Title: Stray Heart Status: Complete Characters: Anon, Naomi, Naser Rating: SFW Classification: One-Shot Author: PumpkinBrain Summary: Anon, a plan fully set up in his mind, is going to propose to Naomi; even if it kills him. He has the entire day set up, everything planned out perfectly. He’ll take her to Monterey and propose on a boat trip. He’ll be following the plan to a T. What could possibly go wrong? It was a cold day in Volcaldera, as it usually always felt like. And there I was, drinking a beer, talking about shit with my bro. The one legendary bro. The bro since the start. Who, you may ask? Would it mayhaps be Reed, the affectionate stoner? Would it be Sage, the—no, haha, fuck that guy. It was Naser, the man himself. And that conversation… well, it looked a little bit like this. “Trust me, dude, I have the perfect plan.” I said, getting in closer to Naser as I put my hand out in a five-finger point. The universal sign of ‘listen up’. “Get this.” “I’m listening.” Naser nodded, taking a sip of his beer. I hadn’t touched my own in a little bit, so I also gave mine a quick sip. For context, Naser and I were chilling in a cute little saloon near my work. It was cowboy-themed, and a pretty good time. It didn’t take itself super seriously or anything, which made it perfect for a spot that me and Naser could go to—to catch up. It was a habit we had gotten into when we realized we worked so close to each other; after work on Friday, the boys meet up and get a cold one. ‘The boys’ being me and Naser. We would’ve invited Reed, but these days, he’s a practical billionaire. He doesn’t spend time in sad old Volcaldera anymore. Damn Reed. Too good for a skinnie and some kid in medical school. Anyway, anyway, it was a fun time. We get a few drinks and we chill out, shooting the shit and talking about our lives. Naser talks about his wife, Stella, and I talk about my girlfriend; Naomi. The topic of discussion tonight? …proposal. Yeah. I was going to propose to Naomi. And trust me, I had the perfect plan for it. I had an entire day planned out. We would go down to Monterey, we would explore the Cannery Row and do some PRE-CHECKED FOR ALLERGENS wine-tasting—since, given Naomi is a herbivore, I’m not sure she would like to spend all of her time in a canning district. Wine-tasting sounds fun.. and the pre-check is because she’s allergic to almonds, and wine-tasting places really like to use almond wines for some reason—then after that we would take the 17-Mile drive, and we would, last but not least; go on a boat cruise to view the sea otters. Which was when I’d propose. On our way back from seeing the otters, I’d get down on one knee. It was easy. It would be perfect. “Okay, so get this.” I started, turning my head so I could be careful when putting down my beer. When I looked back at Naser, he seemed amused. “…what?” I asked, confusion laced in my tone. What was he all smiley about? “I know the plan already, Anon.” He snickered. “You don’t have to explain it.” I was confused. “What do you mean, you know the—“ it hit me. God fuck— “You’re fucking kidding me.” I whispered, putting a hand to my head. “I muttered that ENTIRE thing, didn’t I?” I said incredulously. You’d think that after twenty-three years of living, I’d get a handle on that bullshit. Guess not. “You’re twenty-three?” Naser asked. He was still snickering. God damn it! This twenty-two year old bastard! “Motherfucker!” I yelled in an exaggerated fashion. I didn’t want to draw the entire bar’s attention to me, after all. Well, it didn’t work. Everyone was looking at me. Naser just shook his head, and continued to laugh. “It’s okay, Anon. Do you still want to tell me the plan?” He took a sip of beer. “I’ll listen.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. He seemed rather carefree about it. Not in a bad way, of course. “No, it’s—“ I sighed. “You already know the plan. Why bother.” I took a swig of beer. The bitter taste really helped ground me in reality. God, I needed to get drunk. I really was nervous about the whole plan, in case my confidence betrayed that idea. I was marrying my girlfriend of five years. It was a big deal. “Well, alright, Anon.” Naser said, shaking his head and putting an arm on my shoulder. “Just know that I think it’ll go great. Naomi really likes her marine life and she absolutely LOVES sea otters. You’ve made a genius choice by deciding to head to Monterey.” He began to shake my shoulders softly. “You got this, bro.” I exhaled. It certainly didn’t feel like I ‘had it’, but… maybe I did. I don’t know. Naser’s smile was infectious. It caused me to smile a genuine smile. “Thanks, Naser.” I muttered, and nodded my head. “I really appreciate you.” “For sure, dude. We’ve been buds since high school. Of course I’d have your back. She’s…” He trailed off. “…she’s a lot happier with you than she was with me, after all.” He said, and seemingly looked back on something fondly, no longer looking sad. Probably memories of him and Naomi. He’d clearly moved on by now. I just ‘hm’-ed, and took a sip of beer. I wasn’t sure what to say. “Either way.” He muttered, laughing and shaking his head. “You got this bro. Shit will be tight. Make sure to give me a call when you do it—I wanna know how it goes down.” He nudged me. “Why, of course, Naser old buddy.” I spoke, doing a faux rich-person voice. “You shall be the first to know.” He laughed, and did his own voice. “Sounds good, sir.” We laughed at that. Together, as bros. —For the rest of that night, we talked, and we laughed, and we drank. I didn’t end up drunk, because… honestly? He was right. It would be alright. Naomi WAS happy with me. We’d been dating fucking forever, and this was simply the next step. Every man had to get married eventually. It was the number one step in your life—the true knot being tied. The government-official proof that you’re in love with someone. Them… gaining your last name. Yeah. They get your last name. Isn’t that a trip, haha? Naomi would get my last name. Her name would be Naomi Mous. Naomi… Mous. …It… actually has a bit of a nice ring to it. ////://// A few days later, and the plan was set in place. I had tickets for the cruise purchased, sea otter sightings were confirmed, I had enough money in my account to buy her gifts on Cannery Row, the tires on my truck had good pressure, my oil was changed, and it was fueled all the way up. We would probably have to stop a few times on the way to Monterey to fill up, given how it was still a bit of a trip and my gas mileage sucks (fuck you, Chevy Silverado) but whatever. It wasn’t a big deal, I still had a good amount of spare money left over. It would be fine. Everything will be… fine. I pulled up into Naomi’s work, engaging the e-brake as I came to a stop. The loud V8 engine of my big-ass truck (that was definitely NOT compensating) continued to rumble as I sat idled in the parking lot, waiting for her to come stumbling out. It was early in the day, so we had some good time to make it to Monterey. Now, you may be asking, ‘if she just got out of work how can it be early?’ Well, my friend, that’s something we call… the night shift. See how perfect this plan is? I pick up Naomi from work, she’s tired, falls asleep in the truck—especially since I picked out a very calming playlist—and when she wakes up, we’re in Monterey and she’s all surprised and stuff. And it’s still day time. It’s the perfect fucking plan. After a few minutes of waiting, I saw Naomi walk out of the store she worked at, looking somewhat frazzled; yet still so beautiful. She was wearing a cute outfit of a periwinkle shirt under a lighter blue sweater and some mom-jeans. It was a simple, work appropriate outfit, yet it still captivated me so greatly. When Naomi climbed into the car, she didn’t say anything. So I decided to initiate. “How was work?” I asked, smiling. She turned to me, her face stoic, her eyes dead tired. …But she smiled anyway. “Work was good, Anon. Thank you.” She replied, her expression making my face feel warm. She was so pretty. I coughed. “G-Good.” I muttered, a little embarrassed. We’d been dating that long and her face still made me blush. Imagine. “That’s good. Your job seems rough,” I said, and as I did, I disengaged the e-brake and put it in ‘reverse’. “So I’m glad you’re still able to enjoy it.” I chuckled. “Yeah, me too.” She muttered, already resting her head against