Chapter Text
Starpark Theater, 8:50 PM
The giant neon sign above the theater read: Life of Spike: The Musical.
People flooded out through the front doors still talking excitedly about the show. Among them were Colette and Edgar, dressed in fancier versions of their usual outfits. Edgar wore black dress pants, brown shoes, and an old gray vest with a bow tie that looked slightly out of place on him, but somehow still worked. Colette wore a maroon dress that swayed around her legs every time she walked.
Edgar was also carrying way too much Spike merchandise.
A plushie, two souvenir cups, a poster tube, three shirts, and something that looked suspiciously like a limited edition Spike snow globe.
"That was AMAZING!" Colette practically shouted, nearly bouncing on her heels. "Absolute cinema!"
Edgar adjusted the pile of merch in his arms before looking at her.
"It was a musical, not a movie, Colette."
"You know what I mean."
She grinned at him, and Edgar couldn't help smiling back a little despite himself.
"I'll admit though," she continued, "Buster's solo near the end could've been better. He was flat during the second chorus."
"You say that like you weren't crying ten minutes earlier."
"I can multitask."
Edgar laughed quietly under his breath.
Colette looked over at him again, really looked at him this time, and her expression softened.
"You know..." she said, stepping a little closer, "you look really good tonight."
Edgar blinked. "Huh?"
"The vest." She pointed at it. "I like it."
"This thing?" Edgar glanced down at himself. "It's old. I think it used to belong to my grandfather."
"So?" Colette shrugged. "Vintage stuff makes people look cooler."
Edgar immediately looked away, which only made it more obvious that he was blushing.
Colette smiled to herself.
The streetlights reflected in her eyes as she looked at him, and for a second Edgar forgot everything else around them. The noise of the crowd. The traffic. Even the theater behind them.
He just saw her.
They'd known each other practically their entire lives. Same schools, same classes, same stupid drama over the years. Somehow, through all of it, they'd still ended up here together.
And honestly?
Edgar couldn't imagine himself with anyone else.
His chest tightened.
Before he could overthink it, he carefully set all the Spike merchandise down on the sidewalk.
Colette looked confused. "Edgar...?"
He took a breath.
Then another.
And before his nerves could stop him, he got down on one knee.
Edgar, what are you-"
Collette stopped when she saw Edgar get down on one knee, his cart went into his pocket and placed a small black box into the palm of his hand. He gently opened the box to reveal a small silver ring.
"Collette, we've known each other since we were in diapers, we've been friends and more just as long and I can't imagine living out the rest of my life with anyone else but you. Collette, will you merry me?"
For once, Colette had absolutely nothing to say.
Edgar looked up at her, nervous enough that his heart felt like it was trying to kill him.
"Colette..." he said, his voice softer now. "Will you marry me?"
The poster tube slipped from Colette's hands and rolled across the sidewalk.
She stared at him for a few seconds like her brain had completely stopped working.
Then suddenly both hands flew over her mouth.
"Oh my God."
Her eyes were already watering.
"Oh my God, Edgar, are you serious right now?!"
Edgar laughed nervously. "No, I got dressed up outside a Spike musical and bought a ring as a joke."
That earned a watery laugh out of her.
Then, before Edgar could even react, Colette tackled him into a hug.
"YES!" she shouted loud enough that several people turned to look at them. "YES, OF COURSE I'LL MARRY YOU!"
The two held each other close before looking into each other's other's eyes and shared a short but sweet kiss. Edgar then immediately placed the ring on Colette's ring finger. She looked at the ring with nothing but pure joy on her face.
"I know it's not pretty but-"
"I love it....it actually looks familiar. "
"It's my mom's. It was the one my dad proposed with."
Collette looked back at the ring and noticed a very small spider shaped inside the diamond, she knew now exactly where she had seen this ring.
This was Charlie's ring. the same one she wore when she made her debut in Starr park. She looked back at Edgar who smiled as he saw her notice the spider.
"This is Charlie's spider ring. The same one she wore when..."
"When she made her debut, yes. There a lot of history with that ring. A skilled collector like yourself deserves no less."
"No, I can't take your mom's ring."
"Yes you can, she already gave her blessing to this. You know she's always thought of you as the daughter she always wanted. Collette, please just let yourself enjoy this."
Collette looked down at the ring in her finger then back at her boyfriend, no her fiancé now. Tears of joy ran down her cheeks before the two lovingly embraced.
"I can't wait to tell my parents." Collette said. Edgar's face broke that moment, turned from a moment of joy filled love to one of utter dismay. Knowing Byron and Lola, this would not be the good news to them Collette thought it would.