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Penelope doesn’t mean to find it.
She doesn’t.
But she was starving and ran out of peanut butter in the middle of making herself a peanut butter and honey sandwich as she waited for Josie to come home from work so they could go over to Hope and Landon’s for game night.
Out of peanut butter and cursing herself for not going grocery shopping last week as she planned to, she looked around the kitchen trying to find something else to eat but remembered that they did usually keep the extra jams in that one cabinet that Penelope couldn’t reach.
Dragging the small wooden stool from the living room to the cabinet, she missed her girlfriend’s long limbs in that moment. Not only were those legs pure works of art and those arms wonderful at holding her but combined, they were also super useful to get to places that were typically hard to reach for Penelope.
There was an innuendo in that sentence somewhere, but she was far too hungry to look for it.
The relief she feels at finding a jar of crunchy peanut butter (yes, she was a fan of crunchy peanut butter. And yes, Josie constantly made fun of her for it, so what?) in the back of the cabinet fades to nothing when she spots it.
Wedged between jars of crunchy peanut butter and Habanero pepper sauce was a black, tiny little velvet box.
The kind of box one would typically use to store something small and valuable like, say, an engagement ring.
She couldn’t resist reaching out to grab it, but something prevents her from popping the lid.
Fuck.
Josie bought an engagement ring.
Not to sound too cocky, but Penelope felt that she was right to assume it was for her.
For Penelope Park.
Like herself.
It’s only logical to conclude that the only person Josie would ask to marry was Penelope herself.
You know, Penelope: the girl Josie was in love for the last ten years of her life, the person she’d been in a stable, committed relationship with for the last five years, where they’d even been living together for four of those.
Right?
No, of course, there wouldn’t be anybody else.
Josie was in love with her.
If there was one thing about the world that Penelope knew with certainty, it was that Josie would always love her, the same way she would always love Josie.
That much would always be undeniable.
So this ring better be for her.
She felt silly about her moment of self-doubt now looking back and quickly chose to move on from that madness.
Fuck.
Josie bought an engagement ring.
For Penelope.
Josie bought an engagement ring for Penelope.
Because Josie wanted to propose to Penelope.
Josie wanted to marry her.
She couldn’t bring herself to pop the lid and look at the actual ring. She didn’t know if she would ever stop crying if she did that.
Quickly wiping the few stray tears that had escaped already, she considers her options. Should she tell Josie that she found it? Would that ruin whatever Josie had planned? Penelope didn’t want that.
Just as she decides to put it away, the front door opens with no warning - why, oh why did she always forget to lock the darn thing - bringing Josie in.
“When will you learn to lock the -“ She stiffens as she looks up from kicking her shoes off and takes in the scene before her, zeroing in on the box in Penelope’s hands. “Oh.”
“Hi.” Penelope doesn’t know what to say to her. “Welcome home?”
Josie’s silent for a second and Penelope shifts awkwardly, still standing on the stool, one hand clinging to the cabinet door for balance and the other tightly clutching the ring box.
“Why are you-” Josie anxiously pulls at her ear. “Uh, don’t you usually need me to get stuff out of there? You never have the patience to get the stool.”
“I ran out of peanut butter.”
“Of course.” Josie nods absently. “You would do anything for crunchy peanut butter.” Her eyebrows tighten as she frowns. “I should have thought of that.”
“No, no, it’s a really good hiding spot. I never open this cabinet. I was pretty surprised to find it.”
Josie’s frown deepens. “Surprised? Did you really not see this coming?”
“More confused than surprised for a bit there. I wasn’t sure if this was.. meant for me,” Penelope mumbles the last three words, fully embarrassed to express her ridiculous panic.
Josie laughs, a little amused but more incredulous. “What? Who else would I want to be with for the rest of my life?”
Penelope’s face burns. “I know. But I’m stupid sometimes, okay?”
“Yes, I’m aware,” Josie replies fondly. “Still, you’ve gotten that little box out of me, so I’m probably just as stupid.”
“Should I... put it back so we can pretend this never happened?”
Josie immediately gives her a firm shake of the head and walks right up to Penelope.
The little wooden stool gives Penelope an unusual height advantage and Josie’s the one who has to look up to meet Penelope’s eyes for once.
“I don’t want to pretend like you don’t know that I want to marry you, Penelope Park,” Josie says with her smoothest, most firm voice and Penelope absolutely adores the way confidence looks on her.
Penelope nods, still not completely believing that this - this was really, truly happening to her.
“Okay,” she whispers, grinning down at Josie as she wraps her arms around Penelope’s torso. “Hi. Hello. I’m glad you’re home.”
“Hi. Hello,” Josie cheekily parrots back, making Penelope laugh. “It’s wonderful to be home.”
