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If you had told Jared Kleinman at age sixteen that he would be preparing a proposal in his shitty hometown to Evan Hansen in about ten years he would have most definitely laughed in your face. And yet, here he was, ten years after his sixteenth birthday, preparing to propose to his long term boyfriend, Evan Hansen. The boy he’d nearly tormented to death in high school. Not that he exactly meant to hurt Evan, but in the eyes of an adolescent boy dealing with repressed homosexuality, it seemed easier to tease him than to let his feeling through. That was, until senior year, when shit more or less hit the fan.
The Connor Project really hadn’t meant to gain as much popularity as it did. Their little lie was never meant to be more than a little white lie to help a broken family and school, but then Evan’s speech got posted online and it was far more than any of the three teenagers involved with the online sensation could handle. Evan became obsessed with the lie and the faked memory of a dead kid and Jared, well, Jared was hurting. Evan was about the only real friend Jared had, aside from his so called ‘friends’ that sat with him at lunch but rolled their eyes and sighed at nearly everything he said. He felt used, and rightfully so, he thought, considering Evan had basically used their friendship to get closer to the Murphy’s to get anything he could possibly want. Evan was popular and Jared was still stuck in his tolerated but never really wanted role he’d been in since the beginning of high school. Jared was jealous and felt used when he snapped at Evan. He felt awful about it, but would feel less guilty about it in years to come, considering how it was the beginning of perhaps the best times of his life.
It started slow, almost painstakingly so, and everyone else knew they were dating before they were. He supposed it started with the slow build up of their friendship. Jared coming clean about all his personal problems, and Jared learning how to be there for Evan in just the right way. It was never perfect, and hell, it still isn’t. They’ve learned to talk to one another, instead of just making assumptions and, sure, Jared still makes one too many snide comments and sometimes Evan takes all his frustration out on Jared because he holds it in too long, but it’s a part of them both and they learn how to handle the not so attractive parts of the other.
After the reconnection and lots of self discovery on Jared’s part (which may or may not have involved lots of porn, a few gay bars, and even fewer gay men) is their coming out. Originally, it was just Jared’s coming out, but then Evan accidently came out too, and the memory still makes Jared smile to this day. Although, on the day in question, he was actually a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth as he waited for Evan to arrive. When he did hear the knock on the door he answered far more quickly than he meant to.
“Hey, Jared,” Evan said as he smiled softly at Jared, playing with the end of his shirt as he tended to do.
“Hey, Evan,” Jared says, moving away from the entrance a bit to make room for Evan to enter, “I actually kind of have to talk to you about something.”
“Oh,” Evan says nervously, going to sit down on the desk chair in the tiny dorm room.
“Don’t worry, you haven’t done anything wrong.” Jared reassured him, as he closed the door and leaned against it, turning to look at Evan, “It’s just, well, we’ve been friends for a while and I’ve known this probably forever but I’ve just recently confirmed it and I can totally understand if you never want to see me again, but I promise I haven’t thought about you naked in the shower and I definitely haven’t scrolled down your instagram while I jack off or whatever, but I am really, really gay and… and yeah…”
“Oh. Oh, okay.”
“That’s it? You don’t hate me or anything? Because I’ve spent years of my life fretting over this.”
“Oh, well, I mean - I’m very supportive of gay people. I promise I don’t think they’re like - like a sin or anything. And - and it’s great that you’ve found yourself, and, I dunno I’ve kind of always likes guys and-”
Jared looked at Evan hard for a moment, “You what? You like guys too? And we’ve been living under each other’s noses this whole time?”
