She will be loved.

Pleasant weather had become a rarity in London when October had arrived. No longer did the warmth of the previous summer have any influence on the temperature of the air; while September had inherited many of August’s traits, it was evident that October had no plans of following suit. Every evening was bitter cold, and rainclouds cluttered the sky from dusk to dawn, leaving little room for the sun to shine.

And it was for this reason in particular that it had come as such a relief to Calvin to learn that the Sun planned to make an appearance on the twentieth. On a Sunday, in fact. Calvin had gone into a fit of giggles at that.

For an entire month Calvin had considered bringing Chase along with him on a picnic an the park. A month that had been spent caring for Chase; nursing her back to health. She had been in no condition for such grand adventures when the weather would have allowed it. Thus, Calvin had come to the conclusion that he would be left no other option than to wait through the winter before doing as he'd hoped - until he had overheard a coworker at the Ministry speaking of the impossible weather that was to come.

Calvin had seized the opportunity. At once he had packed his rickety, maple syrup stained picnic basket. He had fried an entire box of pancake mix, used up the last of his multicolored sprinkles, and had stored a bottle of syrup away in the basket for later use. It would have been easy to jump to the conclusion that Calvin believed the world was to end on the twentieth, what with the overenthusiastic way in which he’d prepared said food, and had sped down the street towards his favorite park, dragging Chase along behind him.

With a comically fuzzy scarf wrapped around his neck, Calvin fought against the warm wind, which seemed eager to keep Calvin from climbing the grassy hill that he'd deiced to share with Chase for the afternoon. On several occasions the young lad was forced to his knees with his picnic basket held closely to his side, due to the force of the breeze. In fact, by the time that Calvin had reached the hill’s peek, he had successfully stained every inch of his jeans from his knees down. Surely, he would find bruises scattered about his shins when he awoke the next morning. But Calvin had only one thing in mind: Chase. Providing her with an afternoon of the happiness that she so rightfully deserved.

Calvin turned to face Chase, offering her a hand so to prevent her from tripping in the way that he had. “Aha!” he cheered, as though he had accomplished his life goal. He threw his gangly arms towards the sky, and was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the sun, which he felt against the flesh of his hands. So close to the sky they were, that Calvin swore he was capable of grasping the clouds in his loosely crumpled fists. “Look at that, Chase!” he exclaimed happily.

Chase couldn't believe how nice it was outside today, and how over the top Calvin was acting today. He looked so absolutely happy, she couldn't help but join in on his every giggle, his every smile, her eyes were sparkling, and she was finally looking up to the task of walking, and moving, and not being in total pain, as she had for the last month. She had a jacket on still, mostly because she was afraid her body in it's still sort of weak state, it would simply blow away, but Calvin had her hand firmly in his, and she was being half dragged up the hill, watching as he slipped and stumbled, but always made sure she was following and not hurting herself.

They climbed, and climbed, until finally they found the perfect spot. Rested on top of the hill, it was beautiful, and Chase couldn't help but throw her arms up and twirl around happily. "I feel like we're in the clouds!" She exclaimed, looking up at the sky and letting her hair fall back from her face. It had finally regrown to it's old size, down to her mid back, and back to it's full bouncy luminous, of course her scars were still there, and she was still much to skinny for her height, but she was looking radiant today in the sunshine that shone off of her red hair.

"Oh Calvin it's wonderful!" Chase exclaimed, giggling at him and throwing her arms around his neck. "How long have you been planning this one silly?" She asked grinning and standing on tip toe to give him a kiss on the cheek. She pulled back and watched his face, loving his reaction to the tiny show of affection. Every time was different then the last, and every time she loved it so much it made her want to do it again. She grinned at Calvin and flung her arms above her head again, spinning, her Hufflepuff scarf dancing around her neck. "Oh, it's gorgeous." She said and closed her eyes to the warm sunshine that hit her and made her feel like she was glowing.

It was difficult to appreciate the beauty of the sky above, and the vast land that made up that particular park, when Chase stood so near. Such perfection was her happiness that Calvin once more found himself incapable of paying his surroundings any mind. Despite the fact that she had not yet recovered entirely from the events of the previous month, the sun glistened perfectly against her caramel irises, and her smile glittered in a way that caused Calvin’s heart to skip wildly. Even in her state of being, Chase had achieved an effortless perfection that Calvin presumed only she was capable of.

