A Good Start

[Danielle Raven]

Six years. Six years, and no proposal. Danielle was fuming. Who the hell did Gabrian Raven think he was? She stormed around her apartment in preparation for their date. She'd made a concerted effort to look amazing for this date. If Gabrian didn't propose, she would simply have to remind him that she had plenty of options. Plenty of men looked at her, at shows or photoshoots, even just on the street. She could have her pick, and she'd picked Gabrian. So why hadn't he proposed? Did he not love her? Did he not see her as a potential wife? Did he not want children? Why would he not want her? What was wrong with her? Nothing, no, such thoughts were for other people, not Danielle Howard.
The silk of her dress was smooth against her skin and she put the finishing touches on her make-up. Working in the world of modelling had taught her a lot about make-up, and she knew that less was more. The dress itself was pink, and flowing, classy. Gabrian liked classy, but then again he was a man, so she'd made sure it hinted just enough at the dancer's figure beneath, short enough to show off her legs without being obscene. Even Dorothy couldn't have found fault in this dress, and she did love to find fault in things.

In truth, she was afraid. All the questions which she told herself were irrational, were questions she feared Gabrian asked himself too. What if he did wonder about his future, and didn't want it to be with Danielle? She was moody, and hard to deal with. She'd never understood how Gabrian could love that, or want to put up with her. She didn't want to just be the girl he'd dated before he found the nice, meek, mild wife she was sure his family wanted for him. Danielle couldn't face this possibility. She loved him, more than she'd ever thought she was capable of loving someone. It was alive in every facet of her being. It animated her, and made the cold ice-queen come to life. The Danielle of six years ago was very different to the one who finished her make-up and sat down on the couch, biting her lip and hugging her knees, waiting. This Danielle had something to lose, and was terrified by that fact. This Danielle was actually happy, and lay awake worrying that her happiness would somehow evaporate. After living a life that genuinely thrilled her, she could not survive going back to how she had been. Bitter, lonely and cold. She didn't want to revert back into the girl whose parents hadn't cared. She wasn't sure she could handle that. Gabrian was what had changed her, and she adored him. She wasn't sure if he knew that, because while Dani had changed, she hadn't changed that much. She was never going to be the kind of girl who gushed about her emotions and wore her heart on her sleeve.
Today, however, was not the day to dwell on her insecurities. She sat up straight, and turned on the radio. Gabrian would not find her huddled in self doubt, he would find her at her ease and calmly waiting for his arrival.

 

[Gabrian Raven]

It had been six long years, and Gabrian felt that it was finally time to propose. He had started this expecting it to come to this point, as he was ready to start a family and live a simple life. Danielle was a beautiful woman, a pureblood that shared his values, came from a good family - she was perfect. The important people, whose opinions he actually cared about, liked her, and as far as he felt, her family liked him. They were perfect together, and the Italian was ready to see if she was willing to move their relationship further - she'd dropped enough hints. He was not nervous in the slightest, considering for the past week he had been dropping by to see her, she had been lightly poking at the issue. It was quite charming. Danielle was many things, but Gabrian always felt that he could read her as well as any book, and it was one of the things he loved about her. The only thing he did not like about his timing, was the fact that he had four brothers currently engaged, with two marrying soon, one in a few years, and one Merlin knew when. It was annoying to find himself just another son getting engaged, and it felt that it took away from the fact that he was entering into a pretty big moment in his life.

He had told her to dress nice, that they were going out for dinner. But half-way through his booking, he decided that they always went out to resturants, and it was no longer that interesting anymore, for him. Her presence was all he desired for a good night, and that could be found anywhere. So, he decided to have an impromptu dinner at her place, like they had on occasion, and brought a basket of good wine, and some of her favour meals. He felt he was rather good in the kitchen (better than she was at any rate) and had lived alone for a few years - he felt pretty confident about the menu this evening. In the pocket of his coat was the ring. It was a simple band of gold, as he wanted to give her something tonight, but also wanted to pick her ring with her. It felt better that way, so she could pick whatever she liked and it would be their first decision as fiancés. A gold band would go with virtually anything, and had their names engraved under it in any rate.

"Danielle?" he called, knocking on the door before opening it to alert her of his presence. He smiled when he saw her finally - she looked ravishing. "I thought we could eat in," he explained, gesturing to the basket. "I hope you don't mind, no?"
​

 

[Danielle Raven]

Danielle was glad Gabrian knocked, it gave her a moment to remind herself to stay still and calm. When he entered, she didn't rise straight away and then crossed the room in three short strides to smile a greeting and give him a chaste kiss. "Hello Gabrian." she whispered, stepping back, her heart hammering in her chest. Tonight was the night she would say it to him, tonight was the night she would confront him about the lack of a proposal. Still, the sight of him cheered her. He was so handsome, with his cheeky smile and those beautiful eyes. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted by that. A hand flew to her hair as she pushed it back out of her eyes so as to look at Gabrian clearly. His suggestion took a moment to register with her, and she blinked at him, trying to recall what he'd said. "Stay here.. of course, yes. Sorry; I was somewhere else entirely." she replied, shaking her head and heading for the kitchen. When should she bring it up? Before dinner, after dinner? She couldn't really expect him to cook her a meal and then interrogate him. She began to set the table, her hands clumsy. Eventually, everything was ready and there was nothing more for her to do. Gabrian was the cook in their relationship; they'd discovered that very early on.

