Sure Feels Right

April meant two things. Finals and playoffs were right around the corner. Luckily, I had two weeks longer to prepare for my tests than Robert did to prepare for his game. Well, I guess it means three things. Robert would be moving into our house and Drew was moving back to Pittsburgh.
The first couple of weeks were pretty boring, I was starting with the papers and Robert was too stressed to do anything besides sleep and eat. He decided not to furnish the house until after graduation so our house was a little pathetic looking. There were a few boxes here and there, the only things that were unpacked were dishes and clothes.
As playoffs got closer and closer, I spent less and less time with Robert. We had the occasional meal together. Sometimes watched a movie at my place before we both passed out and I woke up alone. It was hard, but I was able to be productive which was nice. Drew, however, wasn't handling it very well.
I tried to be nice, I really did. But I was under as much or more stress than she was. Beau was almost always with her but her hormones were absolutely crazy. Finally I snapped, in front of our boyfriends.
"Drew. Shut up. I am so sick of your complaining. You are so annoying, oh my goodness. It's seriously like you never get to see your boyfriend or you have finals to study for. Oh wait, that's me. Stop stressing out about nothing. It's not good for the baby. And I hate to break it to you, but that baby is the most important thing in this room right now. So just do us all a favor and quit." The three people sitting at Beau's kitchen table were staring at me. "Wow. Make me feel like the bad person here."
"You just yelled at a pregnant girl. You're kind of a bitch." Drew finally let out.
"Did you just swear?" I leaned over to check her forehead for a fever.
"Quit that." She was starting to pout and I tried to hide my smile.
"That is literally the first time I've heard you swear. Are you okay?"
"Piss off, Scar."
I started laughing. I honestly thought she was going to cry at first, but I was wrong.
"I gotta go. Research papers aren't going to write themselves."
The only problem I had with this was the fact that while I had to watch my boyfriend on a screen, if he actually got to play, all the other girlfriends were in the wives suite. It wasn't fair.
I was rewatching the seasons of Grey's Anatomy and reviewing some notes when Robert walked in.
"Get up. I have to be at the arena in 40 minutes and you have a ticket to the game." He turned off the tv. "I'm actually playing."
"But I'm not-"
"You're fine. Throw on a jacket and let's go." He grabbed me the Penguins zip up and threw it to me. I closed my computer and stacked the notebooks on top of it. After slipping on a pair of tall boots, we were out the door.
Robert was nervous, I could tell. He didn't talk, barely looked at me. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. I walked into the arena just a few steps behind him. He stopped by the doors to the locker room, staying silent. I kissed him cheek and wished him good luck.
After getting food and something to drink, I sat down in my seat. I was a few rows above the glass behind Fleury. My glasses kept falling down the bridge of my nose and I was reminded why I never wore them.
I sat in silence during most of the game. I knew that if Robert didn't play well during this game, there's a chance he could get scratched again. I don't get why. The defense has been shit lately.
"Hey, you're Bortuzzo's girlfriend, aren't you?" The girl in front of me had asked.
"Yeah. I am." I smiled. I guess I never really knew that people noticed me.
She went on to say how cute we are and what not. That ultimately lead to my face turning bright red and my hiding behind my hands.
When the game was finished and it was known that we would be moving onto the next round, I went to Robert's car to wait for him. He came out and I ran towards him. He picked me up and spun me around.
"You played so well! I'm so proud of you." He set me down and kissed me, causing my knees to go weak.
"Come on, let's go celebrate. Just the two of us."
"Are- are you sure? This was a big win. Are you sure you don't want to go out with the team?" I followed him to the car.
"Scarlett, you're the only one I want to be with right now." He reached for my hand and kissed it.
On the way to our house, he stopped to get a couple bottles of wine. Not the cheap wine I always have a bottle of. It was the expensive, really good stuff.
A few glasses in, I was was starting to feel the alcohol but it didn't seem to phase Robert.
Stupid boy athlete metabolism.
We were dancing in the kitchen. Just swaying back and forth when he took a small step back to look at me.
"What."
"Nothing, I'm just looking at you."
"Why?"
He didn't answer. Not right away, at least. He just smiled.
"Marry me." I stared at him. Probably with some stupid look on my face. Was this actually happening right now? He let go of me and looked down, putting his hands on his pockets.
"Er- that wasn't really a question. I mean, I don't have a ring yet but will-"
"Yes. Of course. Yes!" I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. I could still smell his body wash. He grabbed my hips and set me on the counter behind us.
I was so happy I started crying. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep. I sat up and wiped my eyes.
