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Lindsey’s leg is bouncing nervously as she waits for Kelley to accept her FaceTime request. She had texted the older player and told her it was important and Kelley had easily agreed to talk to her after training. She was nervous the entire day leading up to the call; she was going to be asking a big favor of the older defender. She finally hears the sound of the FaceTime call being accepted and Kelley's smiling face pops up on her phone screen.
“The Great Horan,” Kelley teases and Lindsey suppresses the urge to roll her eyes, “to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I need your help.”
“Look, if you wanna please a woman-”
“That is not what I meant, Kelley.”
The older woman just continues smiling and this time Lindsey does roll her eyes. She forgets the nerves for a second. Then Kelley speaks again.
“What can I do ya for?”
The nerves come back and her leg starts to bounce again. She looks in the direction of the screen but refuses to actually make eye contact with Kelley. She’s not sure why she’s quite so nervous; she hadn’t been this nervous when she had talked with Emily’s father.
“Linds,” Kelley’s voice finally gets Lindsey to look at her directly, “I’m gonna need you to use your words here. I can’t read your mind; I’m not Sonny.”
“I need your help.”
“You said that already. With what?”
Lindsey takes a deep breath and feels a smile crossing her face as the words leave her mouth.
“I’m gonna propose to Em and I need help planning it.”
The second part is nearly missed by Kelley as she is too busy squealing in excitement. It was no secret how deeply in love with each other those two were, so, logically, the next step would be an engagement. Lindsey is still smiling widely, relieved at how excited Kelley appears. It’s not that she worried the older player wouldn’t approve of the engagement; she just didn’t know if she would want to help.
“So, you’ll help?”
“I would absolutely love to help.”
“Great, thanks.”
Lindsey needs to talk this over with her quickly; she has things to do tonight.
“So do you have any ideas?”
“Not really,” Lindsey admits, “other than I want to do it in front of both of our families.”
“Hm, she still in Orlando?”
Lindsey nods. The Championship had just happened the weekend before, with the Thorns claiming the title over Seattle. Emily had gone to the game since it was in Orlando and had originally made plans to return to Portland with Lindsey. But then she had been roped into a girls’ week with some of her teammates and Lindsey had encouraged her to go. They would see each other soon and would have the entire off-season together.
As soon as she had returned to Portland, Lindsey officially bought the ring. She had the page bookmarked on her phone and her laptop for months but had refrained from purchasing it in case Emily stumbled upon it before Lindsey was prepared to actually ask her.
“She has her car, right?”
Lindsey nods again, slightly confused about where Kelley is going with this.
“If you wanna do this in front of your families and make memories along the way, you should fly down to Orlando and the two of you can drive up to Colorado. Fly her parents out to meet you in Denver and propose to her there.”
“Wow, Kel, that’s,” Lindsey is slightly impressed, “that’s a really good idea, actually.”
“Why do you sound so surprised, Horan? I’m full of great ideas,” Kelley insists and Lindsey rolls her eyes again but smiles as well.
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”
The two of them talk for a few more minutes while Lindsey books her flight to Orlando and texts Emily to tell her she is coming to see her and that they were going to drive up to Colorado together. Emily is slightly confused and asks why they don’t just both fly to Denver and meet there. Lindsey tells her to shut up and let her be romantic.
“Alright, I gotta head to bed, Kel. Early morning flight and all.”
“Sweet dreams, Horan. Dream of diamond rings.”
Lindsey grabs her large duffel bag and suitcase from the conveyer belt and exits the airport. Her sunglasses are on and the warm breeze feels amazing. Her heart starts to beat faster when she spots a familiar car. There are people walking all around but, through the gaps, she sees her favorite sight in the entire world: Emily Sonnett smiling softly at her and holding two cups of coffee, one for each of them.
She pauses for just a second, to take a mental picture of the sight in front of her. Moving through the crowd, she reaches the car and drops her bag and releases her suitcase, taking a coffee cup from Emily and wrapping her in a tight hug. The two of them stand there for a moment, embracing tightly, not caring about anything or anyone else at the moment.
“I missed you,” Emily mumbles into her neck.
“I missed you too, Em.”
