Luck of the Irish Fanfic

Prologue Part 1: Proposal

Kyle POV

Of course, I remember the day seven years ago when I ran home from school only to discover that I was a descendant of a long line of leprechauns. I have always thought of that day as the best and worst day of my entire life. One day, a few months later, Russell asked me if I would ever take that day back and have a do-over. I still don't know what I'd do.

Things have settled down since then, though. Bonnie, Russel, and I all attended the same college after high school. That was where we met Alana, a girl who happened to be exactly like me. We were sitting in the cafeteria when Russel pointed her out. He pointed out a ring on her right middle finger. A ring with a coin on it. Yep, turns out that she is also half leprechaun. Well, one thing led to another and she and Russel started dating. They would double with Bonnie and I from time to time. They just got married in January.

Since that fateful day seven years ago, I've learned two things. One: as someone who is half leprechaun, I have very, *very,* reliable instincts. Two: as someone who is half human, I have a terrible tendency not to trust said instincts. But, if any night is a good night to trust them, it's tonight.

Tonight, I am proposing to Bonnie.

I look down at my phone and call Russel. He picks up after the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Should I even go through with it?"
"Yes!" I hear him and Alana shout on the other end of the phone. Russel continues speaking. "You'll be fine. You're overthinking it--since when do you overthink? Just be Kyle. Trust yourself."
"You're probably right. I'm overthinking this."
"You *never* overthink."
"But this is super important to me."
"And what else was super important to you seven years ago? Did you overthink things then? You chose to propose on this day for a reason."
I sigh, because I know he's right. "You're right. I need to quit thinking about this and just do it."
"Exactly."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Call me after."
"Will do."
After hanging up, I head out of my dorm room.
"Just be Kyle," I whisper to myself before closing the door.

Bonnie POV

I stand in front of my dorm room. Alana was my roommate, but she moved out to get an apartment with Russel. They're finishing college together. I should be getting a new roommate soon, but she hasn't moved in yet. Kyle had a date planned and said he'd meet me outside of my dorm room. I look at my watch. 6:58. He'll be meeting me in precisely two minutes. That's one thing that's changed about him since junior high. After he had to fight for success without his coin, he has become incredibly punctual, responsible, hard-working, and reliable. You can guarantee that if he says seven, he will be there at seven. Not a second too early or too late.

Sure enough, as seven comes around, I see Kyle walking down the hallway. I walk towards him.
"Right on time," I say.
"As always," Kyle chuckles. He leads me out to the parking lot, where I see a green car I would recognize anywhere.
"I see you borrowed your grandpa's car again," I smile and laugh. When you're a broke college student, you do whatever you can to drive on your dates--even if that means borrowing an old, green car from your grandfather.
"I didn't have much of a choice," Kyle laughs. We get in the car. I don't have to ask Kyle where we're going; I know he has a plan. He always does. That's another thing that's changed. I asked him what made him change so quickly once. He said "After everything that happened, I decided that there wouldn't be any more winging it or waiting until the last minute. I chose to always have a plan."

Nothing that spectacular happens on our date. We go to dinner and talk. I notice that he doesn't talk as much as he usually does, but it doesn't concern me that much. If something is drastically wrong, he'll say something. The date is pretty much normal, until after dinner.

We get back in the car and he drives around the area we went to junior high in. He pulls up to a very familiar spot. The same spot we were in seven years ago, right when everything that was going wrong started to go right, and I know something special is about to happen. He gets out of the car. I exit with him.
"One day, exactly seven years ago, we sat here. I refer to that day as the best worst day of my life. On one hand, it was awful. My entire life turned around that day in ways I didn't even think were possible. On the other hand, though, it was the best day ever. I learned that I didn't need a coin to be successful. I needed to trust myself, and try to be successful. And then, everything worked out and was fine. But..." he drops to one knee. "You. You were the best part of that day. You made that day bearable for me." Excitement rushes through me. "Everything was crazy, and you could have left--I know I would have. But you didn't. You *stayed.* Even though that day was the most unlucky day of my life, I was lucky to have you as a part of it." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring. "Bonnie Lopez, will you marry me?"
I can't restrain my excitement any longer. "Yes! A million times, yes! Any day of my life, any moment at all, yes!"
Kyle stands up. I examine the ring. Sterling silver with two diamonds, one that's bigger than the other. I slip it onto my left ring finger, and it fits and looks as if it was made just for me.
"You know what you're jumping into, right?" Kyle asks.
"I know," I say, smiling. "I'm ready."

