Chapter two hundred and sixty-three:

As soon as Zac burst into the room he would be sharing with Becky, she had begun kissing him.

She didn’t stop kissing him until after they had made love twice and she was lying safely in his arms and nearly asleep.

Other than a brief salutation, neither had spoken much. Zac had been so happy to see her after three agonizing weeks apart, he couldn’t think of the right thing to say in the moment, and simply kissed her. And soon their tentative kisses grew more daring. He had undressed her like an excited child unwrapped a much anticipated gift. They both knew neither would last long, but ended up doing it twice.

In her light sleep, Becky moved closer to the warmth of his body, with a contented sigh. Zac smiled privately to himself and gently ran the coarse palm of his hand along her body, barely touching her smooth skin.

Becky flinched toward him, whispering “Zaccy, that tickles!”

Zac grinned and pulled her close enough to kiss her cute little forehead, nose and lips.

At last, she opened her eyes, and smiled up at him. “I love you. I missed you so much.”

“I love you back,” Zac kissed her again. “And I brought you something.”

“You didn’t have to do that!” She exclaimed sitting up while he went rooting through his backpack for the object he had bought for her.

“I know.” He shrugged, with his back still to her. “I wanted to get you something. When I saw it, I thought of you.” This wasn’t actually the whole truth. He had gone out with the intention of selecting the item, but it wasn’t until he saw it that he had found the right one.

He triumphantly found what he was looking for, and concealed it in his left had as he crossed to the bed again and slipped beneath the covers.

Becky was sitting up by this time, with the blankets tucked around her chest. Zac presented her the gift, and holding it in her hands, she was sure he hadn’t wrapped it.

It was a tiny box that fit in the palm of her hand, which was wrapped in pretty purple tissue paper. To top it off, it had a metallic purple star-bow perched cheerily on the top.

“Zac… it’s beautiful.” She looked up at him with a smile.

“You haven’t opened it yet.” He grinned. “Go on, open it!”

“Okay,” Becky smiled, it was such a shame to waste such a beautiful wrapping job, but he seemed so eager for her to have it, she couldn’t help but tear off the paper, to discover a small white jewelry box. Becky’s breath fluttered in her lungs. They were only nineteen; they hadn’t even discussed the future yet. She pushed these anxieties from her mind and looked up at Zac’s eager expression one last time, before opening the box.

She gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth. “Zac, it’s beautiful!”
Inside the box, there was a tiny ring. It was a plain silver band with a raised purple flower on it. It was framed on either side by pretty green leaves etched into the silver. She knew immediately it was not a cheap ring.

Zac moved closer to her, so he too could look at the ring. “I know we’re young, and haven’t talked about getting married or anything,” He admitted somewhat sheepishly. “So I got you this. It’s a promise ring… I mean, I don’t really understand the concept of the promise ring, but I wanted to get you a little something that says not only that I love you but not that I promise to marry you… something that says one day I will marry you.”

Becky dropped her hand to her chest, near tears with sentiment. “Oh, Zaccy!”

He smiled at that. “And inside, I had a little inscription…”

He held the box in his hand while she slipped the ring out, squinting to examine the inside of the ring. Sure enough, there was a tiny cursive message inside. It read “Zaccy loves Becca.”

“Zac… it’s… its beautiful.” She sniffled.

“Don’t cry!” He urged, slipping the ring onto her finger. “It’s not that bad!”

This brought a smile to her lips. “No, it’s just… such a beautiful thing… I wasn’t expecting it…”

“I know…” He drew in a deep breath. “But these last three weeks have been hell for me.”

“Me too, Zac. I didn’t expect it to be so bad… God, this is just… beautiful!” She admired the ring on her finger. It suited her perfectly. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

Zac pretended to mull this over for a minute then suggested “You could kiss me again.”

Becky laughed before throwing her arms around him and kissing his lips.

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