Belle Notte

[Reia Vasquez]

Reia felt herself to be blessed that after being with Noah for all this time she still felt goosebumps on her skin when he touched her and her stomach flutter when she thought of him. She loved him and at the end of the day the thought of being home with Noah made her happier than anything else so when she got home from tutoring a rather annoying child she looked forward to being with him instead as she entered their bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes she saw a note on the bed. As she read it a smile lit up on her exotic features before she rushed into the shower to wash the day off of her so she and Noah could spend time together with whatever surprise he seemed to have planned and not feeling like she might have a wand stuck in her hair. Once she stepped out of the shower and dried and styled her brown locks with a quick flick of the wrist. With her hair out of the way, Reia walked into the bedroom and looked through the closet to decide what to wear but as she wasn't certain what was planned for the night she decided to go with something that could be taken as both casual and not.

When Reia was satisfied with her appearance she grabbed a coat and stepped into her heals before apparating near their meeting spot. She walked the rest of the way so she could see the look on Noah's face as she approached because the look of sheer love on his face was one that she mirrored and liked seeing it because of that fact. Of course lately Noah had been acting a little jittery and stressed out but nothing serious had happened, he would have told her immediately but as she came up to the bridge and saw that. aside from a couple crossing in the opposite direction she was alone on the cobblestone bridge. She wasn't phased by it, however. She was clearly early so she walked over to the edge and looked down at the water with a smile playing on her lips as she waited. The Spanish girl was happy in her life and even if she knew that she could have been happy without having met Noah she felt it was so improved by him in every way. Each morning she was just a little happier to wake up by his side and felt grateful to fall asleep in his arms.

Although Reia found that the view was beautiful time was going by as she waited for Noah to arrive and she was starting to think that something was wrong because her boyfriend would never stand her up. He was a good person and boyfriend so she took her cell phone out of the pocket of her jacket and flicked it open, hoping to see that he was running late for some reason because as always her first thought was the worst and that there had been some sort of horrible accident. But Reia found no such message and chewed down on her bottom lip nervously, turning her head to look around but still there was no sign of her very hard-to-miss boyfriend.​

 

[Noah Wilkonson]

It had been one of the most nerve wracking day's of Noah's life and he would not have thought that his shift at the department store could ever go as slow as it did. That was the problem with working at one, one rule he had been told was to never look at the clock, because retail time was a whole lot slower than normal time, at least it seemed that way each time he glanced at the hands that still hadn't reached six o'clock. Throughout the day Noah had been fingering a small blue velvet box, checking almost every ten minutes that it was still safe in his pocket, all ready for the biggest night of his life so far. When Noah's mother had told him he had been accepted for the trip to study in Spain he had been apprehensive, and never would he have thought that at the young age of nineteen that he would find the woman of his dreams and make her his wife. As soon as his knock off time came around, Noah clocked out and used a spell to change into his father's old suit, which due to Noah's height, was too small for him. His thin ankles could be seen as the suit pants did not reach his black shoes, nor did the blazer reach his wrists, so his white shirt stuck out longer than his blazer sleeves, but it was all that he had. His father had married his mother in it, so ever since he was a child he had thought it was lucky. With the ring box now in his breast pocket, he could feel his heart beating against it as he recited in his head what he was going to say.

The note he had scribbled down was barely legible, but he trusted Reia would make it to the location he had just apparated to. It was a place in America, with a beautiful bridge and flowers and trees. It had been on a postcard he had received from an aunt when he was eleven years old, and up until that day it had been pinned up on his bedroom wall back home. Before arriving at the location, the week before Noah had visited his family and told them the news and picked up the sun faded postcard to keep as a reference. His family had been ecstatic to hear he was going to propose to Reia, but Reia's parents had not been. Her father had said little more than a stern no to him, and it had embarrassed the young man more than he thought possible, but he loved Reia Vasquez and he would make her his wife with or without approval. So he vowed to keep it a secret that he had failed to be good enough for his girlfriend's father, so instead he took a deep breath and stood behind a large tree opposite the bridge he had described to Reia in his note. The faded postcard was folded up in his pocket next to the ring, and as he hid he unfolded it and held it up against the landscape in front of him, there was only one difference between the two, in the one he was standing in a beautiful girl was standing looking lost. That beautiful girl was his fiancee to be, and he had already kept her waiting ten minutes so he need to calm his nerves and get a move on.