Josie tightens her arms around Penelope to let her know that when she talked about home, it wasn’t the apartment that Josie was referring to.
Penelope leans down to kiss Josie because that’s all she wants in the moment. It starts as a simple ‘hello, I missed you, thanks for coming back to me’ kiss. Josie’s right hand slowly moves away from Penelope’s waist and she tangles her fingers with those on Penelope’s left hand, thumb lightly caressing the bare (for now) ring finger.
Penelope smiles into the kiss, heart feeling like it might burst out of her chest at the tenderness of that gesture. She cups Josie’s neck, pulling away to murmur a soft ‘I love you’ against her lips. Her smile doesn’t stop growing when Josie quickly returns sentiment and soon it’s impossible for them to keep kissing.
Josie tilts her head away from the kiss but rests her forehead against Penelope’s, chest heaving with breathless laughter.
“Not that your smile isn’t the most beautiful thing in my world,” she huffs out casually, raising their intertwined hands to drop a soft kiss to the back of Penelope’s hand, “but can you stop? I’m trying really hard to kiss you.”
“Sorry, I’ll get it together this time.” Penelope can’t help herself from grinning at the playful pout Josie’s very impressively managing to keep. She makes a ‘come hither’ action with her index finger, eager to kiss her girl again. “Come back to me.”
“I always have and always will, I promise,” Josie vows, her left hand gently pressing into Penelope’s cheek, maneuvering her closer.
With that declaration lingering between them, when Josie kisses her again, it feels like the beginning of the rest of her life.
The thought produces a rush of joy so great that she doesn’t even realize that she’s beaming again until Josie moves away with a slight groan.
“Fine,” she whines, rolling her eyes. “Be unhelpful. I don’t need you, I will do all the work.”
“For once,” Penelope adds, her smile tugging up into a smirk.
Josie rolls her eyes at the jab and proceeds to pointedly kiss every inch of Penelope’s face she can reach - the tip of her nose, her forehead, her eyelids, the curve of her jaw. Josie’s smile increases with each kiss and soon both of them burst out laughing - happy and so stupidly in love.
That is until Josie moves away abruptly, as though something very important has just occurred to her. “But maybe we should pretend this didn’t happen.”
Penelope’s heart drops. “What? Why?”
Josie looks down at her feet, shoulders slumped. “I think that you deserve to have an epic, spectacle of a proposal. Not whatever this will be. I haven’t even written my speech yet.”
Penelope scrunches her face in frustration at the dumb, beautiful, wonderful idiot in front of her.
“Who’s being stupid now? Jojo,” she murmurs, cupping the side of Josie’s face, “you already know that my answer will be the same no matter how you ask.”
Josie sinks further into Penelope’s palm. “I already told you I was just as stupid too.”
“Totally why we should be together.”
“Forever,” Josie adds.
“Well. We could get started on that forever if you stopped stalling and just asked,” she says, rolling her eyes playfully.
“Right! Right, gonna get started once I-“ Josie looks down at herself like she was checking to see if she had everything she needed. She quickly realizes what was missing. “Give me the box, won’t you? Thanks. Have you looked at it yet?”
“Couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
Josie does a cute little fist pump.
“Yes! Excellent. So, here goes.” She clears her throat and takes Penelope’s hand, smiling a little and eyes full of love. “Penelope Park, I-“ she abruptly pauses, frowning. “Do you mind getting off the stool? You having a height advantage is ridiculous, the world is not ready for a tall Penelope Park.”
Penelope blinks, a surprised laugh escaping her at that because Josie was the most ridiculous person she had ever met. “Fine, let me get down before the power gets to my head.” She raises her arms, gesturing for Josie to help her down, just so they could be closer again. “But the air really is much better up here anyway.”
Josie snorts as she lifts Penelope and gently puts her down on the floor. “That’s what I’ve been telling you for years.”
“You ready now? You sure you don’t need anything else? A sip of water, some coffee or a snack?” Penelope teases.
Josie’s eyes light up at that and Penelope’s already groaning in anticipation of what’s coming.
“The only snack I’ve ever needed was you, baby.”
And there it was.
Josie was such an embarrassment.
But she was Penelope’s embarrassment and Penelope could definitely live with that.
Josie giggles at Penelope’s exasperation - irritating Penelope was her favorite past time after all - and moves on quickly. “I’m ready now, what about you?”
“I’ve always been ready for you.”
Josie furrows her eyebrows, suddenly cautious. “Remember that you’re the eloquent romantic between the both of us and if this turns into me babbling-”
“I’ll still say yes. I’ll always say yes,” Penelope reassures her, pushing a stray strand of Josie’s hair behind her ear before lightly caressing her cheek.
