Chapter Text
Approaching the door to his apartment, David paused when he saw the sealed envelope with a flower from his shop taped to the door with his name on it in his boyfriend’s familiar cursive handwriting. It was a beautiful white rose, one of Daniel’s favorites. It had been dethorned, the petals velvet to the touch. Reaching up, he peeled the tape off carefully. Walking inside, he paused when he saw that all the lights were off. Daniel was supposed to be off work by now, and it surprised him that he wasn't. Flicking on the lights, he opened the envelope carefully, holding the rose in one hand.
Opening it, he pulled out a thin pen, red rose petals falling into his palm and the floor. Carefully, he pulled out the paper inside.
Dear David, for our three year anniversary, I’d like to play a little game! I’m not home right now, but when you’re done, you can find Maximilian and I at our favorite park! Have fun! If you struggle with any of the clues, please call me!
Heart fluttering, a faint blush came to the ginger’s features as he giggled. For their first two anniversaries, the couple had went on dates in some of their favorite places. This was new to him, but also exciting!
Continuing on, David beamed down at the paper. Words were already written, some filled in, various clues left in place.
_ alnut St. (The street you crashed on when I woke up from my coma.)
That was an easy answer! David pulled the cap of the pen with his teeth, bending over by the door and resting the paper on the end table. Scribbling in a neat little “W”, he smiled to himself. He hadn’t expected something so nice for his birthday!
_ ntertwining our fingers is something I do every time we hold hands!
David released a little giggle. Easy! “I” for intertwine! They always intertwined their fingers, locking them together like soulmates.
_ ove Den is the place we got our first sex toy. Go inside and talk to the cashier! Ask for the letter Daniel left for you!
David flushed bright red at the memory and giggled. Goodness. Daniel was taking him on quite the memory lane with this game, and it was as heartwarming as it was thrilling. He jolted down a quick “L” and pulled his car keys from his pocket, starting out the door with a grin on his face, and an envelope, rose, and pen in his hand.
---
Pulling into the parking lot of Love Den, the green-eyed man put his vehicle into park. Slipping out of his green Volkswagen, he shut the door, leaving his car on, but in park as he started inside the building with a soft blush on his face. It never ceased to embarrass him walking into places like this. Daniel always did it either for him or with him.
Walking up to the cashier, he beamed brighty. Before he could even get a word out of his mouth, the woman spoke up with a smile, “David, right?”
He nodded.
“Your boyfriend left this for you,” she said, reaching around the edge of the register to grab an envelope and hand it to him.
Smiling, he thanked her and made his way out of the store and back into his car. The park he was supposed to meet Daniel at was less than a mile from here. He paused to ponder whether that was a coincidence or not before opening the next envelope. Inside, was another letter with more clues and steps.
_ ust is something often mistaken for love.
David stopped to think for a moment before righting himself and pulling the pen out once more. Reaching down, the back of his hand brushed the soft petals of the rose Daniel had given to him. With a lidded gaze and loving smile, he carefully picked the delicate blossom up and broke the stem, twisting it and tearing it apart to tuck it behind his ear.
“L”, he scribbled down. Lust was mistaken for love by some. Though, he and Daniel never seemed to have such a problem.
“_ _ _” is the answer I always give when you ask me what I’m doing.
Tipping his head back, the man released a soft cackle. Ever since the duo had started dating, David was never failed to be met with the same snarky response to the same question.
“Y O U” he wrote down, giggling and covering his lips with the back of his hand. This whole game was silly, but his heart was beating fast the entire time. There was something exciting to come out of the end of this, he could feel it.
Pausing, he relaxed in his seat for a moment, allowing himself to lie back.
Memories from the past three years flooded him like a tidal wave. From their first kiss, to their first time making love. The memory of when he’d been called after Daniel had slipped into a coma made his heart clench, and David found himself fighting tears of agony before he was washed over with timid tears of joy. He didn’t need to worry about that anymore. Daniel was awake now! He was awake, and they were happy.
Gorgeous green eyes trailed back down to the paper against his dashboard.
“_ _ _ _ _” Mountain is our favorite Windy Winter Carnival ride!
