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Love is not something that everyone finds easy to show, or to find. But me... I... well, I love it. :3 To show that, this series of short, single-scene stories is all about the many aspects of love.

Love Is... A lifelong journey.

Martin stood in silence within the confines of the hallway, leaning back against one of the walls and thinking how glad he was that he had decided not to play music. At the right moment a stirring piece of music could set the tone for the most wonderful, joyous or tragic occasion, but at the wrong moment it could prove equally disastrous. He wanted this evening to be about Emma and himself, nothing more. He wanted them to be alone, not in the presence of some great romantic solo artist or an entire symphony orchestra, and certainly not in the shadow of some great, long dead composer. Besides, this wasn't the time to have a love song speak for him. The border collie needed to be able to rely on his own mind and his own heart for this most pivotal and intimate of events. For better or worse he would be the one asking his lover to marry him, and Martin desired no music, no poetry and no other outside influences whatsoever to help him do so.

The male tensed as he heard a car pulling to a halt outside, holding his breath until the engine cut out entirely. He released the breath in a shaky gasp, still trembling as he pulled away from the wall and began to smooth down the smart, dark blue suit he was wearing. His fingers fell to his right trouser pocket, and fumbled for the small black box lying within it. It was there; safe and sound, ready and waiting for the moment when it would be called upon. Emma's ring. Martin shuddered once again, biting his bottom lip and letting slip a soft, fearful whimper as he heard his lover's keys jangling as she prepared to open the front door.

"I'm home swee-... oh! Well isn't this a nice surprise!"

Emma's cheery, sing-song declaration of her presence was cut short as she saw Martin standing waiting for her, a rather wild grin spread across his face and his posture awfully stiff. She paid little attention to the latter part of the male's appearance however, and dismissed the grin as him just being goofy. The vixen crossed the short distance between the doorway and her lover, dropping her bag on the way, and embraced him warmly.

"Mmm, new suit, Marty? I like it! You're so sweet, getting dressed up to show me how smart you can look!"

The collie said nothing, simply staring at the radiant beauty of the woman he was soon to propose to as his arms encircled her body and his head began to lean in, lips opening just a little as they approached her own. He kissed her fondly, her arms rising from his lower back to hang loosely around his neck as they smooched and nuzzled in a light playful greeting.

"D-did you have a good day at work, Emmy?"

As the kiss broke, Martin found his cheeks reddening violently. He tried to think of something to say as Emma smiled at him, eyes twinkling and the arms still draped over his shoulders indicating that she didn't think they were quite done yet. In the end though that pathetic fragment of small-talk was all that the collie could summon up the willpower to express, and he found himself blushing even more intensely as a result of that fact. All he wanted to do was ask the question, all he wanted to do was reach down into his pocket and pull out the ring which he'd bought for her alone to wear! His mind didn't have time for anything else, and it was driving him mad having to wait.

Apparently oblivious to his internal turmoil, Emma nodded, grinning, and kissed Martin once again. This kiss was a little deeper than the last, and lingered a little while longer as their lips and tongues engaged in a brief tussle for dominance over their domain. It too was far more playful than it was passionate though; a simple wordless expression of how much the two furs had missed one another over the course of the day and a momentary insight into the joy which came from their being together once again.

"Mmm... yeah, a really good day actually. But it's still much better now that I'm back home."

Martin nodded, still wearing that same overzealous grin with which he'd first greeted Emma.

"Good, t-that's good."

Reaching up, Martin lifted Emma's paws away from his shoulders and took them into his own shaky hands, squeezing the warm furred flesh softly and relishing the sensation of them within his grasp. He began to back away from the vixen, leading her towards the stairwell, and blushed as she widened her eyes at him in a curious, suggestive manner. It was obvious what she was reading from his actions; his excited disposition, his snappy wardrobe, his less than subtle suggestion that they should head upstairs. But as false as her suspicions may have been, Martin couldn't confirm or deny them to her. He simply twisted his head towards the stairwell to indicate that she should follow, and turned away, one paw still holding her hand firmly, before Emma could look into his eyes and see that there was as much fear as there was joyous excitement bubbling beneath the surface of her lover.