“Well, I dunno, I've always thought they were kinda cool and I’ve never been in a relationship with one but I don't think I'd mind it too much and sometimes I watch gay porn and - oh my god, that was too much information.” Evan paused, looking up at Jared, who just smiled softly.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
After the strange coming out incident, things sped up and got slower at the same time. Evan became incredibly more comfortable with touching Jared. He would let Jared touch him when they were talking and sometimes if they were in the car late at night, Evan would rest his head on Jared’s shoulder, an action that never failed to make Jared smile. Jared would take dumb snapchat videos of Evan when he thought he wasn’t looking and post him on his story with the heart eyes emoji as many times as he could. Sometimes, even, they’d laugh too loud in public as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Somehow, slowly, it turned into sharing a bed just cause it was cold outside and cheek kisses because the other looked cute in the sweater he was wearing. Jared was the one to make the official first move, pressing his lips against Evan’s after Evan got accepted into the same school Jared himself attended. It was quick and no where near perfect, but in their eyes, it was as close to perfect as relationships got.
Now, here he was, seven years later and still with the man he’d fell in love with in high school, getting ready to propose. They were back home for one of Jared’s sister’s spring break, and honestly Jared couldn’t think of a better place to propose than Evan’s favorite orchard. He looks over the decor a final time before his phone buzzes. It was Evan, letting Jared know he had arrived and would be there in moments. Jared felt his pockets, just making sure the ring was still there.
Much to Jared’s delight, Evan’s eyes light up when he sees the setup Jared had been working a few hours on. It was a little cafe table with a nice blue table cloth on it. Candles sat on the table and fairy lights hung from the trees, trees Evan could name by heart. Dishes were sat on the table and a little Olive Garden To-Go bag sat beside the table, considering Jared could not cook for shit and he was determined not to mess tonight up.
“Jared, what’s all this?” Evan asks, looking over at Jared, who he was sure dazzled under the fairy lights.
“Just a little treat for the best boyfriend ever. Do sit down before your food gets cold.” Jared says, giving his boyfriend a soft kiss before leading him to the little cafe table.
Evan smiles, sitting down as he still looks around him in awe, “This is absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you, dearie, but it’s nothing compared to how you look tonight.” This comment causes Evan to blush, looking down at his pasta.
“Thank you. Thank you very much.” Evan mutters, before smiling up at Jared, who returns the smiles as they fall into a comfortable silence, enjoying their meal. Jared barely touches his, the pit of anxiety in his stomach making it hard for him to eat, so he settles for watching Evan for the most part, smiling as he watches his beautiful boyfriend until he finishes his meal.
“Babe, are you okay? You’re acting strange.” Evan says, setting his fork down and picking his nails. While his anxiety was more manageable these days, he was the same Evan and still had to cope somehow. The nail picking was more or less a habit at this point, but it helped him stay grounded.
“Yeah! Yeah, there’s just something I need to tell you,” Jared reaches across the table grabbing Evan’s left hand, playing with his fingers, “I fell in love with you when we were kids just hanging out and you would always be so specific with the kind of dinosaurs we played with and you knew each and every name. I guess I didn’t realize it was love when we were seven, but I did realize it in ninth grade, when we were lab partners and you made sure to take as much precaution with each and every step just like the teacher told you to and I was scared and then I became the biggest dick in the entire universe to you and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make that up to you but I spend every day trying and I have no plans on stopping. And then after the whole Connor fiasco you were so sad all the time and I was mad but I’m glad you reached out and we worked everything out. I’m glad we slowly learned how to fall in love the right way and I realized about a month ago at dinner that I couldn’t live without you so here we are and what I’m really trying to say is that I love you more than anything on this Earth and it would mean the world to me if you chose to spend the rest of your life with me,” Jared takes a deep breath, pulling the elegant engagement band out of his pocket and opening up the velvet box as he drops to one knee, still holding on to Evan’s hand, “So, Evan Hansen, will you marry me?”
Evan’s speechless, tears in his eyes as Jared looks up at him with the dorky, hopeful, smile on his face that couldn’t be more Jared if he tried. The smile of the boy he fell in love with nearly seven years ago, “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you, Jared.”
If possible, Jared’s smile gets wider as he takes the ring out of the box and places it on Evan’s hand, pulling himself up to kiss his fiancé, “I love you, Evan.”
Evan smiles, gripping Jared’s hand tightly, “And I love you, Jared.”