"Fireworks?" Aylin turned to Zayden. "Like, real fireworks?"

"That’s my brother," Zayden said, pride and annoyance mixing on his face.

"Did you give her an answer?" Liam asked Ayla.

"I haven’t even replied yet." She typed out: So, what did you say to him? Yes or no??

Just then, the front door opened up.

Zayn walked in, dressed in a charcoal suit with his tie loosened, looking chill and happy.

Zayden immediately got up. They pulled each other into a quick hug.

"Proposal?" Zayden smiled widely.

"Look at you. A few hours ago, you told me to steer clear of her," Zayn said, shaking his head. "Yeah, I proposed."

"And?" Leo called out.

"She didn’t say no."

Zayn added, "She cried a lot. Then she said she needed some time. But she mentioned she feels safe with me. She’s never felt like that with anyone else." He looked at Zayden. "Honestly, that means more than a yes right now."

"She didn’t say no to you," Reyes pointed out.

"Then everything’s cool," Leo shot back. "You asked her to marry you after just a week. Give her a little time."

"At least I’m taking a shot at it, Leo. When was the last time you went out to dinner with someone?"

"I treat myself to dinner. I’m great company."

"That’s sad."

"Who said Leo dines solo?" Aylin said with a smile as she sipped her drink.

Leo turned sharply. "Aylin."

"What?!" she said, acting innocent.

Zayn perked up. "Is there someone special? Who’s the unlucky person?"

Laughter erupted around the room. Leo pointed at Aylin. "You really are a troublemaker."

"I’ve heard that before."

Zayn looked over at Zayden. "So, when are you proposing to my friend?" He motioned toward Aylin.

Zayden took Aylin’s hand and kissed her knuckles. "When everything settles down. When Alpha is dealt with. When Maksim’s finished. When we can live without looking over our shoulders." He looked at Aylin. "That’s when I’ll ask. On our own terms."

Aylin squeezed his hand. "He’s right. First, we’ll take down their whole setup. Then we can start building our life."

"Nice and mature," Leo said with a bit of sarcasm. "Not a fan."

"Liam," Zayn asked, "you think she’ll say yes?"

"She cried," Liam responded simply. "Girls who aren’t into it don’t cry. They just say no and leave."

"That’s honestly spot on."

"I have my moments."

Ayla’s phone buzzed, and everyone turned to her.

She smiled. "She said she doesn’t know yet. But she’s never felt this way before and trusts it, even if she doesn’t get it."

Zayn leaned back, a calm, confident smile on his face.

"That’s enough for now."

Aylin rested her head on Zayden’s shoulder, and he kissed her hair.

Across the room, Liam caught Ayla’s eye, but she quickly looked away.

He smiled to himself and kept quiet.

The night wrapped around them, warm and complex, but quietly hopeful.

*****

The house was eerily quiet when Emma got home.

All the lights were off except for the little lamp in the hallway that Alexander always left on for her when he went to bed. She stopped in the doorway, staring at the lamp and feeling a tightness in her chest.

He had gone to sleep without knowing how her night had gone. He didn’t know she had sat on a rooftop and cried in front of a guy she’d known for only a week.

She closed the door quietly behind her, kicked off her heels, and tiptoed down the hallway to her room.

She quickly changed out of her dress, slipping into her favorite oversized sleep shirt and pajama shorts. Then she plopped down on the edge of her bed and stared at the ring box in her hands.

Zayn had pressed it into her hands right before she got back into the car. He hadn’t said a word; he just wrapped her fingers around it and smiled.

"If you want to say yes, wear it. I’ll get it. That’s your ’yes.’"

Emma opened the box slowly.

The ring sparkled under the soft light of her fairy lights, a perfect diamond on a delicate band. Simple, beautiful, and somehow just right.

She looked at it for a long time.

Her phone buzzed, interrupting her thoughts. She grabbed it.

It was Ayla. Emma had messaged her earlier about everything: the dinner, the rooftop, the fireworks, the proposal, all of it spilling out in a bunch of texts she typed in the car on the way back.

Ayla had finally replied: "So what did you say to him? Yes or no??"

Emma smiled softly and typed back.

"I don’t know yet. But I’ve never felt this way before. And I trust it, even if I can’t figure it out."

She set her phone down and looked at the ring again.

Her mind drifted back to the rooftop, remembering how the fireworks lit up the sky. She recalled the words that had appeared in light, fire, and gold.

She could still picture Zayn’s face when she turned around and found him on one knee.

God, he was so good-looking.

Honestly, he was ridiculously good-looking. The kind of handsome that made you lose your train of thought mid-sentence.

If Zayn Virelli showed up at an audition, he wouldn’t just land the role. He’d raise the bar for everyone else. Every girl in the country would be gushing over him in no time.

And yet.

Out of all the girls out there, he had zeroed in on her.

Emma, who had called him an idiot in front of everyone. Emma, who had left his first text on read, like it was nothing.

Emma, who’d come to say sorry wearing a floral dress, with shaky hands and no clue what she was doing.

He had chosen her anyway.

She had only been in one relationship before, back in high school. Fifteen days, if she was being generous. It ended before it even started, and since then, she had put up walls and kept them high. No one had gotten close enough to matter. No one had made her want to let them down.

Until Zayn.

He didn’t ask for her permission. He didn’t wait for her walls to come crashing down on their own. He just smiled at her like she was already the most important person in the room and somehow made her believe it.

That freaked her out.

But it also felt like finally being able to breathe after holding it for years.

Emma picked up the ring.

She turned it slowly between her fingers, feeling its weight and the reality of it.

Then, before she could overthink it, before her brain could talk her out of it, she slid it onto her ring finger.

It fit perfectly.

Of course, it did.

She looked at her hand for a long moment. The diamond caught the fairy lights and threw little rainbows across her ceiling.

Emma lay back on her pillow, her hand resting on her chest, the ring cool and solid against her skin.

She had no idea what tomorrow would bring.

She didn’t know how she was going to talk to him.

But for the first time in what felt like forever, the uncertainty didn’t feel like a fall.

It felt like standing on the brink of something amazing.

She closed her eyes.

And slept more soundly than she had in years.