the window. “It’s not a bad job. It just has its ups and downs..” “I’m sure it does.” I nodded, and, deciding it was time to move on, changed the subject. “Oh, and uh, you… you look pretty today, babe.” She blushed. “Stoop, you saw me wearing this when I left the house… you said the same thing…” She covered her face with her hands. Getting there… “Doesn’t make it any less true, babe.” I chuckled. I then changed the subject again. “You want some music, by the way?” I asked, already fiddling with my phone. “Sure. Nothing too loud, though..” She whispered. Her eyes were over her face, she was resting her head… it was all perfect. As she began to already slightly nod off, I pulled out the big guns: Clair De Lune , by Claude Debussy. It was one of Naomi’s favorite piano songs, but also? It was one of the ones to make her fall asleep the fastest. She didn’t know I knew this, so I decided it would be good to use it to my advantage. I’m a fucking genius, man. After a few moments of the song playing, she spoke. “Oh, I love this song..” she muttered, and then, not even ten seconds later, began to lightly snore. Hook, line, and sinker. I let the calming music play for around ~10 minutes before I switched the playlist to ‘my favorites’. Naomi was in REM sleep by then, nothing would wake her up—not for a few hours. So I was perfectly able to listen to my own music. As I merged onto the freeway, the music played quietly in my car, and I felt at peace. I even felt like singing along a bit, but I decided against it. Instead, I just let it play. The quiet sounds of Green Day filled the truck as I smiled at Naomi’s sleeping form. “ Oh, I beg to dream and differ, from the hollow lies…” The radio played as I looked out at the other cars. We were all going at our own pace, and the lack of traffic was perfect, especially because I had planned our leaving-time around it. Nobody ever drove on the freeway at an odd hour like this. It was fantastic, and even though it had only been a short amount of time, I was already in a road trip mood. The bangers were playing, the truck was driving smoothly, the snacks were in the backseat, my future-wife was sleeping soundly… man. Nothing could fuck this day up. Nothing. It’s only been fifteen minutes, but I was sure of it. Nothing could go wrong. As I drove my way to Monterey, as I said, things went exceptionally well. I never had car troubles, Naomi never woke up during the stops for gas, I didn’t crash the damn truck (that’s a true achievement), the music never ended up bothering her, and we never ended up in traffic. Never even someone else in an accident, and the drive was like, four hours long. That was an insane road trip—probably the best I’d ever had. But I’d only had like, two, so who could really gauge that shit? Certainly not me. Either way, after the four hours were up, I pulled into… the town of Monterey. It was fucking beautiful, my dude. The beach-town was a lot to take in as I perused the streets of Cannery Row, looking for a good spot to park. The salty air coming in through the window I had opened was a smell for sure. It was different, but.. nice. This was all nice. It (Monterey) was a super neat place, from what I was seeing. Big signs that said “CANNERY ROW COMPANY” and “MONTEREY CANNING COMPANY” were practically yelling at me, and all I could do was smile. It was such a cute little area. Er, I mean, it was such a.. manly area. Yeah. Whatever, man. It was cool. Simple as. I lowered the volume on my music as I finally swerved into a parking spot. I fucked it up, though, so after reversing a little bit; I finally pulled straight into the spot. I engaged the e-brake as I unbuckled my seat belt, and I heard the music cut off. It was time. I was excited to finally be getting out of the car. But also.. I laid my hand on Naomi’s shoulder, and shook her awake. “Hey, hun. Wake up.” Quickly, she snapped awake. It was startling, in a way. “I’ll get back to work I promise!” She shouted, almost instinctually. I removed my hand from her, shocked at what she said for a moment. She must’ve been dreaming about work. “Huh?” She asked, finally realizing where she was, and instantly turning on ‘groggy mode’. She wiped her eyes, and yawned. “Anon? Why am I still in the car?” She asked. “How long was I asleep…?” “Uh, about…” I checked my watch. It was dead. Shit. I looked at my truck’s clock. “Four hours.” “Oh, that’s not—“ Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, and she looked over at me. “FOUR HOURS??” She yelled. I put a hand to my ear. “Ow, hey! Small space.” I exclaimed, not really mad, but spoken loudly in an attempt to speak over her yelling. I began to nurse my ear as she spoke again. “S-Sorry, just—“ she said, looking at the clock herself to confirm. “Four hours? And, and— where are we?” She asked. She wasn’t scared, just confused. Thank goodness. “We, my love,” I said, and opened up my door. I put one foot out on the ground. “Are in Monterey.” I stepped out of the truck, and waited for it to process for her. Her brain was still lagging behind. But as I turned to face the town and stretch my legs, I heard what I was waiting for. Naomi’s loud gasp. “MONTEREY?!” She yelled, sounding more excited than I’d ever heard her. I could practically hear the smile on her face. “ANON, YOU DIDN’T!” She yelled, struggling with her seat belt. I walked up to the sidewalk and turned around to watch her as she tried her best to remove herself from the seat. Watching her struggle, I began to laugh in a light-hearted fashion. She either didn’t hear me or didn’t care, because next thing I knew, she threw open the door and made a beeline for me, enrapturing me in a tight hug. “Oh my God..” she whispered. “You happy?” I chuckled. “You glad I set you up to fall asleep in the car?” I asked, running a hand through her hair as we moved back and forth. “Oh, you bastard.. I knew that’s what you were doing.” She pulled away from me, and laughed. “That’s so you.” “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I held a hand to my chest, pretending to be hurt. “Good things, sweetie. Good things.” She said, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, yeah.” I muttered, and looked around. It really was a beautiful place. The sun shone directly down on us—yet it wasn’t overbearing. The smell was salty, yet somehow calming. The weather was humid, but humid enough to be nice, yet not uncomfortable. It was great. Buuttt… I checked my phone. Yeah, as I thought. “Well, speaking of good things, I think we need to get going.” “Get going?” She asked, and suddenly looked INCREDIBLY sad. “What? Where? We just—we just got here, Anon..” I backpedaled. “No, no, hey. Yeah, Naomi, I know. Look. I’ve made a couple plans here and there. We have somewhere we need to be in about twenty or so minutes.” I said, and rubbed her head again. “Don’t worry, we’re not leaving yet.” She perked up. “Really?!” I laughed. Gosh, she sounded like a kid. Hard to believe she was pushing 24. “Yes, really. Now come on, we gotta go.” I said, nodding my head towards the direction we were supposed to head in. I had practically studied the map for this place, so I knew where to go without my phone’s GPS. “Alright,” Naomi said, and grabbed my hand. “Lead the way, Prince Charming.” She giggled. “Sounds good, my Queen.” I smiled. And then, we began our epic quest. Our fantastic journey. Of.. walking a few blocks to go to a place that had wine tasting. It wasn’t as fantastic as I made it out to be, but trust me, when we got there, it would be fantastic. The destination is… sometimes better than the journey. I won’t lie. All those things you hear about the journey being the better thing, honestly, never understood it. You take the journey to get to the destination. Why is the journey better? Absolutely stupid. Anyway, enough rambling. We made it to the wine tasting spot right on time. Naomi asked about it, and I explained that I just… thought it could be something fun. Which was true, I did think that. No ulterior motive there. At that, she smiled, and gave me another hug. She had never gone wine-tasting, but she liked wine, so how could this be anything but fun? So far so good. …But see, this was the wine-tasting spot that I had called ahead to ask for any almond wines to be completely removed, as my girlfriend was super allergic. Hopefully they actually did it, but I guess we