Leaning back against the counter, she watched him with wary eyes and took a deep breath. "Actually, I'm glad you decided to eat in, because well... We need to talk Gabrian." She was serious now, her back straight and her gaze true. "We've been together a long time. I mean, I'd never really even dated before you. I never did that whole 'experimenting' thing, not that I wanted to, I just didn't-I mean." Oh Merlin she was really off-track now. This sounded like she was breaking up with him, which was the exact opposite of her intentions. "Oh I don't even know what I'm saying." she sighed, exasperated. Silently, she prayed he would ignore her outburst and continue cooking, but she knew him better than that, or rather he knew her better. There was no way Dani could dismiss her words as babble, Gabrian would know it was important to her. "I'm guessing there's about zero chance you'll ignore everything I've just said?" she asked, less confident now. The old Danielle would've simply blurted out a demand and expected him to do as she commanded. Gabrian had changed her, she was more diplomatic, less inclined to go crazy over trivial things, though she did have her moments from time to time. Perhaps being blunt would've been the better course of action in this case. At least then he'd have understood what she was talking about.

 

[Gabrian Raven]

It was often that Danielle was lost in thought, but the pure blood paid little attention and followed her to the kitchen. She appeared to fumble with the plates, cutlery and glasses, and the temptation to just set the table himself did begin to show itself, but he ignored it and occupied himself with the food. He had a plan on how the dinner would go, naturally. Everything was easier on a full stomach, and he wanted to talk into the subject naturally so as to not surprise her or something. He himself hated surprises, and so never brought them on others. It had been a substantial amount of time anyway, he doubted Danielle was completely oblivious to his wanting to marry her, surely. He quickly cut the shallots into small pieces, and pushed them into a small pile to the side of the chopping board at Danielle began to speak. He slowed his cutting with the carrots, however, as she came to the end of her sentence. Well, he was no expert on relationships, but that did not sound very promising.

He feigned a calm attitude. "Oh?" He placed the knife beside the half-cut carrot and looked at her properly, his heart beating a little faster than he wished it to. If felt as if it was trying to claw right out of his chest. He removed his coat carefully, and placed it on an unused counter, his hand lingering in the general area where he had placed the ring, before having them both cross against his chest. He was feeling anxious now. He had no idea what she was trying to say, and it was only making him more concerned. He shook his head at her. no, there was no way he was going to just ignore everything she had said. If he wanted someone that didn't share their opinion, he would have gone and found some nice, obedient Italian girl, not his stubborn and outspoken Danielle. "Absolutely zero," he stated, his face softening. "What's troubling you, Danielle? Is there something wrong?"
​

 

[Danielle Raven]

Oh Merlin, Gabrian probably thought she was going insane. She wasn't very comfortable in this situation. For Danielle, who'd always been demanding, who'd never been afraid to ask for what she wanted, this was an unusual feeling. She loved Gabrian, he knew her better than anyone else. Why was this so hard to say? She stepped back toward the wall and placed her hands against its cool surface. She smiled, her lips tight, at his response. "No, there's nothing wrong exactly.. .I've just been thinking about the future and I'm not sure if...." This was not going as planned, she wanted Gabrian to simply ask her. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen; he was supposed to realise that six years of dating was far too long. They should've been married at least three years before. She'd been patient; incredibly so, for someone like Dani. "This whole conversation is going wrong." She sighed, raising her hands to her face and hiding her eyes. She stayed like that for a few seconds, becoming gradually more and more frustrated.

Lowering her hands, she looked at Gabrian, and took a deep breath. "We have been together six years Gabrian. Six years! Do you have any idea how strange that is? Six years, and we're still just dating. We don't live together, we're not even-" She'd almost said it. The word caught in her throat. He'd probably guessed by now where this was going. She decided to throw caution to the wind. "We're not even engaged. You could just up and decide you don't want me anymore and walk away. I mean, I don't think you will do that, but you could." At this point, she was mobile, pacing back and forth, her eyes flicking intermittently toward Gabrian. "I could do the same. I won't, I love you, but the possibility is there, and I don't like that. I mean we've never spoken about marriage, or children, or anything!" She stopped speaking, realising that she'd been speaking at a mile a minute pace. "Six years Gabrian, six years and not even a conversation. I want to be married, I want to have children. My twin brother is expecting a child! My brother has children who are in school! I know mudbloods get married older or whatever, but that's not our way!" She turned to face him now, hugging herself. "I guess what I'm saying is that, if you don't want those things, well you'd better tell me, because I am not prepared to be the girl before you find her. I don't want you to tell your children 'Well, I was with someone for a long time before I met your mother.' That is not what I want." there, she'd said it. She'd have to let the chips fall where they may. She bit her lip now, anxious. She was so afraid of losing him. what if he said it wasn't what he wanted? What if he'd never seen a real future with her. she didn't think she could survive that.

