LOVE ME AT THIRTY

SARAH'S POV

The alarm blared over and over again, sharp and insistent, cutting through the quiet of my room.

Normally, I would’ve groaned or slapped it off with annoyance, but today… I smiled.

I reached out, silencing the alarm, then stretched beneath the sheets, my body warm, my heart even warmer. Joy pulsed through me, light and uncontrollable, like something good was about to happen—something I’d been waiting for my whole life.

Today was my birthday.

My thirtieth birthday…and no, that wasn’t the real reason my chest felt like it might burst.

Today was the day a promise might finally come true.

Fifteen years.

That was how long it had been since Brian and I made that childish promise yet powerful enough to shape every decision I’d made since.

I tilted my head to the side as the memory of that day came crawling back.

We were still teenagers then, sitting on the cracked pavement outside our school with our bags tossed aside as we waited for my parents to pick us up for the holiday.

We’d been laughing about nonsense, pushing each other, teasing the way only best friends could, when Brian had jokingly muttered;

“If you keep eating like a pig and don’t watch your weight,” Brian had said, grinning, “you’re going to grow so big nobody would want you.”

I remembered shoving him hard, my cheeks burning with anger even as he continued speaking.

“Relax,” he added quickly. “I’ll always be by your side. Besides, with my bad character, I’ll probably never get married anyway and you’ll just have to always be there for me.”

My heart raced that day like it always did around him as we both went quiet for a moment before blurting out, maybe trying to find the next word to say.

“If we get to thirty and we’re still not married… we should just marry one another.”

I laughed back then, pretending it was a joke, pretending my heart wasn’t pounding painfully in my chest.

I’d loved him even then but wasn't brave enough to say it to him. I didn't wanna ruin the beautiful friendship we had.

“Promise me,” he’d said, suddenly serious.

“Of course,” I’d whispered and we’d locked pinkies together, sealing a future I’d never stopped believing in.

My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much now, even as I yawned, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

Almost then, the door suddenly burst open.

“Sarah!”

Before I could react, something slammed into me.

“Oof!” Pain exploded in my stomach as Brian jumped straight onto the bed, his weight knocking the breath out of me.

“Are you okay?!” I yelled, clutching my side. “What is wrong with you? Are you trying to wound me?”

He laughed loudly, completely unbothered, lying across me like a lunatic. “It’s our birthday! Our thirtieth birthday!”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I know. You’re screaming like it’s breaking news.”

“Ofcourse it is!" He beamed, grabbing my cheeks and squeezed them. “Stop being grumpy, fatso.”

“I am not fat!” I snapped, pushing his hand away.

“Oh yeah? Then prove it.” He hopped off the bed, dusting his butt dramatically.

I growled, grabbed the first thing within reach, and threw it at him. He dodged easily, picked something else up, and threw it back.

It hit me squarely on the forehead.

“Hey!” I screamed. “Not my forehead! I’m going to get you for that!”

I grabbed a pillow and flung it at him. He caught it and threw it right back. I grabbed another.

Within seconds, we were fully at war with pillows flying, feathers floating through the air and our laughter echoing around the room.

Brian climbed onto the bed, swinging the pillow wildly at me and I swung back, laughing until suddenly my foot slipped.

Before I could get a grip of myself, I lost my balance and fell forward.

“Sarah!” Brian yelled out, reaching out to catch me, but instead we tilted together and crashed onto the mattress with him on top of me as our foreheads collided.

“Ow,” I muttered, rubbing the spot.

“Sorry…Sorry” he said quickly, leaning down and blowing softly against my skin and I felt my breath hitch as we locked gaze.

My heart was racing so fast I was sure he could feel it on his chest.

My gaze betrayed me, drifting down to his soft pink lips. They were so close and I was fighting the ache not to slam mine against it as I felt heat pooled low in my stomach.

I wanted to kiss him…but it was wrong and I knew that.

I forced myself to look back up but his eyes weren’t on mine anymore…they were on my lips.

Slowly, painfully, his gaze lifted back to my eyes and the desire I saw in them made my breath hitch but as quickly as it came, it disappeared. Confirming I definitely imagined it as I swallowed hard, trying to calm my nerves.

“You’re crushing me. Get off.”

He frowned, growling like a fool “You pushed me fatso, now you’re making it look like I planned this, like I wanted to lie on you. Like I’m obsessed or something.”

“I'm not fat!" Anger flared in me suddenly, and before I could stop myself I shoved him off me—off the bed—hard.

Brian rolled straight off the bed, hitting the ground with a loud bang.

“Oh my God…Brian!” I jolted upright, panic flooding me.

He groaned and slowly stood up, dusting off his clothes as he ignored me.

‘Okay, maybe I over reacted’ I let out a sigh and suddenly my gaze caught something oj the floor. On a closer look, I realized it was a small black ring box.

My heart skipped. “What’s that?”

“My engagement ring.” He replied, picking it up casually.

I felt the room spun as I stared at him, my heart pounding wildly.

An engagement ring?

Was he… proposing to me?

I knew Brian very well. He was reckless, sarcastic, impossible—but when it came to girls, he was awkward and nervous. The main reason he’d never been in a relationship.

He suddenly let out a sigh, looking up at me seriously. “There’s something I want to tell you, Sarah. Promise you won’t get angry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

I felt my chest tightened. He only used my name when he meant it…when he was going into a very serious mode.

“O… okay,” I whispered.

He smiled and pulled me down to sit beside him. “Do you remember our promise? Fifteen years ago? That if we were both still unmarried at thirty, we’d get married?”

How could I forget?

That promise was the reason I’d rejected every man who ever came close, the reason I waited and the reason I loved him in silence.

I nodded trying not to seem too excited.

“Well,” he continued, “I’m about to end my single life because I'm about to propose to my dream girl.”

"I think it’s the right time now. We’ve waited long enough.”

My fingers trembled as immediately, looked away, trying to hide the happiness threatening to spill out.

“What do you think?” he asked softly. “Do you think she’ll say yes?”

I nodded again.

He smiled nervously. “I hope so. From the first moment I set my eyes on her, I couldn’t take my heart away from her.” He whispered.

Suddenly, he went off the bed going down on one knee and almost immediately, he went down on one knee.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I gripped the sheet trying to not explode out of excitement, as I tried to keep a straight face and not act like a psychopath from immense joy, but I knew he could still see through the happiness inscribed on my face.

“Will…will you…marry me…” he stuttered, opening up the black box to expose the big diamond ring.

“...Roselyn.” he added and I felt my heart stop beating. My grip on the sheet tightened as ache bloomed through me.

He wasn't proposing to me. The woman he loved wasn't me. It was...

Roselyn?