Work Text:
(1) The restaurant won’t accept the reservation - Valentine’s Day
Lewis was determined that he was going to propose on Valentine’s Day. He had bought the ring before Christmas but couldn’t work up the courage to actually propose to Seb on Christmas Day. He had a feeling that Seb would be annoyed at him for proposing on Christmas Day or even Valentine’s Day but he had made up his mind. They didn’t usually make big romantic gestures to each other on Valentine’s Day but Lewis had managed to convince Seb to go out for dinner. He had picked out a restaurant in Monaco and it would be one of their last few days together before they were due to travel to Barcelona for pre-season testing.
The couple arrived at the restaurant and they were greeted by a male host.
“Good evening, gentlemen, how may I help you?”
“I have a booking for two under the name ‘Hamilton’.” Replied Lewis.
The host was looking up the booking system on the computer and he frowned as he tried to find Lewis’ name. Lewis could sense that something was wrong.
“Did you book a table with us, sir?”
“Yes, I booked it like a week ago.”
The host continued to search through the various bookings that they had but when Lewis heard him sigh, he could tell that it wasn’t good.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t find your name on the system. We are fully booked so I’m afraid I can’t offer you a table, it is Valentine’s Day after all.”
Lewis glared at the man.
“I booked the table a week ago, check your system again.” Insisted Lewis.
The man stared at Lewis.
“Sir, I have been checking for you and I can't find your name on our system.”
“Well, it’s not my fault that you can’t find my name, I did book a table.”
Seb placed a hand on Lewis’ arm.
“Lewis, I don’t think we’re going to get a table tonight, let’s just go home.”
Lewis sighed and nodded. Seb looked at the host and smiled.
“I am really sorry, sir.” Said the host.
Seb shook his head.
“These things happen, have a good night.”
Seb and Lewis left the restaurant and the Brit couldn’t help but complain about the situation.
“It was like he was calling me a liar, I made the booking a week ago because I’m not stupid, it’s Valentine’s Day so obviously it was going to be busy.”
Seb smiled and placed a hand on Lewis’ shoulder. His boyfriend immediately stopped complaining.
“Let’s just go home and get a takeaway.” Suggested Seb.
Lewis smiled and nodded.
They returned to Lewis’ apartment and managed to order a takeaway for the night. Once the takeaway had arrived, they settled down with their food and put a film on. Lewis knew that he could propose in the comfort of his own apartment but he chose not to. He wanted it to be perfect, Seb deserved a special and perfect proposal.
(2) Lewis & Seb go for a hike- Seb twists his ankle
Why Lewis figured that proposing during a hike in Monaco was a good thing was a great question. He had a plan to hike to the top of Monaco with Seb and drop down on one knee as they reached the top whilst Seb was enjoying the view. He did enjoy Monaco as much as Lewis but he wouldn’t admit it because he did love Switzerland and Lewis knew this.
They were spending time together after the first round of pre-season testing and they were due to return to Barcelona for another round of testing. They had decided to go back to Monaco for a bit but they were training most of the time.
The couple went out before lunch and they managed to make it to the top of the hill. Lewis had to keep quiet for most of the hike because the ring box was practically digging into his hip. He was behind Seb as the German was admiring the scenery around him. He turned around away from Seb to try and get the box out of his pocket. Behind him, he heard a thud and it was closely followed by a grunt. As Lewis turned around, he was shocked to see Seb on the ground clutching his ankle. He rushed over to him and crouched down next to him.
“What’s wrong?” Asked Lewis, frantically.
“I think I’ve twisted my ankle.” Replied Seb.
“What did you do?”
“I wanted to go down the other side of the hill but I tripped over a log and landed awkwardly.”
Lewis sighed.
“You idiot.”
Seb chuckled.
“I like to keep you on your toes.”
“Yeah but Ferrari are going to kill me if you’ve broken your ankle.”
“It’s not broken.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Lewis somehow managed to get Seb to his feet and he wrapped one arm around his waist whilst he took the other and placed it around his shoulder and held onto Seb’s wrist. They made the slow journey back down the hill and towards Lewis’ apartment.
Thankfully, Seb hadn’t broken his ankle, he had only twisted it.
