Page 121 of Don't Leave Me

I managed to make it to the stairs and up without anyone talking to me. I quickly went into our bathroom and sighed at myself in the mirror. Oh, how I wish I were hypomanic right now. I touched up my matte red lipstick, the only other makeup on my face other than mascara and blush. My long hair waved around my shoulders that were covered by my silk black blouse. I was in an all-black kind of mood, with black skinny jeans and black boots, seemingly my uniform lately. My nails were painted red, and I looked over at my bedside table and noticed my beautiful engagement ring.I can finally wear it now, all the time!I walked over and slipped it on, admiring it and its sparkle from the faint bathroom light.

As nervous as I was to announce it, I wasn’t nervous at all to marry Michael. I was so in love with him that I wanted everyone in the world to know it.So stop letting your social anxiety get to you! Go announce it with your fiancé!I nodded to myself and made my way to our spiral stairs, Michael just reaching the top.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m good. I’m ready,” I smiled, reaching for him.

He wrapped me around his arms and gave me his intense stare, the one that always made my heart race.

“I love you, Hana Miller. Everyone is going to know it now,” he marveled.

“I know. I love you too,” I whispered back, wanting him to just throw me on the bed right then and there.

“Let’s to then,” he let go of me and took my hand, leading us down the stairs.

We were half way down when everyone’s eyes were on us. We stopped, still elevated but close enough to the crowd. I could see Michael nod to Emily, who looked at her phone and then turned the music off. It was suddenly quiet.

“Hana and I just wanted to thank everyone for coming to our housewarming party. We are so glad all of you are here,” Michael announced, his accent and tone sounding warm and friendly - he did seem a little nervous though.

“We wanted to use this opportunity to make an announcement,” he started, then held onto my waist tightly before looking down at me.

I smiled and nodded; my eyes focused on him. I couldn’t handle looking at the crowd. When he turned to look at everyone, I made eye contact with Emily. She looked more excited than anyone, her smile and eyes wide.

“Hana and I are getting married!” Michael suddenly announced excitedly.

I couldn’t help it - I could see Billie from the corner of my eye and looked over at her. She was shocked and was not afraid to show it, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped open. Gasps were heard around the room. I looked back at Emily and she was the first to cheer. There was a sudden burst of applause and whistles - this all happened within 2 seconds. I looked back up at Michael and quickly leaned in for a kiss as I put my hand up to his jaw, giving him a sweet kiss before giggling.

“Congratulations to Michael and Hana!” Emily shouted out and then “Heroes” by David Bowie filled the room.

Mine and Michael’s lips parted and for a moment I forgot about the hurt I felt seeing Billie’s shocked, almost angry, expression after the announcement. His eyes were so full of love as he stared down at me and gave me his dashing, heart-melting smile.

“I love you, Hana,” he whispered right before we started to get bombarded by our friends and family.

It was uncle Peter and aunt Susanne first, coming up to us with open arms.

“Congratulations, you two. You will make a lovely bride and groom,” aunt Susanne beamed at us, then gave me a hug.

“Well done, Michael,” I heard uncle Peter say to him.

I couldn’t help but glance around at everyone else – people were enjoying themselves with drinks in their hands, the shock seeming to have dissipated. I suddenly caught the back of Billie and John’s heads entering the elevator and it closing behind them. My heart sank.

“Congrats, you two,” I heard a familiar voice say – then I turned and realized it was Evan. He was smiling kindly at us, putting a hand to Michael’s shoulder.

“I didn’t realize it was so serious, Han. I wouldn’t have given you such a hard time about it,” he shrugged, almost looking embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it. Thank you,” I smiled back, then looked back to Michael. I didn’t want to be too friendly to any old crushes in front of my new fiance, but he had no apparent jealousy or anger in his eyes, just love.

I could see Emily and Adam laughing together near the kitchen, then turned and saw Jess watching us as she took a sip of champagne. I couldn’t really tell if she was happy or annoyed, but as soon as she realized I saw her, she smiled and started walking towards us.

“Congratulations, you two,” she said to both of us, although Michael was still preoccupied with a friend of his.

“I’m worried about Jack finding out,” she said to me quietly, her eyes worried.

I felt guilty all of a sudden. “He doesn’t need to know for now,” I shrugged, but felt my whole body tense.

Jess shook her head. “I won’t tell him. But he’s friends with your friends. Especially Adam,” she glanced over at him and Emily.

I didn’t know what to say – I almost felt like crying. I think Jess noticed this and smiled quickly. “It’s alright. It’ll be fine. He’ll be fine,” she tried to assure me, and probably herself.

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