They eventually separate and Emily picks up Lindsey’s bag, tossing it in the backseat while Lindsey climbs into the car. Emily gets in the driver’s seat and immediately grabs Lindsey’s hand with her own once she puts the car in gear. Being the passenger, Lindsey gets the aux cord for the time being. It doesn’t really matter though; they both know one of Emily’s playlists will be playing no matter what.
“How was the flight?”
“Long,” Lindsey admits, looking at Emily and smiling, “but totally worth it to be here with you.”
Emily doesn’t respond and tries to pretend her face isn’t turning slightly red. No matter how long they’ve been dating or how much time they spend together or apart, Lindsey never fails to make Emily blush.
“We’re leaving tomorrow?”
Lindsey nods and begins fiddling with Emily’s fingers, a habit, Emily noticed, that usually showed she was nervous about something. She waited for Lindsey to tell her the plan and pushes the thoughts of why her girlfriend would be nervous to the back of her mind.
“Yeah, I was thinking mid-morning. It’s a twenty-seven-hour drive, roughly. Split it into a three-day trip; nine hours each day. Spend about a week in Denver and then we can fly to Atlanta,” Lindsey explains as Emily nods along.
“Sounds like a plan. But, babe, why did you decide all of this last minute?”
Lindsey is now attempting to braid Emily’s fingers and has her eyes trained on their hands while Emily waits for an answer.
“Just missed you, a lot,” her girlfriend finally admits, quietly.
Emily raises Lindsey’s hand to her mouth and kisses the back of it, finally getting the taller one to look at her. She offers her a soft smile.
“Missed you a lot, too.”
Lindsey smiles.
Emily closes the trunk of the car and smiles at Lindsey.
“All set.”
“Do you have everything? Phone, wallet, chargers, watch, all your clothes-”
“Yes, mom ,” Emily teases, kissing Lindsey’s cheek. “You can stop worrying. I have traveled before.”
“I know you have. That’s why I know you need to be reminded about some things, like your charger,” Lindsey reminds her.
“That was one time ,” Emily protests and her girlfriend just looks at her.
“What about the time you almost left your driver’s license in your bedside drawer before leaving for a national team camp?”
“Again,” Emily pouts slightly, “it was one time.”
Lindsey kisses the pout off of her girlfriend’s lips. Her heart flutters and she is filled with excited nerves about what awaits them in Denver. Her parents are on board and Emily’s parents would be flying out the day after they arrived to be there for the proposal. She then holds her hand out, asking for the keys.
“But it’s my car.”
“I’ll drive the first three hours and the last three hours. You can drive the middle three hours, okay?”
Emily considers this for a moment. She doesn’t want to make Lindsey drive a total of six hours today but knows her girlfriend is stubborn as hell and has already made up her mind.
“Okay,” she relents, handing the keys over.
Lindsey presses a soft kiss to Emily’s cheek and goes to get in the car. Emily gets in as well and grabs the aux cord while scrolling through her many playlists, trying to find the right one to kick off their journey. She finally settles on her most recent one, since she had just made it, she figured Lindsey hadn’t had time to listen to it yet.
“Is this your new one?”
“My brand-new one, yeah. I made it, like, two days ago,” Emily says and Lindsey nods.
“I thought so. I like it.”
“I just started it,” Emily laughs as they start to leave.
“I listened to it during the flight.”
Emily looks at her girlfriend, once again in awe of her. Her playlists weren’t specifically catered towards Lindsey or their relationship, but they certainly were influenced by both things. But, she didn’t necessarily expect Lindsey to listen to every single one, especially not right after she made them.
Lindsey sees her staring and glance over, slightly confused.
“What?”
Emily just smiles and shakes her head slightly.
“I love you.”
It’s Lindsey’s turn to smile now.
“I love you, too.”
“Welcome to Valdosta, Georgia,” Lindsey announces as they drive into the town to stop for food and gas.
“Birthplace of Thomas Rhett.”
“ Why do you know that?”
“Because it’s Thomas Rhett,” Emily explains as if the answer is obvious.
Lindsey decides to not get into that and instead chooses to focus on where they will eat lunch and fill the car up.
“Any food preferences?”
“Well, I did see a sign for ‘Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q’,” Emily shrugs with a smile. “I’ve always wanted a restaurant named after me.”
Lindsey shakes her head at her girlfriend but is unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face. This woman was absolutely ridiculous but Lindsey couldn’t think of anyone she could love more.
“Find the address and we’ll go.”
