Proposal

The weeks turned into months, and the months slowly became years, and before either of them knew it, four years had passed since Mary's transformation. Throughout those years, Mary had finally learned to have full control over her body, and to pass the time on their off days, they would try to do some more romantic dates in the gallery. Alternatively, even though both of them were adults, they still played with the chalk, and read a lot in the library. It mostly came down to what they felt like doing that particular weekend after they were done with their lessons.

Ten whole years – Garry could scarcely believe that was how long he'd been in there for. Yes, there were times when it dragged, times when he and Mary fought and didn't talk for a day or two, and times when he really wished he could go outside and feel the sun, but for all intents and purposes, he was quite happy with his life. Mary was quite a wonderful woman, and while the thought of spending an eternity in the gallery was quite unsettling, even after all of this time, he felt he could do it with Mary at his side.

Now the only problem was… How was he going to propose to her? He paced back and forth in the hallway besides the painting he got all of his food from, with his arms crossed over his chest. This was a rare time when Mary had decided to read more and not eat with him, so he fortunately had some alone time. He gently tugged at the collar of the coat he was wearing, and looked around the hall as he thought about what to do.

"Would she want a ring?" He muttered, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. No, she said that she didn't want a diamond ring after she learned about how they were typically mined and what the conditions were like for the miners. It made sense that Mary would think that, since she herself was practically a prisoner of the gallery, unable to leave and do what she wanted. Granted, she was much happier now, but it didn't make it any less true.

"So a diamond is out of the question, but a Ring is promising. I just need to figure out what to put on it." He thought harder, "Maybe a necklace would be good too? Or some other jewelry?" What made this so difficult was that he knew that Mary would love absolutely anything he did for her, but he wanted this to be really special. He didn't want her to simply be happy knowing that he loved her, but he wanted her to realize how significantly he loved her, and he wanted to know that he was willing to be with her his whole life.

"Well, I guess proposing would kind of get that across." He mused, realizing that it was the act of proposing that was significant, and not the actual ring. Hell, diamond rings were a relatively new phenomenon anyway, since it started in the 1930's within the United States. What did people do prior to that? Maybe it was worth researching…

"Garry?"

He jumped when he heard the voice, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Mary standing there, looking at him with a slight smile. She was wearing a very casual outfit, just some jean shorts and a sleeveless blouse, and her hair was down to his mid back, with nothing else done to it. He let out a sigh as he looked at her, placing a hand over his heart as he felt it beating erratically from the scare, and he forced out a chuckle.

"You get scared so easily," She purred as she walked up to his back and she wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her body into his back.

"Ah, why are you here?" He shuddered at her touch, and placed his hands on hers as she held him. He loved the feeling of her body against his own, and he closed his eyes as he relaxed.

"You don't want me here?" She asked, an amused smile crossing her lips, as her eyes lit up with absolute delight.

"No – It's not that!" His eyes darted open, and he tried to look behind him at Mary. He stopped panicking when he heard her laughter however.

"I know!" She laughed, letting go of him and crossing her arms under her chest, "I just came to see what you were up to, since you've been here far longer than you usually are."

"Were you worried?" He asked as he turned around to face her, dusting off his coat for no real reason other than the give his hands something to do as he looked at her.

"Not really," She shook her head, "Just curious, really."

He smiled, "Well, I'm just pacing, so I'm probably not going to be very interesting to be around."

"I noticed. What are you doing that for?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." He shook his head quickly not wanting her to know the real reason for why he was doing it. It would ruin any effect if she were to find out now, so he had to keep it a secret.

He saw Mary's eyes light up behind her glasses, and if possible, her smile seemed to widen even larger, "That always means something."

"Heh, yeah… You've got me, it's something." He allowed her to know, since he figured that her knowing that he was thinking of something wouldn't be too harmless.

"What is it then?" She asked, pressing for more information, like the curious woman she was.

Garry's smile faded away, and he simply looked thoughtful, bringing a finger up to tap his chin a few times, "Well… Mary, we've been in here for ten years now, you know?" He averted his eyes, feeling butterflies in his stomach.

"Yeah, I remember when you first came in here!" She answered, chipper as ever. He noticed from the corner of his eye that she was balancing on the balls of her feet as she stated that.

"Ib and I were transferred into here after looking at the Fabricated World painting, and after a little while, we met you." He wistfully recounted, his eyes looking off into the distance, "Then we traveled together for a little while…"

Mary nodded, and she walked over to Garry, closing her eyes and placing her head on his chest, "I remember. It's kind of nostalgic to think about to it." She gently held Garry, at peace with her eyes closed, her excited attitude from earlier was diminished.

