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She walked back to the table in the restaurant, they had their first date in, and he didn't know how long he could handle it. When he messaged her to get her to buy an outfit for the night, he knew whatever she picked would be absolutely stunning, but he was bowled over when she appeared down the stairs looking like an angel all in red. He didn't know how she managed it, but she'd picked a wrap dress in red that both floated and flattered in the right places, but also clung to her body in the right places that he enjoyed as he watched her walk. He wanted to take the bow on her side and undo it to peek at what she'd bought for underneath, but the anticipation won out and he decided to wait. She'd put her hair in its signature plait, and she'd found the high heels to match, which put her at a little taller, but she was still shorter anyway.

"So, we've had our dinner, but I still can't work out why we're in the place where we had our first date, Mister Anderson," she mentioned as she sat back down. She had a teasing grin on her face, and he had to glance away before he got tempted to kiss it off her face.

"There's always a method to my madness, Miss Nichols," Joshua answered. He'd dressed in suit trousers and a white shirt. He knew her favourite colour was white, so he went with the flow. He was glad he didn't wear the full suit, but he looked a little dressed up compared to others. He felt the box in his trouser pocket that contained the ring, and he suddenly left the self-consciousness behind.

"You say that, but not once have I worked out your methods," she teased.

He glanced at the dessert menu, despite knowing what they would both order. The waitress walked over before he could answer.

"Dessert?" she asked them both.

"Amelia?" Joshua asked. She'd purposefully grabbed the menu and placed both her arms closer together so he would be staring at her cleavage. She knew what she was doing, and he caught a very quick glance at the red lace beneath the dress.

He made sure to convey his annoyance yet desire through his brain, so she'd feel it as she ordered the cheesecake.

"And for you, sir?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have the chocolate cheesecake, please. Can I order a bottle of champagne as well, please?" Joshua asked.

"Of course, I'll bring it along in a moment," she answered and walked off.

He met Amelia's questioning gaze. "Champagne?"

"It's this drink. It's got alcohol in, and it's fizzy—"

She shook her head and chuckled. "Well done, you idiot. I was asking why you ordered champagne. It's a bloody hard sell to get you to buy fancy and expensive wine, why on earth are you ordering that? I saw it, it's like thirty quid a bottle! Plus, the money for this outfit... what's going on?"

He sat back in the chair. He couldn't hold out much longer because it would all settle in her head in a moment. He knew she could be naïve at the best of times, but she wasn't stupid. He could only hide his plans for so long.

"All right, there is absolutely something more than a date going on here," Joshua said.

"Well, I know that. We've been on like a bunch of dates, and not once have you gone to this much effort," she retorted.

The waitress appeared with an ice bucket with the champagne rested inside and two glasses. She placed them on the table for them before walking off.

"So, I've been waiting for the moment, and I felt like today was that moment. The account of Josh's... I know we said we'd save it, but I had a plan for it. I didn't want to ruin the plan by telling you I was spending it, but it kinda... I don't know, it just made sense."

"How much is left?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'll tell you later. Most of it has gone. I was going to originally take you out somewhere fancier, but then I decided I wanted to bring you back to the place we had our first date. For me, it was this special moment because through the...rocky start we had, the first date we had was special to me. I realised that night that it was my first date in so many years, and I wanted it to be both mine and your last first date."

She smiled at him, and he felt the surge of love run through her veins like a shot of antibiotics through an IV. "Joshua, that's so sweet."

He took the leather black box out of his pocket but stayed sitting while he finished. "For ages, I felt so... I felt like I didn't belong anywhere, that I didn't deserve to stop Drifting and belong somewhere. I've told you about Brianna before, and since that happened, I vowed to cut myself off and just focus on my career, or lack thereof. But I vowed never to open myself up, I didn't want a Fated One, and I didn't ever want to fall in love again. Then I met you, and it all made sense. My life of... well, Drifting, made sense—"

The waitress put the desserts on the table. They thanked her and she walked off, so he could continue.

"Joshua, why are you saying all of this?" she asked.

"Again, a method to the madness, Amelia! You frustrate the hell out of me, you drive me nuts, and you are such a child sometimes, but you shine like the brightest star, you saved me from a miserable existence of... nothingness. I had this version of you that I just thought I loved, but I didn't. It took meeting this you to work that out. You bring out the best in me, you taught me that I do actually have value and I do have a place in this world, in more ways than one."

She took a sip of her drink and furrowed her eyes at him. She hadn't worked it out, and he smirked at how naïve she could be.

"Since that day I met your parents for the first time, I feel like something has shifted in me. Even before that day, I felt like I wasn't good enough for you, that because of our age gap and because of my Drifting, that I was this alien of some sort that didn't belong, and any minute something would happen to take you away from me. I've felt this... crazy self-consciousness that one day you'll wake up and realise I'm not good enough for you. But after that day, I realised something. We could have ten years in difference, it wouldn't matter. I love you so much that it sometimes hurts. Mainly because of the tether," he said.

