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It had been over five minutes since L had first knocked on his door, and Light was still deciding on which shirt to wear.
At this rate, they’d miss their reservations at the restaurant and end up ordering some crappy fast food instead. Although, with L being as addicted to junk food as he is, Light didn’t think it’d be a bad idea.
“Light, is everything okay in there?” L called through the door, peering down at the watch on his wrist.
“Mhm! I’ll be out in a minute!” Light lied through his teeth, knowing damn well he’d take longer than a minute. He frantically tried to decide between two different coloured shirts. He had no clue which one ‘suited’ the mood better, but he did remember that L had once said that the deep navy shade complimented his auburn eyes and hair, so he hurriedly slipped it on and smoothed out the newfound creases.
“Do I need to come in there and help you?”
“Hell no!” he yelled back.
He would ‘distract’ him for the next several hours, and then they’d without a doubt miss their dinner reservations.
After he had checked the mirror for the umpteenth time that evening, he finally clasped the last thing he needed and delicately popped it into a pocket in his trousers. A small, velvety box, which he had been trying his hardest to ignore for the past week. Hopefully, the box will be empty of its contents by the end of the night.
He drew in a shaky breath and flung the door open, his keen eyes landing on L, who was leaning against the wall with a tedious grin. Heat rose to Light’s cheeks at the sight of him. He was donning a creamy button-down shirt that had classy buttons sewn onto it, with sleek cerulean slacks and polished leather shoes.
Light racked his brain, but he couldn’t say that he had ever caught a glimpse of his boyfriend so dashingly dressed. Hell, he had seen his wardrobe before, and he had never noticed any other garments besides his infamous ill-fitting shirts and faded blue jeans. And shoes weren’t even a thing to him.
"Took your time in there, didn’t you?” L teased, springing Light from his train of thought.
“Yeah, well, I was trying to outdress you, but it seems that I failed, huh?” Light said with a sarcastic eye roll, before wrapping his arms around L’s waist and pressing him into a kiss. L gently tugged at the collar of Light’s shirt, further mashing their lips together.
L pulled away and rested his forehead against Light’s. “I can’t help but imagine what you look like under all that clothing, though,” he murmured against Light’s sinuous lips.
“Oh?” Light hummed, gazing into L’s midnight eyes before a smirk cinched his lips. “Well, you know what they say, anything for the birthday boy.”
“But for now, we are going to be late to dinner, so, chop-chop, let’s go," he drawled as he pulled out his car keys. Light grinned at his boyfriend's punctuality and extended his arm out, which L happily took. They strode down to the car, L taking the wheel.
Light couldn’t help but shift his hand to that stupid little box in his pocket. He tried to focus on whatever words were slipping past L’s lips. However, his eyes kept wandering back to L’s bare ring finger, which he yearned to have a ring on in the next few hours.
Hopefully.
Once L had killed the car engine and they made their way into the garish restaurant, they took their seats, ordered their food, and then a realization dawned on Light.
“Isn’t this the place where we came on our first date, five years ago?” Light asked, faintly knitting his brows together.
A chuckle escaped L’s lips. “Why else do you think this is my favourite restaurant, darling?”
“True, I honestly expected you to want to go to some type of cake store, and you truly shocked me when you named this place instead.”
L pouted. “Aw, does that mean we can’t get cake afterwards?"
“I never said that,” Light grinned, lacing his fingers through L’s hand underneath the table. “But we can’t have you getting sick on your birthday, right?”
"I suppose so," L muttered, his lips curling into a smile that made Light blush.
Damn him. Damn him and his adorable little smile that made Light blush like a schoolgirl every single fucking time.
“Seriously, every time we come here, I forget just how good this food is.” L said suddenly, his eyes bright and gleeful.
“Is it better than strawberry shortcake?” Light remarked, poking his fork into his food.
“Nothing is better than cake, Light.” As Light had expected him to say. “Well… except for the man sitting across from me, of course.”
There it was again. L’s smooth fucking flirting that, without fail, always made Light’s heart melt like warm butter.
“I don’t know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge when you say shit like that,” Light sighed and buried his flushed face in his hands.
L gave a knowing grin.“Can I pick?”
~
After they had finished their dinner and were waiting on the dessert, the nerves began to somersault in Light's tummy. No matter how hard he tried, his mind only seemed to think of all the shit that could go wrong tonight. Of course, he had watched several proposal videos before today to prepare, but that fact alone didn't ease the butterflies in his stomach.
He had even rounded up the advice from his totally-not-the-brightest best friend, Matsuda, who had just told him to 'be himself.' Light had scoffed in his face.
Yeah, like that was going to charm L into marrying him.
He wondered if he would be one of the dumbasses who dropped the ring, or if he would be the type to speak so quickly that not even he could understand the gibberish that was spilling from his mouth. Or, worst of all, he prayed to God that he wouldn’t be the man who gets rejected in front of an entire crowd.
Or perhaps he was just overthinking it entirely.
“What are you thinking about?” L piped up, piercing his curious eyes through Light.
Damn him and his ability to read Light like an open book. This was the problem of having a genius for a boyfriend. No matter how hard you tried to bury your thoughts, it was as if they were written all over your face. Or maybe it was the way that he was nervously dwindling his thumbs that gave him away. Or perhaps it had something to do with the scarlet tint on his cheeks.
Thankfully, the waiter came back and set down the last bottle of champagne and an enormous strawberry and chocolate cake; which saved him from having to answer L’s question. For a few seconds, that is.
“So? Something I should know about?” L chided as he dug a fork into his cake. “Not good to keep secrets, you know, love.”
Light sighed. Fuck it. It was now or never. They had been dating for just over five years, it was L's birthday, so what better time to do it than today? He ignored the way his stomach churned with nausea and combed a hand through his hair. “Well, I guess I… kind of- got you something?” he stammered, inwardly cursing himself for sounding so hopelessly flustered.
“Uh… okay?” L blinked. “That’s not something to be so coy over, darling.”
“No no, that’s not just it,” Light said. He swallowed his fear, pulled out the daunting box, and got down on one knee. Though he became very much aware of the way that the restaurant had gone dead fucking silent. Now the spotlight was sorely on him, and he could not fuck this up.
"L Lawliet..." he shakily began, "I'm not good at this type of stuff... and whether you say yes or no, I'm still going to need help getting back up," he softly chuckled. "But anyway... you are the only man who has ever made my cheeks ache from smiling so much before... and you're the only person whose smile I want to see every day... and maybe for the rest of our lives too?"
L’s mouth was firmly clamped shut. He seemed to be speechless, and that was not a good sign. Light panicked. “That is, if you say yes, of course-”
L interrupted his rambling with a wide grin. “Yes, Light, of course I’ll marry you.”
The hushed atmosphere of the restaurant quickly exploded into booming applause.
“Oh, thank god, I thought you’d say no for a second there,” joked Light, who was barely breathing at this point.
"Now why on earth would I say no to the most handsome and smartest man I know?" L muttered against his lips as he drew him into another tender kiss.
The wait staff trodded over and extended their congratulations, along with an extra two slices of strawberry shortcake, which Light had requested when booking a spot for the restaurant. Both the men wore beaming smiles on their faces as they left the building, hands intertwined tightly together. Light subconsciously traced his thumb over the top of the diamond ring, each time a new sensation of warmth fluttering in his stomach.
As they approached the car, Light's lips dissolved against L's mouth.
"Without a doubt," L whispered once they parted, "this is the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you, Light."