"See, this feels like home! What was this before, a dungeon?" I asked, looking around Elian's renovated room with pride.

"Uh-huh," Elian responded.

I looked up at him and asked him a little nervously, "You like this, don't you?" I didn't want to completely rule everything, so I wanted to give an equal opinion. Since he didn't have any, I just kept his favorite color as the theme.

"Of course. Decors have always been your forte. I suck at them."

I smiled, then headed towards the walk-in closet. He trailed behind as we both checked it out. It had already been big enough, but it had been too spaced out, and now the void space was decreased to make space for my belongings.

"It's perfect," I let out, and he nodded in agreement.

"We should start getting ready now," he reminded me as we had to attend the Christmas party at his parents' place.

I felt a little sad because I wasn't on the best terms with my dad, ever since I broke the news that I was moving in with Elian. I thought of hiding the fact completely from my parents, but I never wanted to hide anything important from them, which would, later on, result in regret—even if it put the present in jeopardy. But I knew Dad would come around. At least, at the announcement of our wedding.

But no, Elian hadn't yet proposed. Unfortunately. Though I wished he would.

We had only moved in together three months ago. But we had no time in those few months. We only got to thinking about renovations just a week ago. Today was the day the renovations were finally over in his room.

Except for the room decorations changing, there was another positive change. Elian was pulling back from his mafia duties. He let his dad know that he wanted to focus on the armament business only, and his dad agreed without questions. Elian wasn't completely detached yet, but he was doing his best.

Maybe the only reason Elian was doing that was for me. But I was happy. While I didn't care if he remained in the mafia, I would vastly prefer if he was not. The farther we stayed from danger, the better.

It was Christmas Eve tonight, so we were joining Elian's family's customary Christmas party. And for the first time, Elian was going to accompany me for my New Year's visit to my parents in Georgia. Though it was going to be admittedly a little awkward with my dad and Elian, Mom had assured me it was going to be fine.

"Hey, should I wear this?" I showed Elian a green sequin dress.

"No. You would look like a shining Christmas tree," he commented.

"Well, that's the point. It's the only time of the year I can wear this dress comfortably." I started to take off my top to wear the dress, but he stopped me.

"No, don't wear this. Look in the drawers for something else."

I arched an eyebrow in suspicion. "You're the one who says I look nice in every color."

"Yes, I do because it's true. But why don't you look around for something else to wear? Maybe you will find something nicer?" he suggested.

With my eyes narrowed on him, I put down the green dress and asked, "The party theme isn't green, is it? And you want to prank me to be the odd one out?"

"Hey, I'm wearing red, so even if the party theme is green, we would both be the odd couple out." He pointed at the gray turtleneck and red checkered coat he was holding.

I still eyed him suspiciously and started looking through the drawers since he was insisting so much. Much to my surprise, I found a box.

Elian was grinning as I took it out and opened it. There was a beautiful floor-length red dress.

"For someone who has zero interior decorations sense, you have a nice taste in clothes," I said, sounding impressed.

"I had to. I don't want anything I give you to end up in the ugly section," he reasoned, and I tried not to chuckle.

"This one's actually prettier than the green one, so I'm wearing this. So now, get out."

"Gosh, I wanted to drink so bad," I whined as Elian dragged me away from the party to the corridor of his parents' mansion.

"We have a flight tomorrow morning, Alena," Elian reminded.

We were flying to Colorado for a few days to spend some time with just the two of us before going to Georgia to stay with my parents on New Year's Eve.

"We can drink up to our necks when we are there," Elian promised.

"Okay, fine. Where are we going now?"

"Home. This is boring," he answered.

True. We had no reason to stick around anymore since we already had dinner with his family. Lance and Eltan weren't in sight anymore, either.

When we got home, Elian laid down flat on his back in exhaustion.

"Are you that tired?"

"Yeah. God, so many people kept trying to converse with me, whether it was about the company or marrying off their daughter to me. It was so annoying. I wonder when Dad will stop hosting these parties from hell every year," he complained.

I chuckled and took off my earrings. I noticed one of his favorite pairs of cufflinks on the dressing table. "Elian, you didn't pack this pair of cufflinks."

Elian raised his head lightly and looked at it. "Oh, yeah, I thought I was going to wear a suit tonight, so I left them out. Can you please put them in the luggage?"

I nodded and made my way to his luggage kept in the corner with mine. I opened it and was about to place the cufflinks box somewhere when Elian suddenly sat straight up and said, "On second thought, don't. Let me—"

My eyes fell on a velvet box, and as much as I would have liked not to show a reaction, my eyes widened.

"Shit," Elian cursed when he followed my eyes. "I planned to propose in Colorado."

"Elian," I uttered and looked up at him.

He let out a sigh, his eyes softening, as he tried to smile not to show his disappointment, then he walked toward me and took out the velvet box from his luggage.

"Since the surprise has already been spoiled, I might as well do it now."

"Elian—" I was already starting to feel emotional.

He kneeled in front of me and opened the box, revealing a beautiful diamond ring inside. He looked into my eyes intently and muttered, "I actually had some really good plans for my proposal, but oh, well, this works too."

I chuckled a little, totally sure that he screwed up his lines as well.

He took a deep breath and continued nonetheless, "Alena, I'm sure you know by now that I love you a lot, in fact, more than anyone else. You are everything I have ever needed in my life. You are my first love, and I want you to be my last. I want you to stay by my side for the rest of my life. I will cherish and take care of you to my best—cross my heart. I will never leave you alone. Through every problem, whether it's related to my mafia work, office, family, or even couple issues, I want us to figure it out together. I want us to be together through every good and bad day."

Tears were welling up in my eyes, and so were in his.

"So, Alena Fleur, will you marry me?"

I almost choked on my tears as I replied, "Yes, yes. Yes!"

I dropped to my knees and wrapped him in a tight hug. We pulled apart a little bit so that he could make me wear the ring. As soon as the ring was on my finger, I smashed my lips on his.

He was right. Through every good and bad day, we would always stick together. Just like we had been doing until now, we would do it forever.