They both laughed.

He could feel the penny dropping in her head, and it made him grin like a cat that finally caught the mouse.

"I want this to be both of our last first dates, for life. I know you hate me, and trust me, I hate you too. So fucking much that sometimes I wish I could just stop feeling your ridiculous emotions when you watch medical dramas, or when you sit there and watch stupid Disney films. It drives me insane," he admitted. He finally got out of the chair.

Her eyes widened, and he felt the whole restaurant as it fell into silence. Every single pair of eyes were on him, but he just didn't care.

"But it would make my whole life if you would do me the honour of marrying me. Amelia, my angel, will you marry me?" Joshua asked.

Her eyes filled with tears, and he could feel the pure adoration, the giddiness he only felt when she watched Tangled, the shock as it surged through both of their Tethers.

She stood up just as he could hear a man as he whispered, "She better say yes or he's gonna be embarrassed to shit."

Her eyes fell on the ring, and he swore they bulged just a little, but she swiftly glanced back at him.

"Of course, I will! Yes!"

There were about ten people all cheering for them as he grinned up at her.

He removed the ring from the box and slid it on her finger; a perfect fit that he thanked her impulsive purchasing ways for knowing. He stood up properly so she could throw her arms around him.

The kiss was a little less passionate than he'd hoped for, but he knew it was because people were staring at them, clapping and cheering them on.

"Thank you," he whispered.

She giggled. "Oh, believe me, you're welcome. Is this what the money went on?"

He nodded before he kissed her one more time. They sat down as her eyes lingered over the ring.

"I, uh, I walked past the ring a few weeks ago. It just... felt like the one," he admitted. "If you don't like it, we can—"

"Shut. Up. Don't say another word. This... is gorgeous. Do I want to know how much was in that account, and how much of it went on this thing?" she asked. A grin it seemed, was permanently plastered on her mouth. It made his heart soar and his brain him with the shared giddiness.

"No, you don't want to know. I can show you later if you're desperate to know," he answered.

"The champagne is on us. Congratulations," the waitress announced as she appeared with an extra plate of cheesecake.

"Thank you," Amelia answered.

He took the champagne and popped it open. "I'm glad I ordered this now."

"Oh, trust me, so am I," she agreed. "I'm also glad I got the manicure earlier."

Joshua just rolled his eyes in response, but they both laughed.

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Joshua crept down the stairs to find her sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in her right hand. Her eyes were glued to the ring on her finger.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get to sleep," she said.

"It's fine," he answered. He sat beside her and threaded her left hand with his right. It looked strange, to see a ring there after so long, but he finally felt like the puzzle had been completed in his life.

"I just... Sophia mentioned earlier how he had matured and grown up, and it just hit me, like how much my life has changed. Then tonight, I just... I'm not sad, it's just weird. I just needed a hot minute to sit and gather it all up, you know?"

He smiled at her. "You're allowed to gather your thoughts, my angel. It's been a long road."

She leaned her head into his shoulder, so he kissed the top of her head. "It's just really weird how everything has worked out. I was never expecting it to. I kind of expected when this all started to have you cut out and marry Owen before I turned twenty, or around now. I expected to, I don't know, I just didn't expect this to happen."

He chuckled. "I expected you to cut me out. Sometimes I wish you had."

She giggled. "Likewise, you idiot."

"But in all seriousness, you're allowed to feel this. Don't think I don't get it, Amelia."

She looked up at him before she kissed his lips. "Please don't think I'm having second thoughts or anything—"

"Oh, please," he joked. "I know you're not. You forget I can feel your emotions."

She smirked before drinking her tea. "I honestly couldn't be happier. I just needed a minute to take it all in."

He didn't think she needed an answer from him because she knew it. He kissed her forehead to ensure she understood what was left unsaid and understood.

Joshua smiled to himself when she settled her head back into the crook of his neck and his arms enveloped around her. Because of his past, he never really believed in soulmates or fate or destiny after Brianna. He wasn't even sure when he met Amelia because of her reluctance at first. But as time went by, he realised that he did. But he didn't just believe in that, he believed in magic, and he believed in love.

He was a man of science, but he believed that love was a type of magic. Amelia had single-handedly taken the broken pieces of Joshua and built them back up without trouble, which was a magic spell. She had taken those sunken and disbelieving parts of himself – some of them he didn't know he held – and she performed her love spell to make him sturdier and on a foundation that would never break. Her love made him stronger, better, and happier than he had ever been.

If love wasn't magic, he didn't know what it was. But he was a believer, and he was happy to be under her spell forevermore.

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