’t shaved in days and I was still wearing the suit from the wedding. There were creases and crinkles embedded into the black fabric, a side effect of sleeping seven days in the same clothes and not caring if anyone saw me in that state.
I ran a hand through my hair, and got it tangled in a mass of knots. I winced, trying to pull it free, trying not to hurt myself in the process. Once I’d managed to release my hand from its dungeon, I ran it over my face and scratched my chin, yawning as I did so, not realising how tired I really was.
I placed both hands on the counter and looked at the mess around the sink, trying to locate my toothbrush. I managed to find the white and blue toothbrush that I owned, lying among the mess that was upon the counter. Right next to the pink and purple one.
I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. Another memory wanted to come and occupy my mind. The memory of the day she moved in, placing all her things here and there, which was why it was so cluttered. At first it had been annoying, but now I couldn’t live without them. Her female habits had sort of become a second nature to me.
“God please don’t fill my bathroom with everything pink,” I called after her as she hurried into the bathroom with a box filled with her supplies. I heard her laugh echoing from the room, before she poked her head around the door and shook her head, smiling at me.
“Josh, you have to learn to compromise,” she said with a smile before disappearing back into the bathroom. “Besides we can’t have everything in this house looking as if it came from the dead zone can we?” She laughed then, and I found myself smiling at how right she was.
“It’s not a dead zone!” I called after her through my own laughter. She laughed back, and reappeared, stepping fully into the room.
“Yes it is,” she grinned and crawled up onto the bed to lay next to me. “But there are some dead zone things I can live with.”
“Like what?” I asked with a smirk.
She giggled, placing a kiss on my chin, “Like you.”
I shook the memory away and forced myself to pick up my toothbrush. I brushed my teeth slowly as my hands trembled, still recovering from the blast of memories. I tried to finish as quickly as I could, before washing out my mouth and quickly exiting the bathroom. I couldn’t stand there with all the recollections haunting.
I let myself back into the bedroom and decided to change into something more comfortable as the suit was beginning to feel like cardboard against my skin. So I stepped out of the clothes that reminded me so much of why I had become the way I was and reluctantly changed into my favourite pair of pants.
I stretched, yawned and slowly padded my way over to the bed, kicking aside various items that lay on the floor and trying not to allow my eyes to make their way over to the dresser. The bed was cluttered in all sorts of junk, including old photos that my father had taken of us at a family dinner one year. More memories that I really didn’t want to spend more time musing over.
I climbed into my side of the bed, pulling back the covers and letting the numerous items fall unceremoniously to the floor. I looked to my left, where she would have been lying and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to come.
“Josh?”
“Mmm?” I asked sleepily, I felt lips brush softly against mine and a hand fall on my chest.
“Josh, I can’t sleep,” she whispered in my ear, nudging me softly. I sighed, and opened one eye and looked at her. She looked gorgeous, in her light blue t-shirt and cinnamon curls falling around her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, and yawned as I opened both my eyes and sat up on one elbow. She smiled and kissed me again before answering.
“I missed you,” she said softly, I laughed lightly and wrapped an arm around her waist before pulling her close to me.
“We just closed our eyes like an hour ago,” I laughed and kissed her forehead.
“I know,” she smiled and looked up at me, “But I still missed you.” I smiled at her, and brought our lips together in a kiss, I didn’t tell her then, but I missed her too.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here is story #2 in the "Kate" series.. enjoy and please let me know what u think!!!
Completed
angel_from_africa is the author of 31 other stories.
This story is part of the series, Kate. The previous story in the series is Slept With My Best Friend.
This story is part of the series, Kate. The previous story in the series is Slept With My Best Friend.
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