Plans

Time

Matt sat on his couch. His girlfriend was sitting beside him, with her head on his shoulder.

He looked at her hand. She had a ring.

"Where did you get that ring?" he asked.

"The jewelry shop nearby," she replied.

"Oh, I know where you mean," he said. "I've been thinking of getting one like it for Mitch. He loves rings, and his birthday is coming up."

"Oh, okay," she said.

"Can I please have it and take it to the shop to find one like it?" he asked.

"Oh, sure," Sarah said, taking off her ring. "Here. Lose it and I'll murder you."

"Okay," Matt said, laughing. He would get jewelry for Mitch, but he wouldn't get a ring like this.

As he drove to the jeweler, he thought about his plan. He needed to get a ring, then not let her know about it.

He reached the jeweler, and went inside.

"Can you tell me what size this is?" he asked the person behind the counter.

"Yes," she replied, then went into the back. She returned, and gave him the size.

"Thanks," Matt said, taking the ring and going to find what he wanted.

_

When he returned home, he had Mitch's gift in his car. It was a bracelet that he'd caught his friend looking longingly at before.

He had the box for what he'd meant to get, with Sarah's ring in its place, and the ring he had actually bought under the padding.

He walked into their house, and she looked over.

"Where's my ring, baby?"

"In my pocket," Matt said. "I'll put this somewhere, then get it back to you."

"Okay," Sarah said, returning to what she was watching.

Matt put the box under his bed mattress, but not before putting the ring in its place, and taking Sarah's ring.

He returned it to her. He had put the rings like that in case she had asked to see the one he got Mitch.

Matt returned the ring to her, and sat down, anxious. Sarah looked at him, and furrowed her brow.

"Babe, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," Matt lied, and she looked at him as if annoyed.

"Don't lie to me," she said.

"I hope Mitch doesn't get offended that I got him the same ring," Matt said. "He really likes it. I hope he doesn't mind, then."

"He's not the type of person to get offended easily," Sarah said. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Okay," Matt said.

_

The next week, he took Sarah on a date.

"Baby, what's this?" she asked, as he lead her up a staircase to a private booth at the restaurant. It was decorated beautifully, and there was a window to look down at the rest of the restaurant.

"I wanted to treat you," he replied. "I love you. I wanted to show you that."

She chuckled. "You're not normally this romantic," she observed, looking out the window.

Matt saw his chance, and knelt, holding up her ring.

"This isn't a normal occasion," he told her, and Sarah turned around.

"What do you--" she stopped, then squealed. "Oh, my goodness!"

Matt smiled. "I don't know what to say to you," he said. "What can I say that tells you how much I love you, how happy you make me? I love you, baby. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. Will you please marry me?"

Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you." She chuckled. "I'll marry you a thousand times over. You make me so happy."

Matt stood up, kissing her. He took her hand, and put the ring on it.

She gasped suddenly. "This is why you went to the jeweler," she said, sounding stunned. "Did you just need my ring size?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah."

Sarah smiled. "I love you," she said. "So, what did you really get Mitch?"

"A bracelet," Matt said. "Now, let's sit down. We need to figure out what we're getting!"

Sarah sat and looked at her menu, then groaned. "It's all so expensive."

"So was the ring," Matt said. "I'm happy to spend money on you. You're worth all the money I have."

Sarah blushed, then hid behind the menu. "Don't look at me," she said. "I'm grinning like an idiot."

"And it's adorable," Matt said. "Now, try to find something. Don't look at the prices."

She nodded. "You know," she said, as she perused the menu. "I was starting to worry you'd never propose."

"Well," Matt said. "I decided to do it about a month ago." 

"What made you decide?" she asked.

"Well," Matt said. "I was watching you while talking, and I made you laugh. I saw that face, and I realized that I wanted to see that laugh forever." He shrugged. "That was when I thought, 'it's time.'"

***

I'm pretty sure Sarah is Matt's girlfriend in real life. That's why I'm using her for this.

Also, I'm going to try and finish this sometime soon. I don't think it'll be all that soon, but I've finished two stories and a one-shot book in the time I've been writing this, and I think it could end sometime soon.