“What? Linds, we don’t have to. I was kidding.”
“Em, if you want to go to ‘Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q’, we’ll go.”
Emily thinks for a moment. Barbecue does sound good, but it would be easier to get something quick and get back on the road. They still had six hours to drive before stopping for the day. Lindsey is still waiting for an answer as Emily hums, still trying to make a decision.
“I want barbecue,” she finally says and Lindsey smiles at her.
“Then, let’s get some barbecue.”
“You’re the best, I love you.”
“Using me for barbecue.”
“It’s called ‘utilizing my resources’,” Emily tells her.
“Yeah, sure, let’s call it that.”
Before long, they are seated at the restaurant and Lindsey is watching Emily as she finishes her food. The little dance Emily does when she is happy, the smile on her face at the two of them being able to be together, the way her eyes light up when Lindsey’s around...they all somehow manage to make Lindsey fall even more in love with Emily every single time.
And Lindsey wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s been an hour since they got on the road again and Emily is driving now. Lindsey sits beside her, watching as her girlfriend sings along softly to some of the songs and singing at the top of her lungs to others. When they had first gotten in the car, Emily had handed Lindsey the aux cord with strict instructions to “only play bops” or risk having her aux cord privileges revoked. The taller blonde had rolled her eyes, already having one of Emily’s many playlists queued up.
As Lindsey leans against the window, she takes in her girlfriend’s profile. Her right hand was resting atop the steering wheel while she propped her head up with her left, singing along to whatever song was flowing through the speakers. The smaller blonde looks relaxed, more relaxed than Lindsey has seen her in months. She looks at peace as she continues to drive and it brings Lindsey more joy than anything. The transition for Emily to Orlando hadn’t been the smoothest and Lindsey knew there were many sleepless nights. So seeing her girlfriend looking well-rested and peaceful made her happier than anything.
“You know the view outside your window is pretty nice right now,” Emily’s voice shakes Lindsey from her thoughts.
“The view I’m looking at right now is better,” she replies, her smile growing when she sees the blush covering her girlfriend’s face.
“You haven’t even seen the view outside the window.”
“Don’t have to,” Lindsey shrugs, “I already know I’m right.”
Emily’s blush is still present and she is trying to keep her smile from growing too much. There was something about Lindsey that always got her, always broke through. Their relationship had always been different than any other either of them had had, even when they were still just friends. Lindsey was the one who kept her grounded, kept her head screwed on straight. She was the one Emily always looked for first in a crowded room or after a game.
She always knew that Lindsey was a big part of her life, but it had really hit her just how much this season. She had (sort of) lived alone in Portland, but she was always with Lindsey; she saw Lindsey every day. Lindsey reminded Emily that she was good enough, for the Thorns and the National Team. The trade had shaken her in more ways than one. The Thorns passing her off to Orlando for the number one draft pick hurt more than almost anything; The only thing that hurt more was knowing she would have to be three thousand miles away from Lindsey.
Emily feels Lindsey squeeze her shoulder lightly to grab her attention; she glances at her quickly and flashes a small smile.
“Hey, what’re you thinking about?”
“You,” Emily responds with a growing smile.
“Hm, smooth.”
“I’m serious,” she laughs slightly. “I was thinking about you and how big a part of my life you are.”
She switches driving hands, grabbing the steering wheel with her left hand so she can grab Lindsey’s with her right. The taller blonde immediately starts to play with Emily’s fingers, braiding them over each other.
“I love you.”
Emily smiles again, lifting Lindsey’s hand to her mouth so she can kiss it.
“I love you, too.”
“Phenix City,” Emily reads the sign as they begin to pull off the highway. “They spelled it wrong.”
“It’s a sister city with Colomiers, France,” Lindsey tells her and Emily glances at her with raised eyebrows.
“And how do you know that?”
“I did live in France for four years, Em.”
“You saw a sign for it, didn’t you?”
Lindsey doesn’t respond and Emily laughs, knowing she was right. She is about to speak again when she spots a large section of blue.
“Linds, they have a riverfront! Can we go see it?”
Lindsey nods her head, smiling before she can even fully register it. It was a rarity for her to deny Emily of something she asked for and the way her eyes lit up when she saw the blue water and asked to stop by it, who was Lindsey to deny her?
