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“Is this the only place you know?”
Ben sighs as Ricky leads the way for what seems like the hundredth time since they've met. He knew from the start that he was doomed when Donna gave this guy his number. It's been almost a year, and he wants out just as bad as he did the first day.
“No, but it's got the best fries.” Ricky grins, winking back at him as they turn the corner.
The first message he got from Ricky was the cringiest pick up line he'd ever heard, followed by a string of apologies after Ben left him on read, begging for a second chance.
please.
you're cute as hell i'll make it up to you
just one date
or meet up doesn't have to be a date
Ben was going to ghost him, but Donna had ended up scolding him into giving the douche a chance. At least, that's how Donna would describe it. Ben would say that she threatened him to do it. His life needed ‘someone loving’ in it, or whatever the hell she was talking about.
He had a feeling that ghosting Ricky in real life wasn’t going to be that easy, so he went. Fuck him.
Now, he wasn’t expecting to be taken to some fancy restaurant that only rich people could afford, but he had maybe a walk or coffee in mind. It was a stupid idea, because it was Ricky Collins of all people inviting him out, and even if he didn’t know the guy well, he could tell he was kind of a weirdo.
Instead of any of those things, Ben ends up at a small restaurant that he had never heard the name of and probably wasn’t legally allowed to be set up.
Klara’s Burgers wasn’t dirty, but it was obvious that the owner had bought a run down establishment and didn’t make too many touch ups. The food was good, at least, and there was always someone running the place. It was open 24/7, and they’ve come at nearly every hour of the day, but the faces don’t change.
“Just trust me on this.” Ricky had asked, and he had already gotten this far, so he did. It really wasn’t that bad. Just a bit overpriced for something they visited almost all the time. Sometimes, Ben wonders if Ricky was their only customer before he started coming along.
The employees seemed to know him pretty well, so he must have been a regular before he started bringing Ben along with him. The workers were nice people, though they argued with each other a lot. It only lasted a bit before someone would drag them to the back and they’d come back like they were put in time-out.
They were probably all friends or something. Everyone was somewhere between 13 and 25, which was mildly concerning, but Ricky was quick to defend it.
“They don’t let the younger ones around the food. They clean and stuff.”
Whatever. If the food was good and the place wasn’t trashy, he was fine with it. It had become tradition for them, and even if it wasn’t time for a specific meal, they’d end up grabbing something quick and talking in a booth anyway. Every now and then there’d be another table occupied, but big groups didn’t show up much.
“Hey, I was thinking…” Ricky cuts through his train of thought. Ben raises an eyebrow.
“Good job.”
“Okay, Brookie. Anyways…as much as I love KB, my wallet’s gonna be drained by the end of the month. So! I’ve devised a plan.”
“To ask for a discount? They like you, don’t they?” He asks, reaching for his own wallet. He’s paid about half the time, but Ricky always insists on being the gentleman.
Ricky pulls his arm back, grabbing his hand and swinging it as they walk instead. “Nope! We’re getting married!”
Time stops.
“What.”
“Don’t sound so upset…” Ricky mumbles, taking a few steps back from where Ben had frozen in his tracks. “Listen, it’s not for real, so don’t look like I’m forcing you into this.”
“Ricky, we’re barely out of high school.”
“I know! But I bought a ring, and if I propose, everyone will give us free food, and then probably for the rest of our lives too ‘cause we proposed in their store.”
“No one is going to believe the proposal!” Ben splutters, shaking his head furiously. “It’s going to be cringe and awkward and silent. I’m not doing this.”
“Just trust me! I’ll take the lead!”
“People tend to kiss after proposals, Ricky. We’re not dating.”
“Oh…uhm…we’ll hug. It’s gonna be super romantic.”
Ben opens his mouth, then closes it and shakes his head. “You know what? Do whatever you want. Embarrass yourself. I’m not taking accountability when they all laugh at you.”
“They wouldn’t do that!” Ricky calls as Ben continues walking. “...right?”
There’s another couple sitting down when they arrive, being attended to by Aidan, who was one of the two waiters at the place. At the register, Kia and Felix are talking to each other. Kia perks up when they walk over.
“I was wondering when you two would be back. Is it the usuals?” She asks, tapping at the screen.
“Yep!” Ricky grins, and she puts in their order. It was basic, but Ricky always got a burger, fries, and milkshake, while Ben stuck to hot dogs and occasionally a brookie (to which Ricky would always cackle).