Walking straight up to her, Noah did not even give Reia a chance to greet him or kiss him before he was down on one knee, and he pulled the ring box out from his pocket. He was moving so quickly, but he was so nervous and he wanted it over with as quickly as he could. The ring was small, but it meant so much to him as it was his maw maw's, and it was all that he had, but he hoped that Reia would love it. It was almost as beautiful as her to him and a tear almost fell onto his cheek as he began to speak. "Ever since I was ten years old, my father told me that when I found a beautiful girl who loved me that it was my duty to marry her, give her children and then spend the rest of my life taking care of her," a lump got caught in his throat and one small tear pricked at his cheek. He did not care how young they were, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Reia and their future children. "You're that girl, and if I ever let you get away I would be the most foolish man in the world." he smiled brightly and goofily before opening the small velvet box, "Reia Vasquez, will you marry me?" he spat out, it would be the biggest question he would ever ask in his life and the feeling in his stomach was catching up to him as he looked into her eyes and tried to read what she was thinking, and predict was she was going to say, this was the biggest day of his life, but only the beginning of his life with her.​

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[Reia Vasquez]

Reia was beginning to think the worst as she waited for Noah, he had never been late before, so she started to imagine that he was hurt and wished that she had brought her wand with her instead of leaving it on their drawers. She was hardly a healer but what if something had happened to him and just as she had to stifle a whimper from imagining his body mangled Noah appeared. She breathed a deep sigh of relief, feeling so lucky that he was fine and walking towards her and before she got a chance to give him a kiss or even say hello he had knelt down. It took her a moment to realize just what was going on and when she did Reia couldn't help the smile that had danced it's way onto her lips, feeling so happy that the administration at her school had chosen her house instead of someone else's because the thought of never being with Noah made her feel sick.

Tears trickled down Reia's olive skin as she looked into Noah's eyes as he spoke to her, knowing what was to come and overjoyed that it was because she adored him. Noah Wilkonson was her best friend, lover, and even if most didn't think it such an intellectual stimulant that it was hard for her not to feel grateful every morning when she woke up next to him. As he described a woman she brushed away her tears and smiled as she imagined all of these things with him and knew that she wanted every single one of these and more. Reia wanted to be with Noah for the rest of her life and even if she had known that he was talking about her, Reia couldn't help but let out a small laugh because she felt the same for him. Noah was the man she was going to marry and when he had finially asked her that question and her makeup was running down her cheeks from the mixture of happy emotions, she nodded her head eagerly. "Yes please, yes." Reia couldn't believe what this day had begun with and how now she was engaged to the best man she had ever met. She put a hand on her cheek as she felt them burn up and almost begin to hurt from how wide she was smiling before she caught a glimpse of the ring and realized that this was a part of the proposal process. One might assume that because Reia was from a wealthy family that she might be vain but she truly wasn't, all that mattered about today was that she and Noah truly adored each other and were one day going to marry each other, she didn't need a ring for that but she couldn't help but admit that it was beautiful. Nervously Reia stuck her right hand out before realizing that it was supposed to be the left hand so she quickly switched it, her stomach flipping as she looked into Noah's eyes and said, "I love you so much Noah." Reia could not be happier at the thought of waking up beside Noah as his wife and having children together one day but right now she was just going to take it one step at a time and hope that her mother didn't highjack their wedding with extravagant plans.

Reia looked down as she felt her hand shaking from anxiety that maybe when it was on her finger Noah would suddenly change his mind or that the universe would realize that her life was too good and somehow take him away from her so she was eager to wrap her arms around him. With tears still in her eyes, it was hard for Reia to see Noah through it so she unceremoniously blinked the tears away to allow her to look into his light brown eyes with her own rich pair.​

 

[Noah Wilkonson]