They find a place to park and get out of the car, stretching their legs. Emily is bouncing up and down on her toes like a little kid, excited to explore the new, unfamiliar place. Lindsey walks over and grabs one of her hands, intertwining them as they begin to walk down the riverfront. The water is still and a beautiful blue, second only, in Lindsey’s opinion, to Emily’s eyes.
They stand there for a moment, taking in the scenery and watching other couples and families wander around the riverfront as well. Lindsey glances over at her girlfriend who is still bouncing, her head turning rapidly as she tries to take in everything. Her eyes are bright with excitement and when she looks at Lindsey, she knows; they won’t make it to Denver before Lindsey proposes.
Whether it will actually be a little planned out or completely spur of the moment is still up in the air, but Lindsey knows, without a doubt, she will ask Emily to marry her before they reach Denver. Emily gives her hand a squeeze and gestures in front of them.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Lindsey agrees, though she is mainly referring to Emily.
The smaller blonde gives a big smile as the two of them begin to make their way back to the car. Lindsey grabs the keys from Emily when they reach the car and she stops Emily from opening the car door, pulling the shorter one in for a kiss. She was so overwhelmingly in love with Emily and she couldn’t help herself.
She pulls away and waits for Emily to open her eyes before smiling at her fondly.
“Hi,” she whispers softly.
“What was that for?”
“Just cause I love you.”
Emily’s smile widens, her eyes full of admiration.
“I love you, too, you big sap.”
Lindsey playfully pushes Emily away as she laughs.
“I’m trying to be romantic.”
Emily shrugs as they get back in the car. She leans over the center console and kisses Lindsey once again, smiling cheekily as she sits in her seat properly.
“Doesn’t mean you aren’t sappy, babe.”
“Shove off.”
“You love me.”
Lindsey couldn’t deny that even if she tried. So, she opts to shake her head, still smiling at her girlfriend’s childish nature, and starts the car to begin the final three hour stretch of the day.
By the time they reached Tuscaloosa (where they would spend the first night), the sun was gone and the moon was shining brightly above them. They were still fairly far south so the weather was fair, just cool enough for the two of them to pull on sweaters after parking the car at the hotel.
Emily is fiddling with her phone, in the midst of choosing a new playlist, when they arrive. Lindsey parks and the two exit the car, grabbing their sweaters from the back. The shorter blonde leans against the side of the car, still on her phone, while the taller one makes her way inside to get them a room.
It’s not the worst hotel, and if Emily’s college road trip stories were anything to go by, she had seen far worse. They have one bed, a bathroom, a desk with a coffee pot on it, and a small television that looked only slightly outdated. The smaller blonde walks into the room, dropping her overnight bag on the floor, and promptly faceplants onto the mattress.
“Nap time?”
Emily’s voice is muffled by the mattress and Lindsey laughs slightly.
“How about food first?”
“But I’m tired,” comes out with a slight groan.
“You’re also hungry, for actual food. You ate snacks but I know you’re hungry.”
Emily rolls over onto her back and looks at her girlfriend. She knows Lindsey is right; she is hungry and she would love to go get some food. But, she is also really tired and she really wants to take a nap. Lindsey is waiting for her to respond, so Emily, not being one to avoid making a show of things, gives a big overdramatic sigh and stands up. She shuffles over to her girlfriend who opens her arms and holds her in a comforting hug.
“Fine,” she mumbles into Lindsey’s sweater, “we can go get food.”
“Do you just wanna see what they have downstairs?”
Lindsey rubs Emily’s back; she can tell how tired she is. She feels Emily nod against her chest and kisses the top of her head. It doesn’t seem it at the time, but spending nine hours driving really takes it out of people.
“Alright, let’s go then. After we eat, we can shower, then go to bed.”
“Keeping it classy with dinner before getting me undressed. Love to see it.”
Lindsey sighs.
“Not what I meant, Em.”
“You say that now.”
Lindsey just shakes her head, trying to stifle her smile as she walks towards the door with Emily following closely behind, laughing at her own joke. Absolutely ridiculous was all Lindsey could think, but damn did she love her.
An hour later, they are fed, showered, and laying in bed. It’s still not super late and they lost an hour, switching timezones. But both Lindsey and Emily are utterly exhausted from their day of driving. They have two more days to go as well, meaning they should take advantage of this opportunity to go to sleep early.
