Work Text:
If nervous wasn't the word to use, then Connor wouldn't know what else he'd use. He'd been planning this for months in advance; the trip down to the beach, the plan to spend New Year's Eve with his boyfriend, his first love. Everything, so far, seemed perfect. He just had to maintain his sanity, so as to not draw any suspicion from the boy sitting next to him in the car. Well, easier said than done.
"Where are we going again?" asked the boy. It took every ounce of willpower and desire not to look at this remarkably innocent yet playful young soul next to Connor, but he managed to restrain himself and configure an appropriate response.
"Cindy's Waterfront." replied Connor, keeping it brief. He didn't exactly trust his voice at the moment.
"Ah," replied the boy, looking curiously at Connor.
You could say it was an awkward drive for the two of them, by both keeping to themselves. Normally they would be fine with each other, talking freely about life and each other, but this time it was different. It... was kind of obvious... the boy knew there was something going on with Connor. Whatever it was, he didn't know. But, he had his suspicions.
The landscape around them slowly transformed into a mild bustle of commercial stores and apartment blocks, looking like something out of your typical teen Hollywood movie about fashion and love lives. To Connor, it seemed like the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity: New Year's Eve was just a few hours away. Everything he had been hoping, dreaming and planning about for months was finally going to happen. He just hoped he didn't crack, or lose his cool. He needed to do this. No, he had to do this. It was absolutely wildly imperative that this was done.
Connor Stevens was going to propose to Jude Jacob.
~~
Curse him. Curse those chocolate eyes, that innocent slender face, that perfect... everything. Jude was absolutely perfect in every way and Connor hated him for it. He couldn't even bear to look at him. Every time he looked into his eyes across the table he could feel himself losing control; he almost wanted to get it over and done with right then and there. But... no. He had to wait. He had to make this right. Not just for Jude, but also for himself, as well.
Connor nonchalantly felt the small box ever so slightly protruding from his jeans pocket, making sure it was still firmly secured. He'd made sure it was in there since he left the house; God forbid if he couldn't find the bloody thing, or if Jude found it lying around by accident. He was almost confident that Jude was fully in love with him... and that he would in fact say yes, likely regardless of whatever method the metal band was presented to him. Even still, the whole idea haunted him. Even as he sat here, eating dinner with his best friend, his lover, his boyfriend, he just couldn't grasp the reality of it all.
Just as Connor had planned, he had taken Jude out on an amazing mini-trip for New Year's. They'd gone horseback riding, adopted a dog for the day, gone on a tour in a national wildlife reserve... Connor wanted to make all of this count, to create some unique memories, so that even if it all did go wrong, at least... at least he could remember the good times.
No, he shouldn't think about that. Jude wouldn't do that to him... would he? What reason would Jude have to say no? As daunting as Connor's devious plan was, he managed to convince himself that he would succeed... that he would have all the courage in the world to propose to the love of his life sitting opposite him. Yeah, Connor could do this. He had to. He wouldn't forgive himself otherwise. And... even if Jude did say no, he knew they'd still both remain friends. Regardless.
Connor smiled lovingly at Jude, deciding "fuck it" and reached out his hand across the table to find Jude's. Jude didn't hesitate, instantly freeing one hand and lacing both their fingers together.
They were there for each other, right since the beginning. They always were.
~~
Darkness quickly crept up on the boys as twilight set faster than dusk, as the two made their way along a footpath toward the beach. Their hands held tight, Jude rambling about something rather, and Connor just continuing to take in all of Jude's amazing features. 'This is it', thought Connor. 'I'm finally going to make this gorgeous thing mine'. Connor blushed at his thoughts but fortunately it was too dark for Jude to notice. Wait a minute... it was too dark. Shit.
How the hell was Connor going to propose to Jude, on the beach, in absolute darkness? The nearby lights didn't really provide that much ambience... Fuck. How was he going to do this? Jude would be lucky to even guess what Connor was doing before he said the magic words.
At these thoughts, Connor mentally thanked all the gods in existence for the sight he saw near him. A small family was sat around a picnic table, eagerly awaiting the midnight firework display, and they appeared to have lit a bunch of sparklers to keep their kids satisfied until the big show.
"Connor?" said Jude. Clearly he'd been talking to Connor, but Connor wasn't listening. No, Connor was in alert mode.
"Wait here," said Connor, trying to look serious.
"Wai-what?"
"I just need to talk to this guy for a minute."
"Wh-why?"
