AN:The final entry, after this voting starts. If those of you have not entered manage to get your entries by midnight tonight, I will post it. Other then that, voting starts tomorrow and will go on for two weeks after words. Make sure to ask all your fans and friends to vote for you! This entry was amazing, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.:) Good luck! ~Lauren
I remember the first day, when this whole mess was created. I remember being the odd one out of the 23 other girls. I remember the eccentric actions the girls would do to win. I remember fighting to win my best friend’s hand in marriage. To top it off?
I remember the sound of victory in my ears.
When James figured out that I was a contestant fighting for him, he was shocked. He didn’t act the same around me. His smiles weren’t the same, his jokes weren’t as funny, and he almost forgot how to talk to me. I mean, the dreadful tug between being forced to block you best friend out of your life completely or taking their hand in marriage is harsh, right?
I doubted myself the whole way through this event. Should I just make myself lose because I’m too afraid to marry him? Should I try to win because I’m too afraid to lose him? It was an ongoing battle in my mind.
Until I finally won.
Now, I am lounging on a leather loveseat next to the raging fireplace—that felt like heaven on a cloud after fighting my butt off for so long—constantly thinking back at those few weeks. James has been restless, overworked, and out of the house all day. I’m seriously anticipating the moment when he comes back. I’ve become a worry wart because of the Rusher Games. Before that whole fiasco, I was an “It’s all good” type of girl. That’s another reason why James exerts unconformity around me now.
I never even told him I love him. I wasted all of my time during the Rusher Games. I ran into him so many times, and every time, I just locked my mouth up and kept the key in my pocket. It’s just three words. It took me a while to realize that I loved him all along, but I still refused to let those three words escape my mouth. I never told him I love him, and now I feel like it’s too late.
It sounds stupid, but I feel like it’s true. I won, and I have him back finally, but I simply don’t feel like I have him back. He slipped out of my fingers, and I can’t do anything about it. What if he doesn’t come home today? What if he can’t handle me and just ditches me to struggle alone? Or worse, what if he comes home, tells me he never loved me (“only as a friend”) and then leaves? What if he leaves forever? What if—
“What’s wrong, Nicole?”
I spun around, jumped back, and squealed. My heart raced a mile a minute. I felt my muscles contract when I realized that it was just James who finally came home. It didn’t take long for my heart to tighten though, the thoughts running through my head at high speed again. Gosh…love hurts.
A look of sincere concern conquered his face. I didn’t realize how frequently he gives me this look until now. His eyebrows come together ever so slightly and his lips pout almost unnoticeably to create a feeling of apprehension.
“Nothing, it’s—nothing. James I—,” I debated on whether I should let those three words escape my mouth or not, “—I…it’s nothing.”
James plopped down onto the loveseat where I was originally sitting and patted the space next to him, signaling me to sit down there. “Come on, Nicole. It must be ‘serious business’,” he quoted my signature phrase.
I giggled, and he did too, the light showing up in his eyes again. Well, that’s a relief.
I reluctantly sat down next to him, curling up into a tight ball like a child.
“I have something to tell you too,” he announced, “but you can go first.” His hand hovered over his pocket, and I wasn’t sure why.
“No James, you go first. What you have to say is probably more important than what I have to say.” Probably not, I just don’t want to say what I have to say.
“Nicole, you spoke first. Just say it.”
“You probably don’t want to know what I have to say.”
“You just made me really want to know what you are about to say know.”
“James, please…,” I groaned.
He leaned back in the chair. I can tell that he is annoyed to no end. “Fine. I just won’t speak at all.”
“Fine,” I mimicked him contently.
It was dead quiet. For the next ten minutes, I could hear a pin drop on carpet. It was painful…probably the most harrowing ten minutes of my life.
And boy did I feel cowardly.
I drummed my fingers against the couch and twirled my curly brunette hair within my other fingers. The realization of James just a foot away from me was overwhelming. I could feel his eyes bore deep holes into my sides. The thought of speaking those three words was invading my brain. Until they finally spilled out like water.
“I love you.”
But it wasn’t just my voice…someone else’s was involved to.
Oh my God. James and I just said it at the same time. My heart thumped against my chest a hundred miles a minute.
“I—I,” I stuttered. “How—”
James cut me off by planting his lips on mine. I froze completely, the old memories flooding my mind. There were numerous times where a kiss between us became dangerously close, but we never actually got there. Now, I regret not taking all those chances that were handed to me.
Because this is amazing.
James was the one to finally break the kiss. I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. I just kissed my best friend. My mind was having trouble processing that thought.
“You know how long I’ve been waiting for that?” I glanced up at the sound of James’ voice.
“How long?”
He leaned in so close to my ear, and whispered, “Six-and-a-half years.”
My heart melted then. I just couldn’t help it. No words can describe the warm feeling that spread through me at that moment. I was completely wrong with myself. James wasn’t acting different because he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. He was appearing like that because he loves me. He loved me all along too, and I was too stupid to realize it. Right now, I feel like being swallowed up in a black hole.
James abruptly stood up, dragging me along with him. His height still overwhelms me to this day, even if I have known him for six-and-a-half years. A smile played around on his lips as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue box. “I know that you are aware this was going to happen anyways, but I still want to do it right.”
He slowly got down on one knee in front of me.
The tears just wouldn’t stop coming.
He opened the silky blue box, revealing a sparkling diamond ring…the most beautiful ring I’ve seen in my life.
“Nicole?”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
I almost couldn’t speak. It was just him and me, and the whole room was gone. I am so glad that I was wrong about him all along.
“Y-yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes James, I’ll marry you!” My voice came out squeaky and uneven, but I didn’t care. I threw my arms around him and he pulled me into a tight hug. I tried to speak again, but James just chuckled and covered it up with another kiss, shushing me.
All in all, I’ve been through a lot. The Rusher Games wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. You know, for a time, I thought that being shoved into the Rusher Games was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but then I realized that nothing can compare to not marrying my best friend.
