Survived Me: a Shatter Me fan-fiction (Warnette)

Chapter 92 - In The Box

AARON'S POV:
I go into Juliette's office, I enter seeing that she is reading some sort of report with the Reestablishment logo on the back of it. It must be a somewhat old record or file - maybe even a letter my father wrote to one of his asshole friends - or what not. I can tell that it is old as the paper is worn and fragile looking - or, simply, this paper has just been manhandled a lot.

"Hey love." I smile.
She looks up from her paperwork and smiled back at me. "Hey!"
"What are you reading, sweetheart?" I ask.
She gets up and walks over to me, giving me a sheet of paper.

"What's this?" I ask her.
"Read it." She says whilst trying not to laugh.

I read the file:

Reporting the conversation between Aaron Warner (AW) and Juliette Ferras (JF)

AW: *enters*
AW: Hey love.
JF: Hey, where were you this morning? I had to deal with your father all by myself.
AW: Sorry, love, I had to deal with a rogue soldier.
JF: Who? Was it the same one as last time?
AW: Yeah, Kishimoto.
JF: What did he do this time?
AW: He was caught stealing leftovers from the kitchens in the middle of the night.
JF: *laugh* I think he's funny.
AW: You have never met him.
JF: I don't need to have.
AW: What? So you think rule breaking is funny, Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes?
JF: Yeah, you can't say anything, you break the rules all the time.
AW: Oh really? Like what? When?
JF: The fact that you're talking to me right now is breaking the rules.
AW: Alright, yes, but I was thinking more fair rules.
JF: Fair rules?
AW: Yeah, like stealing is something that you just shouldn't do, where as me talking to you, that's not something that's bad.
JF: True, fair point.

I laugh, remembering this conversation happening between us, it was during the time that Juliette was staying with me and my father for three years before the asylum. We were only aloud to interact with each other when my father said we could, usually that was when some sort of controversy arose and it was a must that we all discus it together.

We would have been young teens in this, 15, 16. It's crazy how far we've come since then. Juliette, now 19, almost 20, and I, now 20, have accomplished so much.

"They knew we used to meet up, Aaron."
I sigh. "Of course they did. I should have expected that."
"Yeah." She says, taking the paper and putting it in her filing cabinet.

"Weird how it was Kishimoto that we were talking about." I laugh.
"I know right. Of course he was the one that annoyed you."
I shake my head. "He's always been unbelievably annoying."
"Hey, he's not that bad." She laughs.
"I've never seen, or heard of, a soldier who was more mischievous than him."
She rolls her eyes playfully. "Yeah well, he was a spy, technically."
"I suppose, but he was still a soldier, he had the training, went through all the procedures-" I am cut off by the sound of a knock at Juliette's office door.

Knock knock

Delelui comes in, looks between the two of us and then clears his throat, before finally resting his eyes on me. "Mr Warner, sir, I need your assistance."

I nod, looking at him. Then I quickly kiss Juliette's forehead and say:

"I'll see you later, love."

She nods and smiles, returning back to the work she has been doing, presumably, before I came in.

———

Once we are in the hall, I look sharply at Delelui.

"Have you got it?" I ask him.
"I have, yes, sir." He pulls a box out of his trouser pocket.

I take it and open up the small, velvet box. Inside there's the most beautifully gorgeous item of jewellery I have ever seen.

You see, while Juliette has been trying, and failing, to discreetly plan some kind of mission against the remains of the reestablishment, I've been... shopping.

I haven't questioned her about her 'plan' yet. I can sense that she does not want me to know. Probably because she doesn't want me to take on her stress as well as my own, I know she's always mindful of my powers.

Normally I would object against playing the role of 'knowing nothing', but right now, it's an amazingly perfect distraction whilst I... set up a few things.

It's Juliette's twentieth birthday in four days, I think she may have forgot, with all the things that must, almost certainly, be running through her head, I can't blame her if she has forgotten - but I haven't. I would never forget such a day.

The first of December.

Most would think of this as the day that opens up the Christmas month, the holiday season, but not me.
No, this is Juliette's birthday.

For her twentieth birthday, I knew exactly what I wanted to get her, though, I think the biggest surprise to her will be the contents and context of what lies within this box.

You see, I never really felt like I'd need to prepare for this moment, because, well, I didn't think I'd ever have this moment - now though, it's happening in four days.

I should be stressed, really - but I'm just not.

This isn't something that's scary to me, I know for a fact that this, this is what I want more than anything else on this planet.

So with a smile on my face and a gleam of hope and joy in my eyes, I say:

"Thank you Delelui, thank you so very much!"

He pats me on the shoulder and gives me a brief smile of accomplishment, my accomplishment, not of his own.
Then he takes his leave, walking down the halls and rounding a corner.

I keep smiling, I can't stop. How could I? This is the most important thing I'll ever have to do, and I am so excited to do it!

I'm going to propose to Juliette.
————
Word count: 1020