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| ONE WAY TO BRIGHTEN THE MOOD by Wren It has been probably the roughest day in your life! On top of a horrible blizzard making you late for work this morning, you got a rather scathing report on your audit by Mr. Corporate King Shit of Fuck Mountain. You, the tireless worker, one of the best at your workplace according to your own management, are getting royally reamed by this fucknugget who thinks he owns you! You wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up to a movie and peppermint schnapps spiked hot chocolate. During the walk home, you fell down at least six times, the last time landing on your knees. You curse yourself for wearing a skirt that day, then take a look. Congratulations, they are scraped and bleeding. You stagger back to your flat wondering just how much worse this day will get. You get to your door and as you open your door and turn on the light, the power in your flat goes out. Hey, there's a forgotten option, you think to yourself. You drop everything you're holding, then fall to your wounded knees, shrieking in pain. Suddenly, you see soft light fill the room. You look up and see James putting a fire on in the fireplace. He sees the crumpled mess you've become. "Stacey!" He rushes toward you, wrapping his strong, relieving arms around you, lifting you to your feet. "What's wrong? No need to cry now, baby." He moves your hair out of your face and wipes away your tears. "Oh God! Everything sucks, James!" That's the only thing you could consider saying before you bury your face against his shoulder, still slightly staggered. He hugs you warmly and you suddenly flinch as your knees brush against his thighs. "Oh, you poor thing. Did you hurt yourself?" He picks you up and carries you gently to the couch. "There." He kisses your forehead. "You relax while I get a few things, okay?" He briefly rubs your shoulders and disappears only to return with a tray of cotton balls, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, some very large adhesive bandages, and a cup of lukewarm chocolate with a generous amount of peppermint schnapps, just the way you like it, except for the lukewarm part. "Sorry, the power went out while I was in the middle of boiling the water." You sip while he cleans and bandages your battle wounds, with you occasionally wincing. (I don't care if it's James playing doctor, hydrogen peroxide frickin' hurts!). He gently kisses each bandaged knee and moves up to you, stroking your hair back. "All better, my love?" You nod and smile, gulping the rest of your spiked hot chocolate. "I'll go get you another one." He takes your cup and kisses you deeply before he's off to the kitchen. "Hey, the power's back on! This'll make it easier!" You laugh and stretch as you turn on the telly, flipping through the channels when James returns and hands you a full cup. "You sounded like you need more liquor." He makes a place for himself on the couch, conveniently so you could cuddle with him. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" You look up and smirk at him. He looks down and you flip over to comfortably face him. "You make me so happy, you know that?" He whispers as he pulls you closer to him and snuggles his head next to yours. His stubble gently scratches your cheek, but for the first time all day you feel at ease, so much that you've almost forgotten the rotten day that preceded this moment. Suddenly, he moves off the couch. You're jolted out of your state of ease. "Where you going?" "You'll see." And with that, he disappears into another room, only to come back. "Do me a favor and sit up, love?" You appear baffled but sit up anyway. "Stacey...Erm...Anastasia..." It always tickled you how whenever he says your full name he uses the proper Spanish pronunciation. Then you remember he never calls you by your full name unless he's being dead serious. He stammers a bit, looking down, but is able to regain his composure and look her straight in the eye. "I don't know...y'know...like how I could ever ...y'know, kinda use words...sorry." He clears his throat. You reach out and touch his hand. He covers it with his. You can feel both your hands shaking, yours and his. "Hey, I'm supposed to be the nervous one here!" You both laugh. "Go on, James." "Well, lately I've come to a point in my life where I can't imagine my future, y'know waking up in the morning, coming home from work...I can't imagine you not being there in the morning waking me up, nor can I imagine coming to an empty home, without at least expecting you. There was a total void and you filled that void. I love being here especially on days like these; being here for you to pick your spirit up when it's fallen... I don't think I could live with myself " He caresses the top of your hand lovingly, specifically your bare ring finger. You kinda have an idea what's coming up, but you're containing your excitement...well, you're trying to, but it's so dead obvious. He looks at you and smiles brightly, his deep brown puppy dog eyes shining as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. He sucks in his breath. "Anastasia Maribel Quintanilla..." Add Bradfield to that and you get the idea. The two of you embrace for what seems to be an eternity, surrounding each other in your own little universe, and fall asleep by the dying fire in each others arms. "I love you." He whispers. "I love you too, James." You say, with 3/4 of your shit day a forgotten memory, overpowered by the 1/4th to remain in your heart forever. THE END. <<< Wren's stories |