Picture This: Tyler's POV (bonus chapter)

"This is awful!" I whined as I moved my brush against the canvas. We were in a community painting class, something Addi and I'd been doing for the past year and a half or so after my therapist suggested it to help me deal with my stress. I needed it now more than ever since our senior year was coming to a close and things at the studio were ramping up rapidly.

"Oh come on, Ty," Lilliana, our classmate that lived in our building, said as she left her easel and walked over to mine. "It can't be that ba..." Her words died on her lips as she looked at the abomination on my paper. We were supposed to be painting a tree that our teacher, Ophelia, had on a pedestal, and based on my eyes and Lilliana's reaction, I definitely hadn't made a tree.

"Yeah," I said, agreeing with her unspoken horror. I'd admittedly started off strong by utilizing the tips that Addison had given me by focusing on the general shape and then getting more detailed as I go, however, I think I tried to get too detailed and I ended up creating a huge mess.

She gave me a clap on the shoulder. "At least you're good at music."

"Ooh, let me see," her boyfriend, Silas, said as he approached. He and Lilliana were actually the ones that had introduced us to this class since Lilliana was an applied art major and he was naturally a good painter. I really liked him, and it was fun getting into cartoon lore with him since Addison would just laugh every time I'd bring up a new theory about the sociopolitical messages of cartoons.

Silas' brow corked as he took in what I'd made. "It's definitely..." he tilted his head to the side, "something. I wouldn't say art, but it's something."

Lilliana hit him, causing him to put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I can't say shit. People sell stuff like this for like four point six million."

"Gee, thanks," I flatly said.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad," Rowan said as they approached.

"It really is," Silas warned, causing Lilli to hit him again. "What? As their friend, I need to warn them."

Rowan approached, twiddling their paintbrush between their fingers as their dark brows pulled together in concentration. We'd met at Windy City Sound when we were both social media interns. They were really good at it and have continued climbing the ranks within the media department while they went to a community college to study photography. Meanwhile, I'd luckily gotten out of the media department and was now a producer's assistant, something that truly made me happy and allowed me to learn.

They were really cool, so cool that they had honestly intimidated me. From their eyes that were naturally two different colors–– one grey and the other brown–– to their really cool sense of style and their overall cool vibe, they were just someone you'd naturally wanna be around. But as I got to know them, they turned out to be the sweetest person I'd ever met, other than Addison of course.

They twiddled with the ends of their dyed blonde hair whose roots had resorted back to their naturally dark color, but it looked cool. "Hmmm." Their attention fell to Addison whose easel was a few meters away. "Addison, come help your boyfriend. He's a lost cause."

I flipped them off before I started walking toward Addison, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet all evening. "Babe, can I see yours––"

"Stay back, don't come closer!" He said as he protectively stood in front of his easel. "I'm almost done."

"But baby, I need your help! And you can help me by letting me see the masterpiece you've created and giving me some inspiration."

"Il mio re, I'm sorry, but I can't do that." He approached me and wrapped his arms around my neck, a grin playing on his lips as he looked up at me. "I gotta let you be a big boy and figure it out yourself." He pressed a kiss onto my lips, despite my scowl.

"Whatever. I'll just make sure to tell Dr. Reed that my depression got worse because my boyfriend refused to help me out of my creative stupor," I said as I walked back toward my easel where our friends were still gawking at how bad my painting was.

"Bambinone (big baby)," Addison said.

"Stai zitto (Shut up)," I grumbled before I continued trying to save the unsavable. Though my lack of artistic ability usually didn't bother me, being in a class full of thirty other people who were doing significantly better than I did make me feel a certain type of way. Especially because at this rate, our cat could make something more appealing to look at in his litter box than what I could put on a canvas.

After a half-hour of attempts and joking with my friends later, Ophelia announced that the class was almost over and that anyone who wanted to show the class their work could. We had an unspoken rule that no negative comments would be given to the presenter unless they asked for it, and even then, the comments would be kept respectful.

A few people went up and talked about the creative liberties they took and the things they knew they needed to work on. They all looked really good and I really liked how no two people's paintings looked the same. That was the beauty of art.

