Previously on It's Just Another Love Story: Tao quickly reacted and grabbed her hand, pulling her to sit down again. "What's in it for you? What if I was proposing to someone today?" he questioned. Michelle shrugged, trying to hide the heat overcoming her cheeks. "You're jealous, just admit it!" he playfully said. He was playful with her when they were alone, but this time, he was being more playful than usual. She shook her head in disagreement and stared at the distance. He laughed again and sat closer to her. He moved her hair to reveal her ear and whispered, "Will you marry me?"

_________________________________________

She froze at the spot, waiting for him to start laughing or show any hint that he was just joking around, but there was nothing but the silence of waiting. Her impulse was to push him away but he predicted her move so well that he held her tightly before she could do so. "Y-you idiot!" she managed to shout out. He hid his face into her neck and whispered, "I'm not joking."

There was another excruciatingly long pause. Michelle managed to gather her thoughts again. "What the hell, Tao!?" she shouted, "We're not dating or anything. And-and you're asking me to marry you? Are you mad?” "No need for that bull” Before she could respond to him, Tao pulled away and pushed her chin up to him to kiss her. At first, she froze there, feeling his soft lips on hers. It was making her go crazy. He then tilted his head and kissed her even more. She immediately kissed him back causing his head to spin from the touch. After a long while, they finally pulled away to breathe. “Y-you kissed me! What the hell?”

She took a while to register what had happened. She still couldn’t believe he kissed her. She couldn’t believe she kissed him back too. “I finally did it. I finally did this for you" he replied, still overwhelmed by the kiss, "I gave up the gang leader position.” He pushed her chin up again causing her heart to beat faster. She saw his intense eyes softening. “I’m serious. I’m serious about you”

Michelle couldn’t believe what she just heard. He had never said anything to her or showed any signs of interest in her and this was all happening in minutes. Tao pulled away scratching the back of his head and continued, “We were kind of dating, I mean you're the only girl I was seeing this past year and I'm guessing for the past year, I'm the only guy you've been this close... Physically and emotionally" As he said close, he held her and dug his head into her neck again. She could feel his every exhale on the base of her neck and it was driving her insane. She tried to get out of his embrace to hold him back but it caused Tao to wince and make a puppy sound.

“What’s wrong?” she muttered. She didn’t have to ask. She knew well what that gesture and sound meant. She had seen him like that before. She pulled down his arm and pulled up his overcoat and shirt sleeve to see bruises all over his arm, causing her to gasp. She immediately pulled down his collar to reveal a bit of his chest to see more bruises. Before she could speak, Tao said, “The rival gang called me a coward for leaving. They beat me up. I didn’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. No more of that nonsense. I can’t lose you over this stupid thing.”

Michelle said nothing for a while. Finally, she screamed, “You freaking idiot! Why would you let them do this to you? What if they killed you? What would I do without you if you allowed them to hurt you more than they already did!?” She was fuming. Tao looked at her, shocked. For the first time, he sees this calm and quiet girl very angry. He smiled, happy to find out what he meant to her. She didn’t finish, though. “I fell in love with you. I fell in love with you, okay?” she shouted, pointing at his chest, “Your heart, no matter how cold you try to be, I can see this warmth. You’re a sweet guy.”

Tao’s eyes widened as he stared at the blushing girl. He was shocked to hear her say that. She sighed and calmly said, “I love you so much it hurts. I don’t know how many times I have to say it for my brain to realize it but I love you.” “I was so afraid of hurting you that I had to stay away” he finally confessed, “But the more I stayed away, the more I missed you. The more I fell for you.” He held her again, his face dug deeper into her neck.

There was a long silence again. It was a well-needed silence. They both needed the time to register everything that just happened in just a few minutes. “I love you too” he finally muttered, holding her tighter, “I love so much, it also hurts.” Michelle smiled and looked at the ground. He loved her too and that’s all she wanted to hear. He slowly loosened his embrace and whispered again, “Michelle, will you marry me?”

Background Music, so click meh!

She felt his warm breath on her neck and at every exhale, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. She loved having him so close to her like this and she loved his touch. "We haven't even finished college yet" she calmly muttered. "Who cares" Tao mumbled, "Do you know how hard it was not to be able to hold you like this?" Michelle softly held on the arm that was holding her from the front and rubbed it. He winced and made a puppy sound again. “Sorry” she managed to say.

There was another but even longer silence. "I'll marry you" she finally whispered, trying to look at him, "After we graduate and get a job. Do you think you can wait that long, Tao? That’s another 2-3 years." Tao kissed the base of her neck and whispered a yes. He then dug into his pocket and put a small box on her lap, still not letting go of her or pulling away his blushing face on her neck. Michelle picked up a very familiar and obvious box, and opened it to reveal a beautiful princess cut solitaire engagement ring.

  A/N: OMG! They'll get married! Hahahaha. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed writing this way too much. :P And, here's my Tao!