“Good to know,” Josie says weakly, before taking one last final, calming breath.
Penelope gives her a slight, encouraging nod and Josie nods back.
“Penelope Park,” Josie starts, voice reverent and eyes full of wonder. “Where do I even begin with you? I will never forget the moment I first saw you. Lizzie and I were supposed to give you a tour and you were talking to Hope by the fireplace. You both turned around when Lizzie said something snarky about Hope and I remember thinking-” Josie pauses theatrically and Penelope subconsciously leans in. “‘Wow, Hope looks incredible today.’”
Penelope tucks her chin, clearly taken aback and cackles before lightly whacking Josie’s shoulder. “Asshole.”
Josie grins sheepishly, really proud of herself for that. “I’m sorry! If I knew in that moment that I was going to be doing this one day, I would have tried really hard to have more poetic first thoughts about you. But Hope said something in return and they both were going off but you - you did this cute head tilt and smiled at me like you only saw me-”
Penelope smiles the same smile Josie was talking about, the one that was reserved for only one specific person.
“And I didn’t know it at the time, but after that, I really didn’t want to look at anything else. Once I laid my eyes on you.”
Penelope subtly wipes away at an escaped tear when Josie pauses to clear her throat, both of them trying to pull it together.
“I, uh, lightly suggested to Lizzie that she should cool off from her fight with Hope because I so badly wanted to get you alone. And once I did,” Josie laughs, lost in the memory of their first one on one conversation. “My God, you were so annoying, obnoxious and funny when I didn’t want to laugh at your jokes and just.. so hot?”
Penelope simpers at that, delighted. “I still am.”
“The hottest, babe. Obviously. But I mean to young Josie, you were so hot that it hurt her feelings. And I knew that I was going to fall in love with you. Whether I wanted to or not.”
Penelope chuckles, remembering how Josie had avoided her like the plague in the beginning. How she would never want to sit with her at lunch or hang out or even talk to her.
“And you really did not want to.”
“No, not at all. You terrified me. But once I realized I couldn’t stay away, that I couldn't stop thinking about you no matter what, falling in love with you was pretty much the easiest thing I’ve ever done. And when we were together, you, us, it was exactly what I would ask for - only if I knew myself well enough to know what to ask for in the first place.”
Penelope can’t help the tiny whimper she lets out at that, tears escaping.
“Oh, no. No baby, you can’t cry yet,” Josie says hoarsely, handing her a tissue from the box on the counter, pulling Penelope into a hug and tucking her under her chin. “If you start, I’ll inevitably join and we’ll never get to the engagement part.”
Penelope pulls back a little, not completely leaving Josie’s arms, to look her in the eye as she apologizes, the words coming out in a strangled whisper. “I’m sorry. It’s just- if only my sixteen-year-old self who was on that stupid fucking flight to Belgium could hear you now.”
Josie sadly presses her lips to the top of Penelope’s cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage back then to admit to myself what I’ve always known in my heart. If I did, I would have never let you go.”
Penelope shakes her head. “We needed the distance because we were both stupid and made mistakes.”
“Some monumental, devastating ones,” Josie stresses. “But we’ve grown from them. We’ve learned,” Jose begins with a nostalgic smile, “that it’s okay for you to take care of you. To put yourself first. Admittedly, some of us took longer than the others for that one.”
Penelope exhales shakily before adding her own two cents. “We now know that no matter how badly we want to, we can’t save the other or make decisions for them. We can only love them and support them as they fight their own battles.”
Josie nods. “And also to trust that if you just let her in, she will love you even in your worst moments, through the most horrible versions of yourself.”
“She will,” Penelope declares with absolutely no uncertainty.
“I know. She already has.”
The air between them gets so heavy with the pain they’ve caused and the regrets they have it leaves Penelope scrambling to say the first thing that comes to mind in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“We’ve also learned that dating Landon is a horrible idea.”
Josie's eyes dance with mirth as she rolls with the direction Penelope’s chosen. “Ah yes, additionally we’ve gathered that sleeping with all the members of a European coven doesn’t always help you get over your ex.”
Penelope scoffs, affronted at Josie’s inaccurate facts. “It was not… an entire coven.”
“Oh, this is a good one.” Josie’s grin is pure evil and Penelope already knows where this is going. “We know how to unhook a girl’s bra by ourselves.”
How dare she?
That only happened three times.
“It happened once, Josie, once. ” She argues, hoping Josie didn’t remember correctly. “I was fifteen and eager to impress, how long are you going to hold that over my head?”
“First of all, I distinctly remember you needing my help three times.” Goddammit. Why would she ever forget any piece of information she could use to torment Penelope? “And second, why am I bullying you when what I wanted to do was propose?”
