But With You, I Found My Place (Bro)

Healer In-Training Posts : 30

Their hair was flaked with snow, their noses were red and Joe was sure he had lost all feeling in his fingers a good twenty minutes ago. Despite all that, though, he was sure he'd never been happier. Even now, almost four years later, Brooke still gave Joe butterflies in the pit of his stomach, and while his fingers were freezing, his heart was warm.

Joe's heart was warmed every second, every minute, every hour, day, week of the year. Warmed incessantly by the witch whose arm was linked closely with his own, her head rested against his shoulder as they walked. Avalon's Winter Wonderland was always magnificent, but even more so when he had Brooke at his side.

The path was illuminated by the street lamps, soft beams of light making the snow sparkle in the twilight hour. It was hidden away, which was perfect, for as incredible as the rest of the carnival was, he would never say no to a little bit of alone time. Footsteps were timed perfectly, Joe walking in synchronisation with his girlfriend as they took their sweet, sweet time. They had all the time in the world, then; nothing else existed, nothing else mattered.

As the former Hufflepuff tried to take another step, he found himself quite literally frozen. Pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, the brunet looked above him. A mistletoe plant hung in the air, casting the enchantment he had heard about in passing, and Joe couldn't help but give a soft chuckle.

"Looks like we're stuck here," he said, looking back to Brooke, marvelling in the way her eyes sparkled. Like the snow he added as an afterthought. Like the beautiful, untouched snow.

Professors Posts : 147

Christmas was one of Brooke's favourite days of the year - was. Since she had met Joe, every day spent with him was the best day, and every second she was next to him was the best second. Just the other day she had realized quite suddenly that their four year mark was coming up, but quite honestly, to her, every moment together was reason to celebrate.

With the snow falling at a constant slow rate, Brooke and Joe left the packed crowds to go for a private walk. Alone together. An oxymoron to most, but she understood the saying - Joe and her, her and Joe, they were a couple, an item. Singular, not plural, and it was never something she got tired of.

Lover's Path had to be one of the most beautiful things she had ever laid her eyes on. The glow of the lights made everything into a light blue, and the snow that drifted lazily down to kiss them was calming; it almost looked as though it was a setting right out of a book. Almost surreal, the only reminder that she was indeed in reality was the warmth of the hand in hers, reminding her that her boyfriend - that Joe Astrid - was right there, next to her.

Reaching up to brush a snowflake from her eyelash, she attempted a step forward, but only her head and torso moved; it seemed her feet were absolutely stuck. "Wha-" she started, looking back at Joe, and then giggling at his expression.

Following his gaze, she tilted her head upwards slightly, then gave a laugh at what was hanging there. "I guess we are," she teased him. "The wonders of magic." Feeling the freckles start to appear, she leaned forward slightly. "I wonder how we are to get free," she added, winking a little.

Healer In-Training Posts : 30

Joe was grateful that the enchantment let him turn, at least a little. He unlinked their arms and took both of Brooke's hands in his own. A little surge of warmth spread up his arms, despite both of their rather cold hands, and he glanced back up to the mistletoe again, wondering just how long he could drag this out for.

Because Brooke looked breathtaking with snow all in her hair.

"I think I might have an idea," the brunet teased right back, giving her hands a light squeeze as he leant forwards just a few inches, as if he were going to give her a kiss. His eyes fluttered closed, and sure that she would be able to almost feel his lips against hers, he tilted his head, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose instead. He pulled back, acting the daft fool and pretending to wonder why on earth it hadn't worked.

The former Hufflepuff shrugged then, reaching up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I love you," he said softly, looking at the witch through dark, snowy lashes. "I love you so much." There was no-one else in the world he could imagine spending this moment with - or any moment for the rest of his life, for that matter. Stuck beneath the mistletoe at Christmas time, the light teasing, playing each other like a tune, a beautiful melody that they would both recite backwards by the time they were to leave.

Professors Posts : 147

As the man in front of her turned, she couldn't help but smile that wide, ever-growing smile that was present whenever he was around. Trying her hardest to not just kiss him right there and then, she waited, maintaining her air of uncertainty, as if she didn't know what to do.

