Chapter Text
Jeremy stood in front of the full-length mirror, sweating bullets. What the hell, Heere? He’s not even home yet! Don’t be so nervous, you’re only gonna... Propose... Marriage... To the love of your life... Oh god what am I doing this is insane.
Choking back his neuroses, he somehow gained control of his breath and fell to one knee. Taking a breath, he swallowed and looked up, imagining that Michael was standing in front of him.
Oh god his chest hurt.
“M-M-Michael,” he managed, pulling an imaginary box from his back pocket. The real one was still safe in the drawer of his bedstand. “W-w-w-will you m-m-m-ma-ma-m-m-ma— Oh g-god I c-can't do this.” He stood, pacing the room and running his hands through his hair. What if he says no? What if he's not happy? What if I screw up? What if— What if— Ugh I'm just running myself in circles!!
He rounded on the mirror, a sudden feeling of unstoppable foreboding deep in his stomach, his jaw set. He walked forward, legs feeling like spaghetti, and fell to one knee in front of the mirror.
He swallowed.
“M-Michael Mell.” His voice was louder and clearer than he's expected.
He pulled the imaginary box from his back pocket.
“W-will you... Marryme?” He pushed out the last two words, staring determinedly at the floor. He paused for a moment and breathed, then stood up. “All right, alright, H-Heere, you got this. G-go get ‘em, slugger...!” He said, swinging his arm weakly. “...or s-something...”
.•∴✬•✩•✬∴•.
“W-will you... Marryme? ...All right, alright, Heere, you got this.”
Michael slipped back out into the hallway and shut the door, heart pounding and eyes bugging.
Did I just walk in on Jeremy... Rehearsing... To... Holy shit. Okay, on the one hand, the fact that he's rehearsing is both adorable and hilarious. But on the other hand... Holy SHIT. This... This is real. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the pale wallpaper of the hallway. Okay. I'll just act like it's any other night. Shouldn't be too hard, right? ...right?! ...right! Okay. So, I'll walk in, shout, “I’m home, love!” like I always do, and give him a kiss, ask about his day, get started on dinner... Wait. Dinner. Is he doing anything special? Did he cook? Christ, I hope not. Nah, he wouldn't cook. So it's— Hmm... Actually? No. I don't know anything, this is just a normal night. Quit thinking ahead. Okay. First step... Open the door.
He took a breath, put on a smile, and opened the door once more.
“I’m home, love!”
There was a thump and a muffled “fuck!” from the next room. Oh dear. Better go check on that.
“You alright, mahal? Sorry for startling you. I got off early today.”
“I-I’m fine! Th-th-... Yeah...”
“Alright, sweetheart. Imma go start on dinner, so come on out whenever! Sooner rather than later, though! I wanna hear about your day!”
“O-okay, yeah!” Jeremy called back, a definite quaver in his voice. Poor Jere.
Michael walked into the kitchen and started making macaroni and cheese from scratch. Comfort food. Help calm everyone down a bit to have some good food in their stomachs.
Jeremy eventually emerged, looking slightly pale and wearing his old cardigan and a clean pair of black jeans.
Dinner was awkwardly quiet. Jeremy ate very little, mostly picking at his food. He deflected any attempts at conversation, but Michael saw him cringe each time he gave a curt, one-word response. His nerves wore thinner and thinner with each passing minute, and he was growing twitchy.
When Michael came back to the table, now free of his bowl and utensil, Jeremy suddenly stood up, at this point looking vaguely panicky.
“Uh. Um. M-M-Michael.”
“Yeah...?” Michael said cautiously. This is it. You can do it, Jere.
Jeremy closed his eyes, took a deep, steady breath in and out, then opened them again. He was fidgeting furiously with his hands behind his back and looking at the linoleum floor.
Okay, Heere. This is it. This is the moment. You can do it.
