Now is the Perfect Time

The winter sunlight catches on Clara's auburn hair as you reach for the neatly wrapped package on the counter. Your fingers tremble slightly—not from the proposal you're about to make, but from the surreal realization that your entire world has transformed into something you never imagined possible.

"Go on," Clara urges, her green eyes bright with anticipation. "It's nothing elaborate, but..."

You carefully tear the wrapping paper to reveal a small velvet box. Inside rests a key with a note: "Ready to stop paying two rents?"

"Move in with me?" Clara asks, a hint of vulnerability in her voice. "I know my place is farther from your studio, but it has that terrace you love, and—"

"Wait," you interrupt gently, your heart hammering. This couldn't be more perfect timing. "Before I answer, I have something for you too."

You reach into your pajama pocket, withdrawing the small box you've been carrying for three days, waiting for the perfect moment. The moment that has just arrived.

Clara's lips part in surprise as you sink to one knee beside the kitchen table, still wearing nothing but your boxers, your matching tattoo visible on your wrist as you hold the box up to her.

"If that timid rascal David can raise the courage to propose, I suppose I have no excuse," you begin, your voice steady despite your racing pulse. "Clara, I have loved you since the moment I first kissed you as Mia on a dare. I have loved you since the moment you first saw me as Matt and were willing to look past the physical and see me for me."

Clara's hand flies to her mouth, her eyes widening as you continue.

"I have loved you every day we have been together and every day we have been apart. I think I have always loved you even before I knew you, and I know I will always love you, every day from today through eternity."

Tears begin forming in Clara's eyes, one escaping down her cheek as you open the box to reveal a platinum ring with an intricate Trinity knot design, echoing your matching tattoos, with a modest but brilliant diamond nestled in its center.

"I thank every day that the Perfect Girlfriend app **** me to address my own flaws and showed me how to appreciate all the details of being a woman that are impossible without living through it. And most of all, for leading me to you."

You take her trembling left hand in yours. "I love you with all my heart and being, and nothing could make me happier and more fulfilled than to spend every moment of the rest of my life with you. Will you please agree to marry me?"

Clara's tears flow freely now, her voice catching as she slides from her chair to kneel in front of you, bringing herself to your level. "I was going to ask you to move in, and you're asking me to—" She breaks off, overwhelmed.

"Yes," she finally manages, her voice thick with emotion. "God, yes, Matt."

Your hands shake as you slide the ring onto her finger. It catches the light, the Trinity knot glinting—an endless loop symbolizing your impossible journey together.

Clara tackles you backward onto the kitchen floor, her body warm against yours as she kisses you deeply, desperately. When she pulls back, her eyes are filled with wonder.

"Do you have any idea how extraordinary this is?" she whispers against your lips. "To fall in love with someone twice—first as Mia, then as Matt—and to know it's the same soul both times?"

You brush her hair back from her face. "I think that's why I'm so certain. How many people get to test their love that way?"

She laughs, sitting up to admire the ring. "We should probably call David before tonight. He'll be livid if he thinks his news will overshadow ours."

"Let him try," you grin, pulling her back down to you.

The pancakes grow cold on the table, forgotten as you and Clara celebrate your engagement on the kitchen floor, the winter sunlight warming your entwined bodies through the window—two people who found each other through the strangest transformation of all.

14:30 | Saturday 14 February 2026 | Matt's Flat, Putney