After the Snow

Chapter 8 - Proposal

Chapter 8

Proposal

"This is your fault!" I screamed again, wiping away my tears angrily. Confusion covered Anthony's face as he slowly walked towards me.

"What did I do?" He asked, "Where did Scott go?"

"He left!" I screeched, balling my hands into fists. "He's gone!"

"But where did he go?" Anthony stepped even closer, reaching out to give me a hug. As much as I did need a hug, it couldn't be from him. It was too dangerous.

"I don't know," I whispered, stepping away. "Go, please...I just need some alone time."

"But what did I do, Bree? I thought we had a good time." Anthony looked so sad that it made me want to cry harder. Why did I feel this way all of a sudden?!

'Oh nothing, all you did was made me fall out of love with my boyfriend and now nothing's going right.'

Well, I couldn't exactly say that, so I just curled up on my bed and buried my head in my pillow. After a couple of seconds I heard him walking towards the door, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll send Mackenzie in..." He muttered before closing the door. I took a deep breath, trying to stop my sobs and shaking body. Why was I even crying so hard?

"Bree, Anthony said- oh my god what happened?!" Mackenzie was by my side in two seconds, wrapping me in a hug. I gripped onto her, falling into sobs all over again. "What did Scott do? I'll beat him up."

I laughed humorously, "You don't have too." Was all I managed to croak out. She seemed to understand because she didn't say anything else. She just sat there, stroking my hair, waiting patiently for me to explain.

Have I ever mentioned I love my best friend?

When I stopped crying I pulled away, shifting and wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"I probably look so stupid." I laughed, making Mackenzie laugh as well.

"You've looked better," She admitted, slapping my knee. "Can you tell me what happened now? Where were you all day?"

"I was with Anthony." I shifted my position, pulling my legs up to my chest. She rose an eyebrow, scoffing.

"Really, because I thought you were with the easter bunny." She said sarcastically, laying down next to me. I slapped her stomach, earning a grunt out of her.

"You know what I mean. I left late last night, or early this morning because I needed to think, and Anthony forced me to take him." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, gulped, and continued. "We just went bowling and saw a movie. I had a really great time."

"So it was basically a date," Mackenzie observed, biting one of her nails. I sucked in a sharp breath. No, not a date, just two friends hanging out. No big deal. Right?

"We were just hanging out. I haven't seen him in like, five years..." I defended, shooting her a glare. She just laughed, motioning for me to continue, "Anyway, when we came home, Scott...Basically tried to force me into sex."

"What?!" Mackenzie roared, jumping to her feet. "That bastard, I will kill him!"

"No, Kenzie, don't!" I yelled back, jumping up as well. I practically had to tackle her to make her sit back down. "It's probably my fault, I sorta encouraged it."

"Wait, what?" Mackenzie asked, her jaw dropping. Nothing but pure confusion covered her facial features. It was actually kind of funny.

I bit my lip, trying to decide if I should tell her. Well, Mackenzie was my best friend, and best friends tell each other everything, so...

"I was trying to...Make myself feel something for Scott." I admitted, burying my head in my hands. Saying it out loud made it sound so much worse!

"You don't love Scott?!" She screeched, falling backward off the bed. I giggled, shaking my head at her.

"It's not that I don't love him...I just don't know if it's in a romantic way..." I muttered, playing with my nails. God, I was the worst girlfriend ever!

"What makes you say that? You guys moved in together."

"That's just it!" I sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "Ever since he moved in its been weird, and then there's Anthony, and-"

"Wait, Anthony?!" She hissed, suddenly getting that much closer to me. Her eyes darted around like she was trying to make sure we were alone. "You still love Anthony?!"

"I...I..." Did I? He'd only been back for a day, but he had already changed the way I felt for Scott. "I don't know." I finally sighed, rubbing my temples.

"He left for five years, Bree. You barely knew him. You can't forget that after one day." Mackenzie insisted. Did she think I didn't know that?! Of course, I knew he was gone for five years, I was the one he left!

"I think it's more complicated than that, Mackenzie." I sighed. Anthony was like a piece of gum I couldn't shake off of my shoe. He was gone for five years, had only just come back, and I was already feeling like that same, silly teenage girl.

"You better figure this s**t out, because you have a boyfriend that you live with." Mackenzie pointed out, poking my chest. "If you want my opinion, I think you do love Scott, you're just a little star struck over Anthony right now because he just came back into your life. Don't be so sure he's here to stay, because he could leave again just like that." With a snap of her fingers, Mackenzie left my room.

I knew what she meant. She meant I was in college, I didn't have time for fancies. The reality was I couldn't trust Anthony, he had left randomly for five years, and he could leave again. I had no guarantee he was staying. With Scott, I knew he wasn't going anywhere. He loved me. And, thinking realistically, I was getting close to graduating college, I needed to think of my future. I wanted to get married and have kids, and Scott and I had been planning on getting married.

Yeah, we had talked about it a couple of times. We both wanted kids and we both wanted to get married, hopefully right after college.