Lewis shook his head as he looked down at Seb who was now lying on the sofa with his ankle wrapped in ice and held up. His eyes narrowed as Seb smiled innocently up at him.
“Can you get me some tea, please?”
(3) Lewis’ dad interrupts their night in- Silverstone weekend
Lewis knew that once the season started that he probably wouldn’t get the right moment to propose. That was until they were sitting in Lewis’ apartment in London after the race at Silverstone. The Brit had won the race but hadn’t been in the mood to go out and celebrate like he used to do. He just wanted a quiet night in with Seb.
The two of them were eating a meal together at the dining room table and it felt right for Lewis to propose because he came to the realisation that Seb didn’t need a big night out. He would be happy for Lewis to propose in bed if he really wanted to, at least Lewis did hope that Seb wanted to marry him but he was sure he did.
Lewis coughed awkwardly and caught Seb’s attention but then he realised that he couldn’t do a speech without the ring.
“Seb-”
Lewis couldn’t carry on with his speech because his dad chose that very moment to come in.
“Hey, boys! I know you don’t want to go out and party so I thought I would bring the party to you.” Said Anthony, happily.
Anthony had a plastic bag that had alcohol in it and he pulled out a bottle of beer. Seb smiled at Anthony and then he smiled across the table at Lewis. His boyfriend forced a smile onto his face unaware that Anthony had just ruined the moment.
Later that night, Lewis pulled his dad to the side when Seb wasn’t paying attention.
“Dad, you interrupted me!”
Anthony frowned.
“What?”
Lewis rolled his eyes.
“I was going to propose to Seb until you came bursting into the room.”
Anthony’s frown turned into a smile.
“Congratulations!”
“I haven’t proposed yet.”
Anthony shrugged.
“You’ll get the chance.”
He patted Lewis’ back before he went in search of Seb who was in the lounge. Lewis just huffed.
(4) Seb gets seasick on boat- summer break
Lewis then decided that he was going to propose to Seb during the summer break. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t get the chance to do anything during the second half of the season if he didn’t propose soon. He had it all sorted. He had made up a picnic and he was taking Seb out on his yacht and they would travel along the French Riviera after Lewis had proposed.
What Lewis didn’t take into consideration was that Seb was feeling slightly unwell and so when Lewis told Seb that they were going out on the yacht, Seb didn’t argue.
The German didn’t have much for breakfast but Lewis hadn’t been paying attention. He had spent most of the morning prepping the picnic and thinking about his speech.
The trip went off without a hitch although Seb was quiet and yet, Lewis didn’t think much of it.
Five minutes went past and Lewis smiled over at Seb.
“Enjoying the ride?”
Seb smiled a little and nodded. His stomach then took a turn and he reached over the side of the yacht and threw up. Lewis immediately stopped the yacht and rushed over to Seb’s side. The German slumped against Lewis’ chest.
“Seb, what’s the matter?” Asked Lewis, worriedly.
“I’m not feeling too good.” Mumbled Seb.
Lewis sighed.
“You should’ve said.”
“You had the day planned out, I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Lewis rolled his eyes, trust his boyfriend to keep quiet.
Thankfully, Seb didn’t throw up again so Lewis passed over a bottle of water and he managed to have a little drink.
They did manage to enjoy their day out at sea and enjoy the scenery of Monaco from the yacht. Lewis knew that he couldn’t propose since Seb didn’t feel great so it was back to the drawing board in terms of finding the right moment.
(5) Lewis loses the ring in Singapore
Lewis had found a great restaurant for Seb and himself to go to in Singapore. He had arranged for himself and Seb to spend another night in Singapore ahead of the GP since they would often travel home right after the debrief on race day. He had told Seb about it and his boyfriend liked the look of the restaurant and they would be able to spend an extra night together.
Lewis had chucked the ring box in his bag earlier and then when he had finished with debrief, he went out to the car and dumped the bag in the boot before he jumped in the driver’s seat. He then waited for Seb to arrive. Eventually, Seb turned up and jumped into the passenger seat. He smiled and leaned across to kiss Lewis’ cheek. They had both made the time to get ready in hospitality before they had left for the night.