Emily is curled into Lindsey’s side with one arm thrown across her waist, while the taller blonde’s arm wrapped around the shorter one. Emily had fallen asleep a few minutes earlier, her breath evening out as she subconsciously attempted to pull closer to Lindsey who was still awake, her mind teeming with activity.
She takes slow, deep breaths to slow her heart rate and tries to quiet her mind. A few moments later, she feels herself drifting off to sleep with one thought in her head:
I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her .
Lindsey wakes up first, like usual. The sun is filtering in through the partially open curtains, falling perfectly across Emily’s sleeping figure that is still wrapped tightly around Lindsey’s midsection. For a moment, the world is still and it’s just the two of them, here in this hotel. There’s no soccer, no fans, no three thousand miles separating them; there is just Lindsey and Emily, at peace.
Emily is still fast asleep when Lindsey slips out of her grasp, the smaller blonde barely shifting when she sneaks out the door to find them some coffee. She manages to find a small café within a few moments and quickly orders their usuals, wanting to return before Emily wakes up.
When she arrives back at the room, Lindsey closes the door quietly before making her way back to the bed. The smaller blonde is still sleeping and looks so peaceful that Lindsey almost doesn’t want to wake her up, but she knows she needs to. She sets the coffee down before leaning over and placing a soft kiss on Emily’s forehead. She shifts in the bed and makes a small noise but doesn’t open her eyes, so Lindsey quickly begins covering her girlfriend’s face in kisses until she starts giggling and letting out small shrieks as she tries to escape the assault.
She finally opens her eyes, a smile still playing across her lips when she does so. She lets out a content sigh and her smile grows when she spots the coffee on the bedside table. Lindsey reaches over and goes to hand Emily’s coffee to her but pulls it away at the last moment. The confusion on the smaller blonde’s face is entirely too endearing to Lindsey.
“You gotta pay up,” she teases.
Emily grabs her face and turns it to the side, pressing her lips to it and blowing a raspberry. Lindsey jerks backward as her girlfriend falls over, laughing. She really should have seen that coming, to be fair. She hands Emily’s coffee over to her and the smaller woman’s eyes instantly light up more as she takes the cup and breathes in the aroma.
“Day two,” Emily breathes out after taking a few sips of her coffee.
“Day two, indeed.”
“I can drive the first and lest legs today,” Emily offers, “since you did it yesterday.”
“Sounds good to me; that means I have aux privileges most of the day.”
Emily hums as she takes another sip of coffee.
“As long as you play bops, you’ll hear zero complaints from me.”
Lindsey knows there will be no complaints at all about the music; after all, regardless of who is driving, one of Emily’s playlists will undoubtedly be flowing through the car.
“Alright,” Lindsey stands and stretches a little, “let’s get ready for the day, packed, and get going again.”
Emily stands as well and gives a small salute with a grin, “yes, ma’am.”
Oxford, Mississippi is their first stop of the day. They reach the town in the early afternoon, ready to stop for food, gas, and to stretch their legs. Well, Lindsey’s ready for food; Emily had been snacking here and there since Columbus. Despite insisting she didn’t need any snacks for the road, Lindsey had bought extra because she knew Emily would eat hers if given the chance. And sure enough, an hour into the drive, Emily had asked for a package of Goldfish crackers which Lindsey had handed over without argument.
They find a small diner to eat at and Emily parks the car. They get out, stretching their legs and backs. Entering the diner, they find it relatively busy, bustling with families and couples alike. The two soccer players are seated fairly quickly and order their food and drinks. While they wait for them to arrive, Lindsey reaches across the table and grabs Emily’s hand, intertwining them. Emily offers her a signature soft smile, squeezing her hand lightly.
“How’re you feeling?”
“Good,” Lindsey replies, “a little sore, but good. You?”
“Same. A little tired too.”
Lindsey agrees; driving for hours on end isn’t something that seems like it would be, but it is very tiring. They get their food shortly after and eat semi-quickly. The sooner they get back on the road, the sooner they hit their final destination for the day. Lindsey pays the bill while Emily goes to the restroom and the two leave hand-in-hand.
They get back in the car and Lindsey looks at the gas gauge.
“Em, find us a gas station.”
