The sky was filled with the deafening sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the chaos of battle. The military base was under siege, and the air felt thick with dust, smoke, and adrenaline. You and Simon had been separated from the rest of your squad, forced to take cover behind a large rock that barely shielded you from the enemy fire raining down. The crack of bullets hitting the ground nearby echoed in your ears as your heart raced, the weight of the situation pressing down on you.

You pressed your back against the rock, clutching your rifle tightly, trying to steady your breathing. Every few moments, Simon would peek out from behind the rock, surveying the chaos around you, his face grim and tense. He was focused, calculating, but there was something else in his eyes too—a desperation that went beyond the firefight.

You felt his arm wrap around you, pulling you closer to him, his body heat grounding you in the middle of the chaos. His grip was firm, protective, as if by holding you, he could shield you from everything that was happening around you. His breath was ragged, but his voice cut through the noise, low and urgent.

“Marry me,” he said suddenly, his voice rough, filled with a raw intensity that caught you completely off guard. He tightened his grip on your shoulder, turning you to face him. His eyes bore into yours with a kind of desperation you’d never seen before. “Tonight. Right now.”

For a moment, you just stared at him, stunned by his words. It felt surreal, impossible. Here you were, crouched behind a rock in the middle of a battlefield, the world crumbling around you, and Simon was proposing.

“I don’t want to wait,” he continued, his grip on you tightening. “I don’t care if it’s crazy, if it doesn’t make sense. I want to marry you. I need to marry you.”