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“Up and at ‘em, sleepyhead!” Tim called as he opened the door. Jon groaned, burying his head in the pillows. Tim opened the curtains to let in the sunlight.
“C’mon, babe. We’ve got plans for the day.” Tim said in a softer voice, sitting on the edge of the bed. Jon peeked up at him, opening one eye. His hair was almost glowing from the way the sun hit it, one side of his face a warm gold. He was looking down at Jon with such soft affection Jon couldn’t help but smile. Tim returned the smile, brushing some of Jon’s hair out of his face. He’d gone to bed with it damp so it was extra curly.
“What sort of plans?” Jon asked, his voice rough and horse from sleep.
“Well, I can’t tell you that, it’s a surprise!”
Jon rolled his eyes. He didn’t like surprises much. They always made him nervous.
“You’ll like it, I promise.” Tim kissed Jon’s temple. “Now get up and get dressed.” Tim stood and walked over to their chest of drawers, leaning against it.
“Fine.” Jon sighed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, Tim’s t-shirt hanging loosely off his thin frame. “Is there a dress code?” He asked. Tim hummed in thought.
“Comfortable. But beautiful. Not hard for you. ” Tim winked. Jon laughed, rolling his eyes again.
“Alright. Will you do my hair for me?”
“I’d love to.” Tim beamed. Jon nodded and got to his feet, rummaging around for something to wear. He settled on a white button down with a few buttons left open for his scars to peek out, tucked into a long army green skirt, a thick belt round his waist to keep it all nicely in place. He turned to Tim when he was dressed, gesturing to his outfit. He grinned, kissing Jon on the forehead.
“It’s perfect.” Jon laughed at the excessive show of affection.
“Thanks? You’re acting weirdly...romantic, Tim.”
“What do you mean, weirdly romantic?” Tim asked, resting his arms on Jon’s shoulders, his hand on his wrist behind Jon’s head.
“You know, all this .”
“What, can't a man show affection for his boyfriend?” Tim asked, cocking his head to the side, poorly feigning innocence. Jon stared at him in suspicion. Tim laughed.
“Alright, alright. I just had a cute date idea, okay? Thought it’d be fun.” He conceded.
“Care to tell me what it is?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise .” Tim replied. He took Jon by the shoulders and led him to their vanity, sitting him down in front of the mirror. “I’ll do your hair and then I’ll show you what it is.”
Jon sighed, but it was hard to be frustrated when Tim was being so sweet. And he did love when people played with his hair, especially Tim. He was always so gentle.
Tim hummed while he worked, making a few small plaits in random spots along Jon’s hairline. Jon switched between closing his eyes to enjoy the sensation and watching Tim in the mirror. He had an expression of concentration, biting his lip when he was trying to figure out the best spot to work with next. When he was satisfied with the number of plaits, he pulled back the top section and secured it with an elastic. He tied a ribbon that matched Jon’s skirt around the elastic to hide it. He leant back to look at it in full and made eye contact with Jon in the mirror.
“Perfect.” He breathed, hugging him from behind. Jon laughed softly, leaning into the hug.
“Alright,” Tim started, kissing Jon on the cheek and standing upright. He held out a hand. “Let’s get going, then.”
“You still haven’t told me what’s in the basket, Tim.” Jon whined. They were walking somewhere , Tim swinging their hands between them with a basket in his other hand and a messenger bag slung across his body. The lid to the basket was closed.
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
“When we get where ?”
“You’ll find out when we get there!” Tim laughed. Jon groaned. “We’re almost there.”
True to his word, Tim led Jon off the pavement a few minutes later, turning down a path into a park. Obviously . Jon almost laughed aloud. Where else would they be going with a basket?
They walked into the trees, following a thin path that had been worn down by people wandering through. A little ways in they took a smaller branch off the “main path” that led them to a small clearing. It was quite picturesque: walled in by trees, little flowers on the edges of the clearing, sunlight streaming in from the gap in the trees.
Tim let go of Jon’s hand and pulled the bag off his shoulder, pulling out a blanket. He spread it out on the grass and sat on it. He opened up the basket and began to set out the food. He looked up at Jon.
“Surprise! A picnic. Aren’t you going to sit?” He asked. Jon had been lost in thought, too focused on how much he loved Tim to remember to sit. He laughed and sat across from Tim on the blanket.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, babe. Take this.” Tim held out a wine glass. Jon took it, but before Tim removed his hand he pulled Jon’s hand to his lips, gently kissing his knuckles. He grinned at Jon’s giggle and let go of the glass to keep unpacking. Jon watched the array of items spread out between them. There was a bowl filled with berries, some pastries Jon recognised having come from his favourite bakery nearby, a large bottle of juice Tim was currently pouring into their wine glasses, and a container full of little sandwiches.