They find one about a mile up the road, next to a wide-open field. Lindsey notices Emily get out of the car when she does, but she misses her walking over to the field where there are two young boys laughing loudly while they pass a soccer ball between them. Lindsey doesn’t notice Emily had wandered over there until she returns the gas nozzle to its place and hears the unmistakable sound of the smaller blonde’s laugh.
She looks up and sees the two boys are playing with Emily and all three are laughing. One of the boys says something and Emily nods before turning and catching Lindsey’s eye. She motions for her to join them, so she wanders over to the trio.
“Linds, this Trevor and Chris. T and C, this is Lindsey.”
The boys’ eyes light up and one of them, Chris, exclaims, “Lindsey Horan! My sister has a poster of you in her room; you’re her favorite player.”
“Oh, thank you,” Lindsey smiles.
Emily is watching Lindsey talk to the boys with a smile on her face. Watching Lindsey interact with kids is one of her favorite things; she has always been so good at it. Whether it was Tobin’s nephew or Alex’s daughter, Lindsey had a certain way with children that made Emily’s heart stutter.
One of the boys, Trevor, looks over to Emily before looking back at Lindsey. His head tilts and he appears to be thinking about something. He glances between the two again before speaking up.
“Are you guys in love?”
Lindsey and Emily freeze for a moment. All of their friends and teammates, club and national, knew they were dating but they had yet to address it to the public. They had both decided that they would tell the world when they were ready.
Chris speaks up then.
“Are you guys gonna get married?”
Emily can’t help herself as she gives Lindsey a small smile before answering, “Maybe one day.”
Lindsey smiles in return, knowing that ‘one day’ was going to happen sooner than Emily thought.
They reach Batesville, Arkansas in the late afternoon. Neither of them is hungry yet; Emily had been snacking most of the three-hour stretch as it was, and Lindsey had snacked a little as well. They decide to only stop for gas, stretching, and the restroom.
As they enter the city’s limits, Emily points at a road sign.
“Batesville, Arkansas, population, ten thousand eight hundred twenty-eight.”
“Birthplace of Mark Martin.”
“You looked that up didn’t you?”
“Hey, I know things.”
“You expect me to believe that you just knew NASCAR driver Mark Martin is from Batesville, Arkansas?”
“That’s for me to know and you to wonder about. Gotta keep the mystery alive somehow,” Lindsey jokes.
She can tell Emily is trying to figure out how exactly Lindsey knew that tidbit of information, but Lindsey wasn’t going to tell her. She was enjoying herself and she smiled when she spotted Emily grabbing her phone to fact-check her.
“Huh,” Emily speaks after a couple of minutes, “I guess you were right.”
“Gee, thanks, Em,” Lindsey rolls her eyes playfully.
“You’re welcome,” Emily responds cheerfully.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love me.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Lindsey teases.
“That would be you.”
No matter how long they’ve been dating, no matter how many nights they spend falling asleep together, Lindsey will never get over Emily verbally confirming that she sleeps best next to her; it made her heart beat faster, brought her more joy than anything in her life.
“You know, I couldn’t be more grateful for soccer,” Emily says after a couple of minutes of silence.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Emily nods, “without it, I wouldn’t have found you. I wouldn’t have found the biggest source of my happiness.”
“We would’ve found each other,” Lindsey replies, confidently.
“You think so?”
“I know so. There’s not a universe where I don’t find you, where I wouldn’t love you.”
“You’re getting sappy on me, Horan.”
Lindsey shakes her head fondly, reaching a hand over to grab one of Emily’s. She places a kiss to the back of Emily’s hand, smiling.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Linds.”
“Linds, Linds, Linds, look at the sunset!”
They are somewhere in Oklahoma. The sun was descending below the horizon, painting the sky a multitude of reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. It was beautiful, but Lindsey thought Emily, bouncing in the driver’s seat with wide eyes full of excitement, was even more beautiful.
“Do you wanna find somewhere to watch it?”
Emily looks at her, eyes still bright.
“Really?”
Lindsey nods and Emily gives a little dance while finding somewhere for them to pull over. They eventually find a spot near the river. She parks the car and the two get out, Emily immediately making her way to the water’s edge. Lindsey goes to grab a sweater for her girlfriend, knowing she will likely get chilly. She pauses when she pulls out an old sweater and spots the box. She grabs it before she can overthink and walks over to join Emily.
