June blinked at the bling through the shop window. Her heart occasionally fluttered at what she was about to do, yet she blamed the nerves on the gallon of coffee she'd guzzled since she woke that morning—at four!

The bed had felt empty without Chad. He was away at a writer's conference for the past week. On some Romance Writer's Q&A panel after the tremendous success of For Fay, and to promote his newest release, Lucid Lucy—hopefully, he was enjoying it. But knowing Chad, she knew he was begrudgingly sitting there with a smile on his face. Public talks and appearances no longer thrilled him as they had once done. She partly—or rather, mostly—blamed the Cassie episode a couple of years ago.

She had one more day before he flew back home. She couldn't wait. Their tiny little fur-ball of a new puppy he'd gifted on her birthday missed him dearly, as did she. But that wasn't all that had kept her up last night.

She turned around and tapped a boot on the ground, impatient. Echo was supposed to meet her half an hour ago. Usually, she was punctual, not like June, who had a habit of keeping people waiting. Apparently not today.

She dialed Echo's number again, straining to hear the dial tone against the noise. The mall was full of Saturday shoppers, time-wasters, and teens who thought hanging out at the mall was a brilliant use of their time.

"Where are you?" She begged as soon as the call connected, cutting Echo's cheery 'hello' in half.

"Turn around."

June turned to see Echo's now-purple hair floating towards her from a crowd of people which the escalator spewed onto the floor.

"What took you so long?" She squeezed her friend in a hug.

Echo pulled out of the hug with a wink and a grin. Her boyfriend was back in town again after another tour with the band he managed. It didn't take June much to imagine what that wink-and-grin implied.

"Happy bife, happy life!" Echo said casually cool.

"Happy bife?" June could feel her brows reach her hairline. She knew Echo was a little kooky from the day she met her: day ten, term one, year one of uni... part of the reason she loved her friend dearly, but bife?

Echo laughed. "Boyfriend-slash-wife, seeing how he insists on doing homely stuff, so he's like my wife!"

June shook her head in amusement. The things Echo came up with sometimes.

She bounced on her feet nervously, eyeing the jewelry store beside them. Eager to head in, but not so eager.

"Have you picked it out yet?" Echo asked, following her gaze.

June chewed on her bottom lip. "It won't look weird, will it?"

"What? The ring?"

June clicked her tongue. "Not the ring. I mean, me asking him?"

Echo threw her a sideways glance. "You're kidding me, right? You're worried about how it's gonna look? Who do you care about? How I'll react? How Chad will react? Or how they will react?" She eyed the 'randos' walking past them.

"This is your life, and the people who are in it don't care how you get there." Echo eyed the display in the window. "Heck, I may even be jealous and a tad inspired. I already have a bife. Maybe I should make it official?"

June laughed. Glad that Echo and her humour softened her nerves. "Shall we go in?"

Echo patted June's shoulder and practically pushed her inside. "Now or never. I don't think he is going to ask again until you give him a sign... the boy doesn't really have luck with that question if his book was anything to go by."

June chuckled nervously. Echo had a point. In fact, she had been making the same point since June first teased the idea of popping the question to Chad. They had been going steady and without drama since the letters and all the ugly past it had dredged up. Around four months ago, and five months since, June had regretted ever giving Chad back that giant diamond ring he had proposed with. She was ready. She was ready to be married; to settle down with the man who still gave her butterflies with his early morning come-hither while still in bed, or as he pulled her into his arms, spooning her. Their bodies fit perfectly. Or the kisses on her head while she poured over her course books at the dining table on his way to the kitchen for another coffee refill always made her smile. Or when he placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her somewhere; or carried a heavy grocery basket without complaint as she piled on more weight; or that he still looked at her with awe in his eyes—were all things June cherished.

Chad was the one. The one for her, and not because he had helped her stand on her two feet again; not even because he had given her the space to grow that she loved him. It was the little things he did. The tiny details of their lives had made her fall in love. He'd come back to check on her at the park after Bax's death, even though he hadn't known her for long or even very well. Bax had been Chad's friend; she had just been the tagalong.