“M-Michael Angelo Mell,” he said, voice shaking only a little, as he dropped to one knee. He maintained eye contact with the floor. His heart felt ill. He took the very real velvet-covered box from his back pocket and slowly, slowly raised it up and presented its contents to the man before him. “W-will you... M-marry me?”
There was a beat of silence in which Jeremy’s heart felt like it was being twisted on a rack. He dared to glance up.
Michael was wiping his ferociously precipitating eyes on his sleeve, glasses off and eyes and nose pink from the tears. He was nodding, very very energetically.
“Y-y-yes, yes, yes, holy shit, Jeremy, oh my god, yes, yes, I just want to spend my life with you, please, yes!! Oh, heavens, of course I'll marry you, angel!” He fell to his knees, wrapped his arms around his boyfriend—holy HELL, his fiancée— and sobbed into his shoulder. Jeremy started laughing. He felt light, lighter than he'd ever felt before, like someone had inflated a huge balloon in his stomach and he had just floated right up out of his body and into heaven.
“H-holy shit I did it, and-and-and— Holy fuck, you said yes, I-I-I—”
“You did it, you did it, baby, oh my god, I'm so proud of you, you did it, you did so good...” Michael rocked them back and forth as he spoke, squeezing his boy tightly.
“You're m-my cheerleader, even after the f-fact. Reason #362 that I l-love you more than anything or-or anyone else. Also, d-did you... Know?!"
"I..." Michael hesitated. "I opened the front door and heard you rehearsing."
Jeremy looked mortified.
"Fuck. I-I... S-sorry about that."
"No, no!! It's okay, mahal! I think it was a great plan." He hugged his fiancée again. "You did it! God, I'm so happy, I can't even say, I—" his throat hitched and he just shook his head, feeling more tears well up in his eyes.
"I j-just— I love you so much, I knew it was the n-next step, oh, god, I fucking did it—"
“Shut up and put that ring on me, boy!”
“Ok-kay, okay!” Jeremy laughed. His hands shook like the devil, but Michael gently guided him until the ring was on.
“It’s perfect,” Michael whispered to himself, staring at his hand. The ring was simple, really—no gems or anything, just a narrow band of gold. But it meant more than his heart could express. Looking closer, he saw the words PRESS START engraved in the metal. He laughed, high and shaky and breathless, and held his hand up to the light, fascinated by the curve of the ring on his finger. “How did you... How did you know my ring size? I've never worn rings before...”
“I, uh...” Jeremy looked around sheepishly. “I m-measured your finger while you were sleeping...”
“Nice. Oh, wait! We gotta— I gotta— We gotta Skype my moms!!”
“O-okay!!”
Michael clumsily unlocked his phone and opened Skype to call his mothers.
“Hey there, hon! To what do your dear old ladies owe the pleasure?” June had answered.
“M-MoM! I-I-I— I’M ENGAGED!!”
“What’s this now? Our little boys are finally tying the knot?” Amy appeared on-screen. She squinted over her reading glasses, and a beaming Michael held up his beringed hand for her to see. She gasped and squealed like an excited schoolgirl. “Oh, Juney, Mikey’s engaged! Don't hide, there, Jeremy! I want to see the face of my future son-in-law!”
Jeremy’s bright pink face peeked out from behind Michael.
“H-hi,” he squeaked shyly.
“Oh, he’s so embarrassed,” June said fondly.
“Come on, love, you know they don't bite,” Michael said softly, scooting over so Jeremy couldn't hide behind him. Michael took his hand and looked back at his parents, glowing excitedly. “I can’t— I don’t— I dunno why I never imagined this happening, but I just... Can't imagine...”
“Spending your life without him?” Amy finished, smiling. “How long were you planning this, Jeremy?”
“O-only about a week,” he admitted, looking down at Michael’s hand around his and blushing. “I f-felt like... I was r-ready, you know? And I... I wanna sp-spend our lives t-together.”
“Aww! I’m so glad for you two. I always knew you had something special,” cooed the more talkative of the two women.
“Well, you certainly have our blessing. Have you told Dan yet?” June asked.
