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They hadn’t really talked about their future together. They hadn’t thought about it since they got to California because they were more focused on the moment. Well, they had joked around about it once when Ethan asked Lex if she wanted to get married for taxes and she slapped him on the back of his head, “If you don’t at least try to be romantic I’ll beat your ass.” They’d done the same thing with kids, joked around about it but never really sat down and had a conversation about it.
Ethan knew he wanted to marry Lex, he knew this from the get-go, it was just a matter of how. He had already gotten a ring from a pawn shop, actually Hannah picked it out because she said that a Ring Pop was too immature. Hannah helped him while Lex was working, but she was sworn to secrecy (a pinky promise was a binding agreement in the Foster-Green apartment).
He was worried, something he wasn’t often once he got to California. He was worried that she’d say no, that this would ruin their relationship. What if she wasn’t ready? What if she wasn’t ready and he was rushing things too fast? Or what if she didn’t want to get married and he read things wrong? He thought- He hoped that they were on the same page, but Lex was never one to be predictable.
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Lex knew something was wrong with Ethan, he’d been acting weird. Whenever she tried to find something in the drawers he’d push her out of the way and find it for her. She’d ask him about it but he’d say that he had a new system of organization, which definitely wasn’t true. He’d never been known to organize anything and he was also a shitty liar. The question was just why, why wouldn’t he tell her what was in the sock drawer. Did he buy new socks that he knew she’d hate or something? It was dumb to hide that from her, but Ethan was an idiot sometimes too so it wasn’t too far out of an idea.
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Whatever it was he was really testing her patience on this one and he knew it. He knew that she was catching on so he tried to do it as soon as possible. That was what it said online, once you have the ring you have to do it quickly, or else they’ll get bored. Ethan knew that Lex probably wouldn’t get bored of him in the next few days, hopefully. So he scheduled it for that weekend when they went out to dinner.
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The night had finally come. Hannah had agreed to wait in the car while Ethan made Lex go with him to look at the sunset, despite her protests he dragged her out of the car and sent Hannah a wink.
They walked for about 10 minutes when Lex pulled on his arm, “Can we go back now? It’s really beautiful, but it’s also fucking freezing,”
Ethan kissed the top of her head, “Just a little bit longer and then we can go back. Do you want my jacket?” Lex groaned but nodded and draped the jacket on her shoulders. That was how she usually wore it because otherwise it would probably fly off of her.
Ethan continued dragging her along until they reached a little cave at the edge of the beach. Lex glared at him, letting go of his arm to look into the cave, “This is what you wanted to show me so bad, a fucking cave?”
He continued smiling as he looked around in the sand, “Yeah, but also look at these shells. They’re so weird,” Lex furrowed her eyebrows but squatted down in the sand and picked up one he pointed out. She stood up as she dusted it off. She held the shell in one hand and carefully pulled something out of it with the other, “Holy shit! This is a fucking ring, imagine being the sad sap who-“ When she looked back at him laughing he was on one knee looking up at her. She shook her head in disbelief.
“Lex Foster, the love of my life, my best friend. Even though it took you like 2 years to let me call you my girlfriend, will you do me the honor of calling you my wife?” She just stared at him silently, “That was a joke I don’t have to call you my wife if you-“
“God, you’re such a dumbass. Yes. A fucking million times, yes” Ethan slowly put the ring on her finger and she wiped her tears away with her other hand. He stood up with a dumb smile and she immediately crashed her lips into his. The kiss lasted around 2 minutes before he pulled away and pecked her on the cheek, “Hannah’s still in the car, babe. We’ve gotta get back,”
Lex shoved the shell in Ethan’s jacket pocket, “Oh shit, yeah,”
This time Ethan was being dragged across the beach. When they got back to the car, Hannah was sitting in the back with his phone in her hands. He unlocked the car and the older sister immediately started rambling about the ring and showing it to Hannah. She continuously asked questions about it but he ignored them and looked at her as he drove. She looked happier than he’d ever seen her. His mind shifted back to all the times she’d jump in his car with an annoyed look on her face, usually With a bandage in her arm.
Hannah almost immediately passed out once she got to the apartment, but Lex and Ethan stayed in their room, more energized than usual.
“So, what do we do now?” She hadn’t stopped smiling since she left the car and was playing around with her ring.
“If I’m being honest, I have no idea. I was just kind of waiting for you to say yes before I thought of anything else.” He leaned into her and buried his face into his shoulder.
Lex scoffed, “Well, we don’t have anyone to come to a big wedding, also that sounds like fucking hell. Should we just like, go to the courthouse? Sign the licenses and that’s it,”
He hummed into her collarbone and moved his head so he could speak clearer, “Well, I think that we should go to the courthouse, but I know Hannah was really excited about the flowers. So maybe we could make it a little bit of a bigger deal, like we could go out to a little dinner afterwards or something. We have a little while to plan it though,” She nodded in agreement and yawned, which made sense. It had been quite a long day, so they decided to shut in. Ethan barely slept, he’d been anticipating this for so long and it would finally happen.
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It was 3 weeks later when they could finally call each other husband and wife, except they didn’t really. Nothing changed with their relationship, just the fact that it was just a little harder to break up. At the “ceremony” which was really just a random judge in city hall telling them that they were married, Hannah threw a flower that Ethan got her and Lex laughed. She didn’t change her last name and they didn't tell anyone except for Mr. Houston. He sent them a check for a hundred dollars which was one of the sweetest things anyone who was still in Hatchetfield had ever done.
They went out to dinner afterwards at a diner down the street from the apartment. It was nice, but it was the same as it had always been. Hannah sitting next to Lex with Ethan on the other side of the booth. He’d always play Tic-Tac-Toe with Hannah on a napkin, he’d let her win just to see the smile on her face. He would try and hold Lex’s hand under the table just to see her laugh and roll her eyes before kicking his shins. Whenever he looked at her he could still feel the butterflies in his stomach that he felt when he first saw her smile.
It was the way it always was with them. Perfect.