I've never worn so many formal clothing in all my life, than what I have in the past few months. In the spike of my psychotic chaos, my main attire was sweaters, heavy chains, and guns. To trade my luxury in for a buttoned shirt, never defaced by someone else's DNA, is definitely not something I'd ever see in my future.

The fact that I'm still breathing is enough.

At least the day was clear and warm. The water flowing down the stream looked inviting, especially when all the ducks swam happily by the edge of the water, patiently impatient to receive food.

"Looks just the same as when we were kids," Tyler said, sitting on the wooden bench beside me.

"When's the last time you've been here?"

"When I took her on our first date."

"About seven years ago."

I didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling. He was happy.

"Is Aria bringing her here?" He asked, his face suddenly distorted.

"Yes."

"But she knows to bring her at this time right? At this exact spot?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but you're sure you gave her the right location? She's never been here before, maybe she-"

"Tyler," I cut. "She's going to be here."

I met his glance. "What if she says no?"

A laugh slipped out of my mouth before I had a chance to contain it. "Christ, Ty. You're a mess. You're starting to sound like me."

He let out a large breath, a failed attempt to contain his nerves. Then smiled. "Fuck, I'm never nervous."

"It's a good look on you."

Just as he was about to counteract, the words fell short when he saw two beautiful women walking in the distance of the field. You could he their faint laughter as it carried along with the breeze of the cool air. They were so full of energy, of life.

Tyler wiped the palms of his hands on his dark jeans for about the fifth time since we'd been sitting down. I stood up with him and took his hand for a handshake. I slipped the dark blue suede box in his hands. "Good luck, buddy." I turned away from him to give him a moment for his thoughts.

I walked towards the girls, meeting them halfway. Aria gave me a sweet smile, while Lacey gave me a genuine one. I extended my hand towards my girl for her to take and began walking with them to meet up with the lonely man by the bench.

"I haven't been here in years," Lacey said, looking around at the scenery before us. "It was a good idea to visit. I've missed feeding the ducks."

"It's a nice place," I mentioned, quiet.

"What's he doing up there?" Lacey interviewed.

"So is this where you came when you were a kid?" Aria piped up.

"My dad and Ty's dad used to take us all the time when were little kids. I used to come here all the time." Lacey smiled.

I could see very clearly in my friends face that he was nervous. He was attempting to contain the emotion, but I knew well enough. It was a good thing that Lacey was oblivious to many things.

I slowed my pace, having Aria follow suit. Lacey continued her pace, unaware that she was now walking by herself.

"Is she suspicious at all?" I whispered to Aria.

Aria's face broke into a smile as she watched our friends embrace a little ways away from us. "She doesn't have a clue."

I squeezed her hand in response but remained silent as we caught up to them. Lacey took out a ziplock bag of tiny, brown cylinders.

"What the fuck is that?" I blurted out. Aria nudged my side.

"It's duck food," Lacey laughed and took out a handful of the contents.

I frowned. "What happened to feeding them bread?"

"It's harmful for the ducks to eat that, haven't you heard?" Aria looked up at me, fighting a smile.

I deepened my frown. I've never heard of a duck dying from bread before. Taking a handful from Lacey, I gave half my pile to Aria and started whipping them into the water. To my surprise, the little pellets actually floated over the water. I grew rather amused by the birds fighting each other for the food.

"Eli, stop making them attack each other for food!" Aria walked up to the edge of the water where I was. She threw a pile into the water. "Throw more than just two." She laughed.

"I'm trying to feed the brown one but all the other ducks are taking it away from him." I mumbled.

"Such a savage, Eli." Tyler laughed a few feet away from us.

I smirked at my friend and shrugged.

Aria started throwing food beside me, which gathered the attention of the fast, aggressive ducks. I took my chance and leaned my hand above the water, with a few pellets in between my fingers. The brown runt of a duck swam cautiously to my hand and hovered near by for a few moments. I threw a couple in front of him and let him slowly begin to trust me.

