When Worlds Collide
Chapter 6
By: Bella
Tristen laughed nervously hoping that Benji was only joking. But he kept a straight face.
"What?" she asked, thinking that she had heard him wrong.
"Wanna get married?" he suggested again, nonchalantly.
"Just like that? You don't even know if I'm a psychopathic murderer. You don't even know what my favorite color is. You don't even know how old I am!" she exclaimed, still flabbergasted.
Benji was beginning to get nervous, thinking he had convinced her that he was completely nuts. He pointed to one of the few unoccupied benches near the side of the small chapel and said, "Wanna talk?"
"Yeah," she agreed. They walked over and sat down. Then he began to speak again, but in a hushed tone so that no one would overhear them.
"My name is Benjamin Levi Madden and I think I'm in love with you," he began. "I'm not a psychopath, or at least I've never been clinically diagnosed as one, I haven't committed any murders, my favorite color is black, and I'm 23."
She was shocked that he was still being serious. "OK, my name is Tristen Rose McFaron and I think I'm in love with you too, but I don't think that 'thinking' you're in love with someone is a good enough reason to get married," she started and then took a breath. "I'm neither a psychopath nor a murderer, my favorite color is pink, and I'm also 23."
"Good to know," he said, nodding his head and smiling. He noticed that the look on her face was still one of shock and confusion.
"No one has ever asked me to marry them before," she said, almost whispering to herself.
"And I've never asked anyone to marry me before," he answered honestly. "I don't know why, but it just feels so right, you know? It's not like a I woke up this morning and said, 'I feel like getting married.' I just met you and I feel like you're someone who could be my best friend and who I'd never get tired of and would always want to have around, and when I looked over there and saw those people so happy and married I immediately thought of us. 'Us!' Like we were a couple. I want us to be a couple," he said.
He was looking at her the whole time and noticed that her _expression never changed. She still looked completely shocked by every word that he was saying. So, he continued.
"We practically are married …you've seen me naked!" he said, laughing. This finally made her laugh as well. "We both want the same things. Someone to spend our lives with, someone who understands us, someone to start a family with …"
"Are you always this spontaneous?" she asked, interrupting him.
"Not always, but I do believe that spontaneity is often a good thing. It keeps life exciting," he answered. She was satisfied with his answer.
"Do I get a ring?" she asked. This made him get excited.
"The biggest damn rock you want," he said.
"OK then, let's do it," she said.
"Really?" he asked, surprised. Just a few moments ago he thought she was going to run away and never look at him again. He was convinced that she thought that he was crazy.
"Under one condition," Tristen proposed.
"What's that?" he asked, skeptical.
"You buy me ice cream," she said while eyeing an ice cream parlor across the strip.
"Gee, you sure do drive a hard bargain …" he commented, scratching his chin and pretending to give it a lot of thought. They both laughed and headed toward the ice cream parlor.
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They shared a banana split and talked about their families. Benji told Tristen about his childhood, what it was like having brothers and a sister, what it was like when his father left his family, and how hard it was not to be able to see them, except Joel of course, as often as he'd like. Tristen told Benji about hers, and what it was like to be a lonely only child, what it was like when her parents inherited a huge amount of money when she was just three years old and how her world suddenly changed, and how despite their disappointment in her for joining a band rather than attending graduate school she is working hard to keep a relationship with her parents.
"Ready to go?" he asked eagerly as they had just finished their ice cream.
"Where to, my darling fiance?" she asked with a laugh.
"Why, to the chapel of course, my gorgeous bride-to-be," he replied with the same silliness in his voice that Tristen had just showed off.
Once again, she laughed nervously hoping that Benji was only joking. And once again, he kept a straight face. She began to panic.
"Uh oh, what now?" he asked, halfway whining.
"You meant right now?" she asked, shocked.
"What did you think I meant?" he asked, confused.
"I thought you meant sometime in the future! You know, have an actual wedding in a church with a pretty wedding dress and bridesmaids and my mother's diamond earrings. My parents would kill me if I got married in Vegas!"
"Good point, my mom would kill me too. But who said they have to know?" he asked with a wicked grin.
"You know, Benji, those are actual weddings that they perform in there," she said, pointing across the street to the chapel where they had become "engaged" less than an hour before.
"So, it'll be our little secret. This wedding is for us, and we'll have a big wedding for everyone else. It'll be romantic. In the meantime, no one else has to know. Not my band, not your band, I won't even tell Joel," Benji said.
"My nanny, Mommy Mae, used to say that if you're keeping what you're doing a secret, then you're doing what you're keeping with a guilty conscience," she said, trying to reason with him.
"Fuck Mommy Mae!" Benji said. Tristen glared at him, halfway joking, but halfway offended and he apologized. "OK, OK. All I know is that the way I feel about you is something that I've never felt before. I know I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you, and so I'm willing to marry you whenever you feel the time is right. I don't care whether it's tonight or five years from tonight. I just wanna be with you," he said, awkwardly frowning at his last statement.
"Son of a bitch, that was an Enrique Iglesias song, wasn't it?" he asked, shaking his head in shame.
This made her laugh. "You are so sweet, yet so corny. I love you, Benji," she said, standing on her tippy toes and wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the tip of his nose. He returned the embrace and whispered back into her ear.
"I love you too, Tristen."
"Come on, let's go get hitched!" she said excitedly, as she held his hand and led him to the chapel.