New York.

My hometown.

Seconds after we flew in, I inhaled the polluted air and felt like I'm home, especially with my fiance by my side. Because, in all honesty, home was wherever she was. Today, our itinerary was stocked up with places to sightsee. It wasn't Davina's first time in NYC, but I had the underground knowledge about the city.

I also wanted to bring her to my special hideout.

The place I would spend most nights to avoid having to engage with my dad. My sanctuary had a different meaning today, not only because my father wasn't around to frighten me anymore. But because the girl taking selfies with her fans right in front of me was my walking sanctuary. I've feared that I would fall into this, putting my burdens on my girlfriend, adding enormous weight to her shoulders.

But I've fallen for her. She's the butter to my bread, the jelly to my donut, the Eve to my Adam because, for fuck's sake, she was the definition of temptation. She brought the apple right by my lips and there was no going back.

"Can I get of photo with the both of you?" The fan who had taken a picture with Davina already asked.

Since we only dropped our luggage in the hotel room, we had forgotten to unpack sunglasses and hats to disguise ourselves from the public eye. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Only about a dozen fans came up to us. They were mostly Davina's fans, but I had surprisingly met a few of my own.

It was an odd but eventful experience, for sure.

I shrugged. "Sure. Where do you want me to go?"

The young girl's cheeks turned pink. "Davina, is it okay if Ambrose kisses my cheek for the picture? I've got the biggest crush on him."

Davina giggled. "So do I!" she swatted my ass as I walked over to the other side of the girl. "It's fine, as long as you don't plan to steal him away from me." Her tone came off sweet and lighthearted.

She put her hands up in defensive, waving them frantically. "I would never! I might have a big crush on Ambrose, but I'm a bigger Davrose shipper."

Davina pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm kidding! Of course, he can kiss you as long as he's okay with it."

Their eyes wandered in my direction, blinking.

"Well, I can't crush a girl's dream," I teased, sticking my tongue out at Davina. "Besides, I have heard from a special someone that I have the best lips in the world."

Davina narrowed her eyes into murderous slits. "You're not a good comedian."

The girl nodded. "Davina's right."

I scoffed. "Come on, but your joke was funny? You guys are just ganging up against me because I'm the only guy here." I covered my mouth dramatically. "I can't believe this discrimination."

However, Davina's expression remained heartless. "Good thing you're not an actor. You suck at pretending to be hurt."

The fan nodded in agreement. "If you ever do a movie with him, it will be social suicide. The movie will be hated on by critics."

Davina tapped her chin. "What about a reality show? You think we can pull that off?"

"Hell yeah! I would watch it in an instant! I know we don't see everything behind the scenes, but you guys seem perfect together. A match made in heaven, and my couple goals." The raven curled fan trembled with delight.

"Aww," Davina cooed. "Just make sure to settle for nothing less than what you deserve. That's the number one rule!" She lifted her hand, using her pointer finger to annunciate the point.

The fan gasped, covering her mouth with her palm. "Oh my gosh! Is that a ring? Are you guys getting married?" My eyes widened as I glanced over at the obvious diamond on her finger. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I cannot believe my favorite couple is tying the knot! I'm wishing you guys the ultimate best. Both of you guys deserve happiness."

Davina flashed an uneasy grin. "Do you mind just keeping it a secret for a bit? It's quite new, and we weren't planning to share it yet... it might be a lot to ask b-."

The fan put her hand up. "No, it's not. You guys deserve some privacy for little moments like that and even now, I'm sorry for interrupting you on this date. I'll be heading out now, and don't worry, my lips are sealed." She tied her lips up with an imaginary key and threw it into the bushes.

Davina giggled as she waved goodbye to her fan while her other hand grazed against mine until we merged them. We were always better together, hand in hand, feet to feet, forehead to forehead.

"Do you think she's going to keep quiet?" I asked.

