It was needless to say after their engagement at 4:54AM, sleep was not had. They had a tender and passionate celebration while waiting for the sun to rise and for the clock to tick to a more reasonable time, so they could call their friends and families to announce the engagement they'd all been waiting for. 6:39AM was a reasonable time, right? Denise thought so, making the decision to call her best friend first as she knew she must have been worried about her and the state of her relationship. Chris had told Denise about his stop at the apartment first, she suffered so much guilt she wanted to call Luca as soon as she'd heard. But Chris stopped and assured her Luca was much more relaxed when he left, telling him to get some sleep and that she was going to do the same. Which brought his next rational point forward-

"I really don't think you should call her, Denise. She was up till two, the poor girl's probably still asleep." Chris took his eye off the bacon cooking on the stove to glance back at her, turning and wincing when the oil spit on his hand. "Why don't we call those in Boston first," he suggested. "They're ahead so they're definitely awake at this ungodly hour."

"But it's ringing already." She responded with a cute pout and he chuckled with a shake of his head. "It's fine, she'll only be mad for a little while. Once she sees this," she held up her left hand and waited for Chris to glance back at her to wiggle her now occupied ring finger; she smiled when he smiled. "She'll be so happy for me that she won't even care about her sleep deprivation."

"I think she'd also appreciate being the first to know out of everyone," he nodded in agreement. "But don't blame me if she yells at you," he pointed the spatula at her and she giggled, sticking her tongue out at him. "Oh God," he rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to smile. "I am engaged to a kid."

"Shut the fuck up." She laughed and tossed a dishcloth at him, which he swiftly caught and draped over his shoulder while bellowing with laughter. "If anyone's the kid here, it's-" Luca picked up Denise's FaceTime call before she could finish her sentence. "Luca!" Denise gasped excitedly when she saw Luca's tired face pop up on her screen; she quickly hid her left hand under the counter. "I'm so sorry I woke you up, but I have-"

"Shut up," Luca cut her off. Denise pressed her lips together and fought her want to throw something else at Chris, who was quietly laughing behind the iPad. "I don't care about sleep, I care about you. Are you okay?" She asked and Denise nodded, smiling. "Did Chris find you?" Chris smiled at Luca's thoughtfulness and pulled the pan off the stove so he could join the conversation. "He's here in Los Angeles, like- he came back for you, risked his job and- Chris!" Luca gasped when she saw Chris hug Denise from behind. "Oh, thank God." She let out a sigh of relief. "You guys are okay then?"

"We're better than okay," Denise nodded, absentmindedly placing her left hand on his cheek as she leaned back into him. "We're perfect." She'd completely forgotten about her ring until Luca jumped out of bed screaming. Chris and Denise both flinched, narrowing their eyes at her excitement until her left hand reached to pick Chris' iPad out of the stand and they remembered her diamond ring.

"YOU'RE ENGAGED!" Luca screamed, causing Chris and Denise to both wince then laugh. "Oh my God," she pressed her face so closely to the camera, one would think she was trying to squeeze through to their side. "That is-" she let out a breathless chuckle. "I am happy for the both of you, but Denise- I am really, really happy for you." She stressed, drawing a wider smile from both. "Am I the first one? Does Tina know yet? Does Lisa- Oh my God, you are going to make the most beautiful bride and I am going to be the best maid of honor in the whole-" She cut herself off when she saw Denise's and Chris' expressions; they were both trying to suppress laughter. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" They both nodded. "I'm just so excited!"

"Clearly," Denise teased, "you just assigned yourself the role of maid of honor." Chris and Denise both chuckled as Luca laughed, she wasn't embarrassed because she knew she was a shoo-in for the role. "But of course, Luca." Denise grinned. "Of course you're going to be my maid of honor, there is no one else I'd rather have by my side." Luca kissed the pad of her fingers, blowing her a quick kiss. "But the wedding's not going to be for a while, we agreed to have a bit of a long engagement. We're both-" Denise glanced at Chris, giving him a curious smile when she saw he was smiling at her. She didn't understand he was smiling because she had transformed from an 'I' to a 'We', but she would figure it out soon enough. "We're both busy and we think it's best if we wait a while."

"That is very sensible," Luca nodded. "I just hope it's not too long, 'cause I'd love to see the both of you get married and have adorable babies. Oh my God, Nise. Your story is coming to life. Jack and Lola are going to come to life!" She squealed again, making Chris and Denise laugh. But it was exciting and they were both incredibly excited; to get married, to have kids, to live out the life she wrote, and he read about, together. "I have trouble breathing right now, you know that right?"

"We can tell," Denise chuckled. "Okay, I'm going to hang up now." Chris gave Luca a quick wave over his fiancée's shoulder as he pulled away from her to return to making breakfast. "I'll be home after I drop Chris off at the airport," she told Luca and Luca nodded with a smirk. "What's that smirk for?" Denise asked, but she already knew which was why she was laughing. "Get your head out of the gutter," she bit playfully, which earned her an even more mischievous smirk. "Goodbye, Luca," she laughed and ended the call.

"She's not wrong," Chris commented, smirking at Denise when she looked up at him. "I'm not going to see you for a while, might as well make full use of the time we have now." She chuckled with a shake of her head. "Plus it's my birthday on Tuesday, which we're not going to be together for because you don't want to miss school."

"Are you trying to guilt trip me?" Denise scoffed with the same smile Chris was holding back. "I think you're forgetting I'm planning to surprise you two weeks after with a belated birthday celebration. You'll have me for the weekend and we'll do whatever you want." Her words brought him back to the conversation they had about how she had the money to get that last minute ticket to Atlanta. He was planning to replace the ticket for her, something she had no problem with now that she'd decided to depend on him a little more- per his request as her fiancé.

"But birthday sex is different from 'I'm-leaving-on-a-plane' sex," he began suggestively and she laughed. "I suggest we fuel up," he said as he plated breakfast for them: bacon, eggs, and pancakes. He walked around to her, pulling out the bar stool next to her. "'Cause we're definitely going to need the energy." He winked, placing her plate down in front of her.

"I think you're talking about yourself, old man," she teased and he laughed. "'Cause this kid," she picked a strip of bacon off her plate. "She can do this all day," she winked as she took a bite.