can i, baby? | zdj & cvm | completed

viii

today is finally my birthday.

it's been a long week. thankfully my dress was finished in time. i still can't believe that today it really is my birthday.

i just feel the same really. it's not the same feeling i got when i turned the "cool" or "important" ages. there's less than an hour left for the ball to start, and i'm already all ready and waiting for sebastian to arrive to help me get dressed and tell me how i look. i'm nervous, i don't even know why. it's just another ball like any other. maybe it's because this will me my first ball with zabdiel, maybe it's because i'm second guessing my dress and zabdiel won't even understand what i did with my dress.

i stand in front of the mirror for god knows how long before sebastian bursts through my door.

"why are you not dressed yet? there's people downstairs already." he grabbed my dress from my bed and pushes me to my closet. "come on cor, what's up with you?"

i shake my head, "i'm fine." i stare at the dress in his hands. it's actually prettier than i had imagined. it had diamonds all over the chest area, and then get spread out around the skirt. "i may be a little nervous."

he furrows his eyebrows as he helps me put on the dress. "why would you be nervous? look at you, you look hot." he winked at me.

i roll my eyes, but it's true. i do look hot. i barely ever put on makeup, so i look very different. "do you think zabdiel will like it?" i mumble shyly, looking down at sebastian who is smoothing down my dress.

he smirks and stands up. "so that's why you're so nervous." i try to speak, but he cuts me off. "babe, the guy is in love with you. he will love your dress and he will think you look beautiful as ever."

"he's not in love with me." i mutter.

sebastian rolls his eyes. "alright, whatever you say. now let's get you downstairs, your mother will probably come looking for you soon." i nodded as he added, "maybe lover boy is already here."

i smile, unable to hide the blush that creeps up my cheeks. after many attempts of sebastian trying to place my tiara perfectly on my head, he walks me to the stairs and tells me to stay at the top. sebastian disappeared into the small crowd, leaving me to wonder what the hell he's planning. i bite my lip nervously as i look around, but quickly let it go when i remember that i have lipstick on.

mother greeted me and told me how beautiful i looked. she told me to stay at the top of the stairs, just like sebastian did just a couple moments ago. it's strange, they both know something i don't.

suddenly, the soft music that filled the room stopped. a familiar voice asked for everyone's attention, and everyone turned towards me. i furrowed my eyebrows, when i looked towards the bottom of the stairs there stood zabdiel looking great as ever. beside him where mother and sebastian, he was the one speaking. zabdiel walked up the stairs with a smirk plastered on his face, he extended his hand for me to grab when he was close enough. i took his hand, he instantly brought mine up to his lips and left a small peck on the back of my hand. the small gesture makes my cheeks heat up, and i swear i can slightly hear sebastian squealing. i expect zabdiel to take me down the stairs, but instead he walks up until we're on the same step.

"princess rose," he began, speaking both to me and the audience looking at us. "i wrote twenty drafts of what i would say to you, and believe me i'm not even joking, i probably wrote more." he took both my hands with his left one, his right one was fetching something from his pockets. "but now that you're in front of me looking so gorgeous, i forgot what i even wanted to say." he laughed softly, gripping something in his hand. he looked down for a moment, then turned back to me. "i love you, rose. i believe i have ever since we met for the first time. these couple of months of my life i have been the happiest guy alive thanks to you. i love your smile, your laugh, your eyes, your everything. it's been exactly sixteen years since we met and it definitely hasn't been easy for us." he stopped speaking and dropped my hands. he smiled at me, then he got down on one knee.

it took me a moment to realize what was happening, but then a quiet are you serious? escaped my lips, followed by a gasp when he opened the small, black box that had a gold ring with a square-shaped diamond in the middle, and round, smaller ones surrounding it.

"will you do me the honour of becoming my wife and queen?"