Penelope snorts. “I think you’re doing great. Why wouldn’t I want to put up with this harassment for the rest of my life?”
Josie smiles at that. “The world we live in is certifiably insane and we have no idea what each day will bring, but regardless of what they look like, I want to begin and end every single one of them with you. Any new and horrible thing that comes my way, I want to fight it with you by my side. On the rare good days, I want to make you laugh and try to cook for you - we both know I’ll end up ordering pizza after I inevitably burn everything - and make out on the couch with you under the pretense of watching a stupid movie. That’s all I want when I look at the rest of my life, Penelope. To love you.
“I love you,” Penelope whispers. “But maybe leave the cooking to me? Everyone in this building already hates us because of how often our smoke detector goes off. I promise I will love you the same even if you order a pizza right away. But other than that, I want everything you just said. Especially the making out on the couch parts.”
Josie shakes her head fondly, exasperated by how irritating Penelope was even in the midst of their engagement, but she must already know what she signed up for because she still continues anyway.
“I’m glad you feel the same because what I’m about to do next would be really embarrassing if you didn’t.”
Josie quickly gets down on one knee and takes Penelope’s left hand in her right.
Penelope’s heart skips a beat at the sight. She inched closer to Josie, holding her breath and trying her hardest to commit everything about this moment to her memory for as long as she lived.
She never wanted to forget the shade of the yellow cardigan Josie was wearing over a white shirt that originally belonged to Penelope. Or the way the right side of that shirt was peeking out of the blue, high-waist jeans Josie had tucked it into this morning.
“Penelope, you are the greatest source of my joy, the love of my life and if anyone needed to be convinced that soulmates were real, they would look at us and accept the notion without a second thought.”
Penelope wouldn’t forget every word she said or the slight waver in Josie’s voice as she said them or her shaky inhale before she continued either.
“There’s so much more I could say about how much I love you or how you’ve been the one person who’s known exactly who I was - even when I didn’t - and loved me anyway and I could try to badly explain how happy you make me, but I’ve already said so much and I just want you to be wearing this ring right now, so I’m just going to go ahead and ask, okay?
Penelope just nods, tears in her eyes, certain that she couldn’t use her voice yet. Josie fumbles to pop open the lid of the box with just one hand, her other hand holding Penelope’s who refused to let go and it cracks Penelope up, even in her current state.
She would never forget how much of a dweeb Josie truly was.
“Wait just one second- almost got it, nope. Hang on, ah, yes there we go! All good.” Josie’s sigh is one of relief. She brings the box into Penelope’s line of sight and what she sees makes Penelope want to cry all over again.
Nestled in that velvet box was a very familiar diamond ring. Caroline’s ring. The one she never took off because it was the greatest reminder of the love she shared with Stefan Salvatore. Knowing Josie’s mother - Penelope’s personal favorite out of Josie’s parents, not that there was much competition - approved and that she loved them and their relationship enough to give them this… It meant everything.
Josie coughs once, pulls the ring out, tosses the box on the floor and looks up at Penelope with nothing but love in her stunning brown eyes.
“Penelope Park, will you marry me?”
Penelope takes a moment to process those words, to let them sink in, to appreciate the heartache it had taken for her to hear these words and Josie seems to understand as she waits with a brilliantly patient smile.
This feels like the moment she’s been waiting for her entire life so when she speaks, the words ring out firm and clear, full of the certainty she’s always felt about her love for this woman and there’s no indication of the way her heart feels like it might beat out of her chest.
“I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen, Josie Saltzman and I don’t plan on knowing any other way of living.”
Josie’s ecstatic grin is blinding, as she gently slides the ring up Penelope’s left finger, where it will stay until she took her dying breath if Penelope (and Josie) had anything to say about it.
“So like, that’s a yes, right? Cause I’ve already given you the ring and it would be weird take it back now.”
Penelope laughs, tears flowing freely now as she gets down on her knees, mirroring her fiance's position, to pull Josie into their first kiss as an engaged couple.
“Yes,” she whispers against Josie’s lips a minute later, when they separate to catch their breath, Penelope’s forehead resting against Josie’s. “Yes, I will marry you.” Josie shoots her a dazed smile. “I thought I was clear the first time I-”
Josie brings their lips together again in a breathless kiss, effectively any further stopping conversation and Penelope agreed.
There had been far too much talking when they should've been doing this instead because the one thing Penelope will always remember is the way kissing Josie made her feel.
—
“Why are we kissing on our knees when we could be doing this standing or on the couch or in our very big, very comfortable bed?”
“I saw you kneeling and I thought since we’re going to be married now, we have to support each other no matter what and so if you kneel, I kneel.”
“Yeah, no, that doesn’t bode too well for our sex life.”
“Oh my God, shut up.”