...But Your Enemies Closer

Long after the two had taken their slow dance to a more intimate variety in the bedroom, Rebecca was still pondering over the odd conversation that they had shared. Emily was fast asleep on her side, legs and arms tucked up into her chest to form a little ball with her head resting on Rebecca's upturned stomach. The brunette idly played with the wild blonde locks splayed out across her skin and replayed the night in her head over and over -- trying to figure out what Emily was really saying.

Was it possible that her girlfriend was trying to nudge her into taking the next step of commitment? That was a terrifying prospect if Rebecca did say so herself. Living together and sharing space -- especially for the extent that they two had managed successfully -- was one thing, but...marriage?

Rebecca shuddered at the concept.

Once the initial shock wore of, Rebecca began to consider the prospect logically and realized that nothing would really change. Sure, there would be the dress and the ring and the big day -- and ugh, the proposal of course -- but beyond that, their relationship would stay the same. They would still live together, they would still be stuck doing mundane chores together and they would still argue over who got control of date night. The only difference would be the name that they would share.

Admittedly, Rebecca had thought about the prospect of Emily's name attached to her own in the past, but it was nothing more than a fleeting fancy. Maybe now it would be worth thinking of a little harder though. Emily Knox did sound good to her ears after all -- and if Emily expected Rebecca to be the one to propose then she would be taking the brunette's name. Although if Rebecca was being honest -- and it would take wild horses to drag this truth out of her -- she rather liked the sound of Rebecca Frazier as well.

With her hands still combing through the soft flaxen hair of her girlfriend, Rebecca considered what the next step should be. There would have to be a ring of course -- and she would have to hide that big purchase from Emily somehow -- but that was easy enough in comparison to the other big expectation from her. As in, how in the hell was Rebecca supposed to propose to Emily?

That was an endeavor she had never once considered having to complete in her life. Why would she? Rebecca was convinced there would be a man that would come to take care of that problem so she would never have to think about getting on one knee. Never mind that the prospect of that happening now brought a very unwanted shiver down the brunette's spine at the mere thought.

None of those superfluous musings was helping her though. What was important now was coming up with something that would be special to Emily despite the nervous, awkward, scared energy pouring from Rebecca at the thought of an impending proposal of any kind. Was she supposed to do something low key and intimate like Emily seemed to enjoy in most aspects of their relationship or a more grand and elaborate gesture to mark the occasion? Emily had never been one to enjoy huge displays though -- especially when Rebecca was the perpetrator behind them -- so that last idea was a bit moot.

Then again, maybe Rebecca could string together something from the best of both worlds. So she schemed and planned in a way that was unheard of since her adolescent days. The only difference was that her mastermind plots would be used in the name of good for once and not unrelenting evil.

Two weeks after Rebecca initially came up with the idea to give Emily what she wanted -- or at least what she deducted that Emily wanted -- the brunette set things into motion. Emily received a request to come out to the football field of their old high school by letter, which had been brought to her this morning in the office. The blonde noted the beautiful calligraphy script of the letter especially.

Something about a formal invitation felt really special and fancy to Rebecca, so she slipped a twenty to one of the young intern's in order to get the letter hand delivered to Emily for the ultimate effect of this stage of the plan.

Emily the ever punctual -- as Rebecca sarcastically called her, usually when that same punctuality was to the brunette's disfavor -- arrived on the field exactly when Rebecca expected her to. Which was to say that she was fifteen minutes early, but Rebecca had planned to set things in motion in anticipation of Emily's projected arrival time in comparison to when she was supposed to show up. No one could say that Rebecca didn't know her girlfriends' quirks and idiosyncrasies -- that was for sure.

As soon as that blonde head of hair that Rebecca loved so much strolled onto the field, the brunette's Varsity squad began a very special cheer that they had volunteered to help their coach with.

"Gimme an E!" The head cheerleader began.

The rest of the squad then answered, "E!"

Then all together, they shouted, "Because she is Exciting!"

"Gimme an M!"

"M!"

"The girl is Mesmerizing!"

