Chapter Text
ELEVEN
Paris
Rolling over onto his side, Richard stretched his arm out across the bed, searching for Sloane’s warm body to pull next to him, only there was… nothing. He sat up quickly, scanning the room, listening for noises.
Of course. As he turned towards the window, the rain continued to pelt down softly, the little ticks on the glass making his heart at ease. It was raining.
He glanced at the bedside table, noticing the note she had left, her scribbled handwriting exclaiming, “come find me. xx”
A simple request he knew he could fulfill.
*
Richard gripped the clear umbrella in his hand tightly, making his way towards the Eiffel Tower in the summer of rains of Paris that always seemed to smell sickeningly sweet.
The umbrella brought back so many memories - that certain one, the first time he spoke to her in Wilmington, the simple spoken words regarding fate still burning deep in his mind.
There was no doubt that their lives revolved around it - fate. The simple predetermined course of their existence; finally coming together.
As he made his way towards the second floor, his heart began to beat a little faster at the thought. Should he get down on one knee? Tell her how much he can't live without her? No, she already knew that. It needed to be special, something different, something worth remembering.
Sloane never wanted things to be romantic, to be old fashioned, to be normal. Somehow, it always worked out perfectly - exactly how they wanted it, needed it, craved it.
Richard saw her leaning up against the railing, an umbrella in her hand and magnificence in her eyes. He made his way towards her slowly, taking her in completely. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
She turned towards him and smiled. “You found me.”
He chuckled. “I can always find you, love.” He took ahold of the umbrella in her hands and folded it up, leaning the curved handle onto the railing for safe keeping. “Do you remember this umbrella?”
One corner of her lips rose to a smile as her eyes drifted towards the clear plastic. “I do.”
His heart raced at the two little words she spoke. “You know, Sloane, I’ve struggled, for a long time, with my love for you. Although I’ve always known that we’d be together, it took awhile to convince you of that, which concerned me. I didn’t want to be wasting my practically non-existing time on someone who wasn’t going to appreciate it.”
She clutched the lapels of his leather jacket. “It was because I never believed that someone could love me the way that you do.” With tears in her eyes, she continued. “You have no idea, do you?”
He wiped the few tears that spilled onto her cheeks with his thumb and cradled her head gently.
“I never thought that there could be a man, for me, in this world. I’ve been told some very mean and cruel things by terrible men, all because I was stubborn, and independent, and strong willed. I was tired of getting my heart broke by senseless people, and the last thing I was going to do was settle with someone who didn’t make me happy.”
He leaned down and kissed her lips softly, his blue eyes sparkling with a deep, kindred desire.
“But you,” She sighed and shook her head slowly. “You, Mister Richard Armitage, you make me so incredibly happy.”
He brought his hand to inside the front pocket of his jacket, his fingertips on the edge of the small velvet box. “Is it possible to make you even more happy, at this exact moment, in this exact place?”
She bit her bottom lip nervously as her heart began to race. “You always have the power to make me happy, regardless of the situation.”
He gripped the velvet box in his fingers, and pulled it from his pocket. He nodded slowly as he watched her reaction, surprised, with a bit of wonder. “Do you know how long I’ve had this in my possession?” He smiled at her as she shook her head no. “It was after you had told me we were going to have a baby. I was back in New York, only for a few hours before I had to fly to London, and fate somehow brought me to this beautiful jewelry store, and, I just knew. I couldn’t explain it, and I know that it was the last thing you wanted at that present time. But I saw this ring, and, it was all you. I saw you wearing this, as we were married, as we were welcoming our first child into the world, as we were discovering the world together.”
She took the small velvet box into her hands and cradled it gently, her gaze soft upon his.
“I know that you don’t want this to be about the ring. You want it to be about me and you, together forever, nothing slowing us down. And you’re right, you are absolutely right.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you, Sloane Weissman, and there is nothing you can do about it. I love the way you wake up, cranky and fiery; I love the way that you never cease to call me out on my fuckups; I love how you aren’t afraid to tell me the truth about how you’re feeling and what you want; and I love how we stay in bed for days, fucking our brains out, always making me come in a way no one else could touch.”
She chuckled. “You would work sex into your proposal.”
“If we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, you have to admit, sex is a necessity.”
She chuckled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
“I have found the one whom my soul loves,” He smiled at her, dropping his hand onto hers and closing their hands around the small velvet box. “So, Sloane Andrew Weissman, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Absofuckinglutely.”
He chuckled. “You’ve never been the one for old fashioned romance,”
She pointed her index finger at him sternly. "Don't you dare tell anyone that I cried."
He chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it." He took the 2 carat cushion halo double-band pavé engagement ring from the small box and slid it onto her finger. “Happy Birthday, my love.”
*