Emma giggled as they ascended the stairs rather rapidly, watching as before her eyes the collie's tail wagged violently back and forth. She hadn't seen such a display of giddy excitement from Martin in weeks, at least not under such normal circumstances. It was wonderful to behold, but also rather delightfully intriguing!

"Marty, y-you're feeling quite frisky today, aren't you?"

The male didn't respond as he and Emma reached the top of the stairs and quickly made their way along the corridor to their bedroom, but felt himself quivering uncontrollably as the vixen's tone revealed a hint of excitement that was all her own. Of course he knew that he didn't want to get her too worked up, since his intention was to propose before anything else could transpire between them, but the fact that his lover already sounded so eager to engage in an altogether different act of love was strangely comforting.

He paused at the bedroom door, and as Emma tried to twist around him and take the lead Martin threw out his other hand to stop her from entering. She ground to a halt, looking curiously up at the collie as he finally stopped grinning and found himself staring at the vixen with an expression closer to surprise than joy. Martin shook his head, bringing the paw blocking the doorway to rest on its handle. His other hand released Emma's own paw from its grasp, and instead rose to press a single digit to the female's lips as she opened her muzzle to ask what he was up to.

"Emmy... w-when you get inside, don't speak. Just... look. Take a minute or two, a-and just look, okay?"

Suddenly the vixen's grin was less playful, and the more she looked into her boyfriend's eyes the more she reflected the same look of surprised sincerity which shone in Martin's own sky-blue hues. His expression had changed so fast that it should have unsettled her, and yet... it hadn't. Instead she just felt an upwelling of emotion from deep in her heart, as though the look with which she was being fixed was gazing right through her flesh and into her very soul. Emma didn't think she'd ever received such a look before, she didn't know that such a look existed. But just to feel it upon her, and to return even a fraction of the feeling it contained... it made her want to weep with joy.

"Okay, Martin. Okay."

Emma nodded, and Martin echoed it as he pulled the bedroom doorway open and stepped aside.

The curtains were drawn, and so it took Emma a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the gloom before she noticed what was lying on their bed. At first she thought it might have been rose petals, and that maybe what she had read as friskiness was really the prelude to a truly romantic evening of physical love and affection. As the vixen took a few steps into the room though, feeling Martin's presence lingering near the doorway, she realised that they weren't flowers. The objects lying on the bed were far too large to be petals, and far too varied in shape to be anything like flowers. Some of them were flat and rectangular, and others... well, there were so many others it was hard to tell.

She reached the side of the bed, and with great care lifted the nearest rectangular object up into the thin stream of light reaching in from the hallway. It was a photograph; one of her and Martin curled up on the couch in what had been her apartment before they moved in together. Her roommate had taken that photo of them, and Martin had loved it so much he'd had it framed. Emma remembered how much she'd blushed when she first saw it on her boyfriend's bedside table. She'd never had a boyfriend frame a picture of her before, let alone one of the two of them together.

Placing the first photo back roughly where she'd found it, Emma reached for another lying a little further towards the centre of the bed. The vixen regarded it for just a moment before a scarlet blush erupted over her cheeks and she began to giggle helplessly. It was a photo of her in a rather intimate position, lying on her side with her legs parted and the digits of one paw disappearing between them. Her eyes were half-lidded, and the way her tongue was hanging out betrayed all too clearly the powerful sensations surging through her at that moment. Turning over the sexy snapshot, Emma read the caption she'd written on it over two years ago!

'_To my handsome lover.

A week apart is a week too long, so here's a little something to make sure you come running back to me when you get home! I'll miss you.

Emma.