"Gimme an M!"

"M!"

"Magnificent to view!"

"Gimme a Y!"

"Y!"

"'Cause no one's quite like You!"

The cheer repeated as Emily walked closer to Rebecca and her girls, while piecing together what they were saying and who they were saying it about. It was like that terrible Homecoming game cheer in reverse. Ironically, the creator of that horrible cheer said on that chilly autumn day was the same one directing the girl's through their routine with vigor.

Rebecca turned from her squad to look at Emily and smiled, then held up one finger indicating she would only need a moment. "Perfect girls, absolutely perfect!" The brunette shouted to the squad of teenagers before motioning toward Emily, "And I'm sure the target audience was pleased with all the effort and work you put into it."

Emily nodded vigorously to show her support of the young athletes who had turned to her with curiosity in their eyes. The girl's high fived each other and squealed in delight of their success. Let it never be said that Rebecca was turning these girls into anything other than happy, peppy teenagers -- as opposed to soulless and manipulative ones.

The brunette turned from Emily once more and clapped loudly, "Okay, hit the showers. You did an incredible job today!"

The cheerleaders jogged off the field at their coach's command. Some of them stopped to smile at Emily while others patted Rebecca's arm or leaned in to whisper to their coach secretly. When the two were alone again, Rebecca directed Emily to the side of the field and placed her very specifically in front of the west bleachers.

"What's going-" Emily began but Rebecca held a hand up to silence her.

"Just stay right there and wait." Rebecca said before putting a few feet of distance between them so Rebecca was technically on the field and Emily was still on the sidelines. "You were standing right there and I was here the last day we saw each other senior year. I was trying my hardest not to think about you or how much I truly cared about you, all I wanted to do was hurt you so bad that I would never have to think about all of those feelings ever again."

Emily watched as Rebecca began to shift anxiously, The brunette obviously had something she wanted to get out, but fuck, was this a hell of a lead on to whatever Rebecca was trying to say. Still, Emily waited patiently for her girlfriend to get to the point.

"And I did. I hurt you that day more than I ever had before. Maybe even more than all those other times combined. That was something I expected. What I didn't expect was what was going to happen to me." Rebecca sighed and walked a little closer to Emily, "I died a little that day. Whether it was my childhood or my innocence or losing you, I'll never know. But I died inside the day you stopped existing to me."

Rebecca took a huge breath in and then exhaled it all at once. Suddenly she looked very nervous. Emily was so confused about the whole purpose of this -- the cheerleaders and Rebecca's admittance and even being here on the old Branson field -- but she was equally intrigued as well.

"What I'm trying to say in a very roundabout way is this. I've brought you here, to this exact spot where I died as a teenage girl in order to ask you a very important question as the woman you brought back to life."

Rebecca bent at the knee and Emily drew in a sharp breath before her hands flew up to her mouth. The blonde couldn't believe this was happening at all, there was just no way that Rebecca could actually be preparing to ask her such a thing. However, Emily was forced to believe this was happening when Rebecca pulled a little blue box from her pocket and held it up in front of the blonde.

Emily's eyes went wide and she stuttered out something before Rebecca could even have the chance to pop the question. "This is...this is a little unexpected."

Rebecca grinned, "You didn't think I would go through with it after all those hints you dropped?"

"What hints? What are you talking about?" Emily's brows pulled together in confusion.

"Wait...you mean that...you didn't?" Rebecca was having trouble grasping the weight of the situation coming down on her suddenly. "You weren't expecting me to propose to you?"

"Should I have?"

"Well you asked me all that stuff about being together for the rest of our lives and, and, and ugh!"

Rebecca couldn't even formulate a sentence anymore. She was feeling embarrassed and ridiculous waving around a ring to a girl that hadn't even been hoping for a proposal -- and from the way she was acting, didn't want one either. The brunette stood from her kneeling position and extended to her full height, which towered over the smirking blonde.

"Just...forget it then." Rebecca mumbled and went to pocket the ring once more. Hopefully she could return it at full price if she explained this horrible situation to the jeweler.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Emily cried. "Do I even get the chance to answer?"