The windows are being scrubbed by Lux, and Layne is cleaning off a recently occupied table. Basil is taking soda to the other couple.
He isn’t sure when he started learning names, but they started to stick. Each face was engraved in his mind, every voice and mannerism. He obviously hadn’t talked to the actual owner much, but he’s seen the guy around. Ricky once took him to the back to meet the workers back there, but he doesn’t see them as often as the others.
Still, probably the last place there would ever be a proposal.
It doesn’t take long for Basil to come over with their respective orders, and the two retire to the back as they start eating.
“Please tell me you’re not really going to do this.” Ben asks when Ricky stares at him expectantly.
“I’m telling you, just go with the flow! They aren’t going to hate us for ‘ruining’ the place. It’ll bring customers.”
“From a fake proposal?”
“Totally.”
This was going to be the worst day of his entire life.
Somehow, he’s convinced himself that Ricky was sincerely joking about the entire thing. That he never really had a ring in his pocket, and that he wasn’t planning on doing anything but making Ben paranoid.
Until Aidan comes to get their dishes and Ricky gets down on one knee.
He doesn’t even have time to register it before Aidan’s mouth drops, and with it, Basil’s (thankfully) empty tray.
“Oh my god Ricky just fucking proposed!”
With that, all hell breaks loose.
Kia and Felix grab each other at the register as several (which is a severe understatement, really) heads pop up from behind the doors separating them from the kitchen. With them practically piling on top of each other, Ben forces himself to glare at Ricky instead of the large growing crowd.
“What the hell are you doing?” He hisses, but Ricky just looks up at him with a cheesy grin and clears his throat. He can feel everyone surrounding them, just feet away, but he might actually die of embarrassment if he looks at them.
They’re hushing each other and whispering excitedly.
“I’ve dreamed of this day, Mena.”
“Shh, Maxy!”
“Benjamin Brookes.” Ricky begins, and Ben hears multiple giggles. “I knew from the moment I saw you that I loved you. I had previously believed that love at first sight was a cheesy myth that movies made up to hook audiences, but the second my eyes found you, I was already head over heels. Maybe it was the way you looked so done with the world. Like you didn’t want to be there. And then you smiled, and it was so soft and subtle but I could see the way your eyes brightened and my heart soared.”
The lights had dimmed and oddly fitting for a proposal. Someone’s asking for Bryce’s phone. More shoving and shushing.
“I knew that I had to make my move. And I did and I guess I did it stupidly, the way I do everything. I had to talk to your sister to get your number and I remember begging myself not to mess it up when she gave it to me. I messed up. But I made it up to you by bringing you here.”
This was getting…weirdly personal. Ben’s mouth has gone dry.
“Klara’s Burgers reminds me of a restaurant back home that my mom would take me and my sister to. It reminds me of home. And now, it reminds me of you. I’ve come here with you exactly 100 times, which is about twice a week since we’ve met. It’s tradition. It’s us. And the more I’ve come with you, the harder I’ve fallen. It’s your inability to laugh at my jokes. It’s the way you aren’t afraid to talk when it needs to be done. It’s the softness behind the hard shell you put up. It’s your care that draws me closer. That makes me love you.”
Ben thinks that someone’s crying. It’s probably the manager.
“I can’t imagine a life without you in it. I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long without you. Brookie…Ben…would you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”
The restaurant falls silent. He can’t even hear the buzz of the lights, nor a single breath being drawn.
Initially, he was going to say no and tell everyone that it was all just a joke because what the hell? Instead, Ricky was…unbelievably raw and real and if Ben was an audience member, he might have been thoroughly convinced. Also, it would be unbearably awkward if Ben rejected him.
“I will.” He breathes out, and Ricky’s grin splits his face as he jumps up to embrace him, the workers exploding into a thundering cheer.
Ricky’s grip on him releases as he slips the prettiest ring he’s ever seen onto Ben’s finger, before being bold and pressing a quick air kiss to his cheek. His lips barely brush his skin, but it sends jolts through his body regardless.
As they part, Ben can count almost twenty people, which is an insane amount for such a small store that doesn’t have many customers. They’re separated into their own groups The dishwashers (Quinn and Laurens, if he remembers correctly) are whispering to each other behind their hands, glancing at the portrait of a man labeled ‘Marx’ on the wall beside them.