Garry unconsciously rubbed Mary's head, "Yeah, it is."

"Why did you bring it up? What does that have to do with you pacing around?" She asked as she still held her position on his chest.

"A lot," He admitted, "Mary… "

"Yes?" She lifted her head and looked him right in the eyes. Looking into her blue eyes, Garry felt himself getting lost, and his mind slowed down as if he were being hypnotized. He shook his head, briefly wondering about the quote 'Love Makes You Stupid', perhaps there was more truth to that after all… Regardless, he reached up and moved some of Mary's blonde hair aside out of her face, and leaned down to kiss her. She wasn't quite expecting that, but it was clear that she didn't find it problematic at all, and allowed him to go through with it.

"While I appreciate that," Mary spoke up once their lips parted, "What's the significance?"

"Can't I just kiss you because I love you?" He asked, sounding mildly offended that she thought he needed a reason beyond that to kiss her.

"If you were anyone else, I'd accept that as a viable excuse," She giggled, reaching up and flicking his nose, "But you almost always reserve kissing me until after we do something together, or if we're in bed." She whispered the last part, but even then, it was quite loud in the silent gallery hallway.

He faintly blushed, glad that none of the other denizens of the gallery were around to hear that, "You're more perceptive than I give you credit for."

"Well, I AM over one hundred years old. Someone like me notices these things over time." She crossed her arms again, her smile never leaving her face. Oh, Garry wasn't going to let her get away with that one.

"Yeah, I guess an old lady like you would notice them then." He retorted, and was immediately gratified when Mary gave him a wide eyed stare. Her arms slowly uncrossed, and she shook her head.

"Oh, you didn't just say that!" She laughed as she backed from holding him, and then she started smacking him lightly across the head, "Take it back, I'm not that old!"

"Hey, I was only agreeing with you, you're the one who said you were over a hundred!" He laughed, reaching his arm up in a half-hearted attempt to block her light smacks on his head. Mary stopped after a little bit and continued to laugh, and even Garry joined in with her. It took a little while, but they both eventually quieted down.

"You still haven't told me what was on your mind." She reminded him.

"I was hoping you'd forget." He replied honestly, cursing in his mind.

"Is it something bad?" She asked, her smile disappearing complete as her lips turned downward into a slight frown. The shine in her eyes were completely gone now, and she looked very serious.

"No," He shook his head; he realized that she might be starting to get the wrong idea, "It's nothing bad."

She nodded, "I see…" She looked utterly unconvinced, and she unconsciously crossed her arms, something Garry noticed she did a lot when she was nervous or anxious.

"Mary, is something wrong?" He reached forward and gently hugged her, and started to gently rub the back of her head, even though she couldn't feel it. She seemed to act like she could feel it though, since she relaxed in his hands and let out a small breath. It was a common thing he did for her whenever she was upset.

"Well…" She looked down to the ground now, hiding her eyes from his view. This only caused Garry's worry to increase tenfold, and he continued to rub her head soothingly.

After a few seconds, when she didn't say anything more, Garry gently spoke, "Mary?"

"It's been on my mind for almost a year now." She finally spoke up, not moving an inch from her position. Her eyes were still down, and he felt her shake slightly.

"What has?" He felt his heart skip – that was the same exact amount of time that he had been thinking about proposing to her, but he could never think of an adequate way to do so. Was there something about Mary that he had missed in that time span? Was she sick? No, that was stupid, she couldn't be sick… Then what was it?

She sighed, "Garry, do you miss the other world? The one you belong to?"

"I'm fine here." He immediately stated, not even pausing to think about it.

"Please be honest with me." She replied, finally looking up from the ground to look right into his eyes, her blue eyes were shining, and he realized that she was barely constraining tears. What was this about?!

He sighed, "Initially it was hard – very hard. I won't lie to you Mary, adapting to this place took me a very long time."

"That's what I thought." She muttered, looking back down to the ground. Garry wasn't going to have her doing that though.

"Hey," He gently reached a hand down and lifted her chin back up, and tapped her nose light in admonishment, "Let me finish." She looked mildly annoyed when he tapped her nose, her eyes narrowing slightly, but she looked thoughtful.

"Ok." She nodded after a few seconds, looking him in the eyes again.

He let out a small breath, "Mary, I don't think I ever told you this, but I initially did intend to leave you all those years ago, when I first woke up after I thought you killed me. When I took you to your room, I was about to leave until I saw your diary." He noticed her blush, "It was a very good thing I did see that, since it is what convinced me to stay behind and try to befriend you. I saw you as a… kindred spirit, I guess you could say. Your father left you, leaving you all alone, sort of like what happened to me when I was a kid. I know how that loneliness feels, Mary, I knew I couldn't just leave you behind like that."