After a moment of remaining still with his shoulders slumped forward, and a love-drunk expression upon his face, Calvin had come to the realization that he’d been staring. It was a habit that Calvin had recently developed, and was having great difficulty breaking. While in Chase’s presence, he felt it was close to impossible to prevent his every glance in her direction from lingering. And he feared that he was making her uncomfortable in doing so. “Sorry,” he apologized sheepishly, and dropped his eyes to his sneakers, which were buried in the lengthy grass that covered the hill. “You –uh- you know, you are very pretty,” Calvin explained with a bashful smile. Right on cue, he began to blush. “It has been a while since I’ve seen you smile,” he added honestly.

Calvin was nearly knocked over backwards by the force of Chase throwing her arms around his neck. He stumbled backwards, looking surprised. But he reacted instinctively to her hug, and returned it the moment that he’d regained his balance. He smiled in response to her curiosity. “A month,” Calvin answered, “It had to be perfect, because – uh – because you are perfect, and you deserve to be happy.” Though he could not seem to shake the “uh”s that he constantly inserted into such bold statements, Calvin had improved remarkably in his attempts to compliment Chase. It had been several months since he'd last fainted.

His cheek was met with a gentle kiss, and immediately, he began to crumble to the grass below him, as though paralyzed by her affection. Rather than returning to his feet, however, Calvin stretched his legs out before him, and propped himself up with his arms, which he’d swung back behind himself. Calvin was less of a hazard to himself while he was sitting down.

Chase couldn't help but smile when Calvin said she was pretty. She turned to look at him, blushing furiously at his words. No matter what Calvin did, he made her heart thump wildly, and her fingers started to tingle. He was so sweet, so innocent, her best friend. Sure they were sort of an odd couple, the girl who had a baby her Seventh year of Hogwarts, the girl who looked like she had been attacked by razors and cut everywhere, to skinny, to pale, but she still fit perfectly in Calvin's arms when he hugged her tight. Chase wasn't sure what Calvin was talking about, but she didn't mind, often his conversations were going on about something she didn't quite understand, but even though she didn't quite understand, she understood it had to be something special, why else would he be stammering?

When he crumpled to the ground, Chase followed suit, and sat down next to him, one hand rested gently on his leg, smiling at him, loving his reaction. He was so sweet, he acted as though her every touch was something special, and different, and just that one touch to his cheek with her lips, it made her whole body tingle, and she couldn't help but smile, true, it had been a while since she had smiled, it had taken a LONG time for her to get her lips to twitch into a smile.

Chase smiled at Calvin and looked up at the sky. "Love you Calvin." She whispered looking at him and grinning from ear to ear, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Those three words caused Calvin to feel lightheaded every time Chase spoke them aloud. No matter the year that they’d spent with one another, or the number of times that he himself had professed his love to Chase; without fail, Calvin's head spun. He eased himself to the ground when he felt that he could no longer hold his neck upright without his head swaying off to one side or another. In mere seconds, Chase had driven Calvin to the ground, and with nothing more than a kiss upon the cheek and her words. She’d stolen his heart long ago, and as a result, Calvin found that the power that she had over him was impossible to resist.

In fact, any logical man may very well have been frightened by such a love; should anything happen to the girl, surely, he would crumble. But Calvin’s head had been filled to its maximum capacity with optimistic thoughts of living forever with Chase, and of every joyful day that was to make up said time. There was no life without Chase; such a possibility did not exist within Calvin's mind.

After lying his back flat upon the grass, Calvin’s eyes drifted upward. The clouds above were boldly outlined in a way that made it easy to identify each shape as they passed by. And one shape in particular had caught his attention. Calvin’s arm shot upward, and he pointed in the direction of the one that his eyes had grown wide a the sight of. “It’s Pacman!” he screeched quite in the way that one would, had they seen the ghost of a loved one. He turned his head towards Chase, “Look, Chase! Look! It’s Pacman! You told me he would be in heaven – ahaha! – and there he is!” He cheered ecstatically.

As Calvin celebrated, he absentmindedly slipped his right hand inside his jacket. He began to finger the small, velvet box that he’d concealed within one of his pockets. It made sense, after all, that the young lad had begun to associate joy with the idea of remaining with Chase for the rest of his life. He could not recall precisely how long it had been since he’d originally hidden the object there, but he vaguely remembered having brushed his fingers across it on several occasions in the past. It had almost become a habit, to reach his hand into his pocket every now and then, if only to make certain that the box had remained there.

"Do you see him, Chase? Right there! It's my Pacman!" he asked, as though it were a possibility that Chase hadn't heard him the first time, despite the fact that he had nearly blown his voice when he'd shouted.

