EVERYTHING I NEED IS STANDING IN FRONT OF ME ➝ CHLOIYANA.
TAGGING ➝ Chloe Harper, Aliyana Lopez.
LOCATION ➝ CeCe’s car, followed by Ali’s apartment.
TIME FRAME ➝ 2/10, evening.
WARNINGS ➝ None.
NOTES ➝ It’s a beautiful night, we’re looking for something dumb to do… ♫
CHLOE HARPER
CeCe understood how dumb and frustrating the side effects of her job could be. Truth be told, if she’d had it her way, she would’ve never chosen the career she’d been thrown into. All CeCe really wanted to do was write music and ink artwork onto people’s bodies; she didn’t care to pose in front of a camera with a spotlight beaming down on her in the middle of some stuffy set and making her sweat. She didn’t care for the attention it brought her. She definitely did not care for the body image issues a life in the spotlight had given her. There really were no positives to that part of her life, and had CeCe not grown so accustomed to it, she would probably just quit. That prospect seemed even more appealing when she saw the way it was screwing up her relationship. But then, there was also that stupid part of her that didn’t want to let her parents down, and she knew that stepping back from her career would disappoint the heck out of them. CeCe was a people pleaser, she couldn’t do that. It was hard to hear how much this was upsetting Ali, though. She didn’t like that she was so uncomfortable, and maybe that added to the reason CeCe just wanted to get out of the room and go lay down for a little bit. She couldn’t stand to see her girlfriend looking hurt, and know that it was essentially her fault. She couldn’t stand to know anything ever hurt Aliyana, because whether she could frustrate her sometimes or not, CeCe had never loved anyone the way she loved the other girl, and she knew that she never would.
When Ali grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving, CeCe was both relieved and terrified, her heart beginning to race in response to her girlfriend’s question. She knew how tonight was supposed to go, but it hadn’t. There was no reason it still couldn’t, though. Not in the same exact way she had planned, but maybe that didn’t matter, because as her gaze met her girlfriend’s, CeCe really didn’t care who else was there with them. She didn’t care about the fancy restaurant, or the creepy guy, or everybody’s eyes on them. She just cared about the two of them, in the moment, and maybe this was how it was always supposed to be. Licking her lips, CeCe took a breath. “You want to know how tonight was supposed to go?” She asked, her voice a little quieter. Pulling her arm out of her girlfriend’s grasp, she set her purse back down on the couch, then took her by both hands instead, looking up at her. For a moment, she didn’t say anything, she just looked at her, trying to feel out whether this was the right time. Weirdly, she couldn’t imagine it ever feeling more right than it did right now. “There’s a reason I came out here, Ali. I mean, other than just wanting to see you, which I always want to do. I always want to be with you. No matter what I do, no matter who I’m with, I always picture you there with me, and I always think about how much better it’d be if you were.”
Despite trying to prepare a whole speech all day, CeCe hadn’t managed to come up with anything. Even now, she was totally winging it, but that seemed to be just fine. It wasn’t like she was forcing anything, everything she wanted to say was just coming out naturally, and that was only further proof to her that this is what she was supposed to be doing. That this was definitely the right step for them to take, so she continued. “I know that it hurts you when people look at me a certain way, and I know that my schedule really freaking sucks and gets in the way of us spending as much time together as we deserve, but I know that none of that matters to me as much as you do. Nothing is as important to me as you are, Ali. Nothing and nobody ever will be. And when people look at me a certain way, I don’t even notice. In fact, I don’t even see them, because they’re not you, and you’re everything to me. I can’t imagine my life without you, and ever since you came into it, I’ve known you were special. I’ve known you were the person I’m going to spend my whole life with, and for as long as you’ll let me, I’m going to be here, and I’m going to love you.”
There was way more CeCe could’ve said, but she didn’t want to wait any longer. Her gaze hadn’t broken from her girlfriend’s the entire time she’d been talking, but it flickered over to her purse then, and CeCe finally let go of Ali’s hands, leaning over to reach into her purse. The ring box was hidden under things, but she knew exactly where she’d put it, and wasted no time in retrieving it. As much as she would’ve liked to hide it from Ali’s view, which she’d intended to do in the restaurant, she couldn’t, but she was pretty positive her intentions were obvious by now, anyway. “I came out here because I have a question for you,” she said, turning back to the other girl with the box in her hand. “I want to spend forever with you, Aliyana.” Slowly, and kind of unsteadily, she lowered down to one knee, looking up at the other girl. Holding the box in one hand, she opened the lid with the other as she spoke, revealing the rock inside. “Will you marry me, Ali?”