"So you stayed behind because you felt bad for me?"

"Yes." He replied bluntly, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way. He felt her hands gripping his coat tightly, but eventually her fists lost their grip, and he heard her chuckling.

"I want to be mad at you, but honestly, I'm thankful that you even stayed. I realize now that it was a really big decision, one my younger self never would have understood, even if you did try to explain it to her slowly." Mary averted her eyes to the side as she said that, not wanting to look at Garry.

Garry continued to rub her head, and slowly started to speak, "I decided to do for you what no one else did for me – I always wanted there to be someone to play with me when I wanted to play, to laugh with me when I was having fun, to sleep with me when I was scared at night… I never had that person in my life, so I guess being with you was some sort of wish fulfillment on my own end."

"That had the added benefit of helping me." She replied as she looked back at him.

"Yes." He nodded, "I helped you because that is what I would want someone else to do for me if I were in the same position. I did everything I could for you Mary, and I don't regret it at all."

Mary smiled with that answer – he was always honest with her, and that was something she really adored. Suddenly her eyes widened in realization and she looked back into his eyes, "But you never answered my original question; do you miss the other world?"

"I did answer it," He insisted, "Mary, honestly, staying here and helping you has not only been wish fulfillment, but seeing you succeed, watching you laugh and smile, seeing you become the woman you are now has honestly been a fulfillment that I doubt I could have ever felt in the real world. I don't think I could have ever found a woman quite like you in the other world either – you're understanding, you laugh when I do, you don't get angry at the smallest things – you're perfect in every way." Mary blushed, and looked down.

"So to answer your question, no, I don't miss the other world. I wish I could take you there and show you the places and sights that you can't see in this world, but as a whole, I'm very happy to be in here with you, whether it be for ten years, or for all eternity."

"Do you really mean it?" She asked, her eyes again shone with barely constrained tears, and a smile formed on her face as she looked up at him. She wrapped her arms around him, and held him tightly to herself.

"I do," He answered, "Mary, I love you, and I thank you for being with me all of these years."

"It's not like I had a choice." She responded, blinking her eyes to try and rid them of the tears.

"On the contrary, you did. You had the choice to kill me and escape; you even had the choice to not kill me and STILL escape. Even now, you can still get out of here and see the world that you've been missing out on."

Mary shook her head, "I wouldn't do that."

"If I said I didn't mind, would you still say that?" He asked her, and he suddenly felt her going very still in his grasp. He still kept comfortingly rubbing the back of her head, waiting to see her reaction.

"What?" she gasped, her eyes widening as she looked him straight into his eyes once she was over the shock. Did he actually say what she thought he said?!

"If I told you that I would happily allow you to leave, allow you to become human and live your life to the fullest on the other side, in the real world, would you still stay here with me? Do you stay with me out of a sense of obligation?"

"No!" She shouted, bringing her hands back from around his back and slapping him hard across the chest a few times, "Why would you say that? Stupid! I love you! I don't want to leave, even if it means that I could become human! I don't want to leave without you!" She gritted her teeth and glared up at him – how could he be so stupid to think that she would want that?

"See? That is why I refuse to leave." He chuckled, ignoring the sting from how hard she slapped him, and he wrapped his arms around her again, "I love you for you, because you love me for me."

She shook her head and affectionately pressed her head into his chest as she wrapped her hands around him again, "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Yet you still stay with me anyway." He replied, sounding very happy.

"Well, you're my idiot." She emphasized. As they parted from the hug, Garry turned around quickly, missing the confused look she gave him as he did so. Garry meanwhile was desperately thinking of how to say what he wanted to say to her – this was a good start, the mood was right, Mary was emotionally receptive to whatever he said… Now was the perfect time, but… How in the world was he going to do it?!

"Garry?" She mumbled, touching his shoulder. He slowly turned around, looking down at the woman standing in front of him, who still looked somewhat confused. His thoughts ran around in circles in his head, debating on what he should do or how he should act, but he simply decided to allow whatever came to him to take over. With that, he gently hugged her. "What are you doing?" Mary asked, starting to feel a bit worried with how he was acting now.

"I have nothing to give you, forgive me." He whispered into her ear, as they parted again, and he got onto his knee in front of her. He reached forward and took hold of her hand, and he looked up, his eyes locking into hers, "Mary…"

Mary's eyes widened recognizing the pose from so many stories she had read. She remembered wishing that she would be the lucky girl in one of those stories, and now… Now it was actually happening! She knew that if she had a heart, it would be beating so quickly right now, and she was positive that her face was turning a bright shade of red, and she knew that tears were beginning to spill out of her eyes, but despite all of that, she managed to muster out, "Y – Yes?"

