Julian could sense Fleur's growing frustration, but he had no fucking idea what to do about it. "Do you want me to apologize more?"
"Yes! I mean, no!"
"Just tell me what you want, and I'll do what I can—-"
"Then tell me what you want."
Julian stared up at Fleur, unable to understand what she was asking.
"I want to hear it, Julian," she said shakily. "I want to know what it was you wanted to happen if you hadn't read that stupid thing—-"
"I love you, Fleur."
She didn't think she would start crying again so soon, but the moment she heard him say her name, and unlike earlier—-
The sound of it was beautiful again.
Her name on his lips sounded right again, and just like that she knew...
Everything else would also be alright.
"I love you so goddamn much," Julian gritted out, "I can't even remember how it was not to love you. I love you to the point that I want to say the words every minute. I love you, only you, and it will always be you, and that's why I want to marry you. I love you, and that's why I want to knock you up and see your belly swollen with my child. I love you, and that's why I love fucking your period pains—-"
A pair of soft, dainty hands suddenly covered his mouth, and when he looked up, it was to see Fleur smiling down at him with big, blue eyes that were misty with tears.
"TMI, Julian."
He wanted to hold on to her hands, but she was already taking them away, and just as defeat threatened to crush him, it was then he saw Fleur holding out her hand.
"Don't you have something to ask?"
He tried to make himself speak, but since it felt next to impossible, he instead tried to get the ring out of hits box.
"Fuck."
His hand had ended up shaking so badly the ring slipped out of his hold.
"Oh, Julian."
The ring gleamed brightly over the thick layer of snow covering ground, but before he could pick it up, Fleur had already dropped to her knees, and Julian's heart slammed against his chest as he watched her slide the ring down her own finger.
"Fleur..."
The way Julian's voice cracked made Fleur sob. She threw herself in his arms, and a teary laugh slipped past her lips as she inadvertently caused him to fall back against the snow.
Their eyes met, and her heart just melted all over again at what she saw in his gaze.
He used to look so cocky and proud, but now...
Oh God, the way he was looking at her now...
His eyes were telling her without words that he could live completely without pride, and everything else...except her.
"I love you, Julian," she choked out, "and yes, I would love to marry you."
Epilogue
It was the twelfth day of December, and all of the guests in Foxtown were invited to a grand, albeit very-swiftly-planned, wedding held in the stone chapel at the end of the park. Even the staff not currently on duty were invited, and at first they had all been hesitant, having heard that the bride and groom were two extremely wealthy individuals. But then they heard the bride's recently-arrived personal driver, a gruffly charming man called Maarten, insist that everyone was welcome, and that his employers were no snobs—-
That was when Foxtown's off-duty employees decided to see if they could join the festivities, and lo and behold, they were indeed warmly welcomed and escorted to tables that were in no way different from the tables in which the soon-to-be-married couple's friends and families were seated.
One of the employees, unable to contain her curiosity, went on to look for Maarten to ask why. It was so unlike the rich and famous to be so welcoming of strangers, and especially those who existed in a far different world than theirs. So why then were they different?
"Because it's Christmas, and they're in love," Maarten answered simply.
The girl, who was in her late teens and worked as a part-time room attendant, was skeptical. "And that's it, really?"
"Well...there is one last thing."
The girl wrinkled her nose. "I knew it."
"The groom had hurt the bride pretty badly."
And now, things were getting really interesting, too!
"And so to make up for it, the groom had sworn to do everything the bride would ask him to do for their first year of marriage."
"Everything?"
"Anything and everything," Maarten confirmed with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. "You'll see, lass. You'll soon see what I'm talking about."
And later on, when all of the guests were pleasantly full, the girl and her co-workers did eventually see what Maarten meant as they heard the evening's host invited the groom to make a speech. The groom was incredibly (devilishly) handsome, and oozing with so much sex appeal that it had every single woman (and a few married women, too) feeling hot and very, very thirsty.