 

[Gabrian Raven]

Gabrian did his best to keep his ears and mind open, but what Danielle was saying was going against virtually everything he wanted. It was sounding very similar to a break up, and after six years together, he had thought they were beyond such things, and if they weren't, he at least expected a damn good reason as to why she was saying what she seemed to be saying. His eyes began to widen, however, when he realised what she was saying, and chewed on his bottom lip in silence as she continued. She was right - six years felt like a long time to him, as well. He knew that neither of them were much into flings, and whilst they had never spoken of marriage or children, by this point in he assumed that it was obvious where their relationship was going. But perhaps she was right - he had been going extremely slow with regards to completely finalising their relationship with something more stable than verbal conformation.

As she continued speaking, he moved to retrieve the ring from his jacket, never removing his eyes from hers, and making sure she couldn't see what it was he was doing. He paused as she did, and was silently grateful that she had slowed down. He prided himself on his English, but sometimes when Danielle was in a mood and spoke so quickly, some words would morph together and completely escape him. With the ring now tucked up his sleeve, he placed his hands on her arms gently, and coaxed her to look up at him. "I want all of that," he said quietly. "And I want all of it with you, Danielle, no one else. I know six years is a long time, and I know we never really seemed to speak about what would happen in the future. But we're having that conversation now, and I'm glad that it seems we're in agreement." He paused to smile at her. "You kind of ruined all my plans for tonight though, but I hope you don't mind my impromptu proposal." He slid the ring from his sleeve, and showed the simple (but expensive) golden ring to her. "It's simply, I know, but I thought that I would rather have you buy the ring with me, as opposed to trusting my sense in rings - you're better with that sort of thing." He spun the ring to show their engraved names, and waited for her response rather nervously.
​

 

[Danielle Raven]

Danielle's tirade had drained her. She felt physically weary. This was it for them; this was make or break in their relationship. She loved Gabrian, but she needed stability. She needed to know where she stood. The expression on his face, the widening of his eyes, his ominous silence. None of it was looking good. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't believe she'd said all of that. What would she do if she lost him? The silence seemed endless. She desperately wanted to speak, to take it all back, but she knew it was too late. She'd said it now. She closed her eyes and waited for him to speak.

Feeling Gabrian's hands, Dani's eyes flew open. It took a moment for her eyes to meet his; those beautiful blue eyes. She was a model, she worked with the most handsome men in the world, but for Danielle; Gabrian outshone them all. There was something so magnetic about him. When he spoke, she broke into a smile and raised her hands to his face. Thank Merlin, thank God, thank fate; in that moment, Danielle felt a genuine gratitude and hoy that would only be topped by the next sentence he spoke. "Your what? Oh Merlin!" she exclaimed, as he revealed the ring. She laughed as he spoke about her taste in rings. "Oh Gabrian! Yes yes yes!" she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He was going to propose! She needn't have said anything, he hadn't needed prompting. He loved her! He wanted to marry her! He'd chosen her! Breaking away, she raised her hand to her mouth. "But I ruined it! I nagged you, and you were going to- Oh, I'm such an idiot!" she laughed, leaning into her fiancé's chest. That felt so good; Gabrian being her fiancé. "Let me see." she giggled, taking the ring. Their names were engraved on it. She slid it onto her finger, and looked back at the love of her life. "I feel so stupid." she shook her head, wrapping her arms around Gabrian in a hug. "It's just that I love you so very much Gabrian Raven." Soon, she would be Mrs. Gabrian Raven. The thought made her smile even more.

 

[Gabrian Raven]

Gabrian grinned from ear to ear as she said yes, and as she flung her arms around his neck and his him, his arms were around her waist and he lifted her up. After a short spin, he put her back down so she could speak, and hugged her close, laughing. He felt so happy to have heard her say yes, he really didn't care any more that it had not gone as he had planned - the end result was the same. He was now engaged to be married to the woman he loved, and that was more than many (even in his own family) had. He kissed the top of her head affectionately, and hugged her close. "Yes you did, you completely ruined it," he said, grinning. "But it's okay." She was no longer his girlfriend, but his fiance, and that felt completely right. The only better thing would be when he was able to call her wife. "I love you too, Danielle."​

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-FINISHED-​