"I've known you for t – ten years, four of those w – we've been dating for." He cursed his stuttering, he was so nervous and his heart was beating so fast that he felt like he was going to pass out at any second, "I love the w – way you smile, I love your laugh, I love it when you s – share your happiness with me. We m – might fight occasionally, and have our disagreements, b – but I – I know that despite all of that, I still love you. I want to continue to l – love you, I want to continue writing, drawing, and reading with you…" He let out a deep breath, "Mary…"

Mary was involuntarily shaking all over; tears were spilling from her eyes like a faucet on full blast. Her lips were trembling and she found herself nodding even before he had popped the question to her, her glasses bouncing up and down as she did. She couldn't trust herself to speak right now.

"Will you marry me?" He asked as he looked up into her eyes. She could see that he was shaking as he asked, and she wanted to slap him for even thinking that she would have a different answer!

"YES!" She shouted, her emotions exploding as she jumped forward towards him and wrapped her arms around him. She held on as tight as she could, and she buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry loudly, her sobs echoing in the hallway. She felt happier than she ever had before, and she was shaking so badly, but Garry was there to hold onto her, not allowing her to fall to the ground.

"Thank you." He muttered, tears welling up in his own eyes as well as he held her. His grip on her was tighter than usual, but Mary didn't really care at all at all.

She looked up; her eyes still had tears pouring out as she looked him straight in the eyes. She smiled and shakily spoke, "I - I love you."

"I love you too," He replied, and the engaged couple leaned down to kiss passionately. Mary was almost chewing Garry's lips as they kissed, and their teeth clicked together as they parted, since they were still shaking.

"We need to plan a date for the wedding," Mary mumbled, wiping her eyes as she sniffled a little bit, "And we'll have to invite everyone!"

Garry let out a content hum as he still held her in a hug, "We'll have it when you're comfortable."

She giggled, though it came out as more of a hiccup than anything else, "Garry… Right now, let's go to our room…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure." She replied. He suddenly lifted her up, causing her to let out a little yelp as he did so, and she gently smacked him on the head, "Give me a little warning next time!" She laughed and cried at the same time, since she was so happy.

"Sure thing," He replied with a smile, leading to the two of them down the hallway to their house. Mary wrapped her arms around his neck and was still crying, though she was smiling the entire way, glad that she had found someone so willing to stay with her and love her the way that he did. It was just like the ending to the fairy tales she used to love having read to her all those years ago.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

And that's that. Garry proposed to Mary, and she accepted, I hope you all enjoyed this story!

To be completely honest, this is not actually where it was supposed to end. This is about three fourths of the way through my outline, because I omitted the last arc of the story. The reason for this omission is simple: I just don't have the drive to finish this story at the moment. I WANT to finish it, but right now writing it just feels like a job, even though I have the final bit of the outline there, and I promised myself that if my hobby begins to feel like a chore(and if I'm not getting paid for it), then I would take a break, so that is exactly what I'm doing. I picked this spot to end it, because after this point, it would open up the final arc, and I just don't want to leave you guys on a massive cliffhanger. Hopefully I'll eventually come around to finishing this story, because like I said, I DO want to see this finished.

If you're curious, the final arc would have covered these points:

1. Garry and Mary discuss the fact that they're essentially immortal, and bound to live in there forever. Are they ok with this fact? It's romantic to think that they'll love and be with each other forever, but it's not very realistic. Could they both stay in there together forever and NOT go insane?

2. Two new people enter the world! A woman who appears to be in her thirties, and a young boy who appears to be around nine years old. The boy appears to be the woman's child, but something seems a bit off about them...

3. Garry and Mary do a bit of role reversal - instead of Mary trying to kill the survivors, it's Garry attempting to kill them, with Mary trying to protect them. Why is Garry doing this? What could drive him to want to kill?

4. Ib finally reappears in some way, since she did in fact live! Does she come into the painting? If not, what is she doing outside?

If you've been reading my stories, you know that I hate sad endings, so I don't think it's a spoiler to say that everything will turn out all right in the end. If you want to imagine that it ends happily, I can assure that it WILL end on a happy note.

And that's that, I hope to continue this story in a little while, but for now I'm listing it as complete and going to focus on other things. Thank you everyone for reading, and I encourage you to check out my other stories if you enjoyed this one! Have a good day!