He moved towards the bed until the mattress brushed up against the back of his legs, and then in one swift motion he had her off her feet and onto the bed. Rather than continue the kisses, however, he laid himself beside her, resting on his shoulder while his opposite arm stayed wrapped around her waist.

"I know you were hoping for something more romantic, and I'm sure I'm breaking every single rule in the book for this sort of thing..." Proposing at his home, without a chaperon present, without having asked her father's permission, without a lengthy courtship, and without presenting her with a ring immediately - immediately being the key word. "...but I promise it wasn't entirely an impulse decision."

A single sought the lump in his trouser pocket once more, but this time he reached inside of it and pulled out a ring. It wasn't anything fancy - no extravagant diamonds, nothing Elizabethan or ancient. The band, which he hoped fit her finger, was set with an small amethyst stone and surrounded by a number of even smaller pearls.

He held it out to her, avoiding eye contact as if he were afraid to gauge her reaction in the moment.

"I wish I could say that it had some outside sentimental value," he said. "But considering that I doubted I'd ever get to present it to you, it has a lot of meaning to me."

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