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“You ever want to marry someone?”
Alex had been lying face down on Tommy’s mattress before the question, but once the words entered the quiet space between them, he promptly rolled onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow with a confused squint. “No, of course not, what bizarre kind of question is that?”
Tommy pressed his lips together in an uneasy smile, exhaling slowly through his nose before shrugging, “It’s an in love question I guess.”
“This isn’t about Phil, is it?” Alex was grimacing now, and Tommy found it difficult to meet his gaze, his silence was enough of an answer for Alex. “You’re both ridiculous… you got a ring yet? Or like I dunno, a date to propose? Or any plans at all?” he asked- he would be lying if Tommy’s words didn’t irk him to a certain degree, but they’d been disgusting him with their lovey dovey bullshit for nearly two years now, the sooner they did it the better, he supposed.
“Valentine’s day” Tommy replied, earning a scoff and rolled eyes from Alex, before he had shuffled himself to root around in his nightstand, and after a moment of grabbing at different miscellaneous items, he procured a small navy box.
“Your nightstand? Of all the worst hiding places- the nightstand? Also, of all the days, Valentines? My god” Alex exclaimed, his eyes glued to the box but his tone frustrated nonetheless.
“There was nowhere else! And valentine’s day is the day of love!”
“Whatever, show us” when Alex closed his fingers around the box, he took a moment to look at Tommy, the latter’s face lined in nerves and fingers fiddling idly with each other.
“The diamond in your engagement ring is fake” the words cut the silence of the room like a knife, and as soon as Tommy clocked onto his words, he started spluttering, launching himself at Alex, who held the box out, still inspecting the ring. The single rock at the centre was dull, not ‘dull’ dull, but dull enough for Alex to know it certainly wasn’t a diamond, it’d be a plastic rhinestone before it was a diamond.
“Give it here! I payed good money for that!” Tommy finally won the box from Alex, bringing it right up to his face to inspect the stone in question, “how can you tell?” he asked, voice brimming with emotion like he was about to cry.
“I’ve seen plenty of diamonds, that ain’t one” he explained, shuffling closer to the other man to wrap an arm around his shoulders, “chin up buddy, if it helps I can hunt down a real one- and shove that fake one up the person who sold it to you’s arse” Tommy hadn’t looked away from the ring, staring at it in abject disbelief.
“It’s an omen, Alex”
“Okay now you really are spouting shit- give it here, I’ll get in touch with my connections- you’re ridiculous but I’m your best mate, if you really want that wet blanket to marry you, I can’t stop you.”
Tommy knew better than to question the other’s ‘connections’ so all he did was nod, handing over the box, Alex slipped it into the pocket of his pants, the box sticking out awkwardly, “I’ll send you some pictures, might find something you think he’ll like” Alex pulled Tommy against him in an uncomfortable hug, Tommy’s elbow digging into Alex’s side and his chin smacking into the brunet’s shoulder until Alex released his hold.
Alex’s contacts were very efficient people, and by that afternoon they’d found the culprit, they’d been selling their wares at the local market, just as Tommy had told Alex. Now, Tommy may be book smart, but his street smarts were dismal, as one could tell, given the man had bought an engagement ring at a local market.
The culprit was dealt with accordingly, and whilst Alex had initially planned on sending Tommy photos of whatever he found, he’d had a change of heart, a change of heart that meant he had decided to bring Tommy along to the torturous affair of buying an actual ring.
“You have any idea how you’re going to propose?” Alex asked as they made their way into the third store, it felt like hours since they first started, the rings started to blur together after a while, but Tommy didn’t seem to share the sentiment, he picked each and every ring apart until all of them sounded positively wretched.
“Not really- but we’re definitely going to do something together, guess I’ll just ask him at the end of it,” Alex sighed, for someone who was making such a big decision, his nonchalance at the whole affair was shocking- but Alex supposed once you’ve gone through the horror of finding out you’d bought a fake ring, nothing much could phase you.
“I’m sure even if it’s the lamest proposal in the history of proposals he’d still say yes” Alex’s voice bordered on judgemental, though perhaps it was his own absence of luck in the dating game that made him bitter to the man’s love for Tommy.
Tommy hummed, a smile curling his lip as he squinted down into the glass case, shooing off the shop assistant with a polite dismissal, Alex looked down into the case, the men’s rings were rather bland when you thought about it- he’d much rather some abhorrently over the top women’s ring over these uninspiring hoops of silver.
“What do you think of that one?” Tommy asked, nudging Alex with an elbow to catch his attention, pointing down at a ring- it was modest, as were most of the display items, but the gems in the middle were attractive, shining proudly like true diamonds should, the sparkle of them was enough to hold Alex’s attention, there were seven of them in a row, surrounded by gold and lined on the outer both sides of the ring with silver. Tommy must not have the worst taste in the world, then.
“Actually don’t mind that one” Alex admitted, sliding his hands into his pockets, a move that might be a little dodgy in a jewellery shop, not that Alex much cared. All he’d care about now is if the ring was too expensive, in which case he wouldn’t say no to stealing for his best mate.
The shop assistant practically sprinted to them when Tommy called for help, and Alex was somewhat surprised Tommy knew Philippe’s ring size- he hadn’t thought the other man wore rings, he seemed much too plain for something so fashionable like a ring. But nevertheless, the ring was purchased without the need for stealing, and the men were on their way. They passed a Valentine’s day deal sign on their way out of the shopping centre, and Alex didn’t miss the way Tommy swallowed thickly before clenching his jaw.
**
It was the day- the day Tommy made the riskiest move a man could make- he’d practically outright refused to tell Alex of their plans, claiming that the latter would make some sort of scene when he inevitably followed the couple. Alex was miffed about it, but he supposed some would call the plea for privacy during such an important time ‘cute’ or ‘sweet,’ Alex just thought it was bad friend material.
But he heard about it- saw the sickeningly sappy posts they made on Instagram after Philippe had said yes, after they’d basked in this magical moment between two people who love each other immensely. Alex got hammered by their mutual friends, asking if he’d known or if he’d seen the news.
Known or seen it? Alex had been the only thing between success and failure.