Diamond Skies

Eli waited in the nearly-deserted square, the streetlights giving the stone below him a certain type of glow. He was wearing a light gray muggle suit, which was pretty much the most formal thing he owned, and kept absentmindedly sticking his hands in his pockets.

His face started to feel very flushed as he rotated the square-ish case in his hand. It wasn't until his lungs started to ache that he realized he'd forgotten to breathe. Eli sighed, taking his hand out of his pocket and running it through his hair. He checked his watch again and rocked back and forth on his heels, tilting his head back and looking towards the sky.

It dawned on him that she could show up at any moment, and he coughed and straightened his tie. He breathed in deeply, trying to make himself look just a little less nervous. He ran his hand through his hair again, then changed his mind and began smoothing it down the other way.

You're asking her. Tonight. As opposed to making him more nervous, this thought brought a wide grin to his face, his heart-rate slowing just the slightest. He could do this, and she was going to say yes... Right?

Kallie apparated close to where they were meeting, and ran the rest of the way, her sensible heals clacking against the ground until she got fed up enough to take the off with a muttered Finnish curse.

So bare footed, hair slipping out of its hold, and flying around her face - she had more or less given up on taming it this evening - and face flushed from running Kallie bursted into the square where the young man stood.

"So-sorry," she breathed, taking a moment to catch her breath. "I-I told myself I wasn't going to be late, and then Mrs. Cartwright just inisited and I couldn't-"

She took a deep breath, ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame it some what, and gave him a small sheepish grin.

"Forgive me?"

Eli smiled at the woman in front of him, eyes lighting up the instant he saw her. He felt a sort of thrill in seeing her, after all this anticipation and worry. It was a different kind of electricity than he was used to.

It was as if that moment had been meticulously planned just for the two of them, and everything was falling into place, "You look beautiful."

He smiled again, then gave a small, faint laugh, "There's nothing to forgive."

Kallie froze for a moment as she looked up at him, getting lost in his gaze for a moment, grinning at him for a long moment before shaking her head a little and letting out a laugh.

"Please, I just ran a block in my tights," she said, "I look a mess; you don't have to humor me."

She continued to smile at him for a moment, and then dropping her shoes on the ground she leaned forward, pushing up on her toes to graze her lips across his, "I love you."

"I mean it," he looked her square in the eyes, his expression sincere, "Really."

Eli smiled against her kiss, feeling a touch of disappointment when the brief thing was over. His heart jumped a little as he recognized the moment as a time to make a choice.

He couldn't say anything. He couldn't really think of anything romantic or witty to tell her. So instead, he did the first thing that came to his mind, and slid his arm around her waist, leaned in and kissed her. Really kissed her.

Face flushing, he pulled back, his free hand resting in his pocket. "I love you, too.... Kallie, I-" He bit his lip, took a deep breath, and tried again, "I..." Eli shook his head and exhaled, his legs bending into a kneeling position almost with a will of their own.

He took the little velvet box out of his pocket and opened it so that the glittering ring inside faced her, "Will you marry me?"

The woman let out a little squeak of suprise as he pulled her closer, before closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss, enjoying the way that for once she forgot about well... everything.

Pulling back a little breathlessly she blinked at the man in front of her, only have regeistering his stuttering, for once not being her usual observent self, and having no idea what was coming. No idea at all until he was...

She blinked. Her brown eyes widening with surprise and disbelief. He wasn't-? what was he-? Why was he-?

"Eli... Eli..." she looked down at the ring barely comprehending. Her mind was swirling, so many things were going on in her head. How could she keep control and give a rational answer. She couldn't-

How could one even give an answer to such a thing with out thinking... without...

She took a deep breath through her nose trying to control her breathing. She couldn't panic now, not in front of Eli, not when she felt...

When she felt...

So insanely and completely happy.

Happy wasn't even a good enough word for it - it was... was...

She wasn't even aware of her head nodding up and down in a universal sign for 'yes' her head obviously getting the message long before her brain sent it to her mouth.

Euphoria.

There was a short period of time, just after Eli had kneeled, where he couldn't read a hint of Kallie's expression. He felt his future was hanging in the balance, and something light as a feather could tip the scale.

This was a stupid decision. How on Earth did he believe that this could work? He was just some lovestruck idiot who-

Then he noticed her nodding. And he noticed himself standing. And he felt that everything was... okay.

No, it was so much more than okay. It was... entirely indescribable. It was as if everything around him was honed to perfection. The stars, the silence of the night, the subtle curl in Kallie's hair, even the cracks in the pavement, were in perfect harmony with each other. And the two of them, standing in the middle of the empty square, were completely and entirely alive.

Eli grinned, recognizing in Kallie's clear blue eyes that same rush of happiness, shock, excitement and fear that was currently pulsing through himself.

If only this moment could last forever.