would have to see, wouldn’t we. Hint fucking hint. As we stepped into the place, I was honestly quite shocked at how nice it looked. The rest of this town looked so old-fashioned, yet this place looked like a fancy restaurant. Jeez. I honest-to-God hoped I could afford it. That’s how rich and fancy it looked. But anyway, we walked up to the lady at the counter, and let her know we were there for the 1:00. “Alright, sounds good!” She said, cheery voice making me perk up slightly. Maybe they really did listen. Maybe I could trust this place. “We’ll have everything set up in a few moments. The group joining you guys is over in the waiting area,” she pointed to a sign on the wall. “—if you wish to intermingle with them. We’ve set out some complimentary cheese and crackers for you guys.” I opened my mouth to reply, but Naomi beat me to it. “Thank you!” She said. Simple enough, I guess. “We will do that. Come on, Anon.” She said, and grabbed my hand again. I was happy about that, though, because she seemed… actually excited. She seemed ready for action. And I was all for it. We walked over to the area specified by the sign, and took a seat with the rest of the people there. Well, ‘people’ is a loose term. I think the only humans were me and this one other guy. He was chill, his name was James and he had hair. Not much else to remember about him, though. He was part of the other group, and he seemed to be sidling up with some stego girl. Probably his wife. Honestly, reminded me of myself. Haha. Though, after around fifteen minutes of chatting about cheese, our tour guide—or, sommelier, as Naomi called her—came back to greet us with that cheery voice of hers. Using her sommelier magic, she led us to where we would be tasting the wine. It was in a quaint little room, surrounded by a deco of mostly brick and barrels. It felt like.. a wine-tasting room. I wasn’t sure how else to describe it, I was a little out of my element there. I’m used to describing fast food joints and used car shops, not fucking.. women shit. But hey, even if I wasn’t exactly in my normal spot, I was here for Naomi. If Naomi was having fun… I looked over at Naomi, who was viewing the room with a sparkle in her eyes. She was always one for the aesthetic. I smiled at that. I’m glad she’s happy.. but see? I told you. She would enjoy herself, and because of that… I’d enjoy myself. So hey. I’ll let my shoulders relax, and I’ll enjoy some wine. I’m more of a beer guy, but hell, sometimes wine can taste good. “Okay, guys! Welcome to our quaint little shop.” The sommelier said, giving us a wide smile. Now, I ask you to hold on, and for you to allow me to paraphrase here. She went on and on about some bullshit wine club and how you could purchase the cheese and crackers they gave us, and there was nothing else of substance in any of what she said. It was absolute shilling. Honestly, I didn’t even like the cheese, so who cares. Next up, though, she actually started discussing the wine. Finally. “The first thing we have lined up for you guys is a nice Pinot Grigio. It’s been aged for only around three years, yet it’s still quite tasty, while keeping that nice bit of strength in it.” She spoke softly, like she’d done this a million times before. She probably had. “Now, go ahead and take a big whiff of that. What do you guys pick up on?” I picked up the glass and brought it to my nose. I smelled flowers, mostly. Using the flower knowledge that I learned from spending time with Rosa, it was honeysuckle. Smelt… not bad. “Alright, now you guys can take your sips. Let me know what you think!” The sommelier said, smiling brightly. I brought the glass to my lips and gave it a taste. Mm. Wasn’t bad. It was a light flavor, strong on the way down but it was pretty alright. I’m not a wine guy, so I can’t really give a good description. After giving a shrug to myself, I looked over at Naomi, and she was… swishing it around in her mouth? And then she… spit it out in the metal bucket? “Naomi?” I asked. “Why did you..?” “Hm?” She asked, and turned to me. “What?” “Why did you…” I began to whisper. “Why did you spit out the wine? Did you not like it?” “W-What?” She asked, not realizing what I said. And then it clicked. “Oh, wait— oh my gosh.” She snorted. “Anon, that’s what you’re supposed to do. You taste it and then spit it out. I know we’ve never been wine-tasting,” she giggled. “But even I knew that.” “…oh.” I said, and looked away in embarrassment. Damn it. I probably shouldn’t have swallowed it… Either way, next wine up on the list, a Rosé, I did things differently. I did it like Naomi did it, and I honestly didn’t like it as much. I think I liked swallowing it more. No homo. N-Next up, a red wine. Finally, something I recognized. It was aged or something in a barrel. It was quite clear, given I could actually taste the oak. It wasn’t bad. …Sorry if it sounds like I’m rushing through the wine tasting. It really was just the same shit over and over again. But again. Even if I wasn’t having a lot of fun, Naomi was, and that’s what was important to me. I could be strapped to a table getting my organs removed, and if Naomi was safe and having a good time because of it, I’d let it happen. I love her a lot, and I’d do anything for her. If that wasn’t abundantly clear. So, when the tour was over, and I saw how disappointed she looked; I was a little sad at that. So, I decided to do a little something for her. I stood up from the table and walked up to the sommelier, who was working on something at a countertop nearby. “Hey, Anon! How can I help you?” She asked, looking up from her paperwork. “Hey, Jamie. What’s up.” I said, humoring her conversation for just a moment. And then I got to business. “Hey, listen. My girlfriend over there, Naomi, I’m trying to make this day real special for her. Would you mind if we got her another glass, or something? Something she would like?” “Oh, of course! It’ll cost extra, sorry, but I can do that.” She nodded. “You are able to pay, yes?” She asked. Probably had to legally ask. I’m sure she knew it was fine. “Yeah, I can.” I nodded. I’m good for it!! “Alright! What kind of wines does she like?” Jamie asked, taking out a pen and a notepad to write something down. You can guess what, dumbass. “She likes whites.” I started to explain. “Sweet whites. Anything you can do with that is fine,” I said, making a fatal error. “Just as long as it’s something tasty.” “Sounds good, Anon.” She whispered. “I’ll get that over to you in a jiffy.” I smiled, and nodded at her. “Thanks.” I walked back to our table, and sat down next to Naomi, putting my hand on her hand as I did. I gripped her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back. “What were you doin’?” Naomi asked, somewhat teasingly. “Ah, just asking a question about the wines. I really liked that second glass we had. The rosé.” I lied out of my teeth. Very… fast. Jeez, that was scary. I lied really quick there. I didn’t even plan that. “Oh, you did? I thought it was alright. I’m surprised you actually liked it.” She smiled. “But I’m glad you got to try something new, Anon. Lord knows your palate needs to be expanded.” She giggled. “What!” I said, mock-outrage in my tone. “There’s nothing wrong with eating chicken every day…” I pouted. I liked my chicken, what can I say? Fried, grilled, it was all good. All delicious. How dare Naomi say such a thing. She just laughed. How dare she. “I mean your drink palate. You can eat all the chicken you want,” She clutched my hand tighter. “But you should drink more than root beer with every meal.” “B-But, I’m a MUG maniac!” I said, feeling my heart be torn in two. My own girlfriend! And she was saying this stuff about me! “I know, sweetie.” She rubbed my head. “But now you can be a wine maniac!” She exclaimed, and gave me a bright smile. I was silent for a few moments before she… realized. “Wait, no. That makes you sound like an alcoholic. I didn’t mean to—“ I interrupted her apology with a laugh, and she hit me on the arm. But I didn’t care. Didn’t hurt. It was worth it. That was incredibly funny, intentional or not. Naomi could be really goofy when she wanted to be. “That’s funny, Naomi.” I laughed, echoing my thoughts. “Aha, yeah. Lemme just drink booze with every meal..” “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” She huffed, blushing. “Yeah, yeah.” I said, waving my hand. That