thirty

"I know you didn't want me to do anything fancy when I asked you, but here we are," he chuckled nervously. "So Ally Carson, will you be my girlfriend?"

I stood speechless, staring at the beautiful little ring as I tried to come up with a suitable reply. Truth be told, I had no clue what to say in a moment such as this.

"I- ah-," I mentally kicked myself as I stumbled over my words. "I'm really flattered that you would ask me, and put this effort in-"

"You're saying no?" He jumped to the conclusion, and rather rightly so, which both caught me off guard and relieved me at the same time. "I can't believe that after all this time, you're actually rejecting me right now."

"I'm not rejecting you," I placed my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "I just don't know if I'm quite ready to take that next step yet. I have a lot going on right now, and I don't see