The way he'd stood up to the ticket officer at the train when he had stopped her. Or the pile of clothes he'd put outside the door on her first night at his. The way he changed his clothes to make her more comfortable in her borrowed ones. The way he'd cut up his t-shirt to help her feel beautiful—even if it was a tiny touch. That he used to knock on her door every night, just to say good night; to let her know she had someone on the other side—was everything. He made her go back to medicine without taking a no because he knew it was what she truly wanted but feared.

She had never truly known when those tiny things from the beginning started to matter to her. The flutters erupted in her stomach whenever his gaze met hers over wine or food, on the barstools, or some shared jokes; the brushes of his hand against her that were accidental at first; that they were the signs she was falling in love. With Chad. The man who was her rescuer, the man who was her best friend, and the one she could not imagine life without. It was time for her to show him what he meant. Hence the whole reason she had asked Echo to come out shopping with her today. It was now or never like Echo said. No more nerves, no more fear, no more doubt. June loved Chad more than anything else in the world. It was time to let the man know.

More than an hour later, they walked out of the store with a gift bag in hand.

"Now what?" Echo asked.

"I want to engrave it."

"Thought as much. I think I saw an engraving place on my way here." Echo pulled June in the direction she had first appeared from. "So? When are you thinking of doing it?"

June nervously smiled. It was sooner than Echo was thinking, probably. "Tomorrow? When he gets home—"

"Tomorrow?" Echo cut in. "Holy shit, June! That's super early... are you sure you're ready?"

"First, yes, I'm ready. I've been thinking about it for months and I have no more excuses to delay it." June glared at her friend, unimpressed. "And second, let me finish, woman! I wasn't done."

"My bad. Go on... what are you thinking of doing tomorrow when he gets home?"

"I booked us a flight to Fiji, Monday morning." June watched the escalators ferry people up and down. "I'm going to tell him it's his birthday gift from me. With everything going on with his mum and dad recently, he hasn't had a downtime..."

"And you're gonna pop the question once you get there?" Echo beamed up at her with glee. "That is frigging romantic, girl! But how are you affording this?"

June troubled her bottom lips as she followed Echo on the escalators. "Mum and dad's life insurance came through, just before I—fled."

"You mean, since the letters?" Echo laughed as she stepped onto the bottom floor and grinned. It wasn't June's finest moment, and not one Echo was going to let her live down. "You sure you weren't feeling guilty about receiving the money after their deaths that made you flee?"

June couldn't deny it. Part of the reason for her feeling absolutely unworthy of Chad and love had been that. Her parents had died in an accident that she had caused, and the insurance had paid off their lives as if they were anything but priceless. She had refused to touch that money until the night she had seen her mum in a dream. The dream that came to her the first night Chad had stayed with her at Echo's.

"... you only have one life, don't waste it. Live the way we wanted you to... it's the least you can do... "

Whether that was her conscience or her mum's spirit had indeed visited, June had decided that money would be what she would spend on making memories. Every dollar had to count for something; laughter here, a stolen kiss there, a smile on a loved one's face. Things that were for others more than it was for her. That's how she was going to do her penance.

"Ok, forget I asked that. It's a little heavy, I know." Echo pulled her up to the counter of a cobbler shop. "Anyway, what happens once you two get to Fiji then? And how long are you away for? I want to take the fur ball for a bit."

June smiled and handed the man the item she wanted engraved and the message she wanted to be engraved on it before she turned back to Echo with a smile.

* * *

Blindfolded and at June's mercy, Chad allowed himself to be led somewhere through the resort, just as the sun was dipping. The sky was a golden rose and the evening breeze was warm on his face. The soothing sound of the ocean reached his ears. He hadn't had a moment to catch his breath when he'd arrived home last night, sometime close to midnight. When he'd first stepped in through the door and seen the two suitcases packed and waiting by the dining table, his heart had leaped to his throat. Is June leaving again? The thought had crossed his mind before he heard the flush of the toilet downstairs and June rushed up to him, leaped onto his body, and slobbered him with kisses.

"Missed me, huh?"

