Page 43 of Contrition

I couldn’t help but feel like I was about to propose again though.

She walked towards me until she was in ear shot. “Am I in trouble?”

Theo, who stood at my back, chimed in, “Yes.”

“Then, no.”

I rolled my eyes as I shoved Theo. “We’ll talk about your little stunt this morning later. We deserved it though, so no, you’re not in trouble. I just wanted to give you something before the set starts.”

Her eyebrows squeezed together in confusion. “You’re giving me gifts? Why?”

“Because you’re my wife?”

Theo snorted before tapping my shoulder sympathetically. “Good one.”

Her eyes bounced between the two of us. “I’m confused.”

I only shook my head as I took out the small envelope out of my back pocket.

The envelope that I had brought with me to every single concert for years. As a good luck token.

As a…what if?

But a gift she had sent me herself, along with another round of divorce papers, years ago.

“It’s technically not a gift if it’s already yours,” I said before handing it over to her. She took it gently before peeking inside, and it was mere seconds later before her lip started to wobble and tears filled her eyes. “You don’t have to wear it. I know…we’re all a package deal now. So, I will understand. But you’re still my wife. So, if you do want to wear it, it’s yours.”

She took the wedding ring out of the envelope slowly.

Her wedding ring. Encrusted with obsidian diamonds in a silver band, in the shape of her star-sign constellation.

Theo spoke slowly as she gazed at it, wiping away her tears. “If you do decide to wear it, I have dibs on getting you a fat diamond for your other hand. It’s only fair.”

Estrella burst out in a fit of tearful giggles. She looked at me as she spoke though. “You mean it?”

I nodded before slinging my arm across Theo’s shoulder. “Deep end, baby girl. Till death do us part. Told you I was never signing those damn divorce papers.”

“Yo!” We heard a voice shout behind us, and I craned my neck to see Elijah, Alex, and Tyler staring at us with a mix of disgust and happiness. Disgust…somehow behind the main emotion.

The dickheads.

Tyler droned on. “We kinda have a thousand people waiting on us. Can y’all continue this later or something? Emotions are weird and I am uncomfortable.”

Theo shook his head as he headed towards them, but not before he pressed a kiss to the top of Estrella’s head. “Thank you for staying.”

She hummed her response.

I snaked my arms around her next. “We’ll see you out there. We’re even playing you a song.”

Her head quirked to the side at that as she fiddled with her wedding ring. She slid it onto her left-handed ring finger smoothly. Right where it belonged. “Oh? What’s it called? I didn’t know you all had any new music.”

I smiled before leaning down, grabbing her hand, and placing a kiss on her wrist. I stared right at the ring as I spoke, deciding to give my attention to the day and time period that started it all. “Contrition. I think you’ll like it.”

THE END.

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