"Those were all beautiful pieces of art and forms of expression. Now, is there anyone else that wants to share with the class before we leave?" Ophelia offered, her kind aged eyes peering out at the class through her glasses.

"I'd like to go," Addison's voice said from beside me as he picked up his easel and carried it to the very front of the class. A smile played on Ophelia's face as I noticed Lilliana pull her phone out of her pocket and point it at Addison.

Addison turned the easel so that it was facing him as he set his canvas on it. "Hey, everyone," he greeted, though there was a nervous edge in his voice that caused red flags to go off in my head. "I, um, decided to paint something other than the prompt for today. I've actually been working on it for a while now and today it's finally done." His eyes found mine and the corners of his lips turned up. "I came to this class through my boyfriend, Tyler, who many of you know. But many of you don't know our story and the struggle as to how we got here. We've been through a lot. But through it all, we've had each other. Every day for the past five years with a love that not that many people have." As he spoke, my heart fluttered. I knew Addison was one for big gestures, from kissing me on the football field in high school to writing one of his final papers about our love story, but this seemed so out of the blue. Not that I minded.

"So, Tyler, baby, I made this for you." He beckoned me to the front of the class to where his easel was still turned to face him. I made my way to the front, my curiosity piqued. He took my hand once I made it to the front before he used the other to flip over his painting so we could all see it. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes took it in. The canvas was covered in various pictures of the highlights of our relationship together, from our kiss on the football field to the night I asked him to be my boyfriend, to our trip to Disney, and countless other memories that chronicled our relationship and how hard yet beautiful our journey had been.

"Romeo," I lightly breathed as I took my time taking it all in. I heard a couple of gasps behind me as my eyes continued going down until I made it to the bottom of the canvas that was blank, likely so we could add more memories later on.

"Tyler," Addison softly said, causing my attention to go back to him. "You are the most important person in my life. From the moment I met you, you've managed to make me feel things that I didn't even know were possible. You've celebrated my victories with me and mourned my losses. You gave me love when I didn't feel like I deserved it. You gave my life a new purpose, and I'm so beyond lucky to be the person you wake up next to every morning and say 'I love you' to every night." Tears filled my eyes as I caught on to what was happening. My heart was racing and my knees were weak, but all I could do was focus on the man I loved in front of me.

"I love the person you've turned me into. I love you, il mio re. I want to call you mine forever and raise a family with you. I want to be yours in ever way possible. So, Tyler Marcel Barnett," he said as he got down on one knee and pulled a tiny black box out of his pocket and I momentarily forgot how to breathe. "Mi vuoi sposare? (Will you marry me)?"

My vision was completely blurred by tears, but luckily, I didn't need to see in order to answer. "Yes, Addison. Yes, I will marry you!" I blinked away the tears in time to see the most gorgeous expression on his face that no word or symbol could even come close to describing.

"You will?" He asked, disbelief evident in his voice and I nodded.

"Yes, Addison. Yes, yes, yes!"

Cheers filled the room as a smile spread across his face and he jumped up and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, both of us crying.

I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

I was going to marry the man of my dreams.

He was going to marry me.

A feeling I'd never felt before filled my entire being and I loved the way I felt, proud and in love.

After a few moments, he pulled away and wiped his eyes before he slid the ring onto my finger. It was a simple black band that was bisected along the middle with a row of black diamonds with the ones in the middle in the shape of Mickey Mouse. As soon as he was sure it was on tight, he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me into a kiss, causing the cheers around us to increase tenfold.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and basked in the feeling of having our first kiss as an engaged couple. Fiancés. And by his body language, I knew that once we got home we'd be partaking in a lot of other firsts as an engaged couple. We held the kiss for a few more moments before we pulled apart, both breathing heavily with giant smiles on our faces.

"I love you, Addison. So, so much," I whispered.

"I love you too, Tyler. And I'm so lucky that I'll be marrying you."

"I'm the lucky one," I said before I pressed one more kiss to his lips.

After we parted, we were surrounded by our classmates congratulating us and telling us how cute we were together. Our friends were freaking out and Lilliana was already telling Addison the ideas she had for the wedding while Silas looked at her with a lovestruck expression.

Yep, I gave them four months before he would pop the question.

