golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter one hundred + two

"you really scored on this house, ben." eliana said, laying on the porch as the sun began to go down.

ben had a habit of spontaneity that scared eliana at first, but, after living with him for over a year, she had gotten used to. this wasn't the first out-of-the-blue trip, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"i know." he leaned against the railing and handed her a drink.

she took a sip and raised her eyebrows. "why are you so good at making drinks?"

"i'm a man of many talents, sweetheart." he grinned, and sipped his own. "you wanna take a walk or something?" he pointed towards the beach and pushed his curls away from his face. "it's sunset, so that's romantic."

"you're jittery today." eliana observed.

"am i?"

"yeah, you keep messing with your hair. it's your nervous thing that you do."

"oh, i didn't notice." he instinctively ran a hand through his hair.

"you just did it again." she said. ben slowly took another sip of his drink. eliana set her glass on the railing of the porch and got up.

"alright. let me change into real clothes, and then we'll go on a walk." she gestured down to her swimsuit.

"alright."

she headed up the stairs to change, and ben took both of their glasses inside to the kitchen. a few minutes later, she came back down, and they walked down closer to the ocean hand in hand.

"you remember our first anniversary?" ben asked after the beach had cleared and the sun was closer to the water.

"of course. our tattoos." eliana held up her hand and looked at the tiny dots inked onto her finger.

"and we were talking that night. about the future, and stuff like that." ben combed a hand through his hair again.

"yeah?"

ben started to slow down, and took a deep breath. "i want our future to start now, ellie." he sank down onto one knee. her hands flew up to her mouth. ben's nervous expression turned into his classic grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box.

"eliana marie dempsey." he started. tears were already starting to form in eliana's eyes as she stood in front of him. he reached out to take her hand, then continued.  "i know it's super cheesy, the whole beach at sunset, spontaneous trip to the caribbean thing," he laughed, "but i wanted it to be special, because you are so, so special."

she giggled, wiping the tears from her face. she didn't even care that it was so ridiculously cliche.

"ellie, the day i met you, i had this feeling, just that something was going to happen. when i walked into that gym, i knew it was you. there was something about you, and there still is. i don't know how i got you to come to my show, but i'm damn lucky that you did." he paused and cleared his throat. "there's no one else i'd rather love for the rest of my life. it has to be you." he glanced down at the sparkling ring in his hands. "ellie, will you make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife?"

without a second of hesitation, she nodded and smiled.

"yes!" she giggled and dropped to her knees to kiss him.

ben took her left hand, the both of them laughing at how much it shook, and carefully slipped the ring on. eliana let out a breath as she stared at it, already falling in love with how it looked on her finger.

"it-it fits, right?" ben said, nervous again.

"yeah." she giggled. "it's gorgeous, ben."

"you really like it? i got everyone's opinions on it, and i-"

"i love it, and i love you." eliana looked up and kissed him again.

"i love you so much, ellie." he said.

"i'm the luckiest girl in the world."