The patty flipper (Lola, not his), topper (Nancy, also not the one he knows), and hot dog maker (Alorei) are laughing together, pointing at a phone. One of the shake makers, Bryce, takes his phone back, and Zai—who sits at the Drive-Thru with Maxy—looks over his shoulder at it. Maxy is grabbing the hand of Mena, who also makes the shakes. His head is spinning trying to remember names.
Lux and Layne are talking with Kia, Felix, and Basil, while Aidan joins Quinn under the painting of ‘Marx’. The supervisor, Lenny, is jumping up and down with Ami, who manages frying.
Lastly, both the alleged ‘owner’, Torlan, and manager, Karma, and standing together, with the latter wiping fake(?) tears and giggling as Torlan scrunches his nose.
He should get a prize for memorizing all these names. Seriously.
“Does this mean free dessert?” Lenny leans back to ask Torlan.
“Hell yeah.”
For a one time thing, all this felt extremely unnecessary. They do end up getting free food, and the manager promises to ask Torlan for a discount every time they visit, and to get Bryce to send them the video.
It’s dark when they finally leave, and the moment they turn the corner, both of their shoulders slump.
“That was fucking sick.” Ricky breathes out with a laugh, and Ben just groans.
“It was draining, that’s what it was. How did you even come up with all of that on the spot?”
“Oh, that? Uhh…I’m crazy at improv. I thought about it a bit while we were eating, but most of it just spilled out.”
“That was improv?”
Ricky smiles. “You doubt my abilities?”
“I doubt that you just said all that for nothing.” Ben responds.
There’s a falter in Ricky’s steps, which he quickly recovers from. “About that. I…uh…I’m coming clean about something.”
“Sure.”
“It wasn’t…well, what I mean is…” Ricky swallows thickly. “It wasn’t all fake.”
“Clearly. This ring looks pretty legit.” Ben looks down to examine the band around his finger. “Where’d you get the money for this?”
“It is legit. It’s a hand-me-down from my mom. But…not just that.”
Ben waits.
“I mean it. Every word I said. Obviously you know that I liked you when we met, but we never really talked about us after that, and I was just thinking…y’know…we’ve practically been on a hundred dates already so it wouldn’t suck to be in a relationship…?”
Huh.
What.
Was this his way of confessing?
“Yeah.”
Okay, so he said it out loud. Cool. “You mean—”
“Not that I’m asking to marry you for real! Way too soon for that, haha…but I love you. And I want to be your boyfriend.”
“Is this another prank for free shit? If it is, I swear to god—”
“It’s not!” Ricky shakes his head furiously. “Come on, I wouldn’t do that.”
“You just fake proposed for free food.”
“That’s different! We’re not at that stage yet, so obviously it wouldn’t make any sense. This is me being real because I was too much of a coward to just bring it up without reason.”
His eyes look sincere. They’re wide and there’s a hint of desperation in them. “Reject me if you want, I’m not going to force you to go out with me. Ah, maybe I read it wrong and you’ve hated me this whole time. Damn. At least I said it. Here, I’ll walk you home and—”
“No.”
“No?”
“I mean…you didn’t read it wrong.” As much as it hurt his ego to admit, Ricky had been growing on him. Quickly, easily, burrowing himself into his heart like he owned the place.
“Oh…oh, okay. Cool. So that means…”
“Yes, I’ll date you, Ricky.”
Ricky flashes him a thousand-watt smile, his face lighting up like he had won the lottery. In an instant, his arms are around Ben, picking him up and spinning him around.
“Yes!” He cheers, before slowing down and letting Ben’s feet touch the floor again. His arms are still around him, similar to how he was during the proposal. Ricky’s eyes flicker down to his lips, and slowly, Ben lets him lean in.
It’s nothing mind blowing, but Ricky’s lips are soft and mildly chapped. He isn’t insistent or quick, but instead holds him close and takes his time, like he knows Ben isn’t leaving anytime soon. Like he knows that they have time together.
It lasts nothing more than a few seconds, and yet when Ricky pulls back, his smile is lopsided and he looks like he’s hit gold.
“I’m really glad you said yes. It would be awkward to tell everyone that we broke up after an hour of engagement.” He whispers, and Ben scoffs.
“Is that what this is for?”
“What? No! I love you.” He takes a step back, grabbing Ben’s hand for the second time that day to swing while they walk.
“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.”