Rowan showed us the pictures they'd taken and I was surprised I hadn't noticed that they'd brought their professional camera to our community painting class. But I'm glad I didn't or else, knowing me, I'd become nosy and likely ruin the surprise for myself. My favorite was the picture they'd taken with Addison on one knee looking up at me with the look that made my heart melt. I instantly knew that that would forever be my favorite picture ever.

We celebrated by getting ice cream at our favorite spot, PeePee's, and Rowan took every opportunity they could to tell everyone we'd just gotten engaged, which resulted in us getting some free ice cream. While we were out, I'd texted our parents to get the families together because we had some news they needed to be together for. They said they'd text when they got together.

After the night wound down, we ended up back in our apartment building where we broke the news to our cat, Frittata, that we were engaged. He, of course, didn't care and went back to sleep shortly after the announcement.

Despite my growing want to hit the sheets with Addison, we had to wait. I couldn't risk us getting the text from our parents in the middle of us having sex. We'd gotten an unexpected FaceTime call from Papa and Padre–– Addison's folks told me to call them that since I was already practically a part of the family–– and we had to scramble to not only put clothes on but to hide our raging boners, especially when they wouldn't stop talking for over thirty minutes.

It was torture.

So instead, we satisfied ourselves by playing Mario Kart, something we often did together, but this was our first time as an engaged couple. We did share a few kisses, but I always had to reel him back in. He was getting restless. But, luckily for me, the more restless he was leading up to the act, the rougher and hotter it would be once we actually got to it.

Luckily, after our fifth race, we got a text from my dad saying that they were all together. We instantly paused the game and set up my laptop for the FaceTime call. "Are you ready?" I asked as I looked at Addison, and he nodded.

"As ready as I'll ever be, il mio re."

I clicked on my father's contact, excitement running through me as the dial tone rang. After a few seconds, he picked up, revealing Papa, Padre, my father, Serenity, Azalea, Josh (since they both went to a college relatively close to home), Adryan, and Emerson smooshed together in the frame.

"Hey!" My father greeted followed by everyone else saying their hellos including my now five-year-old sister, causing my heart to flutter. Seeing her grow up was really the only thing that told me how much time was going by. When Addi and I had first gotten together, she was just a little baby, and now she could walk and talk and run and dance, and was going to start school in the fall.

Man, how time flies.

"When are you coming home, Tyler?" Serenity said with a pout, revealing a couple of missing teeth. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, Ren," I said with a smile. "Hopefully soon."

We all exchanged a bit of small talk consisting of a mini-life update from the two of us (minus the big news), Josh and Azalea telling us about how their second year at The New School was ending, and Addi's youngest siblings talking about their middle school struggles of trying to fit in and discovering their identities. It felt good to be able to see everyone I loved and that I knew loved me back on one screen. Addison's family had become mine, much like mine had become his.

"Alright, so what's the big news? I know you didn't have us all gather together just to catch up," Papa said with a slight chuckle.

I looked at Addison, silently asking him if he was going to tell them or if I was. He responded by grabbing my left hand and saying, "We kind of did a thing." He lifted up my hand onto the camera, revealing the engagement ring and the chaos that ensued would make you think that they were watching the Super Bowl.

I felt the heat of embarrassment rise to my cheeks, but the amusement I felt from our family's reactions made it even better. "Oh my God, congratulations!" Azalea said as she leaned closer to the screen to get a better look. "That's a gorgeous ring that you picked, Addi. It fits you two so well."

"Thank you," Addi said.

"I was wondering when this moment was gonna come," Papa said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, you two waited longer than we thought. Your father proposed to me during my freshman year, but we waited until we graduated to actually get married. But we're so happy for you boys," Padre added.

"Thank you," I said.

"I'm glad you did it today, Addison. It was getting difficult to keep quiet about it," my father said, causing me to knit my eyebrows as I looked between him and Addison.

"Wait, Malcolm, you knew?" Papa asked.

"He knew?" I asked Addison at the same time and he sheepishly nodded.

"I had to ask for his blessing. It wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't."

My confusion quickly melted away as I smiled at him. He was so cute and chivalrous. "Awww, well, thanks babe."

