Unromanticly-Romantic

We.are.going.on.a.date. Me and her are going on a date. A Valentines Day date. Just us. We're never all by ourselves and tonight she's taking me out to dinner. By ourselves. I couldn't be happier. I fall into her car, the car that I love because it reminds me of her. I look at her back window through the rear-view mirror and see "I love Jess STILL" in the window from when I last wrote it. We automatically start holding hands- the simple things we do to keep our love alive. She's a little grumpy and I pray to God to make tonight perfect for her. I know it's what she wants and I want her to be happy. We get to the restaurant which is conveniently her job and she tells me to stand in the middle of the road that we're walking on. She runs into the kitchen. Oh god, what the hell is she doing? Suddenly she runs back out again, standing at the door. Greg walks by me, slowing the closer her gets, and then goes in his truck and walks back to the kitchen. Damnit, she told them I was here. She walks back over to me and we walk into the restaurant. She just walks in with the air that she has, almost letting the door slam on me. So romantic. We're seated and she talks to everyone on the staff. Yes, I can tell- tonight will be romantic. She orders for me though which just makes me grin. I'm glad that she'll give me the typical couple things. And she knows I'm glad and she smiles at me. During dinner she smiles at me a lot, but pretends to be cool and calm. She tries to play footsie with me, which results in her kicking the table. It wouldn't seem romantic to most but it makes me laugh and it's romantic because she's trying. She pays without complaining- even though I got the most expensive thing on the menu. Finally we go back to her car and this time- she holds the door. She puts her arm around my shoulders and hugs me close. When we get to her car she stops and asks if I want my surprise now or later. I kind of shrug it off: Now I guess. She pops open her trunk and I look inside. "The Notebook" on DVD. A cute little bear with a heart with gold xoxo on it. And then in the middle. A cake. With pink icing. With words. That say "Marry Me". I turn back and look at her and I see it in her eyes that this is for real. My heart pounds. I slid my promise ring off and hand it too her. I want her to do it right. She complains at me and tells me I'm making her get her pants dirty. I can't help but laugh, because I know she's trying. She takes her coat off and kneels on it, stopping to ask one knee or two? I think I'm going to die laughing because this is too funny. It's the way our relationship is and it wouldn't be right any other way. "Pain in the ass- will you be my wife?" She act's cocky in a cute way and I pull her into me and kiss the top of her head. I kiss her lips. She asks if it's a yes and I laugh and kiss her again. She's so wonderful. I tell her of course and I hug her as tight as I can. My heart is beating because seeing that was so beautiful. It meant that she was real about us. That we were real. That our future was real. She asks if we can get back in the car since it is February and kind of cold. We drive back to her house- holding hands.1

We wipe the words off the cake so her parents won't see, go inside and cut the cake. They don't acknowledge me (they never do)- but I'll let that bother me another day. We take the cake upstairs and eat it on her bed. I hold her in my arms. I can't stop looking at her. I can't stop kissing her. I think this is the most wonderful night of my life. When I talk to her she looks at me and she's there with me, in the conversation. I have all her attention. That makes me feel so good. I can't describe how great she makes me feel when she pays attention to me, but it's wonderful. I want to hold her closer, hold her tighter. I want to kiss her a thousand times. And I do. When she drives me back home, she runs back to my car and knocks on the window. I roll it down. She begs me not to go. Her mouth is laughing but her eyes beg at me to hold her just a little longer. I smile at her and tell her I love her. My heart dances around inside. She kisses me again through the half-cracked window and then runs. I try to catch my breath because tonight was wonderful. It wasn't really that romantic, and because it wasn't- it was. We were a couple tonight and we can hardly ever be one. The simplest things are extraordinary things to us. It was romantic tonight because nothing was romantic. Because that's just who we were. And I wouldn't give that up for anything.2