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“Yeah, but you love it,” he says, a grin finally tugging at his lips.

I roll my eyes. “I’m not sure I can handle your crazy.”

“Then you better learn,” he says, the teasing turning into something deeper, something more serious. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

I think about it for a moment, about everything we’ve been through and how we’ve managed to make it this far. And then I realized that maybe, just maybe, this could be enough.

I smile the first genuine smile in what feels like forever. “Alright,” I say. “I guess I’m stuck with you.”

He slides the ring onto my finger with a steady hand and then exclaims, “Damn right, you are.”

And for once, for the first time in a long time, it feels like the world is actually on our side. Like we’ve won something, even ifit’s small and fleeting. Maybe it won’t last. Maybe we’ll screw this up, too. But for right now, this is ours.

I kiss him, not caring about the world, the past, or the future. It’s just him and me, and the quiet understanding between us that, no matter how much pain we’ve caused each other, we’re willing to keep fighting for this.

“I love you,” I scream into the open air, the words tumbling out like they were always meant to be said.

“I love you, too,” he says, his voice strong, steady. “Utterly, completely. Till death.”

And in that moment, it feels like we can take on whatever comes next. Because no matter what happens, we have each other.

And sometimes, that’s enough.

THE END.