Kyle POV

Bonnie said yes! I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. I'm feeling so many things at once: excitement, happiness, fear, and more. My heart is racing. All I can do is sit there, smiling like an idiot.
"We need to tell our parents," Bonnie excitedly says.
Bonnie loves my parents, and my parents live Bonnie. Bonnie's dad really likes me, and I really like Bonnie's dad. That's why I wasn't too hesitant on my decision to propose.
"We can go to my parents' house first, since we're pretty close."
"Okay."
We drive over to my parents' house and ring their doorbell. Dad answers.
"Hey *future father in law!*" Bonnie exclaims.
"Really? Kate, get in here! Kyle actually went through with it!"
"What? You mean he actually proposed?" Mom rushes to the doorway.
"You're going to be my mother in law!" Bonnie shouts, still excited. They embrace.
"I never doubted you, Kyle," Mom says. "Have you guys set a date yet?"
"Not yet," Bonnie says.
And suddenly, we're in the house and we're all talking to each other. Mom is admiring Bonnie's ring. As they talk, Dad takes me into the kitchen.
"Well, first of all, congratulations! I hope you are very happy together."
"I'm pretty sure we will be," I say, smiling as I look at Bonnie, but knowing Dad has more to say.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
There it is. Whenever Dad leads me into the kitchen, it has something to do with me and Mom and my ancestry. But, this is a valid question. I give the honest answer. "I really don't know," I sigh. "It felt right, though."
"All I'm saying is that proposing was the easy part."
"I know," I say. This isn't a new thing for me to hear. When I first thought about proposing to Bonnie, I talked to Russel. He said the exact same thing. The challenges come after, especially in situations like mine. "Lots of things can go wrong."
"I needed to hear you admit that. When you can admit that, you're ready. Things can go very wrong, but if it feels right, then go for it. The things that go wrong will work themselves out. I should know."
There is a short pause for a while. I'm slowly beginning to realize how hard this is actually going to be.
"Do you think I'm ready for all of this?" I ask.
"I think you're more ready than you will let yourself believe. You'll see. Just trust yourself."
With that, Dad exits and walks into the living room. I resolve that I'm going to try as hard as I possibly can to trust myself.

Afterwards, we tell Bonnie's dad about our engagement. That doesn't take very long. We told him about the family secret years ago, and he was surprisingly cool about it, so it doesn't take much time. I take Bonnie back to the college campus.
"Let's call Russel and Alana before we go back. I told Russel I'd let him know how things went."
"Okay."
I dial Russel's number. He picks up quickly, as he usually does. I put it on speaker.
"So how'd it go?"
Bonnie answers for me. "She said yes!"
"That's great! Just remember what I said, Kyle. Proposing was the easy part."
"I know. Dad said the same thing to me."
"So, have you set the date?"
"Not quite yet," Bonnie says.
"Let us know as soon as you do!"
"We will," I say.

As soon as I'm back in my dorm room, reality sets in. Everything could go wrong. I really don't know what lies ahead. But if I live fearing what could go wrong, I will never accomplish anything. I don't know if I'm ready, but I don't know if I'll ever be ready until I really try.

Bonnie POV

When I walk into my dorm room, I sigh as I take everything in. I am excited and terrified at the same time. This is all so insane, but I knew it would be as soon as I found out who Kyle really was. This is going to be challenging--there's no question. But whatever comes next, I'm prepared.