Rebecca stared at the girl, feeling more and more baffled with each passing second between them. "I didn't think you wanted to."

"No I haven't had the chance to." Emily corrected her girlfriend with a sharp poke to Rebecca's chest with her finger. "I can't help that you caught me by surprise here. I don't know what crazy thoughts have been going on in your head lately, but for me this is coming from far left field."

Rebecca shuffled awkwardly and thought about how badly this was going. Nothing was happening to the plan at this point. Was her scheming really that rusty? Had she really read all the wrong signs and then pulled off the plan so unspectacularly? Fuck.

"Regardless of all that though," Emily said loud enough to garner Rebecca's attention back to her. "If you're still willing to ask me the question I'm willing to give you an answer."

Rebecca searched the blonde's face and chewed on the inside of her cheek. There was a moment of hesitation in the brunette where she wondered if Emily was actually preparing to say no to her face. That wouldn't make any sense though. Why would Emily set her up for such failure when she had been so adamant on knowing Rebecca was willing to stand by her for the long run just a few weeks earlier?

With another deep breath in and out, Rebecca took Emily's hands in hers and finally sprung the question. "Emily Frazier, will you marry me?"

Emily considered Rebecca like she was weighing her options out -- just to make the brunette squirm a bit more -- and then shrugged indifferently, "I guess you're the best I'm gonna get, so, yes."

Rebecca chuckled at the blonde's answer -- it was so Emily after all -- and lifted the girl's hand to slip the diamond ring upon it. Something about the sight of that ring on Emily's finger made Rebecca's chest tighten. It wasn't in an anxious way, but rather a 'almost makes you want to cry because the universe finally seems to makes sense and it's all very overwhelming' kind of way.

"Wow." Rebecca said simply, her eyes still trained on the ring.

Emily's gaze was set there too and she had to admit that she rather liked the weight on her hand that the diamond brought, "Wow indeed."

Rebecca couldn't help the words that tumbled out of her mouth upon realizing that she had just proposed and Emily actually said yes, "I can't wait until you're Mrs. Emily Knox."

The blonde's brows rose at this statement and she met the face of her goofy grinned girlfriend who only had her attention in one place right now -- and it wasn't Emily's pointed gaze. "Really now? Who's to say that you won't take my name? Or that we'll hyphenate?"

The challenge of Emily's voice wasn't lost on Rebecca -- nor was the look she was met with when she finally met the blonde's big green eyes -- but even her girlfriend's silly questions couldn't bring her down right now. "Hyphenating is stupid. It's like there's no dedication from either party so they come up with a lame compromise so no one feels like a loser. Not to mention it usually comes off as super pretentious." Rebecca shrugged, "And since I proposed I believe it's only fair that you should take my last name. I did all the hard work after all."

Emily pursed her lips at Rebecca's sound logic. She didn't want to agree with the brunette but those were valid points on both fronts. She actually didn't want to hyphenate -- the sound of it really was pretentious to Emily's ears -- and admittedly, Rebecca's surname would sound good attached to her. More than that though, she would truly be Rebecca's wife by taking her name and that thought alone was enough to get her blushing a deep shade of pink.

"Fine." Emily agreed, "But I'm naming our first child."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Rebecca chuckled and offered Emily her hand.

The blonde laced their fingers together, not intending to drop the conversation yet. "I think it's only fair."

"Look Emmy, fair or not, I want to get through one heart attack inducing event before I start thinking about another." Rebecca said calmly. "Can't we be content with planning a wedding and letting God and everyone know that you finally put the ball and chain on me before we discuss bringing a tiny screaming, crying, pooping thing into this world?"

"As long as you agree to give me utter control in the ways of names with no vetoes I can be." Emily remarked with a playful gleam in her eye.

Rebecca sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Fair enough." Emily said and laid her head against Rebecca's arm. "After all, we do have a lifetime to argue about it."

"Yeah." Rebecca replied dreamily at the thought of many more years of arguing, misunderstanding and all together loving Emily. "We really do."