was the worst thing I could’ve said! ‘Yeah yeah’ is a total convo killer. The conversation would end up in a ditch somewhere if I didn’t keep it going somehow. I saw the girl coming over with a glass of wine, and saw a perfect out. “Oh, hey, look. What’s up, Jamie?” “Hey, guys! I got a special delivery here for a… Naomi?” She asked, holding up a glass of wine with two hands. Naomi, confused, turned to me. “Anon? Did you order a glass of wine?” “Uh…” I trailed off, looking away. She snorted. “You did, didn’t you?” She spoke that last part softly, going against her earlier snort. If that makes sense “…I might’ve.” I whispered, and looked away. I still smirked at her though. I was being sly. She caught on quick, and shook her head. Remained smiling, though. “Thank you, honey.” She said, leaning in and giving me a kiss on the lips. It wasn’t just a peck, either. It was a full-on kiss. A nice one. A loving one. It was over before I could fully appreciate it, though. Naomi removed herself from my lips and turned to Jamie. “Thank you!” “Of course! Let me know what you think!” She said, and handed off the glass. Naomi took it in her two hands, and began to examine it. It was a white wine. Perfect. After examining the glass, she took a sniff. “Smells like flowers, and… oak? Or.. bark? Or something?” She said. She apparently wasn’t sure. Giving a shrug, she took a sip of the wine. I took the opportunity to ask about what exactly had been fed to my girlfriend. “So, what’s in this?” I asked, looking at the yellow liquid in the glass. “It’s an almond-white. It’s been aged for around five years, yet despite that, it remains one of our sweeter wines. The grapes were squashed naturally on our own vineyard, and the almonds—“ —It struck me, like a gunshot wound to the head. “THE ALMONDS?!” I yelled, standing up from my chair. I completely interrupted her. I was staring at her with both a death stare and a deathly fearful stare. Fuck. Oh, fuck. The almonds. FUCK! “Uh, y-yes?” Jamie said, interrupting my thoughts; not realizing the mistake she had made. Scared for my girlfriend, I ignored Jamie and took a look at Naomi. She was admiring the glass of wine for only a few moments before she… Before she started to itch at her throat. The itching quickly turned into hacking and coughing as she SCRAPED at her throat. “A-Anon!!” She yelled, her voice garbled. It sounded… sickening. “A-AANAOON!!! MY—“ She coughed, loudly, and I began to panic. She was panicking too. We were all panicking. She was clawing at her throat, and her face was turning red. “What?! Your what?!” I yelled, throwing my chair to the side. She didn’t respond. “Naomi!” I yelled. The sommelier in front of me and the people around me were all no longer relevant to me; I needed to help Naomi. I had to. I couldn’t let her die here. “G-Get-! PURSE!!!” Naomi screamed, finally getting it out of her system. She was coughing louder now, and her face was blue. But I knew what to do, now. I instantly reached for her purse and opened it up. Normally, I would’ve never considered doing such a thing, but this was not a good situation. This was not a NORMAL situation. And I was freaking out. I began to dig through her purse. I needed to find an epipen— that’s what she was looking for. That’s what she needed. That’s what would save her life. After a few moments of digging, I finally found my golden, HOLY FUCKING grail, in the form of a blue cylinder with an orange tip. I breathed a sigh of relief as I removed the cap and pressed the button on the end. Despite never using one, I knew how to work an epipen. Stabbing it into her thigh, I watched as she visibly looked more relieved—nearly instantly. Her face began to go back to normal, and I dropped the needle on the ground, feeling all the energy leave my body. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off. Thank God. But… rather than start chewing anyone out for not helping, which is what you expected I’m sure; I just sat there, my arms around her as she continued to cough and try to breathe. I kept whispering nice things into her ear, and giving her kisses on the head. She was slowly gaining a smile, though, so I guess something was working. After a few minutes, the epipen had worked its full magic, and Naomi’s face had returned to its normal color. She was breathing normally, and she was calming down. “Are you alright, Naomi?” I asked quietly. It was a finalized question. “Y-Yes, Anon. Thank you.” She whispered softly and… weakly. That wasn’t a description I ever wanted to use for Naomi. But still, I smiled at her. But then I stood up, and faced Jamie. I was… I was beyond pissed. I didn’t care how nice she was. I was fucking furious. “So, uh, Jamie?” I asked, my voice dripping with murderous intent. “Y-Yes?” She asked, completely scared out of her mind. Good. There were a few moments of silence before I let her have it. “What the fuck were you thinking??!” I yelled, throwing my arms out. “I said NO ALMONDS! NEVER ALMONDS! SHE’S ALLERGIC TO ALMONDS! I CALLED AHEAD AND SAID THAT!” I was screaming now. I was probably turning red myself, but not from lack of air. “WHY DO NONE OF YOU—!” “Anon.” Naomi whispered weakly. I stopped my ranting. “It’s.. its okay.” She whispered, giving me a soft smile. She had tears in her eyes. It was clearly hard for her to talk. “She didn’t know. Look at her. Management probably—“ she coughed. “Management probably didn’t tell her.” She laughed. “I…” I muttered. Naomi just shook her head. I… slowly began to calm down, and look between Naomi and Jamie. Jamie looked on the verge of tears, but so did Naomi. I looked around the table itself. The group behind me all looked worried; but still just as stupid as Jamie. None of them even tried to call 911. Motherfuckers. Ugh. Whatever. However, I didn’t feel like I should believe a total theory. So I asked. I had to know. “Is that true?” I asked, turning my complete attention to Jamie. “Did you not know?” “O-Of course not!” She yelled, holding her clipboard as if it were a teddy bear. “I would’ve never fed her almonds if I— it I knew it—“ I put a hand up. “I get it. Just..” I looked over at Naomi. “Naomi, do you wanna head home?” I whispered, getting in closer. I wrapped my arms back around her. “Are you good enough to walk?” She nodded. “Yes. I’m just a little… shell-shocked. But—“ she shook her head, “I don’t want to go home. Not yet. We just got here, Anon.” She chuckled. “A little allergic reaction won’t stop me.” “..are you sure?” I asked. One last question. One last test. The mango paro nodded. “I’m sure.” At that, I smiled at her. “…you’re a lot stronger than me, honey.” I laughed. “Thanks, but I already knew that.” She giggled. I rubbed her hair. She really was way stronger than me. Wasn’t even a competition… ////://// As me and Naomi crawled back into the truck, I clutched my steering wheel tightly. I was still upset about that situation in the wine-tasting place. Yet, I guess I couldn’t stay mad forever. Naomi was able to forgive Jamie, and she decided not to sue the place, given it was just an accident. I kinda had to agree with her, even if I was outraged. But when does my outrage ever matter. I… I just… Argh. I just don’t think.. I don’t think anyone realizes how close Naomi was to dying. Nobody even had their phone out—nobody was even going to call 911. She could’ve—she WOULD’VE died there if she didn’t have her epipen. She would’ve been fucked, and I… I would’ve lost her. I put my hand on her thigh, and tried to take my mind off of the wine shit. No more. It was over, it was done with. No use crying over… your girlfriend almost dying. Ugh. Anyway, I had my hand on her thigh. Not the one I stabbed, but, the clean one. She put her hand on mine, and I looked into her eyes. She gave me a warm look back, and I smiled. “We still have some stuff we can do. You feel up to it?” I asked again. She nodded. “Of course. What’s next on the agenda?” “Well…” I muttered, and looked at the clock. Nothing… “Oh, wait. It’s off.” I said out-loud, and snorted. I took the keys out of my pocket and turned them in the ignition. The truck roared to life, and I felt the wheel align itself back into position. I then looked at the internal clock. It was only around 2:30, and our boat cruise was set to be at around 4:30. I turned to face Naomi. “We have two hours to kill before the biggest thing. You… you wanna take