Page 3 of A Boy Called Lovesong

I bit my lip, but not even that could keep the secret any longer. “Actually, there is something I haven’t told you yet.”

In all honesty I had no idea why I hadn’t told Margot earlier. I guess when you’re about to ask the man of your dreams to marry you, your insecurities and doubts and fears of rejection are somewhat heightened… like through the fucking roof heightened… like on a clear day you can see forever heightened… like—

“Noah?” Margot’s eyes widened as the penny dropped. “Oh my God. You’re going to pop the question, aren’t you?”

I gulped nervously and all the words I was about to say went down the hatch too. All I could do was give a silent, slightly petrified nod.

Margot squeed and threw her arms around me. “Holy crap, I’m so happy for you! I’m so excited for you! And now I’m so stressed I think I could throw up. Oh jeepers!”

“Exactly my thoughts!”

“Relax, you’ll be fine. It’s all going to be just fine. Where’s the ring?”

With a trembling hand I scooped a small ring box out of my pocket and popped it open. It was a silver band with a treble clef engraved in it, with a small diamond set inside the circle in the tail of the musical symbol.

Margot sighed. “Noah, it’s beautiful.”

“You think he’ll like it?”

“Like it? He’s going to love it.”

“You think he’ll say yes?”

“Of course I do. Noah, you and Joel were made for each other. I’ve never known two people who are so happy, so perfect, so damn head over heels in love. This, my dear friend, is about to become the most memorable night of your life.”

Her words eased my nerves, and my heart swelled with confidence and joy.

And then the doorbell rang.

“Oh fuck, it’s him,” I gasped.

I clutched Margot’s hand for support as we hurried down the stairs together. In the living room, all our friends hushed their conversations, looking from me to the door and back again expectantly.

“It’s him. He’s here,” Lorna said, squeezing her fists excitedly.

“Quick, hide. Everyone hide!” Justin said to the crowd in a loud whisper.

“And be quiet,” Theo hushed, bringing the party to complete silence. “Everybody shush!”

The bell rang again.

I pushed past a bloom of helium balloons, hauled Margot to the front door with me and peered back to our guests one last time, mouthing “Ready?”

Everyone nodded, then ducked behind the furniture and squeezed into doorways, out of sight.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves, knowing that on the other side of that door was the man I loved, the one person in the world with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my days.

In that moment I knew I had nothing to be afraid of at all.

I knew he’d be thrilled to see all his friends gathered together to help him celebrate another milestone in this life.

I knew we’d spend the night laughing and drinking and dancing to his favorite songs.

And when I was ready to pop the question later that night, I knew he would smile his handsome smile and say “yes.” And after that we would spend the rest of our charmed lives together in each other’s arms. Just the two of us. And yes, Chet too.

As I saw our path ahead unfold so gracefully in my mind, a sense of calm overcame me.

My hand stopped trembling.

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