"Those are happy tears, right?" He looked at me, worried as he wiped my cheeks.
"Of course, Robert. Why wouldn't they be?"
"You didn't want to settle down so early.."
"We might be engaged for a while, but I want to spend my life you." I wanted that more than anything.
"Let's go to bed. We'll go ring shopping in the morning after I'm done with practice."
"I want you to pick it out." He really couldn't go wrong with picking out a ring for me. I'm really not that picky, most engagement rings are gorgeous.
"Okay then I'll go ring shopping tomorrow."
Robert's POV
I woke up to Scarlett's legs wrapped around mine. I might be a hockey player, but she was a dancer too. The strength in her legs was unreal.
I stumbled into the bathroom to brush my teeth before slipping on a sweatshirt and leaving a note for Scarlett.
Scar-
Beau is picking me up. Keys are by the door. I'll see you after practice
"What are you doing after practice?" I asked Beau as soon as I got in his car. He put on way to much cologne this morning. Its almost like he thought we weren't going to sweat for the next hour.
"Going shopping with Drew, why?"
"I need your help getting a ring."
"Wait, are you getting married?" Beau unnecessarily slammed on his brakes. His driving was seriously worse than Scarlett's which was hard.
"Engaged. Engaged is the word you're looking for, Beau. And yeah. I asked her last night."
"You asked her without a ring? You're an idiot."
"Yeah, whatever. She didn't care."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe because she loves me." Beau was questioning me without taking his eyes off the road.
"Scarlett scares me." He admitted when he pulled into the parking lot. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh she scares me too."
Luckily, Beau kept his mouth shut during practice. I didn't really want anyone to know until she got a ring. I'm sure she had told a few people by now, but if that's what she wanted I didn't care.
Just thinking about shopping for a ring was stressful. I didn't know where to start and Beau wasn't helping the situation.
"Go to the Tacori retailer," Drew turned to Beau and then back to me, "These rings are gorgeous."
"I don't know if she wants over the top though.."
"You'll find something. If not, we'll go somewhere else."
The lady behind the counter greeted us as we walked in. I really didn't know where to start.
"You look a little overwhelmed, what can I help you with?" She asked with a smile.
"I need an engagement ring."
"Okay sir. What were you thinking of?"
"Uh.. Halo princess cut." Drew looked at me, surprised. "We may have talked about this when Kenzie and Rachel got engaged."
"So you know exactly what she wants?" Drew asked.
"Yeah.. I just don't know if she will like it. That's the only problem." I didn't want to get something she wouldn't like. I knew she didn't really care how big it was and there is no way she wanted me to get a really expensive one, but it looked like I'd be spending more than she would like.
"Robert, it's from you. It means she's going to spend the rest of her life with you. She's going to love it no matter what it looks like." Drew rubbed my back, trying to calm me down but it didn't help when the sales woman placed six rings in front of me that looked a lot alike.
After finally narrowing it down to three, it didn't take long to narrow it down to two.
"Damn, Bort. Trying to compensate for something with that?"
"Piss off Bennett. How much is that one?" I pointed to the larger one, I was scared to find out.
"Platinum or white gold?" I really don't know the difference, but I've heard platinum was a better metal.
"Platinum."
"Fifteen thousand." Holy shit.
"I'll take it."
I picked the ring up and studied it a little closer. The larger center diamond was surrounded by smaller ones. The smaller diamonds went almost all the way down the band on either side. This was a completely over the top ring that probably costs half of Scarlett's tuition.
"That's absolutely gorgeous. She's going to love it."
"Wow. Now I have to compete with that," Beau mumbled as I handed over my card.
The woman told me what I needed to do if she needed it sized and went on for a while about something I wasn't paying attention to. Hopefully Drew was.
Beau dropped me off at my house and I found Scarlett laying on her couch holding up a book. She sat up and put whatever she was reading on the table.
"Ready to go to lunch?" She asked when I closed the door.
"Uh. Yeah. Just have to do something first because I'm doing this the right way now that I have a ring." I got down on one knee and opened the box I had just gotten, "Scarlett Renee Evans, will you marry me?"
Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, "Are you serious? Is that mine?" I nodded. "This is beautiful. Huge and unnecessary, but beautiful. Oh my gosh Robert, you didn't have to."
She admired the large ring on her left hand. Her smile made everything worth it. Scarlett hadn't looked away in a few minutes, "What are you thinking about?"
"I can't wait." She still wouldn't look away from it.
"For what?"
"Absolutely everything."

Notes