“Tim… this is…” Jon didn’t even know where to start.
“Unfinished, is what it is.” Tim replied, placing the bottle back in the basket. Jon could now see there were some plastic baggies inside filled with ice to keep everything cool.
“Hm?” Jon asked. Tim got up and walked over to the edge of the clearing, picking a handful of flowers.
“For you, darling.” Tim grinned, handing them to Jon as he sat back down. Jon took the flowers, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
“Thank you.” He said softly. He tucked a daisy behind his ear and placed the rest in front of him on the blanket. “This is wonderful , Tim. You were right, I do love the surprise.”
“Sorry, what was that? Didn’t catch that.”
“Don’t push your luck, Stoker.”
They laughed.
“Well, tuck in!” Tim grinned, reaching for a sandwich.
They ate, chatted, and laughed for a while. They continued to snack while Tim threaded flowers into Jon’s hair, Jon feeding Tim berries while he worked. Tim let Jon ramble about whatever topics he had on his mind, interjecting at all the right points with encouraging responses.
“Thank you again, Tim. I did hate the suspense but I will admit the surprise did make up for it.”
“Of course, Jon. Though… this isn’t your whole surprise.”
“It isn’t… what?” Jon asked, baffled. Tim moved out from behind Jon where he’d been kneeling, going over to his bag. He looked noticeably flustered, far from his usual casual demeanour. Come to think of it, he’d seemed a bit off all day. What was he up to?
Tim turned back to face Jon with his hands behind his back, sitting on his legs.
“Jon.” He said. He looked nervous.
“... Tim.” Jon replied, unsure of how he should be reacting.
“We met...what, like 6 years ago? We’ve had quite a time over the years. A lot of nonsense in between, but it was all worth it for this. This afternoon, this...perfect human being sitting in front of me. That look! All worth it for that look alone.” Tim laughed. Said look was a stare of confused admiration. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
“For you. I love you, Jon. More than you could ever know. But I’d like to spend the rest of my life trying to show you anyway.” At this, he pulled out a small box from behind his back and knelt properly on one knee. Jon covered his mouth with his hands. The tears he had been holding in spilled down his cheeks. Tim opened the box to reveal a ring.
“Will you marry me?” Tim asked, clearly biting back tears himself. Jon threw his arms around Tim’s neck, sobbing with joy.
“Yes, yes, yes.” he muttered over and over, nodding and kissing Tim’s cheek in between each word. It took Tim a second to react, hugging Jon back just as hard, crying into his shoulder.
“Oh, the ring!” Tim laughed, so caught up in the euphoria he almost forgot about it. They pulled away from each other only as far as they had to. Tim took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Jon’s finger. Jon stared at it for a moment. It was beautiful, though it was simple. Tim knew Jon preferred it that way. It had a plain gold band that broke up into strands that were woven together around small green gemstones- jade, he presumed- coming together In the centre to wind around a small, round diamond. It was perfect.
“I love you.” He sighed around the lump in his throat.
“I love you too.” Tim sniffled, wiping away Jon’s tears. Tim pulled a pack of tissues out of the basket. “Thought we might need these.”
“You really thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“Sasha and Martin helped with the brainstorming.” Tim admitted with a chuckle.
“Remind me to thank them.” Jon asked, kissing Tim on the cheek. He looked back down at the ring on his hand, twisting his hand to see it catch the light.
“It’s so beautiful… almost as beautiful as my fiance .” Jon said, trying out the word. Tim’s face lit up.
“You think he’s pretty? You should see my fiance.” He replied, taking Jon’s hand.
Jon laughed.
“So… Anyplace you’d like to go now that we’re stuck together for good?” Tim asked, gesturing with their intertwined hands.
“We’re going to have to have everyone over tomorrow, right?”
“Oh for sure, there’s no way they’re not going to throw us a party.”
“I thought so. Quiet dinner at a restaurant and a nice bubble bath then?”
“Sounds perfect.” Tim smiled.
“I love you, my betrothed .” Jon smirked, kissing him on the cheek.
“I love you too, dork.” Tim laughed, gently catching his chin with his free hand. He tilted Jon’s face towards himself, kissing him on the lips. Their smiles made it hard to kiss properly, but they didn’t care. They had the rest of their lives to practice.