It was now November. It had been almost two months since Seren had moved in with them. After their outing in the city, they had definitely gotten more comfortable with each other. She would occasionally have tea with him in the lounge room, as they discussed their studies. They would wander about the garden, sitting in the shade of the tree as they enjoyed the sunlight that would soon be dimmed by gray skies. She loved learning new things about him more than she liked rambling about the happenings of the city, although she had to prod him for information most of the time. The more she learned, the more curious she became in him as a person. It was hard not to admit she liked him. Just a little bit, she would fool herself. 

Over the days, Seren began to have increasingly less free time, part thanks to her father. He worked, but also studied, she recalled him mentioning his decision to attend a university for law. She did her best not to bother him too much, only approaching him when he made himself available. Today was one of those days, he had yet to leave his room. Marielle wondered how she would keep herself occupied today. Seren was busy, Lily wasn't available today, and her other friends were a bit too far to call on a whim. She put her book away and got up from her desk. 

'Maybe I'll hang out with my lovely father'. She got up with a cheery smile, she rarely carried such a thought.

"How have you been?"

"fine."

"What are you working on?"

"financial budgets for the upcoming construction project"

"that sounds boring"

"it is. Now go find someone else to relieve your boredom" he father finally told her.

"I can't believe you would turn down quality time with your daughter" she said dramatically. She was sitting in her usual spot in the middle of the room, messing around with the pen and papers on the table.

He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Now you want to spend time with me? I thought I was too old and unrelatable after you turned 16"

"people change" she stated with a wise tone, in an attempt to make him actually laugh. He rolled his eyes at her, and finally put his work aside.

"so, how may I humor you today, my dear daughter?"

"well, my dear father, I do not know. Im just bored" she chuckled. she laid back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling, zoning out of existence.

"well, how has Lily been? You should invite her over again soon" he asked, in an attempt to start any kind of conversation. She came back to reality and sat back up in her seat.

"oh she's doing great, she's leaving for university next June so she's been super busy"

"And what will you be doing while your friends are out getting their degrees?" he questioned playfully.

"not getting mine" she laughed in response. "don't worry father, I'll still be studying like my life depends on it". Her father smiled hearing how studious she planned to be. 

"let's not talk about something even more boring" she pleaded to him. He cleared his throat.

"well, how are you getting along with Seren?" 

"We get along well, y'know, we hang out and stuff" was all she could say.

"thats good to hear. Do you favor him?"

She suddenly became very attentive, and spun her head towards her father.

"what do you mean by favor?" she asked nervously. He stared at her for a while, then let out a laugh.

"oh dear, my daughter is all grown up now"

"wha—! I didn't even say anything!"

"You're not that hard to read. I wonder who you get it from" he sighed, shaking his head. "anyways it's a good thing, there's no need to be embarassed about something like that"

"what do you mean its a good thing?". She was standing up at this point, her arms crossed defensively.

Her father looked a bit confused. "Oh, I thought you would have expected something like this. Engagement I mean". She stared at him, wide-eyed.

Oh dear. Lily was spot on.

"Maybe! But I wasn't expecting to talk about that right now!" she huffed out, finding herself short of breath. This conversation was getting her worked up. She sat back down and let out a deep breath.

"Well I'm not forcing you kids or anything, it's just a suggestion. Any rumors that have been floating around are of no concern to me" He stated. 

Marielle stared at her father for a few seconds, then calmed herself down. She was glad her father was understanding.

"um,ᴵ ᵍᵘᵉˢˢ ᴵ'ᵐ ᶠᶦⁿᵉ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᶦᵗ..." she mumbled.

"hmm?"

She was red in the face now, embarassed about having to repeat herself.

"...I'm fine with it!" she buried her face in her hands. She felt like shriveling up having to confess such a thing in front of her father. She heard him laugh in return.

"well alright, glad to know your opinion on it. I'll bring it up with Seren sooner or later, he seems to like you as well" He said, scribbling down a reminder for later.

"Wait no, don't talk to him about it like that! I-I'll bring it up with him" She blurted out without thinking.

"hmm, ok. That's fine with me" he replied. He was busy with his work once again. Marielle did not want her father being an inbetween for this discussion, and although she would rather not have this conversation at all, she still wanted to talk to him about it personally. She let out a sigh once again. 

She came up with a million excuses while she sat in silence in her father's office. The scribbles of his pen filled the room, and her mind was running at 100 miles per hour.

"You should go and ask him today, while you're still up for it" her father interrupted her thoughts. He was right, unfortunately. If she waited too long, she would put it off for weeks.

"aah you're right. I'll get going now. Don't forget to take a break" she replied, mentally preparing herself for the embarassement that would take over once she stepped out the door. She waved her father goodbye and left his office. She now stood in the hallway. A few seconds felt like minutes as she thought about how it would go. She would walk to his room, knock confidently and sit him down. They would discuss it like adults, and any issues would be resolved then and there. 

That's how it will go, she reassured herself over and over again. She took a deep breath, and let it out as slow as she could. Her heart was bursting out of her chest. Marielle began to walk towards his room.

three steps.

now twelve steps.

she kept her eyes on her feet in an attempt to keep her mind occupied. After an eternity, she arrived at his room. Hesitantly, she raised her hand to knock at the door, only to swiftly put it back to her side. This went on for a few minutes, before she silently laughed at herself.

'fuck it'

She knocked on his door, three quick taps. She fixed her posture and brushed loose strands of hair out of her face. She heard his footsteps on the other side of the door approach closer. The door opened, and Seren peeked his head out, his face softened when he saw Marielle.

"Good morning, is everything ok?" he asked. He was in a comfortable brown sweater, his hair still messy from waking up. She noticed behind him papers sprawled out on his desk, it was dark in his room. He must've been up all night. She cleared her throat.

"Can I talk to you about something?" She asked, faking her confidence. On the inside she was short-circuiting. Her face grew warm, and she avoided eye contact. He seemed to notice her nervous demeaner.

"Is everything ok? Did something happen with your father?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"No its nothing like that..." She hesitated for a bit. He moved to the side a bit, gesturing her to come inside rather than standing in his doorway. She walked past him and made her way to the edge of his bed, finding a spot to sit. He closed the door and turned on the light. He found a spot next to her.

"what did you want to talk about?" he asked. She could tell he was a bit nervous too, she felt dumb for being so weird about it. Keeping her confident demeanor, she turned towards him.

"so, um, my fathe—" she realized the irony in bringing up her father as a scapegoat and stopped herself. 

"How would you feel about...getting engaged...?" She asked quietly. Marielle quickly looked away. she would rather not see what expression he was making. Her face felt like it was on fire.

"y'know, since we live in the same house..." she added on, hoping that it made her question sound less personal. 

 He still hadn't said anything. She was waiting for a"no thank you" or even a "I don't like you that way", there were a million answers that were worse than no.

"...I'd be more than happy to"

The world seemed to freeze, the only thing keeping her grounded was the drum of her heart.

"huh?" She turned towards him. He had a soft look on his face, and she noticed the red that dusted his cheeks. He stared deep into her eyes, unwavering.

She felt like her heart was about to jump out.