Erica was shocked when Adam proposed at graduation. She had thought she would have to wait another three years at least!
She was SO happy though. Happy and grateful to be marrying the most wonderful man in the world. She felt like she floated through the rest of the day and couldn't stop admiring her ring. It was exactly what she wanted so Julie must have been involved. How long had Adam been planning this?
She asked him when they got home after all the festivities were over and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Since I got my job offer. Sorry for making you wait so long. Evan had to talk some sense into me."
That was unexpected. She would have guessed Colton or his mom if anyone. "Evan?"
"He has a job now so he said he could take over my portion of the bills and that I should focus on us. I'm still going to give my mom $200 a month once I start my new job because the kids' extracurriculars can get expensive and so can the pet stuff but most of it can go into saving for us to get a house. We'll need one before we start having kids."
Erica would have to hug Evan extra tightly the next time she saw him. This was a miracle!
She was thrilled that Adam was thinking about their needs first for once. She knew it would be difficult for him to get out of that mindset but planning the future more thoroughly with him during their engagement was a dream come true.
He liked his job well enough and it was wonderful seeing him be able to relax a bit on top of spending more time with him since he wasn't working himself half to death. This was a beautiful glimpse into her future.
Erica had a lot of fun being engaged and planning her wedding but that couldn't beat the day of. She was on cloud nine from the moment she saw Adam beaming at her with teary eyes as she came down the aisle on her dad's arm and passed through the ceremony and reception in a state of perfect bliss.
They would be going on their honeymoon to Jamaica but were planning on staying the night at a hotel here before flying out in the morning. When they finally made it to the hotel room, she couldn't hold back anymore and kissed him with every ounce of love in her heart.
Afterward, she sleepily snuggled with him as he played with her hair and spoke up softly. "I never would have imagined this. It all still feels like a dream."
That was downright sentimental for him. He had loved her a lot longer than she had loved him though, despite never admitting as much. The time had come to satiate her curiosity.
"You've liked me since seventh grade, right? What exactly caught your eye?"
"You knew about that?!"
"Yeah. When I figured out you liked me, you said I had always been out of your league. The word 'always' implied it had been a while and I knew we went to the same high school so I checked my old yearbooks. You signed mine in seventh grade so it wasn't hard to put together. I am sorry I forgot you though."
"…I didn't make much of an impression back then. You're fine. But geez, how embarrassing!"
"There's nothing embarrassing about being in love with your wife, Adam."
That was why she had waited until now to say anything. Back when she was first curious, saying something may have broken him considering how red-faced he could get.
"What's not embarrassing about an unrequited crush of almost eight years?"
"I don't think it's embarrassing. I think it's sweet. But you didn't answer my initial question," Erica reminded him.
"Oh. It was those comics you drew in your planner. They were really funny and I had to try so hard not to laugh because I didn't want you to feel self-conscious and stop doing it," Adam confessed.
Now she was the one who was embarrassed. Those early comics were terrible! How had THAT been what made him like her for so long of all things?!
"Noooo, those were so bad!"
"Not for a seventh grader though," Adam pointed out.
Erica supposed he was right but it was still not the way she would have imagined anyone falling in love with her. They had been pretty stupid looking back.
"That was really it?"
"That was what made me pay attention to you but then I noticed how nice you were letting people borrow stuff all the time. Actually…I used to pretend I didn't bring things just so I had an excuse to talk to you."
Erica cracked up because that didn't seem like him at all. Seventh grade logic!
"We didn't have any classes together in eighth grade so by the time we did again in ninth, you didn't seem to remember me. I didn't have the guts to talk to you anyway because you were so popular," Adam continued.
"I was content to watch from a distance. Didn't think we would end up at the same college. I almost had a heart attack the first time you talked to me and trying to move on was a lost cause after that. I really didn't think things would work out this well for me."
All that time and he had never liked anyone else! Her heart ached. "I'm so sorry, Adam!"
"Don't apologize. Like I said, things worked out really well. I'm so grateful you talked to me that day."
So was she! She wished she would have done it sooner. At least she would be able to be with him for the rest of their lives. There was no use lamenting the years she had missed out on knowing him.
"Me too. Best thing I ever did," Erica said softly before kissing him.
To think that such a normal encounter would lead to finding the love of her life! She had just been trying to find someone to make that class more tolerable and found so, so much more.