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They say that New York is a city that never sleeps. And sure enough, they were right. It was already 11:45 pm, a time when everyone should be fast asleep already, and yet the streets of Manhattan were still bustling with New Yorkers walking around. Taxi drivers sending couples or one night stands to hotels or apartment buildings, clearly aware of the night that will about to happen. Couples on their first dates walking around the cemented pavements, trying to get to know each other, their minds thinking that perhaps this person could be the one. Group of friends in their 20s, hanging out, sharing jokes and laughters, not wanting the night to end, as they know that the time they open their eyes to face another day, everything that happened will become a memory.
But far away from all the noise and laughter, on the rooftop of one of the city’s skycrapers, were a couple about to celebrate their 7th anniversary. 7 years have passed since Evie said yes to becoming Mal’s girlfriend. The entire 7 years were a pure bliss to them. Sure they had their ups and downs like every couple does, but they always find ways to work it out. Mal and Evie love each other so much to ever let go of the other
Mal glanced at the blue-haired girl laying down on the blanket beside her and smiled to herself. She, Mal Bertha, a girl who believed she was too broken for others, still could not comprehend the fact that she has Evie. It’s been 7 years and all she could think was that she’s lucky. So damn lucky to have Evie in her life.
She remembered the first time Evie stumbled into her life. It was the first week of her Junior high and Evie was a new student then. Just like all the boys in the room, she had found the girl attractive and how the color blue suits her. She did not mind it at first, as she gets attracted to girls easily. So her finding out Evie was attractive did not bother her.
The first time she found the blue-haired girl beautiful, and really bothered her, was a month later when they’re chemistry teacher had partnered them up for some homework. She considered herself lucky since she was too bad at chemistry while the other girl was acing the class. They stayed at Evie’s house to work on the homework— well more like Evie spent half the time working on the homework and another half teaching Mal about the homework because apparently the purple-haired girl has never listened to class. She had stared at Evie’s side profile as the blue-haired girl discuss how to balance some equations that none of which has retained on Mal’s brain. She had been too focus studying and admiring the blue-haired girl’s features to ever know what Evie was talking about.
The first time they talked outside of their class was during Jay’s 17th birthday party. Turns out she was childhood friends with Jay’s boyfriend, Carlos. Ever since then the four of them started hanging out, along with Uma, Audrey, and Harry. Mal found out a lot of things about the girl. About how Evie wanted to become a fashion designer someday. How she enjoyed dipping fries into mayo unlike most people who preferred ketchup. How she does not like watching in a cinema or eating in a restaurant alone. She found out about the scar on her left knee shaped like a map of Turkey that she had gotten while falling off a bike when she was 10. The more Mal found out about her, the more she realized she had fallen.
The first time they kissed, god she doesn’t even want to consider it as their first kiss. But it was because of that kiss that gave her the courage to chase Evie. It was their 2nd year of college and Harry had thrown one of his famous parties. She and Evie, along with their friends Uma, Audrey, Carlos, Jay, and new ones that they have met like Jane, Ben, and Lonnie were in a room ready to play the famous 7 minutes in Heaven. The first spin pointed at Ben and Audrey, the second one pointed at Jane and Lonnie. The third pointed at Harry and Uma. By the time it was already on the 7th spin, the bottle pointed at Mal and Evie.
They had to stay in the closet for 7 minutes, to which Mal joked about how she never thought she’ll come back to the closet. They stayed quiet for a minute, no words coming out of each other’s lips, until Evie made the first move and clashed her lips against the girl, completely surprising Mal before she returned the kiss. The entire kiss was passionate and full of want. The want to touch the other girl. The want to feel the other girl’s skin against theirs. The want to send each other to pure heaven. They both ended up achieving those wants in Mal’s dorm room later that night.
The first time they said the three words to each other was 3 months after they started dating. It was a normal Friday afternoon. Their classes for the day had already ended so they decided to hang out in Mal’s dorm, cuddling on Mal’s bed with a laptop on their laps, binge watching different disney films— a tradition they ended up doing since they started to date. Mal’s arm was placed around Evie, the blue-haired girl snuggling herself against her girlfriend. Mal likes how Evie would sing along to the songs or how she mouths along the lines. Evie loves disney movies so much and has practically watched almost all disney films released like a hundred times. She stared at Evie who was singing along to Aladdin’s A Whole New World, and suddenly out of nowhere, she blurted out, “I love you”.
This caught Evie off guard. She stared at Mal for a few seconds before leaning in and capturing the girl’s lips in a soft and gentle kiss, before whispering, “I love you too, Mal”
Like most couples, Mal and Evie had their own share of arguments. Most of them were small and stupid. Like do pineapples belong in pizza? Mal said yes, Evie says no. Are cats better pet than dogs? Evie says yes, and Mal chose dogs. Which fast food restaurant serves the best fries? Evie says it’s McDonald’s, while Mal says Wendy’s are better.
But the first time they really had their argument— a real one— was about almost year since they had gotten together. Mal had just learned that Evie had never told her mother that she’s dating someone, let alone a woman. And Mal would have been understanding, given that Evie’s mother was a conservative traditional person, had not been for the fact that Evie had been going out with a guy her mother set her up with, Chad Charming. Worst, it lasted for about three months. Mal felt like the other woman. The two almost broke up but Jay and Harry shoved some senses into them. Evie came out to her mom and, as expected, her mom kicked her out and now she had been staying with Mal. Turns out, Chad was also gay and has a boyfriend named Doug.
Mal stared at Evie and glanced at her watch, 3 more minutes before midnight, before her surprise. She got up from the blanket, pulling Evie up as well.
"Is everything okay, M?" Evie looked at her curiously. Mal only smiled at her as she held Evie's hands, staring lovingly at the girl. Mal took a deep breathe as she released Evie's hands. She grabbed a small box from her back pocket and slowly went down on one knee, Evie's expression full of surprised as she realized what Mal is about to do, "Oh my god, M! Yes, I'll marry you" Mal blinked and chuckled softly, "You know I have a whole speech prepared for this, E. So can you let me do the speech and pop the question first, babe?" Evie chuckled as she nodded her head, eyes brimming with tears.
Mal cleared her throat, "Evie, I love you and everyday I continue to fall for you. You're my whole world and you make me happy. You're my definition of happiness, Evie. These past 7 years we have is pure magic and I want more. I want 7, 8, 9, 10 more years with you. I want to spend a lifetime with you. So, Evie Grimhilde, will you spend a lifetime with me as well? Will you marry me?"
"Do I still need to say yes? Because I already said it, M" Evie teased, tears already rolling down her cheeks. Mal rolled her eyes and decided to take Evie's left hand and slips the ring through her finger. Evie smiled widely as she pulled Mal up and captured her lips, her arms wrapped around Mal's neck. Mal pulled away and pressed her forehead against Evie's, the two smiling widely at each other.
"Happy anniversary, E"
"Happy anniversary to you too, M"