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“It’s just not fair!” Maria cried, her head falling into her folded arms on the table in front of her. Her tall glass of beer swayed uncertainly. “Why do they care so much, anyway? So what if I’m not married yet, I’m still young, I have time!”
A comforting hand rubbed soft circles into her back as she whined. “You do have time, and it’s not their business. They’re worried, I get it, but that’s still not fair to you at all.”
“Right!” She shot back up, the hand on her back jolting back in surprise. “I wish I had a way to shut them up. It’s not like I have anyone to marry, though. Because that would just be too convenient, wouldn’t it?” She sighed.
“It could be that convenient if you wanted it to be, y’know.”
“Like how?” Maria sputtered. “Marry some stranger? Pio, I’m not that desperate.”
He shook his head quickly. “No, no, not like that.”
Doppio’s fingers met her chin, turning her now crimson face to meet his own. It sent shockwaves through her body, mixing with the alcohol in a dizzying embrace.
“What are-”
“I meant me, Maririn,” he clarified, smiling like a child opening their birthday presents. “I’ll happily volunteer myself for the position, if you’ll have me.”
Her mouth gaped open, floundering for a few seconds, struggling to formulate a reply. “You- I- what? You want to- what? ”
“Do you have any better options?”
“Well, no, but-”
“I can cook, clean, drive you around wherever you want to go, rewatch Aikatsu with you as many times as you want, and I’m as loyal as a dog so you’ll never have to worry about me cheating or running off somewhere without you.”
Maria sucked in a sharp breath. Had his eyes always been that bright?
“I think you won me over.”
“Perfect answer,” Doppio sang. “I’d take that as a yes and run off with you to the courthouse right now if I could, but,” he sighed dramatically. “You’ve had a little too much to drink, so I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”
“That’s not fair, why’d you ask me now, then?” She pouted.
He dropped his hand from her chin and ruffled her hair, earning a surprised squeak from the poor girl. “To see if you’d say yes. And also because your reactions are adorable. I can’t help myself, sorry.”
“You’re not sorry at all, you liar!”
“Nope. Not one bit.”
Maria mumbled out a string of expletives and sunk her head back onto the cold table.
꒰ঌ ໒꒱
“So?”
Maria stood in her doorway, still in her pajamas with a pair of fluffy pink slippers adorning her sore feet. “So…? Doppio, it’s seven in the morning.”
“I said I’d ask again tomorrow, and it’s tomorrow now, so I’m asking again.” The tall man leaned casually against the doorframe, like this was the most normal thing in the world.
Oh.
OH.
“You mean about the, uh, marriage thing?” She blurted.
His dopey smile was blinding to her blearly hungover eyes. “What else?”
She half-expected her mind to be racing, or for there to be some level of confusion, but there wasn’t. Just an empty head and a clear answer.
“I still want to do it,” she declared. “But, I have one very important condition.”
“Uh oh, that sounds scary. But, I’m super brave, so name it!” Doppio yelped.
“Make me breakfast first. I’m not signing documents on an empty stomach.”
He visibly relaxed at the simple request. “I’ll make you breakfast every morning for the rest of our lives if you ask me to.”
Maria nearly swooned. “Just get in here already!”
“Yes ma’am, happily.”
Doppio took her outstretched hand, kicked off his shoes, and let himself get pulled into a bright new future.