Never Far Away (The Never #2)(95)

She stepped down from the stool and walked over to where he was kneeling on the floor and she knelt down next to him. “I love Porter picnics.” She kissed him sweetly on the lips and he couldn’t help but smile about it.

He patted the blanket next to him, indicating that he wanted her to sit next to him. She followed his instructions and took the spot next to him on the floor.

“Before we get to the gourmet meal I have brought you, I wanted to give you something else first.”

She gave him a questioning look and narrowed her eyes at him. “Ok…” she said slowly, drawing out the word in a way that made her sound unsure of what he was going to do. He reached into the small pocket of his backpack and pulled out an envelope. Her name was scrawled across the front of the envelope and she looked up from it and back to him a few times, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Open it.”





Dear Ella, There are so many ways I could tell you that I love you, but it seemed like it was my turn to write you a letter. You’ll have to cut me a break though because, although I seem to do fine with words in general when I’m talking, there’s more at stake when writing a letter like this – more on the line.

Every time you’ve written a letter to me, you’ve either been leaving me, or anticipating the fact that you were leaving me and preemptively trying to talk me into going after you. Well, although I will always love the letters you have written to me, both of them were entirely pointless and a waste of time and trees.

Not once did you leave me. It’s impossible to be without someone who is so entirely engrained in your heart that you carry them with you wherever you go. So even though for weeks at a time you were across the state, you were never far away. Never. As I suspect I was never far from you either. The point being, there will be no more letters about going away or chasing after you, because as far as I’m concerned, you’re mine, forever. The only thing left for us to do to cement the fact that I want you tied to me forever is for you to marry me. I should be down on one knee. I should be holding up a little velvet box with a ring in it for you, but that’s not my style, Baby. I want to give you picnics on the beach (and anywhere else I can lay a blanket down), fireworks in the sand, waterfalls, kisses and many, many nights of us together.

I want to give you a house, fill it with babies, and I want to start now. Our life together starts now, Ella. Say you’ll marry me. Give yourself to me and let me spend every day with the one person who makes me feel like I have every good thing I never thought I’d find.



Marry Me.

I love you even more than you love me, obviously, Porter





When Ella looked back up at him it was with tears in her eyes. She had her delicate fingers placed over her mouth, but he could see she was biting her lip, probably to keep herself from crying. He moved closer to her and brought his hand up to cup the side of her face. She leaned into his hand and brought her eyes up to meet his. He held out a velvet box to her.

“I thought you said you didn’t have a velvet box,” she asked confused.

“Oh, this box?” He said motioning towards the very box in his hands. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Yes, that’s the one I’m referring to.”

“Oh, this isn’t for you. It’s for me,” he said, as if it should be obvious.

“You bought yourself an engagement ring?”

“Months ago,” he said as she opened the box. Inside the box was a silver ring, and when Ella saw it he watched as her nervousness and apprehension melted away. The ring was the same one they had seen at the jewelry vendor at the Saturday Market when they had gone together before she got her memory back. This ring was the male version of hers, which sat nicely on her ring finger at the moment.

“This ring was made as a companion to yours,” he said as he took the ring out and slipped it on his finger. “The artist uses the woman’s ring as a mold for the man’s and so you’ll see, all around my ring is the indention of where your ring would wrap around it.” He said holding his ring up to show her. “Your ring, as you so eloquently stated when you saw it, represents you finding your direction, making your own way. Well, to me, my ring represents that whichever way you’re pointed, which ever direction you’re going, you will always be headed towards me.” He watched as she took in what he was saying, and how her eyes kept darting back and forth between the rings and his eyes.

“Well?” He said with a smile. He was rewarded with her laughter.

“You want to marry me?” She asked with a squeaky voice, trying not to cry.

“Did you even read the letter?” He joked. She laughed again. “Well?” He asked again.

“I’ll marry you on two conditions,” she said, smiling and crying at the same time.

“I wasn’t expecting to barter.” He said with a straight face. “But I’m willing to hear your offer.”

“At our wedding, I want your mom to make her cheesecake for our wedding cake,” she said, also trying to keep a straight face.

“Hmm… interesting. What else?” Trying not to let on that he thought it was the best idea he’d heard all night.

“I would need for us to start making babies, like, immediately.” She said, this time bringing her thumb nail to her mouth, worrying the nail in her mouth.