"Oh? And what would that be?" she asked, innocence in her tone. She felt her heart skip a beat - or did it stop and forget to start back up again? Her chest tightened and her breath caught in her throat. The snow seemed to fall in slow motion. Torn between waiting to look at him and wanting to close her eyes, she settled for something in between, her eyelids flickering, as though the start of a movie played by a projector.

And then, just as she thought she would feel those wonderful, warm lips of her boyfriend on hers, and feel the tingle of electricity jolt through her veins, he moved. Her nose, the part that the freckles seemed to most affect, was suddenly enveloped by a kiss, and she giggled a little. Joining in the game, she tried to move, then frowned. "If a kiss doesn't work, what will?" she questioned, a confused look touching her features as she hid back a laugh.

Hurricane Katrina tore through her stomach as he spoke, and a slow smile reached her lips; her eyes glinted, the light reflecting off them. If she could, Brooke would spend every moment with him, be it in play, or in work, or in sleep. "I love me, too," she teased, but then gave his hands a tiny squeeze. "But Joe, I love you more. You.. You're everything to me."

Healer In-Training Posts : 30

Joe felt his eyes sparkle in his amusement, the innocence and befuddlement in her voice making a soft chuckle fall from his lips. At this point, Joe was certain that he would do anything to actually kiss her. To feel her lips against his, to feel the electric shooting down his spine and making him never want to stop. He didn't give a Hyppogriff about the charm any more, he would gladly stay there forever, just being with her.

"I have absolutely no idea," the brunet told her, matching her tone of mock-confusion. "Maybe if I kissed your cheek?" he suggested, following through with the movement and pressing his lips against her flushed skin. When nothing happened again, he reached around and held the back of her neck, playing with her hair absentmindedly.

Joe leaned into the witch again, pressing their foreheads together as he placed his other hand on her waist. "You should love you," he said honestly, his gaze flitting between her lips and her eyes. "You're amazing. You're beautiful, and you're sweet, and you're the most intelligent person I've ever met. You blow my mind every single day, and every moment that I'm with you is a moment I become a better me.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me," Joe finished, his words barely audible as he whispered them to her. If he could, he would shout it from the rooftops, write it on the skyline. But by only telling Brooke, he was telling the world, for Brooke was his, and she was everything in it too.

Professors Posts : 147

Nodding seriously, she replied, "Maybe it will." Grinning as he carried out his assumption, she let a few moments pass before sighing softly. "No, not that, either." She once read somewhere that true love was 'like a ghost' and while many people talk about it, only few have seen it - with Joe, she had not only seen it, she lived it every single day of her life, since that day in the forest. Love at first sight was never something she had believed in, until then.

"Maybe.. Maybe I have to kiss you?" she tried, leaning forward and gently kissing his nose, before tilting her head and repeating it on his cheek. "Anything?"

The position they were in was like the best thing in the world. Just knowing that it was Joe, and that they had made it, was like nothing she could ever explain. Lifting up her arms, she laced them around Joe's waist, freckles appearing with each word he spoke. No longer did she even try to keep them back; she knew it was too late.

"Oh, are we doing that?" she joked softly, when she was sure he was done, before taking a deep breath to calm the nerves that were always there. It seemed for her, love made her weak. "Joe.. You are my everything. I know I've already said it, but it's true. When I wake, you are the first thing on my mind; when I sleep, it's you I think about. Even my dreams are filled with you - only, this isn't a dream."

"Reality has never felt so fictional, so unreal as when I am with you. You make me a better person. You fill the holes in me that nobody could ever have before. You.. you are all I need, and all I will ever need. And Joe," she bit her lip, unable to finish her sentence; her heart and soul were too full for her to speak, and she was sure they were on the verge of explosion. "I love you," she finished, in barely a whisper.

Healer In-Training Posts : 30

An all-out blush covered Joe's face as she kissed him, and he had to bow his head once she was done. His cheeks were now scarlet, not the pale porcelain they had been before. He loved how she could still do this to him, make him still feel like the shy sixteen year old boy he had been when they met for the first time. It was quite possibly the most magical thing he could fathom, which, for Joe, was saying a lot.