Chase watched as Calvin slid back onto the ground, and she laid down next to him, the grass soft beneath her back, her hand automatically moving to it's most comfortable position, holding his. They had held hands so much, it was her one source of true comfort, if Calvin's hand was in hers, she knew everything was okay, and everything would be okay if he stayed by her side. Chase was just closing her eyes as the sun warmed her when suddenly Calvin shouted something almost to loud to hear. Chase winced and glanced at him, then looked up and saw lo-and-behold... a cloud in the shape of his previous fish Pacman.

Chase couldn't help but grin and move closer to him, her hand squeezing his. "I told you he'd be there.." She said smiling, and looking at him. "He's smiling at you look!" she said pointing as the cloud shifted to make it appear as though the fish were smiling. "He must be happy with us I think.. with you.. he'd be so proud of you Calvin." She couldn't help but let out a soft shaky laugh. Shaky because she felt so happy she may just burst out crying. Joyful tears were her favorite kind, the kind that started in the pit of your stomach and swarmed you with the joyful feelings you had, making you feel that much better once you had let it all out.

"I think he's happy with you Calvin." Chase said rolling to her side and looking at him, grinning as she propped her head up with her hand, her elbow pushing into the ground. "I sure am." She couldn't help but grin at him, and search his face, happy that they were together like this, not in a hospital, not sick in bed, or so weak they couldn't move.. no, they were here, and this was how they were meant to be. Chase moved closer and rested her head in the crook of his arm and closed her eyes, taking in his scent as she lay there, wishing it would never end.

Indeed, as Calvin looked down the length of Chase’s finger to gaze at the cloud that she had pinned to the sky with her nail, he spotted the smile she spoke of. But he was only confused by the fish’s facial expression, for he could not recall having done anything to have earned such a sense of pride from his dearest friend. At every opportunity that he had been provided with to keep Chase safe, he had failed. And Calvin seemed to firmly believe that these failures had outweighed his previous accomplishments. If Pacman had truly taken the time to smile down at Calvin from the heavens, Calvin certainly did not understand why.

Feeling suddenly exposed to the eyes of the goldfish that hung in the sky above him, Calvin turned his head towards Chase, and buried his face in her brilliant red hair. He rested his chin upon her shoulder and folded his arms in towards himself, until he had very nearly curled in on himself. “But I didn’t do anything right, Chase,” he whispered against her ear, admitting to the one thought that he had forced himself to withhold from Chase on all past occasions. “Every time… I messed up,” he added slowly, his tone one of shame.

But he did not allow himself to remain in this position with such gloomy thoughts polluting his mind for long. After a brief moment of apologizing inwardly to Pacman for all that he had failed to do correctly in the past, Calvin withdrew from his hiding place and laid at Chase’s side once more. “But I will do better, Chase. I will keep you safe this time, just like I promised. We’ll have our forever this time,” Calvin decided, wearing an expression of determination upon his face. It was as though all that he had needed to erase his doubts had been a few seconds of thought and deep breathing. He offered Chase a smile, having come to the realization that he may have startled her in the way that he'd acted. It was not often, after all, that Calvin allowed such negativity to beat him down.

Call it the pre-proposal jitters.

Chase knew that her failures made Calvin think that he had done something wrong. She hated herself for it, why was it, when she messed up... everyone else felt worse off for it? When he curled up by her side and spoke softly, she frowned and turned to look at him, unable to stay staring at the happy fish in the sky. Chase looked at him carefully as he moved back to laying on the ground, and she sat up, rolling onto her side and putting her other arm on the other side of him, looking down into his face, her head blocking the sky, and her hair falling down around her face so that she was the only thing he could see.

"Calvin... you have never messed up.. it's always me that's messed up... I went away from you.. thinking I could handle things on my own, and I got hurt... I let everyone down so many times.. and yet here you are... still next to me.. at my side, I don't deserve someone like you Calvin." She said smiling at him, her hair blocking out the rest of the world, giving them both their own little bubble to talk in for the moment. She leaned down carefully and pressed her lips to his forehead, before leaning back and smiling at him. "I love you Calvin.. you know I do.. and you've never let me down.. I swear, the fact that you are here now... it means the world to me.. knowing that I can trust you.. that I can sit here and tell you I love you.." She used the hand she wasn't using to prop herself up to gently stroke his cheek, smiling into his eyes. "You are my forever Calvin, and I wouldn't have it any, other, way." She smiled and leaned back, flicking her hair over her head so that she could see again, and looked around the park comfortingly, one hand on the other side of him, resting lightly against his side.

It was a mastermind scheme, to force Calvin to look at her in the way that she had, with absolutely no means of glancing in another direction. No longer could Calvin look elsewhere, so to recollect his thoughts before speaking, as he often did when conversing with Chase. His fear of worrying her was far too great for him to allow his every negative thought of himself to spout from his lips.