I had been acting like a little kid, I had been being stupid. I let Anthony get in the way of my life, possibly ruining whatever chance at a good future I had with Scott. But, he had tried to force me into s*x, and I couldn't just forgive that right off the bat. Bottom line we had both made mistakes. Jumping up, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. Something had to be done about the Scott situation, and soon.

He picked up after about two rings, "Bree, I-"

"Scott, we need to talk," I said, cutting him off. "Can you meet me at the park in ten minutes?" There was a little park near my apartment that we went to frequently. I loved having him push me on the swing.

"Uh, sure," He said, confused. Not needing any more information, I hung up. I got out of bed and quickly stripped from my clothes, pulling on clean jeans and a long sleeve sweater. I pulled on my boots and my jacket, shoved my phone in my pocket, and went into the living room.

"I'll be back," I said dully, not even taking a second glance at my friend's. Mackenzie and Anthony were both sitting on the couch watching some movie. They gave me weird looks but didn't question it.

It was freezing outside. The chilly air bit at my cheeks and bare fingers, making me shiver. Why didn't I wear gloves?! It was lightly snowing outside, adding to the small piles that were already on the ground. As I neared the park I could see Scott sitting on a swing. He wasn't moving, just staring at the ground, playing with his fingers nervously. I didn't blame him, I felt like being sick.

"Hey," I muttered, sitting on the swing next to him. He jumped slightly, not hearing me before I spoke.

"Hi," He responded, looking back at the ground. This was one of the awkward parts of having a fight. I hated it. "Look, I'm so sorry for what happened back there, I just really wasn't thinking at all and I-"

"Scott, it's fine," I found myself saying, reaching over and grabbing one of his hands. "I left for a whole day with someone you didn't know, you had a right to be upset."

"But I didn't have a right to try and pressure you into sex." He sighed, sagging his head. "I don't even know what got into me because I love you so much and I don't want to lose you."

My gut clenched. How was I supposed to respond to that? I honestly didn't know what I felt, but I had to fix my relationship, of that I was sure.

"I don't want to lose you either," I whispered, tears building up in my eyes. Something just didn't feel right.

"You forgive me?!" He exclaimed, suddenly jumping up. I forced a smile, nodding. Why was there that sick feeling in my stomach? "Oh my god, I really am so sorry for everything."

"Quit apologizing Scott, can we just forget about today?" I asked. Literally everything. I wanted to forget the fight, the great time I had with Anthony, just everything.

"Of course," Scott said, grabbing my hand. "Walk with me?" I smiled, nodding. He laced his fingers through mine, pulling me through the snow lightly. It was so cold all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed, but it was sorta romantic to be walking through the snow with my boyfriend. "It's so beautiful."

"It really is," I agreed, looking out over the landscape. We were walking along the icy sidewalk that led to the park bridge. The bridge led across the little frozen lake, taking us to the snow-covered field on the other side. "It's cold, too," I added, shaking my head.

"Oh, here," He exclaimed, quickly handing me his jacket. I shook my head frantically.

"Please wear it, you'll freeze if you don't!" I panicked, pushing his jacket away. It was below freezing and all he was wearing was a thin long sleeve shirt.

"I'll be fine," He insisted, pushing it back towards me. "If you don't wear it I'm setting it down on the ground."

"Fine," I huffed, pulling the warm material over my shoulders. Ah, that was so much better.

"Wait, Bree?" Scott asked, pulling me to a stop. We were standing over the middle of the bridge. I rose an eyebrow in question. "Okay, so I know we just fought and all, but I want you to know that I really do love you."

"I love you too." I smiled, squeezing his hand. His smile widened as he gently caressed my cheek, making me shiver. Well, I'm not sure if he made me shiver or if it was the cold wind blowing...But still.

"We fight a lot, but I really do think we can get past it. It's just a bump in the road that's proving our relationship is getting stronger." Wait... "Bree, you know I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Oh my god is he...?! Slowly he got down on one knee, pulling a small silver ring from his pocket. "I know we're young, but will you marry me?"

I couldn't breathe, I really couldn't. Scott just asked me to marry him! That's not why I made up, though. I was still pretty angry about our fight and his actions, and then he goes and pulls this on me?! I definitely wasn't expecting it, that's for sure.

A part of me really wanted to say no. For the past day, I hadn't really been feeling much for Scott, and my mind had been filled with Anthony. But at the same time, I had to think of my future. With Scott, I knew I would be safe. He had a pretty rich family, he loved me, and he would never leave. I was sure of that.

And with Anthony, I knew nothing. I barely knew him at all, and he probably wasn't even interested in me. It was crazy to even imagine any kind of future with him. But still, at that moment, when I thought about later years Anthony was standing by my side and we had little children that looked exactly like their father.

Let's be realistic though, who would be a more stable boyfriend? Or husband, for that matter. The guy I had known for years and had never left my side, or the guy who disappeared for five years and just randomly popped up? We all know the answer.

So, that's why I coughed, mustered all my courage and, in a barely audible voice, whispered, "Yes."