"Are you serious?" August's face is colored with confusion and my heart races in panic.

There have been numerous moments in my life where nerves were coursing through my body, pumping adrenaline through my veins.

Right before stepping on the soccer field at the beginning of an important game in college.

Meeting August's parents for the first time.

My first official work day with Phill as a history consultant.

The night I asked August to go to the movies with me 7 years ago for a 'non-romantic date'.

This moment, however, tops them all.

As if the question attached to the little square box inside my coat isn't nerve-wracking enough, things decided to not go as planned.

To celebrate Thanksgiving with August's dad, we flew over from New York, where we've been living together in our cozy rental apartment since she started her Ph.D. in immunology almost two years ago.

We've spent the past days at her dad's house in Arkenshaven, extending the weekend with a couple more days, since the last time we took a vacation together was a long weekend to Canada with our friends a couple of months ago.

Today's the last day before we drive up to Portland to have a late thanksgiving dinner with our friends at Matteo's house, which means that today is the last day to pop the question the way I have in mind.

If everything was going according to my plan, we would be hiking up the Vesuvius hill by now so that we'd reach the viewpoint, where we hung out together the majority of the summer we met, by the time the sun is setting.

However, we're still inside.

The first setback was this morning when the weather decided today was going to be a day full of rain and freezing temperatures.

To my luck, it stopped raining an hour ago and the dark clouds are making a place for a blue sky, yet it's far from hot outside.

The drop in temperature is the cause of my next setback because the moment I wanted to ask August if she wants to go on an evening stroll, I found her dressed in her joggings and wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands to keep her warm.

I knew the second I walked in and saw her being an extension of the cozy couch that convincing her was going to be near impossible, but I'm not about to give up.

"It'll be refreshing." A laugh bursts out of her and it makes me want to laugh with her because the sound is still as addictive as the first time I heard it.

"Yeah, sure, I've always dreamed to be turned into an icicle by nature. So refreshing," she sarcastically beams as she sets down her cup of tea on the coffee table before sitting down backward on the couch to face me.

"What a coincidence, that's my dream too," I excitedly exclaim, mocking her answer.

"Shut up." She shoves my shoulder away as she rolls her eyes before turning back around to continue her fourth or fifth rewatch of Castle. Yet before she can press play, I step behind her and wrap my arms around her, snuggling my face in the crook of her neck. Her body automatically leans into me and after dropping a sweet kiss in my hair, she rests her head against mine.

"Please?" The tiniest sigh escapes her lips at the sound of my plea. Afraid she'll shoo my offer away by convincing me to snuggle next to her on the couch, I try again.

"If you turn into an icicle, I promise to carry you home and personally warm you up." She twists in my embrace to face me, inspecting my expression with one raised eyebrow, no doubt going over all the different ways I could hold onto my promise to warm her frozen body back to life.

One look into her eyes and I see which scenario is dominating her thoughts.

The sight of her thinking about me setting her body on fire pulls my lips into a smirk.

"Sounds tempting, doesn't it?"

"With the utmost aversion I'll agree to your terms," she counteracts my teasing comment as she unwraps herself from the blanket. She rounds the couch and as she walks past me toward the hallway, she momentarily stops, pointing her index finger at my chest.

"But I'll still burn your skin with the hottest shower afterward to share my agony with you," she states, her playful warning filling me with sheer entertainment rather than fear and as a reaction to my gloating expression, she narrows her eyes at me, letting them shine with mischief.

Fuck, she's perfect.

She's perfectly imperfect for me. From her sarcasm, her jabs at my ego, her terrible jokes, her admiration for immunology, and her obsession with detective series to her ability to effortlessly bring a smile to my face.
If I'm not the luckiest man alive, I don't know who is.

"Absolutely looking forward to it," I answer and she saunters off to grab her coat and shoes, laughing away my response.

***

After numerous staircases and a couple of tree branches hitting me in my face after August walks past them, the last one being one hundred percent intentional, we arrive at the lookout point where I confessed the truth inside my heart 6 years ago. Where, consumed by overwhelming emotions, we shared our first kiss.

We stroll to the railing, both getting consumed by the sky exploding with vibrant, warm colors created by the sunset. The painting crafted by nature is beautiful, yet my eyes still drift to her. The small content smile dancing on her lips and her radiating eyes mesmerized by the sunset capture my heart more than any other view could ever do.

Without taking her eyes off the skyline in front of us, she slides her hand under mine, tangling our fingers together before squeezing my hand tenderly.

I love you.

I caress the back of her hand with my thumb before squeezing two times.

I love you, too.

One small gesture but the impact it has on me is as belly-fluttering as every single one of her silent love confessions.

Even after three years, I'm still blindly falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

It's the reason why I untangle our hands and sink on one knee.

The absence of my touch causes her head to turn to me in confusion, which quickly morphs into surprise when her gaze collides with the elegant diamond ring staring back at her from the black little box I'm holding.

"Ari-" Her nickname is the only thing I can get out before she interrupts me.

"What are you doing?" Her eyes are wide, telling me she knows exactly what is happening but that her brain is speedrunning through a million thoughts, making it almost impossible for her to process this moment.

"I'm trying to convince you to spend 5 more minutes with me, and I'm hoping this ring might do the trick so that every time you look at it you'd be convinced to give me another 5 minutes of your time."

She drops down in front of me, grabbing onto my arms for support as she stares at the engagement ring.

"You're ridiculous," she mutters, completely lost in her thoughts.

"I love you, Ari. With all my heart, body, and soul. From the second I met you, you captured my attention and rooted yourself into my mind, and with every passing minute, I love you a little more. So I was wondering if you'd do me the honor of becoming my wife because I would like to spend the rest of my life with you by my side." Even though my heart is hammering in my chest as if it might give out any second, the words flow out effortlessly as they are rooted so deep inside of me that I don't have to think to be able to share them.

I gave her a second and she took five minutes. I gave her my time and she stole my thoughts. I reached her my hand and she captured my heart as if it's always been hers.

Right now, I ask her to take five minutes from me, but I want her to claim my forever.

"I love you too," she mutters, still gazing at the piece of jewelry, perplexed by what is happening. However, not a second later, her eyes snap up to mine, and where her irises were filled with paralyzing shock a mere moment ago, they're now lighting up with a cute, raging fire I can only describe as her shooting daggers at me. "But you let me do this in sweatpants?!"

She smacks my chest and I rub the sore spot as I laugh. "Is that a yes?"

At the sound of my question, her angry, pursed lips curve into the most breathtaking smile I will never get used to.

"Yes," she laughs, tears of overwhelming joy springing in her eyes.

"You can have every single one of my five minutes, Col. They're all yours, they always have been and they always will be."