Davina tilted her head with a slightly narrowed expression. "I have faith that she will keep it a secret... At least for a few days, which should buy us some time to figure out how we're going to tell everyone." She played with the ring, shifting it forward bit by bit until it was off her finger.

My eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing?"

Before Davina could put the ring in her pocket, I grasped her arm, yanking her forward into my chest for a gigantic bear hug. A low groan departed from her lips when she collided with my body, but she didn't appear to mind since she snuggled closer.

"I was trying to put the ring in my pocket until the hug attacker forced one of me," Davina stated, a slight edge to her tone.

I kissed the top of her head. "Why are you going to put the ring in your pocket? I like seeing it on your finger."

Davina peeked up with a 'are you serious' expression. "Because if the ring is on my ring finger and we happen to run into the paparazzi, then that's going to be the first thing they see."

A crease developed between my eyebrows. "This little ass diamond? I doubt they can see that shit if they're far away."

She gasped, clutching the ring against her chest. "Trust me, if they get a photograph of us, they will for sure zoom in to see every detail. Also, don't be hating on my little diamond. It's beautiful and I love it twenty times more because you gave it to me."

Happiness swelled in my chest. "It does look amazing on your finger." Slowly, I intertwined our hands, bringing them up to my lips and placing a kiss on hers. "So, don't take it off, baby. Please."

Davina groaned, playfully rolling her eyes. "Gosh... I hate it when you do that."

I smirked. "And why is that?"

"Because you're turning me into a lovesick bitch, and it's sickening." She crinkled up her adorable button nose.

In a way to further annoy her, I peppered her cheeks with dozens of kisses, ending right as I placed the final one on her enchanting, plump lips. "I don't think it's sick to be in love. As I said, we have to enjoy the good moments. Right now is one of those."

With a smug expression, Davina cruised the ring down her finger. "When did you even get this, anyway?"

Anxiety rippled in my chest like an unexpected tidal wave. Proposing to Davina was a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. I wasn't planning it at all. That doesn't mean I never thought about it. I did. A lot. But with Lana, I reacted too quickly and purposed to her before she got her feelings figured out.

It was a mistake.

So, I didn't want to make the same one with Davina.

I don't regret proposing to Davina; I never would. But I do regret the ring. Because it was the one I brought for Lana. At the time, I only had about one thousand five hundred saved for extra spending money and used all of it for this little ass diamond. Davina didn't deserve this ring; she deserved a better one, made for her, brought for her, not some handy down.

If I tell her the truth, it's only going to tarnish the moment and ruin her perception of our relationship. There's no doubt in my mind that she's going to compare herself to Lana yet again, and my actions would only support her hypothesis.

Even if it wasn't what I truly intended.

I needed to buy her a new one.

"Umm... I got i-."

"Davina and Ambrose!" A group of paparazzi swarmed around us with their cameras. White bright flashes overwhelmed our sight, making it impossible to see past them. Interlocking our hands together, I lunged forward, using my empty hand to push the paparazzi apart to make a clear opening. "How's the lovely couple doing? Seems like you guys are getting serious? Do you plan on settling down soon?"

As we made our way out of the growing crowd, one of the paparazzi's cameras banged into Davina's head, earning a heart-aching whimper from her lips. My temper shifted from peaceful to bad shit hatred when they didn't even say sorry and continued to record us. Hostility wasn't an exceptional emotion to latch onto, but having them badger us with questions and cameras only fueled the fire.

"Can you guys move the fuck out of our way!" I shouted, rage clearly shown throughout my body.

A paparazzi shoved their camera in my face. "Or what? Are you going to beat us up too?" His smug face was like gasoline to the flammable blood coursing through my body. "Poor Davina, I hope you don't beat her up too."

A mix of resentment and sorrow swelled in my chest. Milo was right. I wasn't suitable enough for Davina, at least in the public's eye. People had a presumption of me that I wasn't sure I'll ever get rid of. Her repaired reputation was going down in flames because she was by my side. I didn't want to believe it because I care about her so much, but all I've been bringing lately was chaos.

