Anna's breath caught and where usually she'd try to hide her amazement, try and play it cool, she was too star-struck to worry with it. She ran a hand through her hair before he took her other one and looped it through his arm. Yeah, she was starting to see why Jace had though Rae would be a good distraction. She suddenly wished she'd had the forethought to put on something nicer... but it had been Rae. She hadn't expected... Well, all this.

"That's really sweet, Rae..." She took in the beauty of the lights around her and the blooming flowers... The trees that swayed in the light breeze. She felt less like a Guardian and more like someone dropped suddenly into a fairy tale though she stayed alert... It was so drilled into her that she couldn't help it. She felt momentarily guilty when she realized that in all their time together, Gunner had never really made her feel like a GIRL... Well, there'd been a few rare occasions... Like at the party when they'd both gotten drunk off their asses... or the night he'd basically carried her back to the room. It wasn't his fault really... She'd always been one of the boys because she'd always liked it that way, wanted to fit in, and as a Guardian she had very little time to let herself BE a girl... She'd never even thought to hold it against Gunner, hadn't even really thought she'd LIKE being treated like this... Pampered. She'd always thought it was just pointless flattery. Still, Rae was kinda blowing all her hard work out of the water without even realizing it, making her feel more like a female than she had in ages...

"It's amazing... I don't think I've ever seen so many flowers blooming in one place at night," she noted. She stopped and knelt down to inspect one of the flowers, brushing her fingers against the petals. The whole garden smelled sweet, it was going to her head... and she loved it. She'd always loved it outside. "You know, I suppose you aren't so bad Costa..." She heard her stomach growl and grimaced, "Sorry... that was loud." She sighed wistfully, she supposed that at some point they'd have to go elsewhere and eat. She didn't want to leave, she felt... better here.

"I don't know how you knew this would be my thing," she said softly as she inspected the flower. She wanted to take one with her, this would probably be one of the few times she'd have something like this that she wanted to remember... "but... thanks. You have NO idea how much I needed this." She stood slowly and turned his way, "I think I owe you one."

~*~

Seb smiled, happy that she was happy. "Wait till you see the menu..." He frowned, "And don't do that thing where you worry about the money I spend, I have plenty... tonight is for you. Get whatever you want, I want you to." He kissed her back on the lips, softly. "I love you too, Serena..." He waved over a waiter and after leaving them menus and setting a bottle of wine on the table and taking their orders for drinks, the man walked off. "I... have something I want to ask you."

He took a breath, "I was going to wait till later but... my nerves are all screwed up and if I don't do it now I'm worried I'll mess it all up later..."

He took her hand across the table, brushing his thumb across her semi-bruised knuckles... wanting to heal them but not wanting to ruin the moment by getting scolded for doing it. "I don't think I've ever been happier as I am with you... Gunner and Anna used to try so hard to keep me out of my own head but there was only so much they could do. With you, you give me something bright to push back the crap that tries to weigh me down..."

He shoved a hand through his hair, loosening his tie... Shit, but it felt like it had gotten way too hot in here. "Serena, I-"

"Sebastian Lazar," a voice asked.

Sebastian groaned and glanced up at the pretty blonde waitress he had absolutely no interest in, "Yes."

The woman beamed, "I'm here to take your order... Would you like me to list the specials this evening?"

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, flustered... This wasn't going as he'd hoped. "No thank you, we'll go with the menu for now... Can you, um... give us a minute?"

She nodded, "Of course, I'll be back in ten minutes."

The woman walked off and Sebastian sighed and dug around in his pocket, "Maybe it'd just be better to show you..."

He pulled a small black case from his pocket, debated on how he wanted to do and and decided that for Serena's sake he'd go with the route that drew less attention. He took her hand and placed it over the case, "I love you... and that's never going to change. Open it..."

Inside was [url=http://image.dhgate.com/albu_344834014_00-1.0x0/flower-ring-for-women-simple-diamond-butterfly.jpg]a ring[/url] and he again ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I didn't want to get you something with a fancy diamond since it would get in the way when you fight... Do you like it?" He hoped she liked it, "If not, I'll take you to pick one out that you do..."