the 17-mile drive? It was originally part of my plan, but we ended up spending a little more time in the wine-tasting place than I wanted…” I grumbled. Naomi giggled. A beautiful sound. “What’s that?” She asked. I explained it—it was just a nature drive down a pretty road. She looked to be contemplating it for a moment before deciding on her answer. “Sure, we can do that. Shouldn’t take too long, right? We’ll be back in time, I’m sure.” She smiled at me, and gripped my hand tighter. “Yeah, of course. It’s only around twenty minutes or so.” I nodded. I think. I hope. I pray. Naomi, ignoring my weird expressions, looked out the window. She was looking all around and at Monterey as a whole. She smiled to herself. She seemed to be contemplating something, before turning to face me again. “Well then… what are we waiting for?” “That’s the spirit.” I chuckled. I put the truck into reverse, rolled out of the parking spot, and peeled away. Our next stop, the 17-mile road. Shouldn’t be too far away, right? Well, it… kinda was. The GPS told us it was twenty-minutes away. So that’s twenty minutes of our time gone—not even being used on the road itself. Fantastic. Ugh. Anyway, though? Since Naomi was awake? I got to listen to my music at a normal volume. “Dawning… of a new era. Calling, don’t let it catch you falling..” The radio spoke, allowing me to groove along to my own tunes. Fucking GREEN DAY DUDE. WOOOOOO “Ah, I love this song…” Naomi whispered, looking out the window and smiling. She wasn’t lying, if you can believe it. I had successfully turned her into a Green Day fan, just by having it be one of the only things I played on my radio. The psyop of the century. She didn’t end up liking my favorite GD song (Holiday), sadly, but she ended up really liking Waiting and American Idiot. Who would’ve thought? “I also love this song.” I said, looking at her and smiling a wide smile. “I have pretty good taste in music.” She snorted. “But of course. You are the best, after all.” She rolled her eyes sarcastically, yet… with a twinge of good fun. We were both just having some fun. As was always the case. “You know it, babe.” I said, and she snickered. We settled back into a nice silence after that, the music filling the truck making everything feel less awkward than it would’ve been without. Anyway, the GPS, after a few moments of silence, ended up speaking up. We were to get off at the next exit, and follow a dirt road for around a mile. After that, we’d end up on the pretty part of the road. Sounded good to me, so I followed the instructions to a T. As one usually does with a GPS… Damn it, that always pissed me off. When someone you’re driving with doesn’t follow the GPS and then gets mad at it when they get lost. It’s so fucking stupid. ‘Oooh jeez, the GPS says to go one way? I’ll go another way’ fucking retard. Anyway I’m rambling. Me and Naomi drove on a bumpy, rocky road for a while before we ended up on a normal-ish road. But as we drove down, we took in the sights. Treelines, the sun showing through them in a brilliant showcase of light and… uh… beautifulness. “That’s not a word, Anon.” Naomi lectured. “Fuck.” I continued to drive somewhat slow down the road, watching all the wildlife walking around, hearing Naomi ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ at everything little thing. It was honestly adorable, and I’m glad she was having so much fun. That wildlife, though, I was surprised to see it; given the watery nature of the town. But deer, coyotes, a deer and a coyote fighting? Holy shit that’s dope. But when the coyote saw my truck, I quickly slammed on the pedal and sped off. I didn’t wanna deal with that bullshit. Yet, we trucked on (haha) and continued driving. Naomi continued to be surprised and mystified by every beautiful sight, as was I. It was honestly… it was nature in its prime element. How else can I describe it? The trees over-arched over certain parts of it all, and it really just wrapped it all together for me. Everything looked so nice to me. I was never one for nature bullshit, but goddamn, this was really pretty. But eventually, all good things have to come to an end. We reached the end of the road, a cliff’s drop-off. I could sense Naomi feeling disappointment at it being over, so, rather than put my truck in reverse and turn around, I decided to put it in park and take the keys out. Naomi looked at me, concern etched onto her expression. “Anon?” “C’mon. Let’s take a look.” I said, smiling, and stepped out of the truck. Naomi followed me shortly after, and I walked around my truck to meet up with her. I intercepted her walking with a hug. She was caught off-guard initially, but then leaned into it. She was warm. I was warm. It was nice. “Hey, honey.” I whispered, and clutched her tighter to me. “Hey.” She whispered, and giggled. When neither of us moved from the hug, I leaned us up against the truck. All she did was grip me tighter, and give a content sigh into my shirt. I laughed. It was so cute. “You wanna go take a look at the cliff, or do you want to stay here and hug? Frankly, I’m down for both.” I muttered, and began to move slowly back and forth with her. “…let’s just stay here.” She muttered into my shirt. She had her arms fully around me, her fleece sweater feeling… nice. Fuck you. I didn’t know how else to explain it. She was nice, she was great, she was the best. She was a comforting form. No wonder I wanted to— I stopped myself. I can’t think about… that. I might end up muttering it on accident. “Muttering what?” Naomi asked, looking up at me and giving me a surprise kiss on the nose. I blushed, and brought a hand to my nose. “Uh, nothing..” I said, and then trailed off, realizing I actually legit saved myself. Damn. Impressive moves, Anon. “…Alright. Keep your secrets.” Naomi whispered, giggled, and then put her head back on my chest. …it was as shrimple as that. I chuckled to myself. That’s such a dumb joke. But hey, I’m all about dumb jokes. It’s kinda my thing. Can you blame a man for making dumb jokes when it makes his really cute girlfriend smile and call him a dork? No, you cannot. …anyhow, after me and Naomi stood around, rocking back and forth for around ten minutes, we realized that we should probably split. We still had a place we needed to be. Naomi didn’t know what it was, and I refused to tell her, but she knew we needed to be there by 4:30. If it took 20 minutes to get through the road at a normal speed (which we WEREN’T going on the way through), and 20 minutes to get back…? And it was 4:00 at the moment…? We uhhhh… had to hurry. We had to go. Like right then. So that’s what we did. We jumped in the truck, I shoved the key into the ignition, and we peeled out from our spot. Some stupid ass tourists in priuses and teslas got mad at my driving, but fuck them, man. They suck so much more at driving than I do, and I’m the one in the big truck. It’s funny. But after that little moment, I began to speed down the road, not caring to take my turns lightly. I was on a mission. We were going to make it to that boat trip, or I would die trying. However, in my quest to get through the road fast, I didn’t take into account how… curvy it was. I didn’t take into account that… people get motion sick. Like an idiot. When you’re the driver, you don’t GET motion sick. It’s just the passengers. “Hey, Anon, can you..” Naomi spoke up, sounding somewhat weak. Damn it, not again. I was worried about her, so I turned to face her. “Can you slow down…?” She whispered. Uh oh. She looked kinda green. “Y-Yeah, alright.” I said, and cut back on the speed by about 10 miles-per-hour. “How’s that?” I asked. “B-Better,” Naomi said, before she began to roll down her window. “Sorry, I’m just gonna. Um—“ All I heard was an ‘oolp’ before she began to… puke, violently, out my window. “Shit!” I said, surprised by it. But then I turned on ‘concerned boyfriend’ mode. “Ohhh, honey..” I muttered, and removed one hand from the wheel. I began to rub her back as she threw up out the window. “Naomi, baby…” “I’m…” she threw up again. “I’m sorry, Anon, about— about your truck. I—“ She cut herself off. She still seemed queasy. “That’s alright, hun. Don’t worry about the truck. I can always get it washed. I’m more worried about you. Are you alright?” I asked. I was now going WAY slower. Slower than before, and slower than my slow before! If that