"And I really appreciated it, Addison," my father added. "So what are your plans moving forward?"

Addison shrugged. "Well, I want to focus on graduating first. I'm personally not in a huge rush, but Lilliana wants to help plan it, and knowing her, it'll be amazing. Padre, I know you want to help and I really want you to help after seeing your wedding video with Papa."

"Oh, I was going to help regardless of if you asked me to or not," Padre sassily said, causing us to chuckle.

"But other than that, I don't really know. We'll just go with the flow, right babe?"

I nodded as I rested my head on his shoulder. "Yep."

"Awe, you two are so cute together. You two need to come back soon," Papa said.

"We need to celebrate!" Adryan exclaimed.

"I've never been to a wedding before," Emerson added.

"Okay, sure, definitely," I said. "We can plan all of that tomorrow, but I'm kinda tired. It's getting late."

"Yeah, me too," Addison added, though the way his leg was bouncing against mine off screen told me he was getting more and more restless. "We'll talk to you all tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, you two. Get some rest. Love you," my father said before everyone else said they loved us as well.

"Love you too. Good night!"

"Love you, good night!" Addison and I said before we ended the call.

He looked down at me and pitched a brow. "Tired, huh?"

"You know that's the best way to get them off the phone," I said before he scoffed and pressed his lips to mine. I instantly kissed him back, not at all opposed to having sex right there on the couch, but Addison stopped me by slightly pulling away.

"We have one more call to make."

My eyebrows furrowed. "We do?"

"Yeah. I...I can't not tell Ian or else he'll fly down here just to beat my ass."

I chuckled. "I guess you're right. Just one more." I pressed another kiss to his lips.

He giggled as he kissed me back. "Tyler, it's never just one more with you. I'll make it quick, promise." I hummed in response before I pressed one final kiss to his lips.

He grabbed my computer and clicked on Ian's contact. He picked up after the fifth ring. "Hello?" His voice was groggy as he spoke and based on the darkness of the screen, I could tell he'd been asleep.

"Oh, hey man. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, I just had something important to tell you right quick."

"Yeah, what's up?" He asked as the sound of ruffling sheets was heard before he adjusted the phone. The new angle and the phone's light revealed that he was in fact in bed with Lelani's bonneted head on his chest.

Once again, he grabbed my hand to show the ring. "We got engaged!"

"What?" Ian yelled as he bolted into a sitting-up position, causing Lelani to make a noise of fear as she too shot up. An apologetic look instantly took place on Ian's face as he looked at her off-screen. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to scare you." He kissed her forehead.

"What's going on?" Her scratchy voice asked.

"Tyler and Addi are engaged!"

"What?" She practically yelled, all tiredness now vacated from her voice. She grabbed the phone from him and looked.

"Surprise," I said with a slight chuckle as I moved my hand closer to the camera before she screamed.

"Oh my God, I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Me too! You guys are perfect for each other."

"Thanks, you guys. We really appreciate it," Addi said. "But we won't keep you long. I know you guys are an hour ahead of us, so we can keep talking about this tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight you two," Ian said with a wave.

"Love you guys!" Lelani added.

"Night, love you guys too."

"Love you," Me and Addi said before we ended the call. Addison practically slammed my computer closed before he pulled me on top of him and kissed me.

"È tempo per la parte buona? (Is it time for the good part?)" I asked into his lips, and he simply nodded as he kissed me hard before he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. And throughout all the ways we explored each other's bodies, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that we were engaged.

I was going to marry the man who'd been by my side and showed me love when I didn't think I deserved to love. When I didn't think I deserved to live. But there at that moment with our bodies tangled and his lips on mine, I knew that everything was how it was supposed to be.

I was going to marry him. I was going to raise a family and grow old with him. I was going to be with him forever, and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

***

Hey y'all! I hope y'all are well. Long time no see but, as per usual, college is kicking my butt. But, I'm in NYC right now and I'm keeping my eyes peeled to see if I'll run into Addi and Tyler on the streets lol. But yeah, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and if you did, please feel free to comment and vote. Also, the next chapter (their wedding) is already available on Inkitt, so if you want to check it out, click the link in my bio to read it early for free!

Love y'all to the moon and back,

Jordan :)