He tried to move again, shaking his head with a pretend solemn expression, but the moment he spoke, the biggest smile erupted on his lips. It was uncontrollable, pulling at his cheeks and refusing to let him stop as he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Goodness, Brooke was precious. Absolutely precious. Every word she said made his heart melt, and if it were possible, Joe fell in love with the witch more and more by the second.

There couldn't be a more perfect moment. With the small cube of black velvet pressing against his thigh, Joe knew he would never have a time more wonderfully sincere to be able to do this. With a shaking breath, and feeling his heart pound against his ribs, the brunet spoke again. "I have an idea."

Slowly lowering himself down on to one knee, feeling the snow melt against his leg, Joe looked up at her. His stomach was flipping, his mouth was dry and he was sure his heart would leap out of his mouth at any second. "Brooke Walters, I've said everything I need to say. You're perfect, and what makes you better is that you're perfect for me. You are everything I could ever ask for and more; your heart is true and your soul is pure. I know we're only young, but there are few things in this world that I am sure of, and one of them is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

"You made me happier than I ever thought I could be. You continue to make me smile every single day, and I still get as flustered around you as I did when we first met. I love you, I love you to the moon and back. You're my Aurora; my perfect, perfect princess. Will you-... will you marry me, Brooke?"

Professors Posts : 147

"Oh? Another one? Wh-" she started, but then just completely froze at what he did next. For the first split second, she was confused, but by the time she had blinked, her heart was already pounding. The only words spinning around in her mind were 'oh my Merlin' and 'Merlin's beard', and time literally stopped.

To say she felt like she was flying was an understatement; it was almost as though something had lifted her soul up from the restrictions of a body, and at the same time, as though someone had placed an elephant on her shoulders - she felt like she was both unable to move, and floating on air.

Each and every word that Joe said entered not her ears, but her heart, and there they stayed, growing into a feeling that spread throughout her entire body. Despite the snow, despite the wind and the negative temperature, she was warm - warm from the inside out, as though she had just downed an entire bucket of fire whiskey.

Of course, she knew they were going to get married eventually - she could never imagine living life without Joe - but even if she had lived for a million years before this, she never, never could have pictured how.. how perfect Joe was. If anyone ever told Brooke she was going to get engaged at 19, she would have laughed, told them that love was not something that found her. But now, she was 19, and the love of her life was down on one knee, and there was only one thing she knew to say.

"Yes."

The words came out soft, whispered and hoarse, because in that moment she honestly couldn't even swallow. Blinking and forcing the words out slowly, one at a time so she didn't stutter or stumble, she tried again.

"A thousand - a billion - times yes, Joe. Always yes."

Healer In-Training Posts : 30

Time seemed to stop. In the brief period between him popping the question, and hearing Brooke's answer, everything felt like it was frozen. The only tell that it wasn't the case was the soft wind, a breeze that pushed push hair the wrong way, that made his eyes water. Or at least, that was what he told himself.

No, Joe wasn't going to cry.

The few words that Brooke managed to say made his heart leap, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the small, velvet-bound box. The young man pulled it open to reveal the ring, marvelling in the way it sparkled under the stars, under the streetlamps, but most of all, the way it sparkled under the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Brooke Walters.

He removed the ring from it's box and took her hand, sliding it onto her finger. "I love you," Joe repeated, drawing himself up to his full height. He took her face in his hands, lowering his face to hers and greeting his new fiancée with a sweet, long kiss. Joe didn't know what on Earth he had done in a past life to even remotely deserve the witch he stood with now, but whoever he had been before, Joe made a note to thank them profusely.

After a few minutes, Joe pulled back, free from the enchantments of the mistletoe. He took Brooke's hand again, radiating the happiness and adoration he felt in that very moment. Before, nothing seemed to go his way, and if felt like the world was forever against him.

But now, as he and Brooke walked hand-in-hand down the rest of the Lover's Path, he knew he had changed the sails for good, and that the wind would guide him through the rest of this magnificent journey.

[[OOC; Surprise! Love Jess+Mel xo]]

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But With You, I Found My Place (Bro)

But With You, I Found My Place (Bro)

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