makes sense. “I’m… I’m fine.” She said, her tone quiet and scratchy. “But, sorry.. Do you have water?” She asked, looking over at me. There was vomit on her lips, but I chose not to comment on it. She wanted water. I can tell her where the water is. “It’s behind your seat.” I muttered, turning my eyes back to the road for a moment. No cars. I turned back to Naomi. “Do you want me to grab it for you?” I asked. “…If you don’t mind.” She whispered, and lied her head down on her window. I rubbed her back one last time before removing my hand, and reaching behind her seat. I grabbed out a water bottle from the package and handed it to her. She whispered a ‘thanks’ as she opened it up and began to wash out her mouth. “I’m sorry, Naomi.” I muttered. “I didn’t mean for—“ “It’s alright, dear.” She whispered, interrupting me. It wasn’t alright. “I don’t blame you. You just wanted to do something nice for me. It’s alright.” She smiled. But it… that smile. It… was still genuine. With every passing minute, this day kept getting worse and worse. Things kept going wrong, over and over and over. This day kept being something completely shitty and terrible. Allergies, yelling, and now vomiting? What could go right? It was fucked. I was even… I was even starting to lose hope in whether or not she would accept my hand in marriage. If she would even want to spend her life with a bad omen like me. But… her smile. It was real. …I smiled back at her. “We have one more thing, Naomi. We gotta hurry, though. Do you think you’ll be okay?” I whispered, giving her shoulder a rub. “I’ll be alright.” She laughed weakly, and scratched her nose. Her snoot? “Just leave my window open.” “You got it.” I pushed down on the pedal, and we sped off. …Well, two things had been a complete bust so far. The final thing… it was all I had left. That had to go well. It just had to. It was my last hope. My last hoorah. Because if it didn’t? If it didn’t go well? If something happened. If she got seasick, if there weren’t any otters, if we were LATE? Then… then the money spent on the velvet box I had in my back pocket would be for naught. And I couldn’t let that happen. Not for the money, but because… …because I couldn’t let her go that easily. I wasn’t ready to let Naomi go. ////://// We arrived to the boating docks with only two minutes to spare. Thankfully, too, because I felt like I barely got any red lights. Had I got exclusively red lights on the way down here, we would’ve been completely fucked. We would’ve been jammed up the ass, screwed sideways, shot on sight. Every strange wordplay to describe absolute failure. But thankfully, none of them would be put into practice. Because we had just barely made it. As I said before.! I pulled the e-brake and went to unbuckle my seat belt, only to realize I wasn’t actually wearing it. “Oops,” I said, and shook my head. Whatever. Didn’t matter. Click it or ticket my ass. “Come on, we’re gonna be late!” I exclaimed as I threw open my door. I then threw open my backseat door, and grabbed out two windbreakers. One orange and one green. Perfect. “Alright!” Naomi exclaimed as well, unbuckling her seat belt. She didn’t know what she was going to be late FOR, but she was still ready for action. That’s part of what I love about her. She was just so ready, so prepared for everything. She could be caught off-guard, like she was today—and will be later—but if you… say, woke up in the middle of the night and said ‘I need to blow up the city’, she’ll hop out of a dead sleep and start planning with you. AKA… she was loyal. She was trusting. She had your best interests at heart. Always. That’s just who Naomi was. She had a lot of love to give. Anyway, enough rambling about how much I love my wife. We walked up to the brick building outside the boat docks and, after handing Naomi her own jacket, I threw open the doors violently. I’m pretty sure I scared everyone in there, but whatever! I was on a mission. As I walked in, I took in the sights of the shop. Gifts were strewn about and various signs labeling the animals were next to them. It looked like a glorified gift shop. There were also some televisions playing nature documentaries, all about marine life, whether it be dolphins, whales, and.. sea otters. Feeling funny, I turned to face Naomi when I made eye-contact with the television showcasing sea otters, and she looked back at me. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly. At this, I turned my head back to the path I was on, and walked up to the counter. Still on a mission, mind you, but I was trying to take it a little easier now. But all that eye-contact, look away stuff? She could decipher what I was trying to say. Haha. “Uh, yeah, hey.” I said, leaning in towards the pterodactyl guy manning the counter. Naomi went off to look at some stuffed animals. “We’re here for the… sea otter cruise?” I whispered. “Oh, trying to keep it a secret from the missus?” He said, and gave a chuckle. I nodded, and gave my own smile. “I hear ya, pal. This is where I took my own wife when I went to propose to her.” “Oh, really?” I asked. How convenient. “Yep! I got a discount ‘cuz I used to do janitorial work.” He explained, happily reminiscing. He looked off into space for a few moments before shaking his head. “But anyway, you’re right on time, pal. The boat is getting ready for the trip as we speak.” He pulled up something on his computer, and printed out some kind of receipt. “Head down to the docks, on the left, there’s a boat named ‘St. Maine’. That’s the one you wanna get on. Alright? Not Maine. SAINT Maine.” He clarified. There must’ve been another boat named just ‘Maine’. Weird. “Alright, got it. Thank you.” I said, and shook his hand. “Good luck, son. Hope she says yes.” I was in the process of turning around when he said it. Almost instantly, I whipped back around, staring him dead in the eyes. “What? How did you—?” “It’s written all over you, son.” He interrupted. Shit. “The clammy hands, the nervous look, yet.. the undertone of excitement. Today’s the day, isn’t it?” He chuckled. He was quite old. I don’t know if I said that. It was a nice old man laugh. “It’s in your back pocket right now, isn’t it?” I shook my head, giving an incredulous scoff. “You’re amazing.” “I’ve just… lived the life you have, boy. It’s a lot of fun. Don’t let her go, now, you hear?” He said, shaking his head. “Of course not, sir.” I put my hand to my chest. “Never in a million years. She’s the one, I swear it.” “Good. Now… get going. You’ll be late!” He said, and waved me off. I felt like he should’ve been holding a cane and calling me a whippersnapper or something. Haha. “Ah, right! Thank you!” I exclaimed, realizing we actually might be late. “Babe come on!” “Huh?” Naomi asked, letting go of a sea otter plush she was very obviously cuddling. Her face turned bright red as she turned to face me. “Ah-O, I—Alright, okay!” I laughed, and grabbed her hand. “I can buy you that when we get back. But come on, let’s go. Don’t forget your jacket, you might need it.” I stated, dragging her along with me, out the door and down the stairs leading up to it. “Alright, but, where are we actually going?” She asked. “I saw some signs around, so I can.. kinda deduce it. But— I wanna hear it from you. If that’s alright.” She smiled nervously. I… contemplated it for a second. At this point, she had to know. She had to. It was a boat trip. It’s not that fucking hard to decipher, right? I may be a super dumbass, but even I would’ve been able to tell by now. And Naomi is fucking… she’s fuckin’ smart, dude. She was a straight-A student. So whatever. I’ll just tell her. “We’re gonna get on a boat, and we’re gonna go out, and we’re gonna go see something special.” I explained, gripping her hand tighter. I wanted to keep the sea otter thing a secret, at least for now. But I could tell her about the boat. Especially because we were nearing the damn thing. “..is it—“ She started. Nope. “Ah, ah!” I interrupted her. “No guessing.” She snorted, and gave a giggle. “Alright, Anon. I’ll let you have your surprises.” Aw, no ‘keep your secrets’? I forgot what that was a reference to, but I’m sure it was something nerdy and cute. …Going back to Naomi and her ‘go along with you’ type thing, I’ll say, she’s grown a lot as a person over the years. She used to be very controlling—she wanted everything to go her way (in an