Jess

I stood up as she approached and kissed her. I made a resolution the first time we kissed that I would never ever take that simple act for granted, and I promise you I never have.

"Hello," she said.

Simple. An exchange we had had a million times.

"Um... hi," I replied.

What to say? What to say? What to say?

I'd practised this over and over, but none of the hundred different versions seemed to fit.

I looked out over the lake.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, mind still racing.

Jess knew me well enough to know something was up. I wondered if she knew me well enough to know what it was.

"Yeah," she said, looking out over the lake, then back at me.

"Jess..." I ventured.

"It's kind of cold to stand still," she said. "Shall we walk?"

She slipped her hand into mine.

"I've loved you ever since the first time I met you," I continued. My mind flashed back to that party, that perfect girl approaching me.

"That's silly," she giggled. "No one falls in love with someone that quickly."

"I'd never met anyone anything like you before," I continued, undeterred.

"That's because you're an unsociable bastard," she countered, slightly reproachfully.

"Isn't," I replied.

"If it hadn't been for me going out of my way to approach you, to force you to talk to me, you'd have never had the chance to 'fall in love' with me," she smiled, making air quotes.

"I'm glad you did," I smiled.

She didn't reply straight away. But then she moved closer to me, pulling my arm round her.

"Me too," she said.

"I'll love you forever, Jess," I said. Maybe it sounded corny, but I didn't care.

She looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Forever's a long time," she said lightly.

"Slightly longer than three-ever," I replied.

She giggled a lot more than the terrible pun deserved.

"I'll love you five-ever," she replied.

It seemed like as good a moment as ever.

I got down on one knee.

"Jess? Will you let me make you happy for the rest of your life? Will you marry me?"

There was a pause, then I saw a tear running from Jess' eye. But she was smiling. I'm not ashamed to admit that there might have been a tear in my eye too. Eventually she managed to remember how to nod, and, much later, said "yes, of course".

There are some stories about people who overcome huge adversities, who fight epic battles, or who change the world. This isn't one of those stories. It's a story about an ordinary guy who ends up with a girl who's way out of his league. Or, as Jess tells me, reading the story over my shoulder as I write this final paragraph, a fantastic guy who needs to have more confidence in himself... who ends up with a girl who's way out of his league. I love you, Jess.