Xxxx._

'

The vixen felt a pang of arousal rush through her as she remembered the night of Martin's return from that week long business trip. He'd spent almost half an hour of that feverish night telling her how much of the week he'd been fantasising about her in that photo. How he'd found it tucked away in his suitcase and had been forced to take care of business right there and then, or else risk going mad with desire in front of the national managers at their drinks reception that evening! After that half hour though... well, there hadn't been much talking for the rest of the night. It had been then that Emma and Martin had discovered how much they both enjoyed the physical side of their relationship, and had ceased trying to deny that they wanted that part of their relationship to remain important regardless of whatever else transpired between them. Given how she felt about the collie now of course, both physically and emotionally, that had probably been one of the best decisions either of them had ever made in their life!

Amongst the other photos which Emma looked through over the following few minutes were a bunch of other items, all of which provoked equally strong memories of her past experiences with Martin. An empty condom packet had her stumped for a few moments, but upon looking inside it Emma remembered the Valentines Day they'd spent together in their first year together! They'd planned a wonderfully romantic day in the country together, and fully intended to engage in some passionate and illegal outdoor friskiness. But upon opening the box of condoms he'd brought along with them, Martin had discovered not a single one remaining. Instead there was an I.O.U slip bearing his signature, and a short note bearing just four words.

'Buy more emergency condoms!'

That day would forever stand out in Emma's mind as the one during which she was caught by a park ranger being fondled by her boyfriend. It had been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, and yet looking back on it now all she could remember was how un-offended the ranger had looked upon catching them! If anything he'd seemed embarrassed to have interrupted them, and might have said as much had there not been a tourist bus full of high-schooler's coming through the area in the next half hour.

The majority of the items however held little in the way of sexual significance; their value or charm entirely romantic in nature. The set of house-keys, identical to the set with which Emma had opened the front door just a short while ago, reminded the vixen of the day they'd decided to move in together. The photographs of their families together at Thanksgiving left her teary-eyed as she remembered the moment at which Martin's mother had taken her aside and told her that she hoped her son never let her go, that she was a keeper. The small stone pendant Martin had given her as an anniversary gift reminded Emma not only of the anniversary itself, but also the first time she and her lover had ever spent any time together, meeting through two friends without the slightest knowledge of what this new fur would one day mean to them!

The final straw, the moment at which point Emma couldn't bear to look and explore any longer, was when she found an unopened pregnancy test beneath a photo of Martin in one of her dresses, flashing a bit of thigh and clearly howling with laughter. She'd taken two of those tests so far, both of which had come back negative, and whilst that was by no means something to try and remind the vixen of it still meant a lot to her that Martin had included this new step in their relationship in this collection of what she supposed were memories of their time together.

Emma turned away from the bed, towards Martin, and held up one of the photographs. She wiped a tear from one of her eyes with her free hand, and smiled warmly.

"Marty, my dear sweet lover... w-what's all this about? I mean... it's amazing, but... why today?"

The collie stepped away from the doorway for the first time since Emma had entered the room and begun to explore the variety of tokens which Martin had laid out for her. His right hand was inside his trouser pocket, and even as he addressed the female in a shaky, tender voice it remained there, unmoving.

"These are some of the things that we've shared in our time together, Emma. But... it's only a fraction of what actually holds us together. The rest is all locked away in our hearts and in our memories. It's tied up in every kiss, every hug, a-and every moment we spend thinking about each other."

Martin stepped forwards, close enough to Emma so that she could see the tears running down his face even without the hallway light illuminating his face as it was hers. She whimpered softly. His eyes... they looked so... so happy. That strange look of surprise was still there, but now, oh god... he looked so very happy!

"I can't bear the thought of losing all that, Emma. I can't bear the thought of losing you, o-or not having a lifetime to spend making more wonderful memories, and sharing another billion billion experiences with you."

The male's right hand emerged from his pocket, that little black box clutched within it.

"So..."

Slowly, never once taking his eyes off Emma's stunned, beautiful face, Martin dropped down onto his right knee. He turned the box to face Emma, and with his left paw flipped open the lid.

"Emma Louise Jessop..."