odd, wishful manner, not a spoiled manner), she needed things perfect, and she HATED surprises. But now? She lets me do grocery shopping. She loves surprises. She trusts me. It was… nice. I don’t know what happened along the lines to cause the change, but now, she’s probably better at a lot of that stuff than me. Gosh. I love her. I really do. Anyhow, after we got up on the boat and got settled in, I put my hand on her thigh, and she leaned her head onto my shoulder. The boat was honestly a pretty neat place, though. We were sat in the back, having forgone sitting in the normal seating area. Being inside while on a boat is honestly a terrible idea. “I’ve never been on a boat before,” the pretty girl next to me muttered, interrupting my thoughts. Oh, shit. “But I’ve always wanted to try it.” She smiled. And as she said that last thing, she turned to face me, and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Thanks for letting me.” “O-Of course, hon.” I said, the nervousness coming back full-force. Both from her kiss and how I realized… what I was going to have to do. What I needed to do before the boat trip was up. The velvet box in my pocket now felt like a 30-pound weight. “I’m glad I get to pop that cherry.” She gasped. “Anon!” She exclaimed, hitting me on the shoulder. “There are kids here.” She whispered-yelled, but giggled all the same. “Oh whatever. You found it funny.” I snorted, and gave her hair a tussle. She hated that. “As if.” She huffed, and turned away, putting her head back on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her, and pulled her in close. “I love you.” I whispered, and she sighed. “I love you, too.” She said. She was smiling. I knew she was. We sat like that for who-knows how long as the boat began to move out of the dock and onto the open water. The subtle rocking of it and the loud engine was somewhat… calming. I would normally say something stupid like ‘I did some reflection’ but to tell you the truth… I didn’t. I sat there, Naomi in my arms, and.. I did nothing. I just sat there and enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the embrace of my girlfriend. Or, rather, I enjoyed embracing my girlfriend. Haha. I felt like I had been doing this a lot. First on that cliff, and now here, on a rocking boat. It was funny, in a way. To this day, I remember my first day at Volcano High. I was bitter. I hated everyone, and… I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to float through the year and not talk to anybody. I wanted to be alone—But now? …I’m most comfortable with another person in my presence. I’m most comfortable holding someone in my arms. Now that’s irony. …anyway, we were sat like that for nearly forty-five minutes. Yeah. There was a multitude of reasons for why neither of us decided we needed to get up. It was way longer than I thought it would be, for one, but also; I got the feeling that Naomi wouldn’t want to move around too much. If our time on that road was anything to remember, then she didn’t do too well with a lot of motion. Thankfully, our boat trip wasn’t that rocky. It was like being in a car, not anything like being on a rollercoaster. At the fifteen-minute mark, we got some sandwiches, and I remember Naomi scarfing hers down pretty quick. Probably wasn’t the best idea, but throwing up earlier probably made her pretty hungry. But now, past all that BEEEEE-ESSSS, finally, we were almost there. The captain had announced it, and the boat responded in kind—people all around us were celebrating. I guess they all wanted to (sea) the otters. Haha. Get it? Yeah. Sorry. I’ll see myself out. “Anon, we’re almost there, aren’t we?” Naomi asked, peeling herself away from my body. She began to rapidly blink and look around. I laughed. “Did you fall asleep?” “N-No, I just…” she trailed off, looking away. “I mean, I—I dozed off once or twice. But I’ve been awake for a few.. minutes.” She was fighting to stay alive. The sleep allegations were nightmarish. “It’s alright, babe. Nothing was really going on.” I said, nudging her. “Besides, you don’t have to apologize for being tired. We’ve had a long day.” I gave her a kiss on the snoot. She looked up at me, somewhat surprised, but it turned into a smile. “You need to stop acting so cute all the time. You’ll make me sick.” She laughed, but her face had turned slightly red. Adorable. “What can I say? It’s just who I am.” I shrugged, and gave a gruff chuckle. I am a manly man, after all. “ Alright ,” the guy on the intercom spoke up, interrupting our conversation. Me and Naomi turned our heads to face the captain’s quarters. “If you turn your attention to the left side of this beautiful vessel, you’ll be able to seeee…” he put emphasis on that word. “—the main attraction. Haha. Get it?” Someone yelled. “Lame!” “Alright, I deserve that. But anyway, guys, go ahead and take a look! We’ll be parked here for around fifteen minutes, there are some free snacks in the main area of the ship, and thank you all again for choosing Monterey Marining. It’s because of you all that I get to do what I love. Captain Jay out.” What a nice guy. “What are we taking a look at, Anon?” Naomi said, winking and sticking her tongue out. She was somewhat green but she still seemed to try and put on a smile. Oh. Guess that the motion got to her anyway. Damn it… “Anon?” She asked, interrupting my thoughts. Ope. “You’ll see.” I said, and slowly stood up. I held my hand out to her and she grabbed it. “Let’s take a look.” I smiled, giving her a nod. My plan was working out somewhat. Finally… We took a leisurely walk over to the side of the boat, and I felt the nervousness gradually fade away. It was.. fading into excitement. I felt excited. We were getting closer and closer to the big moment. Or, me, I was. Naomi remained completely clueless as to what I had planned, which… was perfect. It was all perfect. At this moment, things were perfect. We got to the side of the boat, and we took a look over the side. So far so good. The gentle rock of the boat due to the waves hitting the sides was a—once again—calming feature of the experience. But, most importantly… “SEA OTTERS?!” Naomi yelled, and turned to me, her smile as wide as I’d ever seen it. The Monterey smile could NOT compare to this. Her eyes had a twinkle; a light in them that I rarely saw that bright. “Anon! Are we—oh my goodness! We’re looking at sea otters!” “We are!” I said, and laughed. “I know you love sea otters—so I thought we’d take a trip out and we’d… get to take a look at them.” I smiled. “It’s why we went to Monterey, actually. Mostly just for this.” I admitted. She… said nothing, so, I trailed myself off. “Do you… do you like it?” I asked nervously. “Anon…” She whispered, and got closer to me. I tugged on my shirt. She tugged on it too. But then she caught me off-guard… with a kiss. A lot of passion in that kiss. Not sure how to describe it, but… it was a kiss of pure happiness. Of pure love, pure affection, pure… every word in the dictionary to describe love between two people. Electrification flowed through our bodies as we expressed the love between a dino and a human. Our jacket hoods obscured our faces as we kissed; it was almost as if we were wearing masks to the rest of the world. Giving a big middle finger to the people that didn’t approve. The kiss must’ve went on for at least a minute or so. We weren’t making out, we weren’t sucking face, no we… we were showing our love to each other. When we broke off the kiss, there was no trail of saliva. Neither of us had used tongue. Neither of us felt it was appropriate for the situation at hand. Tongue is for… tongue is for sexiness. This was love. “Anon, I…” she said, and looked to the ground. She wiped at her eyes. I wasn’t able to see it, but.. it was obvious what she had started doing. “Thank you. This day has been… it’s been great. Really. I don’t know how I can express to you how much this all m-means to me.” She said, and looked back up at me, water in her eyes. Yet.. wait. There was something else in her expression. I ignored it. I just smiled. “Naomi, I… I’m glad you’ve been having so much fun.” I chuckled. …now or never. I need to do it. I have to. I’m so close. “But th-there’s a reason I took you out here.” I whispered, stuttering. “Y-Yeah?” She asked, and gripped the railing tighter. The boat was getting rockier. Hm. “I…” I muttered, and fiddled with