Chapter Text
The day is finally here. Simon has been planning this for weeks now. He asked Johnny to meet him at the café days ago. The first time ever he’s asked Johnny to the café. He’s had the ring even longer. He’s never been a religious man, but he cannot help but hope and pray that Johnny will say yes.
The morning dawns, bright and clear. Simon is already awake and out of bed, making breakfast for himself and Johnny. Thank god this is normal for them, occasionally. Johnny should have no reason at all to suspect anything. Even more so when he’s excited to go out for the morning and see his sister, who’s “only here for the day.”
Even though they have been together for years now, Simon still breathes a sigh of relief when Johnny is out the door. He can work himself up that Johnny is going to say no in peace for the next couple of hours.
It’s not that he thinks Johnny will say no - although there is a tiny part of him that is terrified he’ll say no - it’s more that he’s worried that his proposal isn’t going to be enough. That Johnny is always going to hold it over his head that he didn’t do some flashy thing. Or something like that. Simon knows it’s unlikely, that’s simply not Johnny. But what if.
Simon continues to only slightly catastrophize the entire proposal he has planned all morning. He cleans up after breakfast, taking care to wash and dry all of the dirty dishes and even going as far as to clean out the fridge. He does the laundry and cleans the rest of the flat while he waits for it to finish. No matter how the day goes, they’ll both appreciate coming home to a clean flat after. He even makes sure all the dinner stuff is ready, so they can just throw it together after.
Eventually, it is time. He sweeps the flat one last time, making sure everything is clean and put away, before he grabs the ring and his jacket and everything else he needs and leaves.
It’s quite a nice day outside, if a little chilly, but Simon enjoys it as he walks down to the café. The walk is uneventful and Simon spends it thinking about the fact that they graduate soon and how much he wants nothing more than to spend every day thereafter waking up to Johnny. Waking up to the tousled mohawk he’s grown to love, to the quiet snuffles of Johnny trying to go back to sleep even as the sun casts her golden light over his features and Simon is reminded just how much of a star Johnny is and how it’s so fitting of him to want to be an aerospace engineer, to want to study those, the stars he most resembles. Do they already wake up together? Yes, but Simon wants- no, he needs Johnny to know how deep his affection goes. Needs him to know that he has Simon’s full, unwavering adoration and devotion.
He walks into the café only about ten minutes before they said they would meet to have coffee together. There aren’t many people in today and Simon is ever so grateful to see that “their” booth in the back corner is free and clear. He orders both of their drinks and waits for them, thanking the barista as the drinks are handed to him. Then he makes his way back to their table and sets the cups down before he slides into the side facing the rest of the café.
Shortly after he’s arranged everything just so , Johnny walks in the doors. If he didn’t know any better, Simon would say that the temperature in the entire café rises a few degrees, warmed by the very presence that is his Johnny. Even the early afternoon light seems a little brighter, framing Johnny in a light golden hue that suggests he’s more celestial being than human.
Johnny beelines for their table, only stopping to greet the baristas briefly, and Simon’s stomach starts to knot, now that the time has finally arrived.
Johnny slides into the booth across from Simon, where his drink is, looking slightly confused at what’s on the table. “What’s this, Si?”
Simon just smiles and nods his head for Johnny to look closer as he takes a sip of his tea. He doesn’t need to read it, or look at it, he’s already agonised over his note for much too long, about whether it would be enough or too simple. He could recite it in his sleep. And he’s stared at the ring beside the note for longer than he’d care to admit, imagining it on Johnny’s finger, turning it over with prayers to a god he doesn’t believe in that Johnny will say yes.
I think Simon MacTavish has quite a nice ring to it.
Wouldn’t you agree, Johnny?
Marry me, Johnny?
Simon’s heart clenches when Johnny looks up at him, tears welling in his eyes. “Si, you fuckin’ bastard.” His heart plummets. “I was supposed to propose first. You dick.”
Johnny laughs wetly and reaches out to pat Simon’s hand. “You can’t possibly think I would say anything besides yes, Si, what’s got you lookin’ like someone just kicked your dog?”
“I-” Simon’s brain stutters to a stop. “You were going to propose?”
“Of course I was, ya numpty. There’s no one else I’d ever wanna grow old with, Simon.” Johnny reaches into his pocket and pulls out his own ring. “I’ve been carrying this around for a while, trying to figure out when to ask you, and I had it all basically planned out, but it was never good enough, you know?”
“What wasn’t good enough, Johnny?” Simon is even more confused now, even as he reaches across the table to pull his ring from Johnny and slide it onto his finger before bringing Johnny’s hand up to kiss the ring.
Johnny blushes. “I- One sec,” he says, pulling his ever-present sketchbook in front of him and flipping it open. “I had these grand illusions that I could write you a poem, like all those old classical poems I know you love so much. One that would truly encompass how much I love and adore you and how I never want to lose you and shit like that. But none of them were ever good enough to even begin to compare to the ones you love so much.”
He pushes the sketchbook over to Simon, nodding at him to read it. Simon looks down and reads.
my love for you
is a gravity well,
inescapable and inevitable.
you're my star.
i always come back to you.
every time i think i can't love you anymore,
i fall back into orbit,
pulled deeper into love with you.
our love was a protostar,
and the cafe was its nursery.
now it's grown,
a main sequence star.
someday i hope,
we can nurture it.
until it's a red giant,
burning brighter and hotter,
than ever before.
and then again.
until it collapses,
into a white dwarf.
burning even hotter,
even as it dims with age.
and one day i hope,
that we can die together.
our love a star,
gone supernova.
leaving the remnants of our love
to nurse the love of those
we leave behind.
you are my star, Simon.
and now i'm asking you,
will you do me the honour,
of marrying me,
and let me be your star too?
Simon is choked up by the time he finishes reading. “Not good enough, Johnny? It’s better than anything I’ve ever read, I promise you that. But, let me tell you a little secret,” he starts, holding his hand out obediently for Johnny to put his ring on his finger as well, blushing when Johnny kisses his ring when he’s done as well. “If anyone is the star, Johnny, it’s you. You’ve always been my star, since before we even met, actually.”
When they’ve finally calmed down, and after they finish their drinks, Simon extends his hand to Johnny over the table. “Come on now, Johnny. Can’t keep everyone waiting too long now, can we?”
“Everyone?” Johnny takes his hand with a confused look.
“Well I can’t just ask you to marry me and not tell either of our families beforehand, can I?” He smirks a little. “Why else would your sister have been here today?”
“ Simon .” Johnny’s voice is almost strangled and Simon looks down at him from where he’s already standing, slightly concerned. “I fucking- I love you, you know that?”
Simon pulls Johnny out of the booth and starts walking towards the exit. “Yeah, Johnny, I know. I love you too. Always have, always will.”