"Please, just wait here."
"What? No! I'm coming with you."
"Jude, please," laughed Connor, trying to pry off his boyfriend like he was some little kid. He forgot how stubborn he could be, sometimes.
"Where are you going?" asked Jude, a little cautiously.
"I just need to talk to this guy real quick,"
"But, Connor, no! I'm coming with you."
"Jude," laughed Connor again. He wasn't going to give in, was he? Crap, how the hell was he going to get rid of him for a few minutes? Oh, like that.
Without another word from either of them, Connor planted a small kiss on Jude's lips. It was chaste, but it was deep and full of meaning. Perhaps too much meaning.
"Just wait here." smiled Connor, reassurance in his eyes. Jude looked at him scornfully, not appreciative of Connor's ability to subdue him with just a simple kiss. Even still, he decided to comply with Connor's request. Finally!
Without waiting another second for Jude to change his mind, Connor set off toward the family, his face laced with dedication. Sparklers will have to do. And besides, what's not more romantic than proposing to the love of your life by sparkle light?
It wasn't until he got to the family that he kind of lost his nerve a little. "Uh, excuse me," said Connor awkwardly to the man standing there, who was undoubtedly the father.
The father whipped around, almost as if expecting some mugger to have come up, but his expression slackened a little as he processed Connor's image. He looked stunned more than anything, as if talking to strangers was a rare thing for him. After a few moments of awkward silence, Connor decided to continue.
"Sorry to disturb you, but uh, my boyfriend's just over there," said Connor, pointing to a disgruntled Jude watching the event unfold (making him not really look like Connor's boyfriend at all). The father didn't really flinch at the word 'boyfriend', nor did he really do anything at all. He still just looked stunned at the complete stranger that had just walked up to him, seemingly bragging about his boyfriend. Connor decided to continue.
"So, I'm planning on proposing to him tonight. Do you, uh, do you mind if I can have one of your sparklers?" said Connor hopefully. Whatever the father was thinking now, it was completely unrecognizable. Connor wavered on whether to just leave, when finally the guy actually said something.
"Oh.. ohh! Uhh, no I'm sorry we just went through the last one." he said with a deep, hoarse voice. Connor's heart fell at the answer. Now what the hell was he going to do? Everything was perfect up until the actual damn proposal... it seemed awfully coincidental, didn't it?
"You can have my one!" squeaked a little voice. Connor whipped around, looking down at the source. It was one of the kids that had been playing with the sparklers, shoving an unlit one in Connor's face with an exasperated expression.
Connor lost all manner of rational thinking in that moment, proceeding to thank Zeus and Apollo and all the others. "Oh my god, thank you so much!" he gasped, taking the sparkler from the young boy. The boy murmured something like "You're welcome" before running off to join his siblings, leaving Connor to thank the father as well. He's not entirely sure why he thanked the father... it's not like he gave him the sparkler... but it just seemed like the right thing to do in that moment.
As Connor began to walk off he heard the father call to him again. "Hey, good luck man! Hope it all works out for you."
Connor gave him a wave and set back off toward a curious-faced Jude, before quickly remembering to hide the sparkler in his back pocket alongside his lifelong gift to his boyfriend.
"What was all that about?" asked Jude.
"I told you, I just had to talk to him for a minute."
"No you didn't! You were doing something with him."
"What do you mean?" laughed Connor jokingly, trying to play it off.
"I saw you, you were being all weird!"
Well, he probably wasn't wrong.
~~
"Connor, where are we going?!" said Jude, half-panicking half-laughing.
"What do you mean? We're just taking a walk on the beach, Jude."
"I don't like it, you're planning something weird!"
Connor laughed again, trying to play it off. "What do you mean, babe?"
"Well, with the guy and everything! And now you're holding my hand too tight."
Whoops. Has he given it away?
"Connor, you're shaking. You're scaring me. What are you doing?"
Curses, he's onto it. Connor has to do this soon, if not now. Midnight can't come fast enough. He let go of Jude's hand, freeing Jude from his (unintentional) painful grip.
"I'm scared, Connor!" said Jude, in the same half-panicking half-joking voice. "I don't trust you! You've got something weird set up!"
"No, Jude, we're just taking a walk," said Connor, trying to keep laughing it off, but his shaking was getting stronger and affecting his speech. The sea breeze probably wasn't helping, either.
Damn it. He had to do this now. If not now, then perhaps not ever.
