'What?' she asked with eyes wide open.

'You heard me.' Sebastian smiled and kissed her neck, making her shiver.

'Have you been having weird talks with Lina?'

'What? No! What does my sister have to do with it? Just answer me,' he begged.

'When you ask me properly,' she said with a timid smile.

'Really? So, if I propose, will you say yes?'

She nodded.

'You promise?'

'Yes.'

'Then let's hope you don't change your mind. How should I do it? White horses, lots of flowers, hidden ring, champagne? I better brainstorm that. Something original.'

She laughed. 'Don't be silly. You know I don't need any of that or want anything fancy. I only need you looking at me as if you were madly, deeply in love with me.'

'But I am,' — he gazed deeply into her eyes — 'and I've probably been for longer than even I realize.'

'Then I don't need anything else.'

'Will you marry me?'

Eleanor kissed Sebastian as tears of happiness fell down her face.

'You should've started with that.'

With a smile, she placed her arms around him.

He laughed. 'I thought you'd want something a bit more romantic and extravagant.'

'So, you could brag to everyone how good of boyfriend you are?'

'Of course,' — he smiled — 'but I think you mean fiancé. How good of a fiancé I am.'

'You're praising yourself a little too much, don't you think?'

'Well, I have you by my side, so I do think I deserve some credit, don't I?'

'Maybe a little.' She kissed him again. 'Do you also want to get married in Italy? Like your parents and your sister?'

'I don't care where we get married. I just want to be married to you as soon as possible. But that place certainly has something special to it. My parents have been happily married for over thirty years. And Lina and Ian seem happier than ever. Maybe it can bring good luck for us too.'

'I never thought that you'd be the type to think that a place could bless a marriage.'

'There's no harm in trying, right? I just want everything to go smoothly for us.'

'And it will.' She placed a soft kiss on his lips. 'Then, should we do it too and turn this into an official family tradition?'

'Sounds like we just need to start planning the wedding. And we also need to find a house and—'

'Slow down,' — she giggled — 'one thing at a time.'

'I don't want to. I want to be married to you. I want to live with you. To start my life with you. Our life.'

'Well,' — she kissed him softly — 'we pretty much already live together. We just need to choose a place.'

'I want us to have our place. Not mine nor yours. Our place. A place where we can't start our own family. That we can turn into our home.'

They had an odd journey, but now they were together, and he did not want to waste another minute, another second.

'Well, then I guess we really need to start planning everything.' As Eleanor looked into his eyes, she could not say no. His love for her was there, there was no doubt about it, and that was all that she needed. 'Maybe we could ask your sister for help.'

'Don't even joke about that. She would take over everything. And she would probably kidnap you for weeks just to choose a dress.'

'Yeah, she would probably be a little over the top.'

She chuckled.

They gazed into each other's eyes.

'I guess that love at first sight is actually a thing,' he said with a tender smile.

'As if! It took you a while to realize it.'

'Just because it took me a while to realize it doesn't mean that it wasn't at first sight.'

'So, are you saying that you fell for me the first time you saw me, covered in coffee, with a sprained ankle, and looking like a complete and utter mess?'

He nodded but did not stop looking at her, not for a single second. 'And you? When did you fall for me?'

Eleanor looked away.

'It's taking you way too much time to think about that,' he whined.

She giggled. 'I think I fell for you when,' she stopped.

'Come on. Just say it. You are killing me. When what?'

'When you took care of me at Montgomery. And when you made a deal with a total stranger to attend a wedding with you. Every time you showed me your vulnerability. And every time you look at me like this.'

'You fell for me that many times?'

With a blushed complexion, she smiled.

'And I hope that there are many more to come.'

'I guess some things are just meant to be.'

He kissed her hand.

'Who knew that the great Sebastian Crain would turn out to be so corny.'

'I don't mind. I'm making up for lost time. I love you.'

'I love you.'

The End