Tears began to trickle down Reia's cheeks and Noah raised his eyebrows slightly, hoping that they were tears of happiness and not anything else like disgust or sadness. He had left her waiting for him, and he was hopeful that she thought he had been worth the wait now, it had been his nerves that had kept him from her, wanting the moment to be as perfect as he could make it, for he would only propose once in his life, he had to do it right the first time. But then his beautiful girlfriend let out a chuckle, a beautiful light laugh, and at that moment she finally put Noah out of his misery and accepted his proposal. Noah didn't care how young they were, when you find the one you know it, his father had passed on all of this wisdom and Reia was his one, once she was his wife he would never let her go. They would have children, and he would get a better job than working the checkout, he would care and provide for her and their children. The expression of love brought out Noah's goofy smile as he took the ring from the box and had his eyes scan both of her hands, making sure he was going to get the right finger for the ring, it would be rather embarrassing if he didn't. "I love you more." he responded, though he hoped it wasn't true, he hoped that Reia loved him just as much as he loved her, and that they would go on to love each other that way for the rest of their lives. The ring slid onto her ring finger and almost fitted perfectly, for now they need not worry as he could have it adjusted later. Reia's cheeks were flushed red, and Noah acted on his instinct to place his clammy hands on them and bring her lips in to meet his in a gentle kiss.

Although they were now officially engaged, there was just one thing for them to worry about, Reia's father, Mr. Vasquez would hardly approve of this joining of the couple. Her father had already told Noah they he did not accept his wish to wed his daughter, that had been made very clear to him. But he felt as though there was still a chance to win him over, there had to be a way. Although he was keeping the secret that he had already visited her father from her, he still needed to bring it up. So the young man let go of his fiancée's cheeks and went for her petite hands, holding them gently. "What about your father?" he asked her seriously, as he gazed into her eyes. "We have to go and see him." he suggested firmly, knowing it was the right thing to do. Perhaps if he saw how happy his daughter was with him, wearing the ring he had given her he would see that their marriage would be successful, and he would give them his blessing. Though deep down Noah knew, blessing or not, he would marry this girl and spend the rest of his life caring for her. To think that just a year ago he had been a small town boy on an exchange staying in her home in Spain baffled him. The exchange had been the greatest decision he had ever made, that he was sure of. Sneaking kisses with his host sister while her father was out was a fond memory, but now that they were engaged they would need to grow up and act like real adults, and this thought excited him, they had their whole lives ahead of them. ​

 

[Reia Vasquez]

When the ring was slid onto Reia's finger she couldn't help but smile down at the promise of a marriage that come soon enough. She knew that they would marry one another, it was clear from the moment they moved in that waking up to one another would be something that they would always do. When Noah declared that he loved her more than she loved him she rolled her eyes at him because it was clear that he was clueless. Reia could never stand those couples who gushed about loving one another more than the other but she did love Noah with all of her heart and perhaps he had more room in his heart for people but she knew there was no one she could ever love more than she did Noah. She didn't have time to say this because Noah's warm palms were on her cheeks and their lips were pressed together which, on instinct, brought Reia's hands to the nape of Noah's neck before their lips slowly were dragged apart and her eyes slowly opened and even in her haze she could see the cogs ticking away in Noah's mind until he spoke his worries to her.

"I hope you aren't thinking of my father while you kiss me Noah. This could cause some issues," Reia teased but sighed because she knew that Noah was right. They would have to, she just wanted to be truly happy before her father rained on their parade. Reia also knew that Noah would get a better chance of surviving that announcement if he asked her father's permission first so she touched her ring clad finger and said, "Noah, debe pedir permiso a mi padre antes de que les decimos." But Reia wanted to be happy about this and be honest about her joy before she had to lie to her family so she suggested, "Why don't we visit your family first? I think I need to thank your father for his wisdom anyway." She grinned playfully before she wrapped her arms tightly around Noah and nuzzled herself in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent and thought back to potions class when she had to write an essay on Amortentia and the distinct scent of what she now recognized as her fiance's. Truth be told, Reia noticed this when she and Noah had met but didn't want to be so forward or creepy so she hadn't told him, or anyone else for that matter. As the scent soothed her, Reia rubbed Noah's back gently, knowing that the prospect of asking her father for permission to marry her must be stressful to him and she hoped that he knew that even if her father didn't give it she would still marry Noah. It was a formality that she knew he would appreciate but one she couldn't care less about.​