A giggle left him as he filled in the blanks with an all capitalized “M E R R Y”. The Merry Mountain ride at their favorite yearly carnival was an exciting one. A fast car on a track, almost like a miniature roller coaster! It made David’s delicate heart beat just as fast as Daniel did.
“_ _” are the first two letters to my least favorite four letter word. Come see me for the last step of the game!
David tilted his head in thought, the cap of his pen between his teeth and lips. He chewed it gently, closing his eyes. There were a lot of words Daniel didn’t like, but his least favorite? Gosh, that was such a hard decision for him to make like that. Then, it struck him- meme ! Daniel hated that word. He complained about it anytime Jen said she had a new one to show. A titter of laughter escaped him at the memory of Daniel insisting it was pronounced “me-me”.
“M E,” he jolted down. Pulling back to look at the last step once more, he grinned. He was almost done!
---
Pulling into the parking lot outside of the park, the freckled man released a huff as he turned his automobile off and stepped outside. Surely his boyfriend was sitting on their favorite bench as he always did when he asked David to meet him there.
It was late in the evening now, the sun having gone and set. The moon was still low in the sky, providing a perfect silhouette of the blond and the boy beside him as they sat on the bench, their backs to David. Approaching from behind, the ginger smiled down at Daniel as they locked eyes.
Daniel scrambled to stand, a box of chocolates and a highlighter in his hand. “David! Did you- are you done?”
“M’hm,” Daivd hummed with a giggle, “that was quite the trip down memory lane! Thank you! It means a lot to me.”
The blond chuckled lowly, and Max chuckled the same. They’d grown quite close, and David could always see one of them in the other whenever one of them were doing the most simple of things.
Now knowing that David didn’t quite get the message behind his gift, he was glad he came to the park prepared with his highlighter. Handing it to his love, he also handed him the box of chocolates to write one, grinning with a sultry gaze. His heart was pounding fast, making it feel like he might throw up. Anxiety welled within him, but the assurance that even if David said no, he would still love him, eased Daniel slightly.
“Highlight the answers you wrote down and read them out loud,” he purred out.
Quirking his brow, David tilted his head, but smiled nonetheless, grasping the highlighter and box of chocolates with his letters. Crouching down, he dropped to his knees, laying the box down and setting the papers on top as he used his teeth to pull the cap off. Hunching over the papers, he brought the bright orange highlighter down, squinting to see in the low light of the moon.
“W-I-L-L… you… merry… me- ” David paused, blinking, his heart pounding out of his chest as shock ran through him.
Snapping his head towards his boyfriend, his mouth was open, prepared to speak. Tears welled in his eyes at the sight of Daniel sitting on one knee, a velvet box in one hand, a gorgeous jade and silver ring with small diamond embedded in the metal gleamed in the moon’s rays.
Swallowing the saliva building in his mouth, he nodded and laughed.
“Yes!! Yes, I- of course I’ll marry you, Danny!” David’s arms flew out around the blond’s shoulders, pulling him in close and sobbing into Daniel’s chest.
Daniel grinned happily, closing his lean arms around the ginger as he hugged him. His heart was beating fast against David’s chest as he pulled him in for the tightest hug possible, gasping slightly, releasing a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. At the corners of his eyes, tears of joys rolled down his cheeks as he nuzzled into David’s hair.
Pulling away, he reached down to the ring, beaming as he carefully took David’s hand in his, slowly sliding the gorgeous jade onto his ring finger. The blond leaned down and placed a kiss on his ring finger.
“ Gay! ” Maximilian teased.
Daniel teasingly rolled his eyes back, tickling the boy’s side and reveling in the little giggle he earned.
“Danny?”
Ice blues turned to lock with David’s gorgeous greens, “Yes?”
“You spelled
marry
wrong, Silly!”
“
Hush, you,
” Daniel laughed out, “It was the best I could do in the heat of the moment! Leave me alone, you butt!” Leaning down, he placed a kiss on David’s cheek before pursing his lips and blowing a raspberry, making the redhead giggle loudly as he pulled Daniel down for one last kiss.