Chapter Text
Roughly an hour later, the train halted to a stop. Rudy trudged off the platform to surprisingly see the Pesto brothers holding a bunch of balloons with a bigger grin than usual on their faces. As soon as they spotted Rudy, the excitable young men ran up and gave him a big bear hug.
“Hey man! So-”
“So, how’d it go?”
The look on Rudy’s face said everything the boys needed to know.
“Oh man.”
“I’m… I’m so sorry dude.”
“It’s fine.”
The brothers looked at each other in confusion. Ollie began to protest. “No it’s not-”
“I said it’s fine, Ollie!”
By that point, people were starting to stare. With a rare weary expression on both of their faces, the Pestos led Rudy to the car.
“Let’s go home, bud.”
…
2 days ago…
“Okay, Rudy. You can do this,” The nervous young man muttered to himself. “You’ve walked through these doors a hundred times before. Why should this time be any different?”
Summoning a burst of confidence, Rudy opened the glass door to Bob’s Burgers, and was greeted by the cacophony that was the Belcher Family.
“Hey sweetie!” Louise’s mom, Linda, called out over the chaos. We weren’t expecting you back till tomorrow!”
“Well, Louise isn’t with me,” Rudy explained. “I came earlier because… I have a question to ask you guys.”
“Oh, I think I know what this is!” Linda squealed, and turned towards the kitchen. “Bobby, Tina, Zeke! Get in here!”
Linda’s husband, their oldest daughter, and her fiance walk out of the kitchen, perplexed looks on their faces.
“What’s up mom?” Tina asked, Zeke’s arm wrapped gently around her.
“Ask Rudy!” Linda said giddily, turning all attention towards the terrified asthmatic.
“Well,” Rudy began nervously as all eyes became glued to him. “I just wanted to ask your permission for…something.”
Bob’s face became slightly flushed, as if he knew what Rudy was about to ask “Well, uh… go for it.”
Rudy took a deep breath and spoke before he could lose the confidence to do so. “I wanted to ask for your blessing for me to… Marry Louise.”
The stunned family remained quiet for a moment, until Linda shrieked with joy. “Oh, my baby’s gettin’ married!”
“Oh my God,” Bob groaned, looking at Linda with a kind of fond exasperation, a look Rudy desperately hoped he could give Louise one day.
“So… is that a yes?” Rudy asked with a sheepish grin.
“Uh… I mean, you’re good to her. And you’re adults now. So… yes, I’d be honored.” Bob said, sporting a slight smile before returning to his beloved grill.
The rest of the family erupted into raucous laughter and pleasure, and in the chaos, Gene popped some Dom Perigion.
As Rudy was chatting it up with Linda and Zeke, he felt a tiny tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see a very worried and very pregnant Tina standing behind him.
“Hey, T,” he chuckled, slightly tipsy. “What’s up?”
“Rudy, can we talk?”
That sobered him up quickly. “Uh, sure.” He walked with Tina over to a corner and mentally prepared himself for what was going on. “What’s up?”
Tina took a deep breath and began, tears prickling in her eyes. “Don’t expect Louise to say yes.”
Rudy gawked at Tina in distress. “Excuse me? We’ve been dating for 6 years! Why would she refuse?”
Tina protectively put her hand around her stomach. “It’s just… I’ve been calling her a lot lately. She’s so stressed. You know her depression’s gotten worse, right?”
“I thought she had it under control.”
“The thought of… well, adulting, is sending her under a frenzy. She’s just probably not in the right headspace to get married.”
“Well, what if she is?” Rudy questioned defensively.
Tina sighed in defeat. “She could be, Rudy, she could be. Just…don’t let your feelings get hurt, alright? She still loves you, no matter what.”
With a pat on the back and a small grin, Tina walked off and left a dazed Rudy standing alone. He closed his eyes, trying his best to put Tina’s words out of his mind. But…
What if she was right?
….
Finally, he was home.
With an intense sigh, Rudy slumped into the apartment behind the Pesto brothers, and threw himself onto his bed the second he reached his room. Once he was sure the brothers had retreated to their own quarters, Rudy let out a devastating sob. He just couldn’t believe his plan had just…failed. Just like that.
In despair, Rudy picked up a framed picture from his and Louise’s graduation. They both looked so happy and full of glee, with Louise pressing a passionate kiss against Rudy’s surprised mouth. He longed to return to those happy days.
The days where the word “no” wasn’t there to ruin a life.
…
1 day ago…
Rudy awakened to a stream of sunlight, a wave of optimism, and the laughter emerging from the kitchen, including one voice he knew all too well.
He rushed to the kitchen in excitement, ever so prepared to see his love again.
“And that’s why I think cats should be trained to be killer police animals! I mean-”
Louise abruptly stopped her rant and broke out into a radiant smile the second she saw Rudy’s blushing face.
“Rudithan, hey!” she yelled out, giving him a quick kiss. “What do you want to do today?”
Rudy’s ears perked up. “Well, I had an idea, actually. How would you feel about a picnic tonight?”
Louise chuckled with surprise. “Um, sure! Not what I had in my mind, but I’m up for it! Now, I have some job applications to fill out, so let’s say…6?”
“Sounds perfect,” Rudy said warmly. He gave Louise a short hug and said his goodbyes to the family, knowing it’s the last time he would see them before becoming a part of the family.
God, he could not wait.
…
“So… this is NOT our typical date, Rudes.”
Rudy just chuckled nervously in response and poured his girlfriend a glass of champagne. “I don’t want to be typical, babe.”
Louise just threw her head back in laughter. “You’re such a dork. Ooh, what’s this? Dom Perigion? You’re fancy!”
“Anything for my best girl.”
After staring out into the sunset for a few moments, Louise's smile started to falter. “Okay, you’re acting really strange. What’s going on?”
Rudy smiled with a heady smile. “Okay, you’ve caught me. I actually… have a question to ask you.” He stood up and promptly got down on one knee, taking out the ring box.
Louise’s face was suddenly stricken with a sort of panic. “Oh, Rudy, I…”
“Louise, I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you.”
“Rudes. I can’t-”
“You are the love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate.”
“No, no no, stop.”
“Will you marry me?”
“No.”
“Oh Lou, I- Wait, what?”
Louise looked at Rudy mournfully with tears in her eyes. “I’m not ready to marry you, Rudy. I-I’m sorry.”
For a moment, Rudy was too shocked to speak. “Wh-Why?”
Louise flopped onto the picnic blanket and groaned. “My…issues are really bad right now. They’re taking up all of my headspace. I can’t focus on… freaking marriage right now! Just… ugh, I’m so sorry, Rudes, I’m so-”
But by that time Rudy was already gone.
…
Ring, Ring.
Rudy woke up from his restless sleep to see the phone ringing, which he let to go to voicemail. However, he couldn’t resist checking his messages.
20 messages, all from Louise. Jesus. He clicked on one and listened.
“Um, hey Rudy. I don’t know what happened there. Um, call me back, okay?”
He clicked on another.
“Rudy, please call me back. I’m worried about you. I’m not breaking up with you, okay? I’m just not ready. I love you.”
He clicked on the latest one, which was full of angry tears.
“You know what, Rudolph? I’m done trying to reason with you. If you’re so fragile that you can’t take no for an answer, then I don’t want to be with you anymore. Call me if you’re ready to reason, but I just can’t see that happening. Goodbye.”
By this point, Rudy was wheezing out sobs. He had made such a mistake. He knew what he had to do, no matter how she took it.
Rudy called Louise, which went straight to voicemail. And even though he knew she didn’t want to hear it, he said three words that he had built the foundation of their relationship on:
“I love you.”