"You guys can suck our dicks," Davina stated, smirking. "Oh, wait, I forgot you guys have been doing that for years... Does it feel good? A little advice try not to coddle it too much. The two sacks always hate that."

To our rescue, Julian (Davina's bodyguard) came running with a hot dog in his hand and a walky-talky in the other. It didn't take long for the buff man to create a clear path for us to escape while the paparazzi protested behind us. Davina and I rushed over to our black pickup truck and instead of spending the day showing her my favorite spots around the city, I opted for going to my old sanctuary instead.

Bright, yellow, orangish, pink hues swirled across the sky in collected sways, as if I was writing cursive on a piece of paper. Right at the edge, the setting sun glistened on the glittery green grass which felt great between my toes. A golden-brown bark reached to the heavens with little flowers peeking through the side, and the mark I made as a child apparent as ever.

"Ambrose Bright's home and safe haven since 2007," Davina said, trailing her fingers over the carved-out part. "Wow, I've been invited to my boyfriend's house. How exciting!"

I laughed. "I'll take you to my apartment after but I should warn you, it's small, like really small."

"Well, that's the only thing about you that's small." She winked before dropping her glance back at the tree. "Do you plan on moving from that apartment?"

I nodded, strolling over and wrapping my arms around her petite waist. "I do." I kissed both sides of her cheeks. "But when you come back from filming so we can move in together because I don't think I can sleep in a bigger bed if you aren't in it with me."

"I don't even have the part yet, so why are we accommodating our lives for it?" Davina asked.

I drifted closer to her ear and whispered. "Because I feel it in my gut that you're going to get it. Simply because you're perfect and no one can deny your brightness."

Her cheeks glowed pink. "This is where you took that picture with Lana and deer, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, almost four years ago."

"You didn't bring me here to prove something? Right?" She arched her brow. "I don't want you to think you have to bring me here just because you took Lana here."

"I'm not," I responded. "I brought you here because fifteen years ago, this place meant a lot to me. Sometimes I spent days and nights here, especially in the summertime. But it doesn't evoke the same emotions it did years ago. I found something else that makes me feel one-hundred times better than this place ever did."

Removing my hands from her waist, I wandered over to the collection of colorful flowers spurting from the ground. I plucked a lavender-colored blossom and walked over to Davina, feeling warmth invade my chest as I placed it by her ear.

"This was my home fifteen years ago, and now you're my new home. This isn't my way of dropping the responsibility of taking care of me onto you. Like when you get the part, I don't want you thinking I'm going to break without you here." I licked my lips. "I'll miss you. There's no doubt about it. But your brightness is too grand to be only wasted on me."

Davina choked out a laugh, wiping the tears creeping through. "But I rather just share it with you, you're the only one who recognizes it. We can buy a house and a restaurant, then start planning our big day. Doesn't that sound better?" Her stunner pearly white smile beamed through as she draped her arms around my shoulders.

I pursed my lips as I pretended to think. "It does, but we're going to spend our whole life together. Shouldn't we go after our dreams before settling down?"

Her aquamarine irises glowed heavenly against the setting sun. A million desires poured out of those gorgeous doe-eyes. "What happens if I want you more than the part?"

I lightly pecked her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here tomorrow and I'll be here one hundred years from now. Chase your dreams, D."

"What if you're my dream?"

Passion tremored through my chest, pulsating love flooding down to my tippy toes. "Then I'm happy to say you're mine, too. I'll run to the ends of the earth in search of you. Because if for some circumstance our dreams are put on hold, I want you to know I'm not giving up, ever. You're my air, my wonder, my hope, and the world wouldn't be the same if you left me."

Ahhh they're so adorable together!! -10 points for Ambrose because he used Lana's ring? Do you guys think it's a big deal? It shouldn't matter right! They're happy😀

Love you guys!! And can't wait to read your comments.