ALIYANA LOPEZ
Ali knew what she was getting into by being with CeCe. Even if she wasn’t famous, she was still gorgeous, so it only made sense that other people would want her. Ali couldn’t even blame them. That didn’t make it any easier for her to handle. Even she didn’t understand why she felt this way. She’s felt this way for as long as she could remember. Why else would she have waited two years before going to college? Because they were in love, of course, but also because she didn’t like the idea of them being apart. There was a part of her that believed that if she had left, CeCe would have found someone else. Someone who was there for her, who didn’t have to visit every once in awhile before going back to school. She thought if she was there, then there was no way she was going to lose her. Now that they had to be apart, not much has changed. She still felt the exact same way. There were so many girls who weren’t so far away from CeCe. Girls she didn’t have to drive sixteen hours just to be with. That’s why she always had her guard up. If someone got a little too close to her girlfriend, she was going to put a stop to it. The fame only made it worse. That was something that she probably had to work on, she just didn’t know how. She really wished that she did, though. She didn’t want to feel that way, and she certainly didn’t want CeCe to suffer for it. They barely had any time together, and here was Ali, ruining it. Or at least she thought she did.
When she stopped her girlfriend from leaving, she could see it in her fact that she had been right. CeCe did have something special planned that Ali didn’t know about. For the first time since they left the restaurant, Ali was putting the blame on herself. It was bound to happen sooner or later. She always made a huge deal out of things and then later feel bad about the way she reacted. She didn’t know what it was CeCe had planned, but whatever it was, she had driven sixteen hours just to make it happen. Ali was ready to apologize and beg for forgiveness. She was still mad at Josh for acting like an ass, but she was also willing to accept some of the blame now. Before she could say any of that, though, CeCe was taking her by the hands and explaining why she was there. Ali didn’t know that this weekend was meant to be special. If she had, maybe she would have reacted differently when they were at dinner. Maybe. She still wouldn’t have liked what was happening, but she would have tried not to cause a scene. She had a bad habit of drawing attention to herself. Most of the time, it wasn’t good attention. If she had stayed calm and not acted.... Well, like herself, she wouldn’t have messed up her girlfriend’s surprise. It didn’t seem like CeCe was too upset about it, though. Not with the things she was saying. Ali wasn’t even that upset anymore. How could she when CeCe was being like this?
There were so many things that Ali wanted to say right now. She wanted to tell her how much she loved her and how much she wanted to be around her, too. She wanted to tell her that even though she didn’t like her job sometimes, it still wouldn’t be enough to make her want to be without her. She didn’t do that, though. It was rare for Ali to keep her mouth shut and just listen to what someone was telling her, but for some reason, it didn’t feel right to interrupt her right now. Even if she hadn’t told Ali that tonight was supposed to be special, she wouldn’t have stopped her from saying the things she was saying. It sounded like she was going somewhere with all of this. Ali had an idea of what that might be, but she didn’t know for sure. She almost wanted to ask if CeCe was doing what she thought she was doing. If she did that, though, it might seem like she was stopping her. And that was the very last thing she wanted to do. All she could really do was stand there and listen. She nodded occasionally and just smiled, waiting anxiously for whatever her girlfriend was about to say. When the other girl reached for her bag, Ali tried not to ruin anything by looking at whatever it was. She does have working eyes, though, so of course she could see what it was. That had pretty much confirmed what she had suspected.
Ali could practically feel her heart beating against her chest. The entire night had somehow gone from ruined to the most amazing night of her life. As she watched her girlfriend get down on one knee, her eyes started to water instantly. She had to cover her mouth to keep her from sobbing. This was the very last thing she had expected to happen. When she really thought about it, though, it made sense. It wasn’t CeCe who cared about being the center of attention, it was Ali. She didn’t take her out to a crowded place because of what she wanted; she did that because she knew what kind of proposal Ali would have wanted. “I love you so much, mi vida.” She finally spoke, moving her hand away from her mouth and placing it on her chest. “I love that you came all this way to give me the big, public proposal I’ve always wanted. I love that even when you aren’t here, you find ways to make me feel like the most special girl in the world. I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen and I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else. I don’t even care that this isn’t how you planned for things to go, because there isn’t a single thing about this moment that I wouldn’t change.” She stopped for a moment to take a breath, swallowing around the lump she could feel forming in her throat. “So, yes. I will marry you.”