"Not a bit!" She'd snatched the overnight bag off his hand, tossed it aside, and pulled him into her arms, hungry.

June hadn't wasted time stripping him naked and pinning him to the couch. Between kisses, the packed suitcases distracted him till he'd finally asked, "You going somewhere?" despite a naked and pliable June melting in his arms.

She'd kissed the nape of his neck and captured his mouth hungrily as she moved her hips. "We!—are going on a trip!"

"A trip?" Chad flipped her over till he had her pinned and pining below him. "And where are we going?" he'd asked, slipping her flimsy lace underwear aside and entering. He always loved seeing her arch her back whenever he entered.

"Fiji!" she'd moaned as he thrust against her gently, teasing her. From the feel of her body, Chad knew she had wanted anything but for him to be gentle. "What's in Fiji?"

Instead of answering him, June had clamped her legs behind him and pulled him down to her mouth. "It's a surprise. Now shut up and do me."

He hadn't needed to be told twice.

Now, as he felt her hand tug him along and the occasional giggle escaped her, he wondered what was going on. All she had said on the flight over was that this was their first holiday together—which it was—and his gift was something she'd give him once they arrived. He could tell from the way she had sounded that it was something big, something significant, and he just hoped it wasn't something silly she'd spent her money on. Not for him. He needed nothing more than her in his life. Materials were irrelevant to Chad.

A moment later, he heard the door to a room open. June tugged him in, thanked the bellboy for his help and said, '"Leave that there." The door closed behind them and he assumed they were in a room.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?"

"No. Not yet. Just wait a moment." June sounded a distant way.

He wondered what she was doing and where she was. He stretched his hand out and started shuffling his feet forward, hoping he could grab onto her and pull her into his arms.

"June? Where are you?"

Silence. The breeze blew in from the outside, but otherwise silence.

Chad hated silence with June. Her silence was never a good thing.

"June?" He inched forward a little and felt the tile's texture change below his feet, from smooth to rough. He reached for the blindfold, about to take it off when he heard her voice.

"Ok, you can take it off now."

When Chad took off his blindfold, June stood before the sunset in a white dress, her cheeks coloured rose in a flush. Beside her stood a bucket of champagne and some chocolate-dipped strawberries, and in her hand, she held a small ring box.

"What's going on?" he asked, nervously stepping closer. His heart beating erratically in his chest. He knew what it looked like, but he feared to hope for it. Was June about to ask him to marry her?

June smiled and slowly got down on her one knee. "Chad Gilligan, you have been a beacon of hope, love, and acceptance in my life. I cannot imagine my life without you. I can't even remember what I had before you. I want to spend the rest of my life kissing those lips of yours and loving that body and mind. You are my world. You will always be my world, and I know I've put you through shit and made you doubt so many times, but now I want you to know I am here to stay... if you'll have me."

She held the box out to him with a nervous smile on her face.

Chad peeked into the box, and his heart skipped a beat. Inside was a house-shaped silver keyring with the engraved words beaming up at him.

Home is where the heart is, and you have mine.

"Will you make a home with me?" June's soft voice broke through his thoughts.

Tears brimmed Chad's eyes—as much as he wished they hadn't. The whole thing was too romantic, and he was a sensitive fellow.

"You want to marry me?" His voice squeaked out, unsure if that was what she was asking him.

June held his hand and his gaze and nodded.

Chad pulled the keyring out and stared at the words: home is where the heart is and you have mine. He pulled her in for a kiss, determined never to let her go. He scooped her up in his arms, her legs straddling him, and took her inside, towards the bed.

"What about the champagne and the strawberries?" she'd asked between his fervent kisses.

"Fuck the champagne..." His hot breath had landed on her neck as his body pressed against hers on the bed, his hand eagerly stroking up her thigh.

"So is that a yes?" she asked, breathless, throbbing.

Instead of answering her with his words, Chad set her skin on fire; kisses stole their way across her body as he pulled her dress over her head. Between the sunset, the breeze, and their hot breaths, the night came and went with none the wiser. For all that mattered now was she was his, and he was hers, from that moment on. After all, the home was indeed where the heart was and he had found his.