The restaurant was quiet — one of those hidden places Aaron had bought out for the night just so no one else would be there. Candlelight flickered against glass, soft music played somewhere in the background, and outside, the city lights shimmered like distant stars.
Mina adjusted the strap of her dress and glanced at Aaron. He hadn't touched his drink. Not the water. Not the wine. He hadn't even pretended to be relaxed.
He sat stiffly across from her, his fingers drumming silently against his thigh under the tablecloth. His jaw was tight, and he kept swallowing like his throat refused to work.
"You haven't eaten anything," Mina said softly.
Aaron looked at his untouched plate. "I'm not hungry."
She raised a brow. "You always eat."
He paused. "…Not tonight."
She watched him closely now. His breathing wasn't steady. His eyes wouldn't stay still. He looked like a man about to walk into a battlefield — and that's when it hit her.
Her heart slowed. "Aaron," she whispered. "What's going on?"
He stood abruptly. Mina blinked as his chair scraped against the floor. He walked around the table — not with his usual controlled confidence but like a man fighting every instinct to run. He came to stand beside her… then, without a word, he sank to one knee.
The world went still.
Mina's breath caught. "Aaron—"
His hand trembled as he pulled a small velvet box from inside his coat. He opened it, and the ring caught the candlelight, glinting like a promise.
"Mina," he said — and his voice broke on her name. He exhaled shakily, his forehead nearly dropping against her knee as if the weight of the moment was too much. "I can't do this perfectly. My hands won't stop shaking, and I can't breathe properly — but I need to say this."
He looked up at her then — eyes raw, unmasked. "I've destroyed things in my life. I've burned, taken, ruined. But you… You're the first thing I've ever wanted to build. I fucked up in the past and lied to you. I forced you to be with me, and I'm not sorry for that."
Mina's lips parted, tears threatening.
"Call me selfish, but I'm only selfish when it comes to you, baby. I want to be with you, breathe you, fuck you and do things you want me to do with you and to you."
Mina's eyes widened, and her ears turned red. How could he say something like that in public?
Aaron swallowed hard. "I don't want to just protect you. I want to choose you every day. I want to be there when Ellie takes her first steps, when you complain about burnt toast, when you laugh at nothing at two in the morning. I want to be around you. Breath you. I can't handle the thought of you being with someone, baby. I would go insane and I'd send that person to his maker"
"Aaron!"
His voice thinned, soft and trembling. " I think you've have forgotten, princess but i dont share. Not you. I fucking hate it. I hate the idea about that. Marry me, princess. Not because I'm strong… but because with you, I'm finally allowed to be human. Because with you, my demons are caged. Because with you I feel alive."
Mina's hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were shimmering.
Aaron lowered his head slightly, his voice barely a whisper now — broken and hopeful. "Say yes… and I swear, I will spend the rest of my life proving you didn't make a mistake by loving me."