The Brit drove Seb to the restaurant but when they arrived, he didn’t let Seb leave the car immidalet.y
“Give me two minutes.”
Seb frowned but nodded. Lewis then headed to the boot of the car and grabbed his bag. He tried to find the ring box. It was easier said than done when everything and anything was in it. It was probably sitting at the bottom of the bag. After five minutes of searching, Seb turned around in the passenger seat and called out to Lewis.
“Everything okay back there?”
Lewis held back a sigh.
“Fine!”
He slammed the boot down in defeat before he opened the door for Seb and then led him into the restaurant.
Since they were sharing a hotel room together, Lewis didn’t have the chance to search for the ring box. It wasn’t until Seb fell asleep that he grabbed the bag and rushed into the bathroom to hide. He literally had to pull everything out and then the box fell out. It had been hiding in the bottom of the bag as Lewis had imagined. He sighed. He had the worst luck.
(Plus 1) Seb proposes on morning of Prize Giving 6th Dec 2019
Lewis reached a point where he would just have to propose at Christmas. There was never a right moment or things were getting in the way. He would have to wait. Then again, he began to think about how things could potentially go wrong when it came to Christmas.
The season went back and Lewis won another world championship.
In comparison to last year, Seb would not be attending the Prize Giving in Paris because he hadn’t won nor finished P2 or P3 in the driver standings. He still insisted on travelling to Paris with Lewis but he would be staying in the hotel for the night whilst Lewis would be out enjoying his night.
Lewis was in for a surprise on the morning of Prize Giving. Breakfast was already on the table when he woke up and he wasn’t entirely surprised to find that Seb had organised it and had managed to get the food into the room without waking him up.
They were sitting at the table eating breakfast and at one point, Seb couldn’t help but admire Lewis whilst he was holding his mug of tea. Lewis looked up at him and smiled.
“What?”
Seb put down the mug.
“You know I love you, right?”
Lewis nodded quickly.
“Of course I do.”
Seb smiled and then he went over to his side of the bed and opened the drawer then pulled something out but Lewis couldn’t see what it was because Seb was hiding it. The German made his way back to his seat whilst hiding something behind his back. He continued to smile at Lewis and then he pulled his arm out and there in his hand was a black ring box identical to the one that Lewis had. Seb opened up the box to reveal a silver ring, similar to the one that Lewis had bought for Seb although Lewis’ ring was thicker and not a plain band. Lewis stared at the ring.
“Lewis, I love you and I’ve loved you for years. We’ve been through everything together and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us-”
“Wait.”
Seb frowned as Lewis interrupted him. The Brit took a deep breath.
“You’re telling me that I’ve tried to propose to you on more than one occasion and you think you’re going to have it so easy that you can just propose right now?”
Seb was confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“Seb, I bought the ring before Christmas, I’ve tried to propose to you on more than one occasion and it’s never gone to plan.”
“When?”
Lewis huffed.
“I was going to propose on Valentine’s Day but we couldn’t get the reservation. You twisted your ankle on the day we went out on the hike and I was going to propose at the top of the hill. My dad interrupted us in my apartment after the race in Silverstone. You weren’t feeling well that day we went out on the yacht and then I thought I lost the ring when we went out for dinner in Singapore but it turned out that the box was at the bottom of my bag.”
Lewis was now out of breath. Seb tilted his head and smiled softly at Lewis.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Maybe, we can do it together and call it even?”
Lewis liked that suggestion but he didn’t have the ring on him.
“Wait.”
He jumped up and went to his side of the bed and pulled out the ring box from the bedside table and returned quickly to the table. He opened it up and Seb had tears in his eyes as he stared at the ring. Seb’s eyes then met Lewis’ gaze and he nodded.
“Lewis.”
“Seb.”
“Will you marry me?” They both asked.
Seb chuckled and Lewis couldn’t stop smiling.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
They both pulled out the rings and held out their hands so that they could place the rings on their fingers. Lewis then leaned across the table and pulled Seb in for a kiss. When they ran out of breath, they rested their foreheads together.
“Happy now?” Asked Seb, cheekily.
Lewis laughed.
“Very.”