my hands. I was getting nervous again. “I, um?” “Anon, y-yes?” She asked, seeming quite… huffy. She seemed impatient, even. What? Why? Shit. Maybe she has to pee or something. I gotta do this fast. “Naomi..” I whispered, and reached into my back pocket. I sighed, and steeled my nerves. Come on! I got down on one knee. “Naomi, will…” And then, all of a sudden, I was wet. “AAAGH—cough-AGHAHAAHHAA!!!” Naomi expelled, her voice now MUCH more apparent during the… vomiting process. The gasps of people were also quite loud. But yeah, vomiting. Again. This time, she… she threw up her entire lunch. All over me. I thankfully hadn’t pulled out the ring yet, so it didn’t suffer any damage, but I still had puke on me! I didn’t know which was worse! “A-AHH!!” I yelled, and stood up quickly. There was chunks and brown-colored puke all over me. The smell was abhorrent, and I found myself gagging quickly. “N-Naomi!” I yelled, trying to wipe off the puke. I realized I was being an idiot, though, and just took off my jacket instead. I turned to face Naomi, but rather than see her furiously apologizing, I saw her vomiting over the side of the boat. I instantly felt bad about my prior anger. God damn it, man. I shouldn’t have been angry. She… she didn’t do it on purpose, She wasn’t even angry at me before—she was just.. about to throw up. She wasn’t huffy, she was queasy. Feeling great shame, I walked, sadly, up to Naomi and… put my hand on her back. “Are you okay, honey?” I asked, the guilt showing in my voice a little bit. After a few more seconds of coughing and throwing up, she spoke. “I… I think I’m okay.” She sighed, and took deep breaths in. “Good, that’s… that’s good.” I muttered, looking at my jacket. Man. I liked this jacket. “I’m… I’m sorry, Anon.” Naomi muttered. She looked like she was about to cry. “I know. Let’s just…” I sighed. “Let’s just look at the otters, okay?” I said, trying the only thing I knew to fix the situation. I… I didn’t feel like giving some grand speech. Not anymore. She nodded, but she was noticeably less eager than before. Made sense. …I did fuck up her special day. I completely ruined her idea of what Monterey should be. I guess that just makes me a real piece of shit, huh? ////://// The drive home was silent. Even if I wanted to listen to Green Day, or Sum41 or whatever, I couldn’t. I didn’t… it didn’t… it didn’t feel right. None of it felt right. This day didn’t feel right. Everything had gone so wrong. Naomi can pretend it wasn’t my fault, she can say her own words of comfort, but it was all bullshit. I knew it was. I fucked today up, not her. I didn’t do any kind of research and I tried to stick to my fucking plan. That fucking plan. Ugh. It was what got me so messed up in the first place, trying to stick to the plan. You never want to stick to the plan. Naomi is her own person; I can’t expect things to be followed by plan. Ugh. God damn it all. This day was supposed to be great. Clearly, God had it out for me today. And! I would have to text Naser about it later! I sighed as I pulled into our driveway. The sun had gone down long ago, and now it just felt like a day I was coming home late from the store. The house was a comforting sight, but I… I didn’t feel comforted. I still felt so fucked up. So miserable and so empty. Still feeling empty, I just unbuckled my seatbelt and hopped out of the truck. I didn’t feel like doing much else other than going inside—the vomit on the side that I had planned to clean off completely forgotten. Naomi opened up her own door, and followed me as I walked up to the front door. I didn’t even bother locking the truck, I didn’t care anymore. But as I was about to open up the door, I got a tap on my shoulder. I turned around slowly. “Yeah?” I asked. My voice was dead. I was tired. I wanted to go to sleep. “Anon, I…” Naomi muttered. She was looking down. “I’m… I’m sorry.” “Why?” I asked. It came out harsher than I meant it to. “I—I just—“ She started, and sniffled. She was going to cry. Fuck. That was fast. “I… I’m sorry I kept throwing up, I’m sorry I kept—I’m sorry I kept fucking up today!” She yelled, throwing her arms out. The tears were flowing now. “You—you tried so hard to.. to make today special. But I kept ruining it.” …yeah. That was sudden. My guess was, this… must’ve been held in for a while. Our car ride must’ve given her a lot of time to think. A lot of time to… destroy herself on the inside. Fuck. I instantly went into comfort mode, the emptiness all but forgotten. It wasn’t about me. “Wait, babe, hey—“ I muttered, and went for a hug. “No!” The parosaur woman said, and pushed me away. “Stay away.” She crossed her arms, but she kept crying. “I.. all I do is ruin things. I’m a bad omen.” “No, you’re not.” I said. That’s… that’s what I said about myself earlier. I would’ve chuckled, but I didn’t want to ruin things or make her feel bad or anything. “Naomi, you’re..” I trailed off, trying to think about what to say. It was never easy to stop a woman from crying. “Naomi, you didn’t ruin anything.” Good start, retard. What’s next? It’s not your fault your parents divorced? “It was all just accident after accident. It’s…” I trailed off. “If anything, half of that stuff was my fault.” I laughed. “I let that lady give you a random wine, I sped on that windy road, I took you on a boat despite knowing you get motion sick—!” I raised my voice near the end, getting mad at myself. Not her. “I…” I whispered. “I fucked everything up. Not you.” Naomi stayed silent. Honestly, I’m sure one of our neighbors was getting concerned, but fuck them. This was a shit moment in my life, and I didn’t know how to cope with it. It was supposed to be happy but… now this day will just be associated with bad memories. As most of my days end up. But as I continued to stew in my self-hatred, Naomi made her choice. She walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me. It was a simple action, but it… it truly meant a lot. Even if I didn’t know how to feel about it. “I think… I think we both fucked some stuff up.” I disagreed. The hug was nice, but I still disagreed. “But, hey.” Naomi said, her voice quiet. “On the ship, I…” She trailed off. “On the ship. Before I.. before I threw up on you.” I winced at the memory, but I motioned for her to continue. “You… you were going to do something. You were going to tell me something.” “…Oh, yeah. I was.” I muttered. “What was that?” She asked, pulling away. Her eyes were somewhat sad. “I… I know we didn’t have the best day. But I know that whatever you were going to say was important. I… I can feel it. Maybe if you tell me, this day doesn’t have to end so bad? It looked so important to you…” She smiled a hopeful smile. Her eyes were bright. Despite my current mood, I… found myself smiling. She always could find the light in a dark tunnel. A smile still on my face, I spoke. I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know how to say it. I had a big speech prepared on that boat. But… if there’s anything I learned today, it’s that you don’t always have to follow the plan. “Naomi, I..” I whispered. I still felt somewhat empty, and I still felt sad, but… I looked up at the stars. They were beautiful, and… they reminded me of long ago. Memories of a yellow Volkswagen and a kiss after a movie came flooding back. The moon was full, and so was my heart. I got down on one knee, and I pulled out the box. Fuck the plan. “Naomi, will you marry me?” She took a moment to process what I had done, choosing to stand there like a deer caught in headlights. But when she realized, she gasped, and almost immediately, her eyes flooded with tears once again. The hug she enraptured me in seconds later being a sign of her pure happiness, all she could do was give me kisses. She said I love you I love you I love you, and squealed, and cried. She sniffled and laughed. She didn’t even have to say anything specific, but I understood. I knew what she was saying. And, well, Stella and Naser understood too. If their excited squealing was anything to go by, haha. But you see, actions speak louder than words. And brother? She said yes. [POST-NOTES] Another Naomi story. Longest yet. Honestly idk why it ended up so long I just kept wanting to write it. I had a lot of fun with this one. “Sea otters” joke inspired by the trace by deadassspider. Originally an Ewan McGregor video, lol. Thanks for reading!