There is a guy with a camera taking photos of the sky and the water, but other than that, nobody else is around. Emily is standing, eyes watching the sun as it continues to set and Lindsey is hit, once again, with the realization that this is it for her; Emily is the one she will spend the rest of her life with.
“Linds, take a selfie with me. I wanna make Rose jealous of this view.”
Lindsey moves closer as Emily grabs her phone, opening Snapchat and turning the screen towards them, the sunset in the background. Emily is smiling at the camera, one thumb raised, while Lindsey is busy looking at Emily. She’s wearing her own smile, one Rose usually teases her about for being “so lovestruck it makes me sick”.
Lindsey is still staring at Emily as she reaches for the box in her pocket. Emily huffs slightly and turns to her, putting her phone down.
“You’re not even looking at the camera! Or even back at the beautiful sunset.”
“No sunset will ever be as beautiful as you, Em,” Lindsey replies, looking at her.
She knows this is it. This is the right moment, more than any moment in Denver would be.
“You know,” she starts, turning to face Emily properly, “I had this whole thing planned out. I was gonna fly your parents out to Denver and do this in front of both our families, but I don’t want to wait anymore.”
Emily gives a soft smile, encouraging Lindsey to continue.
“You’re my Dasani and I’m your Linessi,” Emily giggles, causing Lindsey’s smile to grow, “and I wholeheartedly believe we would’ve found each other, no matter what. I want to grow old with you. I want a family with you, a lifetime with you.”
She pulls the box out and drops to one knee, looking up at her girlfriend whose eyes are shining.
“Em,” she opens the box, “will you marry me?”
Emily doesn’t say anything; she drops to her knees and kisses Lindsey. It’s sort of difficult because both of them are sporting the biggest smiles. Lindsey slips the ring onto Emily’s finger when they finally separate, both still smiling widely. They stand and turn back to the water, Emily leaning into Lindsey’s side.
“Excuse me,” a voice breaks them from their bubble.
They turn to find the lone photographer standing there, smiling shyly.
“Um, I hope you don’t mind, but I saw you grab the ring from your pocket and I took some photos,” he explains, fiddling with his camera.
He finds them and shows the two blondes, scrolling though from Lindsey grabbing the ring to her slipping the ring onto Emily’s finger and them standing to watch the sunset once again.
“I’ve got my laptop with me,” he starts again, “I can upload them to it and send them to you if you’d like.”
Lindsey turns to Emily who nods, smiling.
“Yeah,” she says, “that’d be great, thanks.”
It’s not long before the photos have been uploaded and emailed to both Lindsey and Emily. Lindsey scrolls through them while Emily pokes her in the side.
“Yes, Em?”
“I’m going to call Emma and my parents, then Rose, Sam, and Mal.”
Lindsey kisses her cheek.
“Alright, sounds good. I’m gonna call my parents and then Tobin.”
Lindsey calls her parents quickly, explaining how she felt it was the right moment to ask Emily to marry her. She then dials Tobin, telling her teammate that it was successful. She even sends Kelley one of the photos while waiting for Emily to return.
After she finishes with Emma and her parents, Emily makes her way back over to Lindsey while waiting for the group FaceTime to connect. Soon enough, Mal, Sam, and Rose all pop up on Emily’s phone screen.
“Sonny,” Mal speaks first, “what’s up?”
“Did you guys get stranded somewhere?”
Emily rolls her eyes at Sam’s question.
“Son, this better be good. I was in the middle of teaching Wilma a new dance.”
Instead of speaking, Emily simply lifts her left hand to show her friends the ring. All three let out excited squeals and begin shouting, trying to talk over each other. Emily just laughs at their friends while Lindsey smiles fondly at her fiancée .
She could get used to saying that.
Later that night, when they finally get to lay down to go to sleep, Lindsey grabs Emily’s hand and plays with the ring while Emily watches her with a soft smile.
“We’re getting married,” Lindsey whisper softly.
“We’re getting married,” Emily echoes back.
“I can’t wait.”
“Me neither. I’ve always wanted to be Mrs. The Great Horan.”
@lindseyhoran10: we don’t hold hands...at all
@lavellerose: you literally always hold hands, shut up
@caitlinfoord: I need you to call me...asap
@emilysonnett: you’re talking to the future Mrs. The Great Horan
@kelleyohara: dibs on godmother for all future children
@malpugh: dibs on flower girl