"Aria," I hushed. "Come here."

Aria scurried over to me with a concerned look on her face. "It's going to bite you," She whispered.

I smiled. "Nah. I have what it wants. If he's greedy, you just have to show them who's boss."

"Is that how you operated before?" She whispered and knelt down beside me.

I kept the smile but closed my mouth from saying anymore. The brown duck walked out of the water and brought his beak to my willing hand. It pecked towards my fingers and grabbed the food out of my hand.

"Here," Quietly came out of my mouth as I grabbed my girlfriends hand. "You try."

She hesitantly held her hand out with a tremble. The bird kept its distance. "Why won't he accept my food?" She pouted.

"Because you're scared of him. It's not going to hurt you."

Her eyes moved away from the bird and to me. I couldn't read her expression, but it was observant.

She reached her hand out confidently, as if she wasn't afraid of anything. The bird took the food from her hand right away, as it did with me.

"There you go," I murmured, content with her happy smile.

"Hey guys," Tyler cut in. "We're gonna take a walk... Would you like to join us?" His voice was a little more demanding for his usual personality.

Aria rose to her feet and grabbed my hand excitedly.

The four of us headed throughout the large field towards a couple of trees that rested in the back. One tree stood out more than others did, being twice as thick and twice as tall. One branch that could have been the width of its own tree, sprawled out towards the ground, having an easy walkway up the tree.

My hand was still clasped with Aria's as I collided past my nervous friend. In passing, I used my free hand to discreetly pat his shoulder.

He offered a smile in return.

"Oh my god, as if this tree is still kicking," Lacey's hand felt the tree. "Remember when we used to sneak away here Ty?"

"Back when our parents disapproved of us being together," He replied with a little humor in his voice.

"They were so mad that I was eighteen dating a twenty-two year old." She laughed.

As I held Arias hand to guide her climbing up the tree branch, she inquisitively asked, "That's not a horrible age difference, why were they mad?"

That's almost the same age gap as Aria and I, us being three and a half years apart.

"Because I had a crush on him at fourteen when he was eighteen," Lacey replied casually.

I walked up the large tree branch behind Aria and sat down beside where she was sitting. Both of us were at the same level of our friends faces whose feet was still planted on the ground.

"Because when she was seventeen and I was twenty-one, I realized I had feelings for her too... But it was too late." Tyler murmured and took both her hands in his. "I thought for sure you were going to be the one who got away."

"You think so?" She smiled thoughtfully.

Aria rested her head on my shoulder as the two of us listened to them speak.

"Do you remember when I took you here the day before you left?" Tyler asked.

"I couldn't forget it. It was my very first date," Lacey smiled. "I was so mad that you confessed your feelings for me."

"I had to. I thought if I did, you'd stay."

"Where'd she go?" Aria whispered quiet enough for only me to hear.

"College across the country," I whispered back.

"I told you I wouldn't ruin my future for a man," Lacey laughed.

"You used the word boy."

"Because you were one, back then," She shot back with a giggle.

"I went two years without seeing you. You didn't even email me, we never kept in touch," Tyler had a soft voice while speaking, it was calming. "Didn't even tell me when you came back in town."

"I figured too much time has passed," She smiled, gentle.

I could tell in their eyes, it was as if the world around them disappeared. It was only the two of them, against all else - completely and indescribably invested within each other.

"When I ran into you at the grocery store, there was no way I was going to let you walk away without catching up."

"You were so persistent," Lacey accused with a wide grin.

"You were playing hard to get." He smirked. "I was up to the challenge."

"Well you won," Lacey said and held up their clasped hands. "I couldn't be happier."

"You looked so different when you returned... So matured, so beautiful. I knew from the second I ran into you, we would end up together. From the moment I finally convinced you to go on a real date with me, and you stuffed your face with food and danced with no music on, not caring who saw you - I knew you were the one. I didn't care about who was against us, I didn't care of the consequences. All of my feelings resurfaced so quickly when you walked into my life again. It was as if they never truly went away."

