We snuggle up for a long while, and he’s just starting to relax into sleep when a thought occurs to me, and I repress an evil smile.

“It was lovely that you proposed to me so beautifully though,” I say earnestly into the silence of the room. “It was honestly the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me. I mean, I can hardly believe that I’m actually going to be Mister Charlie Lebedinsky. I can’t wait to sign my new name.” I idly mime scrawling my new signature in the air.

“What?” He pushes up, eyes wide, and splutters, “I proposed to you? Oh my God, what did I say?”

I try to look winsome and innocent, but I can’t hold it, and break into laughter instead.

“Wanker,” he says, shoving me gently. We lie back down. “You had me,” he admits.

“Let that be a lesson to you,” I say demurely, and a comfortable silence falls as he plays idly with my hand, tracing the veins on my wrist in seeming fascination.

“I will one day though,” he says suddenly.

“You will do what one day?” I ask idly.

“I will propose one day.”

I stare at him in astonishment, feeling warmth wrap around me.

“I’m just warning you,” he says. “I’m going to make the proposal so fucking lovey-dovey that your head will explode.”

“Not sure that’s quite the outcome you should be looking for, but thank you for warning me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Just so you know, I’m going to say yes to you, Misha Lebedinsky, because you’re the love of my life.”

“I know,” he says calmly and kisses me.

He pulls back and snuggles down into the sofa, dragging me with him until we’re curled tightly together. Once we’re situated to his satisfaction, he falls asleep with the suddenness of a child, and I stroke his hair, pressing a kiss to the black wavy strands.

Words fail me as I try to determine how I feel. I’ve read all the classics with their descriptions of love. I’ve read wildly romantic books and their stories of passion and I’ve absorbed every word, but they still can’t describe Misha and me. All I can say is that I’ve never felt so seen by someone before. I’ve never been loved for everything that I am—the full me—before. And I’ve never felt like this about any other person. I love him with a depth and a breadth I didn’t know I possessed, and I would go to the ends of the earth to make him happy. It all feels right. Warm and bright. Like together, we’ve managed to bottle real sunshine.

Epilogue

Fourteen Months Later

Charlie

I come awake to find Misha staring at me an inch away from my face. “What the fuck?” I mumble. “Misha, you’re being weird again.”