Chapter Text
June 2024
Eliott concentrates on his drawing, trying to keep his hands busy. Not that he's under any particular stress. It's not like he's afraid of Lucas' response. No. He knows exactly what Lucas' answer is. But he's still a little stressed.
So he's sitting on the wall in front of Lucas' college and he's drawing while he's waiting for him. Pretty soon, he's not gonna be coming here anymore. In a couple of weeks, Lucas will be graduating and he'll be able to work. And Eliott thinks it's incredible. Even though he's been working for two years already. It's just incredible to go through all these different stages of life with Lucas.
They were together to celebrate Eliott's high school graduation, then Lucas' driver's license. Lucas' high school graduation, then Eliott's college graduation. They were together when Eliott came home brandishing his first signed work contract. And they're still together celebrating this new step. And the best part is, they're not together because they're used to it, or because it's easy. But they're together because they need to be and because they want to be.
Because it's clear that the 5 years they've spent together have not been all good times. There have been all the complicated episodes of Eliott, the anxiety attacks of Lucas, the unsaid, the jealousies, the tears, the cries...but each difficult moment has known its moment of reconciliation. And as Lucas says, they'd rather live with all that than live without each other.
"Hello, my love."
Eliott's startled. He clearly didn't see Lucas approaching, lost in thought.
"Are you okay?"
Eliott gets up and kisses him before he backs away.
''Great. Didn't see you coming. Let's go."
They're getting take-out food at the Japanese restaurant around the corner before heading home for eating sushi and maki.
"Babe, I wanted to ask you a question."
Lucas puts his head up and smiles.
''Anything you want, my love.''
Eliott smiles back before showing him their living room furniture.
''How about we move things around a little bit. I'd like to put the bookcase over there. We've had the same layout for years, so I thought if we moved the couch the other way, it might be nice."
Lucas looks at the living room and raises an eyebrow.
''You need a change, love? Am I supposed to be worried?"
Eliott laughs out loud before he sits on Lucas' lap.
''Not at all. I was just talking about the bookcase. But if you don't want to, that's fine. Okay you know what, forget it, let's just leave it at that."
Lucas looks at the living room again and shrugs his shoulders.
''No, you're right. We can move things around. Come on, let's do it."
Eliott stands up with a huge smile on his face. He was sure Lucas would say yes. He knows him so well.
So they meet at 7:00pm on a Friday night, emptying the bookcase in their living room so they can move the furniture around. They just start to move it and Lucas puts the furniture down without warning and crouches down screaming.
"Oh my god, Eli, look."
He picks up the print with the four pictures they took in April 2019 when they took the girls to the mall to buy stuff for Daphne's birthday. It was Lucas' idea: to take pictures of the two of them in a vintage photo booth.
Eliott gets closer to Lucas with a smile on his face. Lucas had sat on his lap and they took two rather successful pictures. On the third one, Eliott bites Lucas' shoulder and Lucas is totally surprised. And on the last one, Lucas is clearly trying to leave while Eliott's hand is holding him back. Lucas is fuzzy but he's pretending to be scared and it's hilarious.
''We'll have to do it again sometime'' says Lucas ''They're totally cool pictures. We should have done it every year, in 50 years it would have been a great album.''
Eliott looks at the time, then shrugs his shoulders and takes Lucas' hand.
"Come on, let's do it."
Lucas looks at him wide-eyed.
''Now? What about our mess? We can't just walk away. And then..."
''We can do what we want. Every five years we'll just go there and take a series of pictures. It's kind of a fun tradition. It'll also be a nice souvenir in 50 years."
Eliott watches as Lucas hesitates for two seconds before going to the lobby to get his coat.
''Okay, let's get crazy. We can clean up after anyway. We have the whole weekend for that."
And that's how they end up hand in hand in front of the vintage photo booth. But this time, there'll be no one to take a picture of their intertwined legs sticking out of the booth. Eliott sits on the seat laughing while Lucas sits on his thighs.
''Oh, you were so much lighter five years ago.''
Lucas shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, and Eliott knows he just looked up at the sky.
''Nonsense, I've gained 2 pounds. Just 2 pounds in 5 years. Not everybody can say the same thing around here."
''Hey,'' Eliott fights back. ''I've gained muscle. I'm still as handsome as ever."
Lucas turns around a little so he can kiss him.
''You look absolutely gorgeous, Eli. Okay, here we go. This time, don't bite me."
"Promise!"
Eliott chuckles and Lucas reaches for his arm to slide the coin into the slot.
The first flash sounds as they hold each other tight. When the second photo is taken, Eliott tenderly kisses Lucas' smiling cheek.
Before the third shot is taken, Eliott opens his hand revealing two rings and shouts "Will you marry me?"
Lucas jumps so fast he drops the rings to the floor and Eliott laughs.
"What?"
And then Eliott gets up, takes Lucas' face in his hands and strokes his cheeks with his thumbs.
''You heard me, Lucas. Will you marry me?"
He wipes the tears from the corner of Lucas' eye as he smiles.
''Hell, yeah. Of course yes."
Lucas jumps on him so fast, Eliott loses his balance and they're both on the cabin floor, completely tangled up, legs out of the cabin, kissing.
Eliott fumbles around them and eventually gets both rings back.
''I'm a little selfish'' he says as Lucas helps him up ''so I bought two rings. I don't see why only the one who gets the request should get one. I want everyone to know that I'm marrying the best guy from all universes."
Lucas laughed as Eliot gently slipped the ring on his finger. He retrieves the second ring from Eliott's hand and gives him a big smile.
"Will you marry me, my love?"
And then Eliott pretends to hesitate and raises an eyebrow.
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
Lucas passes him the ring, laughing, without even waiting for another answer. They're still kissing when the machine beeps to indicate the pictures are ready.
The first two pictures are pretty good. On the third one, Eliott's hand it's open and Lucas is totally surprised. And on the last one, Lucas is blurred because he gets up. But this time, Eliott's hand does not hold him back, because Lucas is not trying to leave. This time, there's not an ounce of fear on his face, because Lucas is just happy.
And even though it's blurry, the smile on Lucas' face is just a gift.
A gift that Eliott will keep preciously in his wallet for the rest of his life. Right next to the first series of pictures that will find the place where she's been since the last 5 years...