Lacey looked at him with wide eyes, peering at him as if she never knew what he was telling her was the truth. Tyler never spoke like this, and to hear it, it was a shock to everyone.

"I never wanted to think about you leaving again, or walking away from us. I despised the thought of waking up to an empty bed where you're not in it. I made a decision to make every single day, a day you're happy and fulfilled. I made sure that you'd never need a reason to look for something missing in your life because I can make it happen for you. I would do anything for you, take you anywhere, be anything you want me to be. Lace, baby... I'm so in love with you."

"I love you too," Lacey whispered with a small voice.

"I've never been so happy, you make my life consistently heightened. Just you." Tyler proceeded to bend down on one knee, collecting a gasp from Lacey. He fished out the blue box from his pocket and held it out to her. "If you would do me the honor of being my wife, I'll prove that to you every single day, for the rest of our lives."

Her hands flew to her face, covering her lips as tears began to stream down her face.

"Lacey Miller, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" The blue box opened, revealing a large sparkling rock.

Her head nodded a thousand miles a second, as tears continued to fall down her cheeks. "Yes," She shakily responded. "Yes, yes. A million times, yes!"

Tyler flew to his feet and slipped the ring on her ring finger. He attacked her into a large hug and spun her around while she laughed with pure joy.

I heard a sniffle which brought my attention to Aria who had tears filled in her eyes. Her smile was soft, genuine, and bright. If it were possible, you'd see a beam around her from the aura she was giving off.

She watched them kiss passionately, as if she were invested in it herself. I never thought I'd change my mind on marriage... But the look on her face towards her friends new milestone - I'd want to see that look forever.

I leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth which widened her smile. She continued to watch the two on the ground, giggling and admiring Lacey's new jewelry, but Aria's fragile hand held the back of my neck in affection. I loved her touch. I used to hate people touching me, hell I still do. It's a complete one-eighty with her. I craved it.

"Aria!" Lacey ran up to us. "Look at this!" She held up her hand for Aria to inspect. "I'm getting married!"

"You're getting married!" Aria exclaimed and jumped down from the branch. The two girls giggled at the news. Aria hugged her best friend, congratulating her over and over.

I hopped down and walked up to Tyler. "You did it," I patted his shoulder. He brought me into a tight hug, startling me.

"I'm so happy, E." He admired.

"I'm happy for you," I said.

He pulled away and lowered his eyelids, investigating me. "You've got this look in your eye, what's going on in there?"

I fixated a smile. I didn't know why I felt sad for my friends happiness. Maybe it's because I knew that I wouldn't ever get that far. The thought was ripping my heart into a million dead pieces.

"Nothing is, Ty. You're going to have a beautiful life with her."

"So are you, E. It takes time, you'll see," Tyler urged.

"You think?" I asked, the two of us watching the girls. "Don't worry. It's your day, I'm really happy for you, trust me."

"I know you are. I can tell you've got something on your mind though. You're my best friend, I can see it from a mile away. Everything okay?"

I lit a smoke. "I just want to prove myself to her."

In my peripherals, I could see him frown, confused. "You have been."

"Slowly," I muttered. "I know one day it'll be taken away from me."

"She's one of us, E. She won't fuck you over or leave like everyone else has."

I offered a fake smile while I inhaled grey smoke into my lungs. "It's not her that I'm worried about."

I watched Aria jump around with Lacey, her eye caught mine. She gave me a warm smile and I waved my fingers to her.

Tyler knew the conversation was over, and part of me knew that he couldn't respond to that because he knew it was valid. He walked over to my beautiful girlfriend and she jumped into his arms in a friendly smile.

The three of them were all celebrating but I kept my eyes on the caramel haired girl, so full of energy, as if she wasn't real. One day, it'd all turn into nothing but a memory.

I was scared of the feeling.