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“In five years, if neither of us are married, let’s just marry each other.”
Charlie laughed. “What?”
“You heard me,” Panda made sure to be clear this time. “Five years to the day, if we’re both still bachelors, we’ll marry each other.”
“You got a deal,” And they shook on it. Charlie didn’t know if Panda was being serious or not, but decided to take the high road in assuming he was. Looking at the clock Charlie noticed it was getting close to 4 in the morning, and attributed Panda’s behavior to a lack of sleep-- they had been talking all night. “Five years.”
He and Panda weren’t currently romantically involved. Charlie couldn’t say he didn’t have a crush on Panda, that’d be a bold-face lie, but either Panda was being willfully ignorant about it or was just completely, genuinely oblivious.
“Five years,” Panda affirmed. “I’ll write it down so I don’t forget.”
And he would write it down. Charlie regrouped with Panda in the morning, making sure this was a legitimate pact and not a sleep-deprivation fueled joke, and Panda said that he never joked about marriage. Charlie took this to mean the pact was serious, and it would end up hardly brought up for the five years that followed.
~
It’s almost painfully hot outside. Charlie and Panda decided to take refuge in Charlie’s car to try and find some escape from the heat, but the car didn’t make for the greatest sanctuary due to a lack of a working air conditioner. After three years of dating, their definition of a “date” got looser and looser until it just meant “spending time together for more than half an hour.” When they started dating they both had the delusion that it wasn’t a “date” unless they spent half the time lost in each others eyes/arms/lips, and that slowly evolved into considering going to the grocery store together a date.
So, yes, this counts as a date, even though all they’ve done is sit in the back seat of the car talking about nothing while Panda shows Charlie pictures of dogs wearing clothes on his phone. They’d be cuddling if it wasn’t a billion degrees outside, but holding hands suffices for now. That’s just, like, hand-cuddling, anyways. Either way, it works.
Even if their dates may not be fairy tale levels of romantic, they still fall more and more in love with each other every time. Panda is happy he can be himself around Charlie and that he doesn’t have to be more than he is around him, and Charlie is happy he’s found someone he can trust as much as Panda. They really complete each other in almost every way, tripping into love with each other and colliding head-on.
“Oh my gosh,” Panda suddenly sits up, looking closer at his phone. “Is it May 8th?”
“What’s May 8th?” Charlie stayed back in his seat, but his eyes followed Panda.
“Five years ago,” Panda began. “On May 8th, I told you that if neither of us are married in five years we should marry each other.”
“Now that y’mention it,” It was Charlie’s turn to sit up from his seat. “It’s all comin’ back t’me..!”
“It’s a bit awkward now that we’re dating,” Panda laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I expected I’d be in another failed relationship with a girl I hardly know at this point.”
“Instead, you’re stuck with me,” Charlie joked.
“And there’s no one I’d rather be stuck with.” Panda gave Charlie a quick peck on the lips.
“Y’know, it’s funny you mention it,” Charlie held both of Panda’s paws in his hands.
“What, are you gonna propose?” Panda laughed again.
“Sugar, I’ve been around a while, met a lot of people,” Charlie gently stroked Panda’s paws in his hands with his thumbs. “None like you.”
“Where are you going with this?” Panda asked, smiling playfully as he tilted his head in confusion.
“You light up my world, pumpkin,” Charlie squeezed Panda’s paws before bringing one up and placing a small kiss on it. “I’ve never felt as strongly for anyone as I have for you. I want to hold onto that feeling for as long as I possibly can.”
“C-Charlie, are you…?” Panda trailed off, his smile slowly dissipating.
Their eyes told it all; Charlie’s full with overwhelming love and a refusal to break from Panda’s, while Panda’s gleamed with confused curiosity as the last of the playful tranquility from before drained away. Charlie gave a knowing smile to Panda while Panda weakly held onto Charlie’s hands.
“I guess I’ll cut to the chase,” Charlie finally blushed, chuckling warmly in nervousness. Panda blinked, and Charlie released a hand from Panda’s paw to reach under the seat, where he pulled out a little velvet ring box. This was the moment Panda’s heart stopped, his blood going cold. He knew this moment would come eventually, but they had never discussed who would ask who and Panda was always so ready for it to be him because Charlie really deserved to be treated like a prince but Panda still had this deep fantasy that Charlie would propose to him but he was totally okay with either option and---!!!
Charlie broke Panda’s spiral with fourteen words, opening the ring box towards Panda. “Panda, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”
The ring was simple, and it was the loveliest thing Panda’s ever seen. White gold made up the ring itself, with a small, indistinct diamond in the center. Panda’s eyes darted between the ring and back up to Charlie a few times-- Charlie must have thought this was hilarious, because Panda was able to hear him chuckle from where he sat.
Despite being completely and totally lost for words, Panda managed to squeak out a “yes, yes!”
Panda was unable to stop the tears from falling, dripping onto the upholstery of the seats. Charlie slipped the ring onto Panda’s paw, gently holding onto Panda’s paw as he did so. More tears fell.
Panda submitted to the feelings that enveloped him, ignoring the heat and falling into Charlie. He was struck with sob after sob as he gripped his fiancé’s chest, the latter soothingly rubbing his back.
“I love you, pumpkin,” Charlie said, holding Panda close. “You’re my whole world.”
“I love you more,” Panda countered.
“I’m sorry it’s not super romantic,” Charlie lamented. “I know you like that sorta stuff.”
“Charlie, I’d say yes anywhere,” Panda sniffled. “I’ll love you forever and I want to be with you forever.”
Panda wanted to do it all with Charlie. He wanted to marry him, he wanted to start a family with him, he wanted to grow old with him. As long as Charlie was there, everything was perfect; nothing could go wrong. A lot of the self love Panda sacrificed in his youth he found again with Charlie. Charlie helped prove to Panda he could still be loved and was still worth love, and Charlie slowly but surely helped teach Panda to love himself again.
Panda tripped and stumbled into love with Charlie, and he had no intentions of getting up. When the heat became too much they’d pull away and laugh together about how Panda’s tears soaked the fur on Charlie’s chest.
“How long have you had this ring, anyways?”
“Since the week we started dating.”