He thought far too little of himself - a truth that rarely surfaced, due to Calvin’s determination to remain selfless in his every action. There was no reason for him to spend even a second’s time addressing the fact that he believed he could have prevented the harm that had been inflicted upon Chase, or the sense of failure that had come along with said belief. And while Chase assured him that she was to blame for her misfortune, Calvin could do nothing to convince himself of this.

He exhaled slowly and nodded in agreement. Such love twinkled within Chase’s brown irises that Calvin simply could not bear to continue on in such a way, spoiling the happiness. It was not a time for such seriousness; there was a time and place for everything, as Calvin was slowly beginning to learn. Calvin brushed his lips against Chase’s in a brief, innocent kiss in response to her comforting words. And as though some superior being believed that Calvin had forgotten of the effect that Chase’s affection had on him, his head fell forward at her profession of love, and his chin met with his chest. His lips fell apart and fumbled with one another awkwardly for a moment as he attempted to regain control of his facial features. “Love you too, Chase,” he gargled bashfully. Calvin ghosted his own hand above Chase’s as she stroked his cheek, desperate to hold her hand in his once more. “No matter what.”

It was on this note that Calvin had decided to act. For months he had contemplated over small details, actions, and words – until, alas he had concocted a plan. One that he was certain would play out perfectly. After all, several past occurrences proved the fact that Calvin could rise to be quite the remarkable fellow when he felt that he was doing so on Chase’s behalf. So long as he considered his proposal to Chase to be an important action, in theory, everything was sure to go smoothly.

In theory…

By moving backwards an inch and drawing his legs in towards himself, Calvin excused himself from his previous position; sitting beside Chase with his hand rested gently atop hers. With the heels of his sneaker-clad feet, he pushed himself upward to stand once more. “Just a minute,” Calvin assured Chase, and offered her a smile. With every finger upon his right hand he’d grabbed hold of the box in which Chase’s ring was concealed. With a sharp inhalation of the chilled autumn air, Calvin prepared to stoop down to his knee...

Until that pesky ant was spotted. Hadn’t Calvin met eyes with the insect as it had climbed aboard his foot, perhaps the chaotic situation could have been prevented. But Calvin had never been so lucky as to avert his gaze at such an opportune moment. Instead, his eyes went wide at the sight of the ant, which continued crawling atop the toe of one of his sneakers.

Immediately, Calvin began to scream – and what a scream it was; a shriek of pure terror tore through the silence that had previously occupied the park, causing birds to stumble from their branches in the surrounding trees. Calvin, however, hadn’t eyes for any other creature than that ant. He began to shuffle his feet in an attempt to shake the insect from his shoe. In doing so, however, Calvin forced himself to stumble backwards, and over the edge of the hill on which he and Chase had set up their picnic.

From there on he fell; tumbling over flailing limbs, staining clothing green. Until his thick skull connected with the flatland below. “Owie…” Calvin groaned pathetically as tears began to form at the rims of his eyes. Surely, something had broken during his plummet back to Earth.

Chase was slightly surprised when Calvin kissed her gently on the lips, and his hand met hers, as he moved to be away form under her. Chase smiled at him and stood up as well, brushing off her knees, and watching as he grabbed something, but suddenly he was screaming, and Chase was for sure he was being crucio'd or something equally horrible, but when she saw him kicking out with his foot, she was unsure of what was going on, until Calvin was halfway down the hill, and she was standing there in shock. She jolted herself out of her shock, and flung herself down the hill, running after him, yelling his name. Forgetting about their picnic, or anything else, she nearly tripped and tumbled, but kept her balance until she was near him.

But something caught her attention before she could get right up next to him, something that looked as though it had just landed there, for it was near Calvin, and the grass looked flattened where it had rolled away from him. It was a box, and she realized he must have grabbed it when he had bent over and had whatever happen, that made him fall down the hill. "Calvin.." Chase said and stooped to pick up the box, before she went to him quickly and crouched beside him. "Calvin! Are you hurt? Don't move! Let me make sure you didn't get a concussion... or break anything!" she said, gently pulling down his shirt where it had ridden up, and running her hand through his hair to get out lose bits of dirt, before she started to check his limbs.

"Does anything hurt?" She asked, and the box she had picked up tumbled from her hand onto the ground, and it snapped open, her eyes flung to the box, and her entire body froze, eyes fixed on the ring inside that was visible in the bright sunlight. "Calvin... what is that?" She asked softly, her voice hoarse, her eyes locked on the box that lay open in the sunlight. Suddenly she turned to stare at Calvin, her jaw literally dropped, her cheeks flushed, her hair a mess from her wild sprint down the hill. "Calvin?"