The hallway light caught the crescent shaped diamond and it's small, star-like sapphire partner full on, just as Martin had intended, framing his face, the ring, and Emma's whole body in light. It was like nothing else in the universe besides the two of them and that ring existed. Nothing but them, and the question which Martin was about to ask.

"Oh... oh god Marty..."

Emma sobbed, lifting a paw to her muzzle in abject disbelief. Part of her had always known that one day she and Martin would get married, or at least that was what she'd hoped. But... she'd never thought about it like this; never realised that he might actually spring it on her as a surprise!

"Emma Louise Jessop, will you allow me to spend my life with you? Will you continue to be my lover, and my closest, dearest friend... but do me the great honour of being my wife, too?"

A soft, trembling whimper escaped the vixen's muzzle as the question hung in the air. No, not a question. A proposal. Martin's proposal, to her!

"Marty..."

Emma's eyes widened, and as she stared down between the ring and her boyfriend's tearstained face the vixen realised that the motion of her head resembled a common expression. Up and down, up and down. There was a name for that. A name she knew, or at least had known before now!

A nod. That was it.

She was nodding. And along with a nod, there was normally a word too. A short, simple word, which just so happened to be the perfect answer to Martin's proposal.

"Yes."

Emma fell to her knees, nodding, sobbing, and suddenly grinning every bit as wildly as Martin had been when she first walked into their home that evening.

"Y-yes, Martin! I... I'm saying yes!"

The lovers regarded one another for a few moments, paralysed by their emotions and hostages to their tearful joy. Slowly Martin reached out with his free hand and seized one of Emma's own paws, drawing it towards him just far enough so that he could slip the ring out of its case and onto her finger.

"Emmy, I..."

Martin was grinning, weeping and laughing all at once, his body shaking violently as a result of the combination of all three.

"... I think that means we just got engaged."

Dropping the empty box between them, Martin wrapped both his hands around Emma's now bejewelled paw; squeezing it into a tight fist and holding it lovingly. The female giggled, tears still running down her cheeks, and nodded in what was nothing short of pure giddy elation.

"I think y-you might be right!"

For almost a minute longer the two furs remained locked together in that same tender fashion; staring deep into one another's eyes and occasionally uttering a repetition of the fact that they were engaged, that they were going to get married, and of course that they loved one another! It was only after then however that it truly began to sink in; after the wave of adrenaline and endorphins peaked, after all the tears were shed and all the giggles and laughter was spent. When the actual truth of what had just transpired between them in that short space of time actually began to take hold there was no laughter, no grinning, and no shaky, giddy hand-holding.

Emma gently pulled her hand free of Martin's own, and stared down at the beautiful ring now adorning her finger.

"Marty..."

Her voice was shaky, and while her joy was without bounds it was all locked away within the sound of pure, unfettered emotion. It was all too much; too wonderful for her mind to comprehend or her muzzle to process into a single, recognisable tone of voice.

"Oh god, Marty..."

She looked up, wide eyed and completely overwhelmed, at the collie, and sobbed anew as he threw his arms around her at long last.

Huddled together on the floor in the gloom of their bedroom, weeping more freely and openly than either of the pair had ever done in their entire life, Emma and Martin might have looked more like the unhappiest couple in the world rather than the happiest to an untrained eye. Had anyone wished to discover the truth though, they need only have crept a little closer; close enough to hear the whispers passing back and forth between the pair as they shuddered and sobbed within their fierce embrace.

"Don't let go Marty. N-not ever! Oh god, I love you..."

"Never, Emma. Never! My beautiful fiance. My life, my world. I'll never let you go!"

They were happy beyond belief, and they had a lifetime stretching out in front of them in which to show that joy to the world. Right then though, in the wake of the happiest moments of their lives, they didn't want to show it, or share it. They didn't want the world to know how happy they were, in fact they wanted the world to go away and leave them alone.

They just wanted to feel it. To know it. To have the entire universe consist of nothing but them for as long as it took for these overwhelming feelings to ease off a little. To love one another like no two hearts had ever loved before, and like no words, or feelings, or rational thought could ever hope to express.

By Jeeves