“N-n-no!” Jeremy squeaked, looking terrified again.
“Gosh, you should get on that! We’ll let you go, then,” Amy said quickly. “It’s getting a little late over here in Jersey.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Michael said, smiling and blowing his mothers a kiss. “Bye, Mama, Ina! Love you!”
“Bye, love! Be good!”
“If we're not the first to know when the wedding date's been set, we're disowning you!”
“May!!”
“What?!”
“Bye,” Michael chuckled.
Michael ended the call and set his phone back down on the table, then wrapped his arms around Jeremy and buried his face in the slimmer man’s shoulder. They sat like that for a while, inhaling each other’s familiar warmth, reveling in the glow of their excitement and joy.
“I’m so happy, Miah,” Michael whispered. “I love you, I love you so much, oh my god, we’re doing this... We're getting married!”
“It-it doesn't have to be big. Just... J-just, my dad, an-and your family, and our high school friends. No f-fancy venue or-or anything, and I don't really c-care about any religious c-customs or whatever. I just w-want a... Quiet wedding. W-with everyone we c-care about.”
“Knowing my family and our friends, I don't think you're gonna get that quiet wedding,” Michael laughed quietly. “But I do think that it's going to be wonderful. They'd never let our wedding be a bad memory.”
“Y-yeah, I know...”
“Lovely, don't let your nerves make this look scary. We’re gonna spend our lives together! I know this is the right choice.” Michael pulled out of their embrace to look Jeremy in the eye. “I know you'd only do this if you really thought you were ready. I trust your decision.”
Jeremy paused, looking like he was searching for something in Michael’s face, in his eyes. Whatever it was, he seemed to find it.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I—... I've questioned and doubted and r-reassessed s-so much this week, but on my way home f-from work t-today, I-I had the thought... W-we’ve been b-best friends since— Since we were f-five! And— And if we weren't supposed to be together, w-we would know by now!”
“H-holy shit, Jere. We've been together for almost five years. How did I not realize...?!”
“I— Woah...” Jeremy’s eyes widened.
“So, uh... Let's break the news to your dad, eh?”
“Y-yeah! Uh... Yeah,” Jeremy mumbled, pulling out his phone and pressing 3 on speed dial. He turned on speakerphone and set it on the table.
“Ho! Decided to check up on your old man, sport?”
“U-uh, um, uh, y-y-yeah,” he managed, then looked desperately at Michael. Help me! Michael shook his head firmly. He’s your dad. You tell him.
“Everything okay, bud? You sound a little shaken up!”
Jeremy swallowed.
“Y-yeah, everything’s— Everything’s fine. F-f-fantastic, actually! Um, Dad?”
“Yes?” Mr. Heere's voice had switched from concerned to bemusedly curious.
“I-I-I-I— Dad, I’m— I'm eng-g-gaged!”
There was a clunk and a swear. Like father, like son, Michael thought amusedly.
“S-son! Whu—! Who—! When—?!”
“T-to Michael,” Jeremy added.
“Of course! When— Er, when’s the wedding?”
Michael took pity on Jeremy and answered for him.
“We haven’t set a date yet, but we’ll keep you posted!”
“O-okay, that sounds... Great!! Wow, I certainly wasn't expecting this when I picked up the phone!”
“I g-guess we’ll let you go now?” Jeremy said, more of a question than anything.
“Uh— Uh, yeah, I guess— We’ll talk again soon, I hope?”
“O-of course!” Mr. Heere’s son squeaked. “I’m s-sorry we don’t talk m-more, I’m just...”
“Oh, gah, no, don't feel bad. You're young, you're busy, I'd rather you focus on your own life for a few years.”
“B-but you're a p-part of my life! I-I’ll... I'll try to c-call more, I promise, ‘kay?”
“I... Alright. You’re... Th... I’m glad you... Thank you, Jeremy. I love you, and I'm very proud of you.”
“I l-love you too, Dad. Talk soon. G’night.”
“Goodnight, you two.”