Promises [coda series]

prove it to you.”
    He still looked a little amused, but also curious. I finally let go of his hand and let him open his fingers and look down at what I had given him. He stood there for the longest time, looking at those two rings lying one inside the other in the palm of his hand. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak.
    “Yours is engraved,” I managed to say, although it was hard to make my voice work.
    He took the smaller of the two rings and peered at the inside. It said, “Yours forever. I promise.” He took a deep breath, and I could tell he was shaking as much as I was. I couldn’t see his face, and he wasn’t saying anything in response. My heart was pounding, and I was starting to worry. “Jesus Jared,” I said, my voice trembling, “say something.”
    Finally he looked up at me, and the smile on his face was beautiful. There were tears in his eyes. That was why it had taken him so long to look at me...he hadn’t wanted me to see that. “Thank you.”

    I pulled him against me and buried my face in his thick curls. “If you ever want to make it official,” I told him quietly, “just say the word.”

    He shook his head. “This is enough.”

    “Are you sure?” I asked him.

    “I promise.”