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It’s nightfall on Varadero Beach, and the sand gets between the crevices of Keith’s feet as Lance drags him forward, laughter like bells in the wind, brown locks whipping back gracefully— as if even nature itself has come to bask in his beauty.
“Hurry up!” the man laughs. “Ronnie and Axca are gonna beat our asses!”
Keith grinned with him, wide and breathless, pushing himself forward to match his speed.
They had run off after pushing the two into the water after a round of exchanging stories on the shore, a little encouragement to get them moving along with their relationship.
Behind them, the victims in question yell and curse (mostly Veronica), promising a brutal duel to the death, Veronica and his brother first with Acxa and Keith as their seconds. Lance clings to his hand, effortlessly sprinting away until the lovebirds are tiny in the horizon.
When they are sure that the two have given up— or rather, Lance’s sister had gotten tired and Acxa sat down to accompany her— they slow down, bending over to hold their knees and laugh between gasps of air.
Lance turns to him, blue and brown eyes bright under the moon and starlit night, and the winds make their presence known in the form of framing his freckled face with long tendrils of his brown hair.
His smile is wide, heart stopping in that way you never want to beat again, taking down any possible barriers Keith could have attempted to put up as defense.
He looks like an angel. He looks like his savior.
“They’re gonna last forever,” Lance says, knowing and breathless at once, still heaving a little from their escape. He closes his eyes, smile still big as he greets the air. “Just like us, right?”
Forever.
The small box in the pocket of Keith’s jeans thrums, the Altean magic imbued in the stone of the ring inside reacting to the beat of his heart.
He had laid out a plan in his head, a month ago.
In a field of flowers, he would set up a picnic. They would lay down in each other’s arms on the blanket after eating, admiring the stars, and Keith would bring up forever— whatever forever may mean to them.
Leave it to Lance McClain to beat him at it, always neck and neck.
The moon is granting them the light it reflects from the sun, and the stars glitter among the vast indigo.
Lance is as beautiful as the night they met, the night Keith remembers. He's as beautiful as the night Keith knew he would one day marry him, the night they had gotten together, his Lance smiling up at him with sparkling eyes that told him loving each other would be something devastating.
Loving each other was going to be forever.
He takes the box from his pocket, fiddling with it for a small moment in his gloved hand.
Just for the courage, he asks, “You think so?”
Lance stands up taller, his hands on his hips, gazing at the calm sea. His smile softens into something tender, sweet and ethereal and all for him to witness.
“I know so.”
That’s all Keith needs.
Without another second, he gets on one knee, opening the royal blue ring box. The purple stone on the thin, golden band glimmers under the moonlight, glowing almost as much as his lover.
Lance hears the shuffling of the sand and turns to again to face him, lips parting to question the noise. No words leave his mouth.
“Hi,” Keith starts, then winces. “Sorry.”
He takes a deep breath.
“I was planning to do this differently,” he says after a second. “Different setting. But then we got here and you brought up ‘forever’ and you—“ he swallows. “You’re beautiful, tonight.”
He meets Lance’s wide eyes. “You’re beautiful every night. Back when we were teenagers, until today. And forever. I don’t think I could ever look at you and think you’re anything but beautiful.”
His hands are trembling a little, and he takes another breath. “Lance. Lance, you’re it for me. I’ve known that for a while. There’s no one I’m ever going to love as much as I love you. You— you’re my everything. I look at you and I think I can die happy if you were the last thing I ever saw, because you’re my joy. My,” he swallows again, a sob having formed in his throat. The love of his life cries above him, still speechless, staring between him and the ring he offers like a vow. “M-my right hand man. My world.”
Lance hiccups on a sob, and Keith smiles shakily. “My forever.”
He takes the ring from the box, dropping the case into the sand. With his free hand, he takes Lance’s own.
“For a long time, I thought I’d never have that. I was too angry. Too much of a loner. I thought any help I was offered was pity, or that anyone who genuinely cared wasn’t going to last— that maybe I just killed everything I touched.”
His lover squeezes his hand, thumb brushing over rough knuckles. Keith shudders, bringing the hand to his lips for a brief brush of his lips over fingers.
“You stayed around. Clawed and kept fighting your way into becoming someone I cared about, then my friend, then someone I loved with everything I have, body and soul,” he leans down to kiss his love’s knuckles, this time, with the same reverence. “And I believed I was finally allowed to have something.”
“Keith..” Lance’s voice wavers, soft and equally overwhelmed.
He looks up, meeting sea and bark.
“So, I—“ Keith laughs, tears blurring his vision. “I’m gonna claw and fight my way to keep it, too.”
He holds the ring up higher. The glow of the stone reflects in Lance’s eyes.
“Lance McClain,” he says his name like an oath, the beginning of one that will bind for eternity. “The love of my life. My heart. I’ve never been great with words, but you’ve always made me better. And I hope you can keep being in my life so I’m always getting better, everyday that I'm graced to wake up to you in the morning.”
He sighs, shaking and vulnerable, only for his love to see.
“Will you marry me?”
Lance takes a deep breath, face streaked with tears.
“Yes,” he says, and Keith’s heart soars in his chest. “Fuck, you sap, yes!”
They laugh as Keith struggles to fit the ring with blurred eyes, both grinning wide and giddy as they admire it adorning Lance’s finger.
As soon as they meet gazes again, Lance jumps into his arms, still crying, hearts pounding as they hold each other and fall over into the sand.
Later, they will struggle to rid themselves of every grain that clung to their skin. Later, Veronica will get her revenge with the full support of her new girlfriend, screeching at the sight of the ring. Later, they will be back with the rest of the world.
Now, they laugh as they lay on the shore, sand in their hair and getting past their clothes, content with knowing that they’re forever.