He reached into his back pocket for the sparkler, and then in another one for a lighter. See, it wasn't a good habit and Jude wasn't exactly thankful for it, but in moments like these you can understand why Connor needed to smoke. This boy freaked the fuck out of Connor in unimaginable ways, so he had to find some way to relieve the tension. Connor's just thankful, again, that he still had his lighter on him (since Jude had made him vow not to smoke on their last date night of the year).
"Here, hold this." said Connor bluntly, handing Jude the sparkler.
"What? Why!?" squeaked Jude, cautious to hold the sparkler whilst now veering more toward a panic mode.
"Just hold it!" laughed Connor, playfully forcing it into Jude's hand. Upon touch, Connor felt Jude was shaking too, but was unsure if it was because of the chill in the air or out of nerves.
Jude reluctantly took the sparkler whilst Connor made an effort to light it (really, he did), finally succeeding to both their apprehension. 'Okay, I've lit the damn thing... now I guess I just... do it...' thought Connor, nerves taking over his entire body.
Jude literally looked like he was about to have a panic attack, standing perfectly still whilst watching Connor with extreme apprehension. It was when Connor reached around again to his back pocket, beginning to kneel down, that Jude completely lost it. "NO!" he squealed, smiling like an absolute idiot before running off down the beach away from Connor.
Connor, meanwhile, had no idea what just happened. He didn't know whether to feel heartbroken or confused, since Jude's reaction wasn't one he was expecting. At all.
"Jude, what are you doing!?" Connor called after him, half-laughing at Jude's reaction but unsure of it at the same time. "Come back!"
As it turns out, Connor had absolutely no idea what Jude was doing. He wasn't exactly running away from Connor; more like running wherever he possibly could in order to let off some steam. That, or he was trying to prove to himself that he wasn't in fact dreaming.
After about five minutes of Connor chasing Jude and Jude speechlessly running around with a now unlit sparkler in his hand, they eventually regrouped and regained their composure. There wasn't much sense questioning what had just happened, so Connor figured he should just get straight back to the deed at hand. After, of course, relighting the sparkler.
With Jude smiling like an idiot, and Connor unsure of whether he'll run off again or not, Connor decided to hold Jude's free hand in an attempt to reassure him everything is OK.
"Jude Jacob..." started Connor, shaking from head to toe. "You are the love of my life, and- and I think you always have been. Ever since I first saw you, something just... clicked, between us. I don't know if you felt it, too, but I definitely did. And from that day I knew that we would be friends, but I never thought I'd see us here."
"You mean the world to me, babe, inside and out, and I couldn't ask for anyone better to live by my side. So, I wanted to ask you something, if you don't run off again." he smirked, causing Jude to giggle. The light on Jude's face was clearly saying yes to absolutely everything in front of him, but he seemed to at least have a little bit of restraint to wait until the question finally arose.
Connor kneeled down again to restart the procedure, withdrawing a slick black box from his back pocket. Without any further hesitation, Connor popped open the lid, hearing Jude's gasp over the waves crashing against the shore next to them. The ring was a plain simple silver with a single, small diamond encrusted in the middle. The band itself swirled around the diamond, mimicking that of Yin and Yang, whilst it glowed different colors depending on the lighting. All of which, were rainbow.
"Jude, will you do me the honor of being the love of my life, for now and forever, in this world and the next, in life and in death, as my husband?"
Jude looked like he was going to faint from the washed up puppy of a sight he had before him, completely lost for words. Although Connor already knew his likely response, he still wanted to hear it from Jude himself.
"Yes, Connor. Yes." breathed Jude, starting to giggle stupidly. Connor's face lit up more than it probably ever had in his life, finding no hesitation in taking the silver out of its box and putting it on his new fiancé's finger. Jude absentmindedly held out his right hand for Connor, but as he went to put it on he screwed up his face in confusion.
"Isn't... isn't it the left hand?" asked Connor curiously. Jude looked at his left hand that was still holding the burning sparkler, and then put two and two together.
"Oh." he said dumbly, before cracking up in laughter along with Connor. After they'd come down from their high, Jude switched hands and allowed Connor to attach the small silver band to his tiny finger, both of them smiling like idiots.
After what felt like forever, Connor finally stood back up from his kneel. "I love you, babe," said Connor, smiling like a dork. "Even if you are pretty fucking crazy."
"Oh, shut up." laughed Jude, returning the three words in a deep kiss whilst a crackle of fireworks began to play in the background.